Getty Lou Williams Passes Dell Curry and gets some high praise from Patrick Beverly in Clipper News
Lou Williams, the premier sixth man of his generation, further cemented himself in the record books by passing Dell Curry for the most bench points in NBA history while garnering some high praise from teammate Patrick Beverly. Williams came out of the gate hot and picked up 13 points in the first half while dropping a number of beautiful assists on pick and roll sets.
That @LAClippers two-man game 🔥
Staying hot going into the second half, Williams continued his strong play and would end up passing Dell Curry early in the fourth quarter. Winding up with 34 points on the night, Lou Williams would far surpass Curry’s mark and looks primed to build on his lead for years to come.
With a silky smooth game and operating with even more ballhandling responsibilities for the young Clipper backcourt, Williams has flashed a playmaking ability that has been overlooked his entire career. Typically thought of being a “walking bucket”, William’s reputation in the league had previously been more of someone you give the ball to and get out of the way. However, as he gets older, his court vision and a crafty offensive game should allow him to put up productive minutes off the bench for many more years to come.
How Many Bench Points Has Lou Williams Scored?
With the basket, Lou Williams moved up to 11,148 points scored off the bench on his career, besting the previous mark set by Dell Curry of 11,147. Dell Curry, the father of Steph Curry, was the premier sixth man during his long tenure with the Charlotte Hornets.
However, Williams only needed 28 points to pass Curry and ended up scoring 34 off the bench for the Clippers. After the outing, Williams now sits at a total of 11,154 bench points to go with 13,071 total points on his career.
Clippers News: Patrick Beverly Calls Lou Williams ‘Toughest Guy to Guard’
Patrick Beverly is universally regarded as one of the toughest defensive guards in the league. Known for harassing opposing guards (and even forwards, just ask LeBron and the Lakers) across every inch of the court, Beverly plays with a nearly unmatched effort on the defensive end and strikes fear into even the best offensive talents. After Williams passed Curry tonight, Beverly was asked during post-game interviews on who he felt was the hardest cover in the NBA:
While there is obviously a bit of teammate bias going on here (and also that the hyper-competitive Beverly would never give an opponent that satisfaction), the fact remains that this is high praise towards Lou Will. Notice the reporter give a chuckle but Beverly looks dead serious and doesn’t so much as flash a smile.
Although universally regarded as one of the best scorers in the game, Williams’ role is often overlooked due to coming off the bench and his incredibly multi-level scoring ability doesn’t get the love that it should.
Embracing his role off the bench whole-heartedly despite being able to score at will against anyone in the league, Williams is one of the most selfless and team-first players in the league. This general mentality has permeated through the Clippers roster and the team-first mentality has helped Beverly and Williams keep the Clippers in the playoff picture even after losing star Tobias Harris.