The Golden State Warriors were unable to snap their road losing streak, falling to the Los Angeles Clippers 134-126 on Wednesday night. The defeat marked their ninth straight away from home.
Golden State had fared differently during their March 2 meeting with the Clippers. They were able to coast to a 24-point victory behind a monster third-quarter-performance at home.
The biggest storyline from the Warriors’ win over L.A. was their disrespectful defensive strategy for Russell Westbrook. When the Clippers would have the ball, Draymond Green would leave Westbrook completely unguarded on the perimeter.
Since then, the former MVP has had time to come up with a game-plan to attack the disrespectful defense.
He notched 15 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists to help the Clippers to the home win over the Dubs.
The Warriors left Russell Westbrook open again last night, and he made several adjustments that led to the Clippers grabbing their 4th-straight win.
A breakdown:
After L.A.’s St. Patrick’s Day practice, Westbrook shared his thoughts on being left wide-open on the perimeter, issuing a warning to the Dubs and the rest of the NBA.
“I can do anything I want. Which is great for me. So good luck to everybody who continues doing that,” he said via Joey Linn of Sports Illustrated.
Russell Westbrook was asked about Golden State leaving him open.
Russ: “I can do anything I want. Which is great for me. So good luck to everybody who continues doing that.”
Stephen Curry Praises Russell Westbrook After Warriors Loss
While the Warriors’ defensive plan might’ve been pretty disrespectful towards Russ, their starting point guard, Stephen Curry was not.
After the March 15 loss, Curry had nothing but great things to say about the 34-year-old guard. He took time to praise the way he’s come into the Clippers team, after being bought out by the Los Angeles Lakers last month.
“I think he’s starting to figure out his role if that makes sense, in a way that he can impact their team no matter how teams are defending him”, Curry said via the NBA Interviews YouTube channel. “It’s one of those you kind have to think creatively because they have a very interesting group of guys on both ends of the floor that play the game in a lot of different ways.”
The 34-year-old went on to shine light on Westbrook’s dedication to his team.
“The one thing about Russ we all know is no matter what people say about him, or how he’s playing, he competes. I know they love that about him. Every night, he shows up and plays hard. That’s something you can’t teach. It’s kind of a lost art these days.”
Clippers Coach Sounds Off on Warriors’ Westbrook Coverage
Following the March 2 matchup, where the strategy gave Westbrook fits, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue shared his thoughts its effects.
“He got to the corner, we got him at the top of the floor and he got some good shots that went in and out,” he told reporters. “They had a good gameplan. Like I said, those corner threes that he got late in the shot clock, he has to take those shots when he’s in the corner. If not, just get to the next action with a dribble handoff. Early in the first half they had (Kevon) Looney on him, he was able to set a screen for (Eric) Gordon who got downhill and got a layup. So, just keep working through that and figure out how we wanna play when teams do do that.”
“We really haven’t been in a position like this. Draymond (Green), you know how smart he is, what he does defensively, you know, he did a good job with that.”
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Russell Westbrook Issues Strong Warning on Warriors After Disrespectful Defense