Russell Westbrook grabbed all the headlines from the Denver Nuggets opening win of their series with the LA Clippers.
The Denver Nuggets overtime win over the LA Clippers was dominated by an up and down performance from Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook had fans likening him to a ‘mystery box’, after an inefficient 5-17 shooting night, that saw him hit a vital late three pointer to help force overtime.
The former Clipper then made a game-clinching steal in overtime, showing that while he can he chaotic, he is largely a positive force for this contending Nuggets team.
Russell Westbrook’s bad shooting night saw the LA Clippers quite content to see Russell Westbrook take a late corner three, with the Denver Nuggets trailing.
Westbrook sunk his shot, restoring Denver’s lead, and the shot got his poor night back on track.
Speaking on his podcast, analyst Bill Simmons says he could not believe how open the LA Clippers left Westbrook for the shot.
He said: “That shot Westbrook hit the three. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone left more open at any level of basketball in any game I’ve ever watched in my life, including like girls high school basketball in the eighth grade.”
“Jokic got the ball and Kris Dunn was closest to Westbrook but he was probably six feet away and he just said, f___ it.
“He went to the top of the key to double Jokic and Westbrook had, when I say ‘nobody around him’, if you just did a screenshot it would look like he was by himself before the game.”
Simmons added: “Nobody’s ever been left more open than you just were, ever in a playoff game ever. It was amazing.”
The Clippers made an estimation Westbrook would miss the shot, it was just two of six threes he scored in the game.
But this skepticism was not shared by the Denver Nuggets, specifically MVP contender Nikola Jokic, who made a dispassionate decision to pass the ball to the wide open player.
Simmons noted Jokic’s decision making, commenting: “I think he is just conditioned to do [that], he’s the Terminator walking into the bar making the calculations with all the math and just makes the decision.
“I think every decision is just whatever the best basketball play is, that’s what he does. So even if it’s Russell Westbrook alone by 12 feet in the corner down to the biggest play of the game, I just think he’s throwing it to him.
“Like ‘that’s a wide open guy, I am conditioned to throw it to that guy’. And that’s it.”
