The Los Angeles Clippers veteran star Russell Westbrook is expected to be back before the start of the Western Conference playoffs. The Clippers’ back up point guard underwent a surgery to repair his fractured non-shooting hand. The Clippers are set fight without Russell Westbrook at least until April.
As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers expect to have Russell Westbrook back before the start of the 2024 NBA playoffs. The Clippers are sitting fourth in the Western Conference with 39 wins and 21 losses. The Ty Lue’s team has gone through a slump in the last 10 games having a 5-5 record.
Westbrook has averaged 11.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists for the Clippers this season. He started the year as the starting point guard of the team, but he was moved to the bench unit after the blockbuster trade that brought James Harden to LA. Westbrook fractured his hand during the Clippers’ 140-115 victory over Washington.
In the last three games that the LA Clippers played without Russell Westbrook, they went 2-1 winning against the lowly Wizards and the Western Conference top-tier team of the Minnesota Timberwolves. After the loss to Damian Lillard and the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Ty Lue’s team will travel to Houston to face the Rockets.
Who has replaced Russell Westbrook in the Clips’ rotation?
The LA Clippers will have to find a guard that can provide the energy and aggressive play of Russell Westbrook. In the last three games, former Denver guard Bones Hyland has stepped in to the bench unit averaging 13.4 minutes per contest. He was +4.0 during this stint receiving the most minutes since November.
Hyland only appeared in 22 games so far this season and he wasn’t able to establish a role with the Clips after the James Harden trade. That said, the explosive guard will hope to provide the much-needed cover until Russell Westbrook gets back at some point in April. With the Clippers fighting for a place in the top-4 seeds of the West, the next month will be crucial for their success.
The Clippers registered a +2.9 net rating in the 1.313 minutes Westbrook spent on the floor so far this season being the aggressor and the star of his team’s bench unit. Hyland reiterated that Russell Westbrook is a great leader for him and the rest of the team and that he will try his best to replace the production of the former MVP.
“Russ has been a great leader to me, man, since I came here, even before I got here,” Hyland said, via Los Angeles Daily News.
“He’s always been that guy I can go talk to. … In this whole process, he told me to stay down, stay hungry, keep stay in the gym, just keep being myself and it’ll come back around full circle.”
