Clippers Make Starting Lineup Change Ahead of Rockets Game
Russell Westbrook is coming off the bench while Terance Mann gets starting spot back.
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — The LA Clippers (3-7) are making a change to their starting lineup after losing six in a row.
That change, as reported by Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report, will see guard Russell Westbrook move to the bench for the first time since signing with the Clippers in February, ending a streak of 36 consecutive starts with the team after his buyout from the Utah Jazz following his trade from the Los Angeles Lakers.
But the breadcrumbs of this move started on Thursday at the team’s practice facility where, in an unusual display, coach Tyronn Lue was late to meet with media and finally held his usual practice press conference after the team had already started their session for the day.
Even before that, though, there was a noticeable absence from the team’s practice floor: no Westbrook.
The guard is usually seen getting shots up and joking around with teammates before practice when media is let in to observe players shooting around and going through their normal routines, but Westbrook wasn’t visible to media on Thursday before doors were shut for the team to begin their practice.
When you add in the context of Lue’s quotes on Thursday, the change that was reported on Friday felt inevitable.
“Yeah we have, we talked about it and it's a lot different from what we did in training camp,” Lue answered when asked about the pacing and spacing of the starting lineup at the present moment compared to where it was in training camp before the Clippers made their trade for James Harden.
“We were more slot cuts, getting guys out of the way for PG (Paul George) and Kawhi (Leonard) to get to their spots and raise up for their shot. And now with James here, the numbers say we should stay spaced when he's running pick and rolls, he's like 1.5 [points per possession] and then when guys are cutting or slot cutting, it's like 0.9 [points per possession].”
The mentions of only George, Harden, and Leonard didn’t stop there.
Lue continued: “So, just changing our mindset when PG and Kawhi have the ball, when James has the ball, it's kind of been a little process for us and so we're going to get better at it. Like I said, we've been working with it, we've been working at it and so it's going to be fine.”
The Clippers were 3-1 before the trade for Harden became official, and they had won those three games by an average of 22.7 points while possessing a starting lineup — Westbrook, George, Leonard, Robert Covington, and Ivica Zubac — that had outscored opponents by 42 points in their 51 minutes together across those four games.
Since the trade, the starting lineup of Westbrook, Harden, George, Leonard, and Zubac had been outscored by 20 points in 58 minutes together as the team’s gone 0-5 to start Harden’s tenure with the team.
Spacing has been an issue with the new starting lineup as that group has managed to put up only a 90.0 offensive rating, a mark that ranks dead last among the 42 lineups across the NBA that have logged at least 50 minutes together so far this season. The previous starting lineup had a league-leading 131.5 offensive rating.
Lue addressed the spacing topic on Thursday.
“That's why I'm saying the process of with Russ with PG and Kawhi is always on the baseline because they get into their mid-range shot where James is getting more downhill, looking for the roller, can make the passes, and so we want Russ to be spaced out,” Lue said when asked how the team can best navigate the spacing dilemma while having both Harden and Westbrook on the floor together.
“He's (Westbrook) shooting 50% from the left corner and he's shooting 41 from the corners overall. So, just get to a spot, get to the corner, just get the spacing, if you don't have [a] shot, getting to the next action.”
Through the first 10 games of the season, Westbrook is shooting 7-for-18 (38.9 percent) from the corners, according to the NBA’s own tracking data. There is some dissension in the authenticity of that number as Basketball Reference has tabbed Westbrook as having made 43.8 percent of his corner three-pointers this season.
When asked in a follow-up if Lue would prefer to have Westbrook in the corner taking those threes as opposed to lurking in the dunker spot, Lue answered in the affirmative.
“Yeah, I would rather him in the corner. Yeah, getting the shot or getting to the next action because there’s not a lot of space, not a lot of room, because James is getting downhill or he's finding the roller on the pass, and so that's just some things we got to clean up and continue to keep getting better with.”
Last week in this space, I wrote that the likeliest outcome was Westbrook heading to the bench due to Harden’s arrival and that Terance Mann would be the likely beneficiary of said change. That is coming on Friday as the team prepares to end their six-game losing streak as they take on the Houston Rockets.
The Clippers value spacing, and having both Harden and Westbrook on the floor together has stunted the team’s overall growth as the duo has stepped on each other’s toes, especially on possessions where the ball isn’t in either one’s hands.
This starting lineup is going to get a few games as a trial period as they work out any potential kinks, but it’s at least a step in the right direction as something had to be done.
One of Harden or Westbrook had to go to the bench to make this work collectively, and it turns out it’s Westbrook who will get the first crack at leading a bench unit that has shown some promise with him in charge.
The Clippers are trying to turn things around. Friday is the first test to see if it happens.