DENVER — The LA Clippers aren’t the first team that has sagged off Russell Westbrook defensively, daring him to try to beat them instead of three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
The Clippers know Westbrook’s aggression and confidence well from his stint with them the previous two seasons. So in Saturday’s Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets, they took that strategy to the extreme — and Westbrook made them pay.
Westbrook hit a huge 3-pointer at the end of regulation in Denver’s 112-110 overtime victory over the Clippers at Ball Arena and made several key defensive plays against his former team to help the Nuggets steal the first game of their Western Conference playoff series — a game in which they trailed by as many as 15 points.
“Yeah, yeah,” Westbrook said when asked if he recognized that his former team had been daring him to beat it by the way it defended him.
According to ESPN Research, the Clippers gave Westbrook an average separation of 9.6 feet when he was taking 3-pointers in Game 1. That’s the most separation he has gotten on 3-pointers in a playoff game when taking at least five attempts since player tracking began in 2013-14, according to Genius IQ.
“We can talk about that more when we take care of business,” Westbrook said.
Westbrook finished with 15 points on 5-for-17 shooting, but 10 of those points came in the fourth quarter and overtime. His putback with 3:37 to go in regulation, one of his four offensive rebounds on the night, gave the Nuggets their first lead at 93-92.
Westbrook also made the defensive play of the game at the end of overtime as he deflected Nicolas Batum‘s inbounds pass to James Harden with 10 seconds remaining and forced a turnover.
“I know that play,” Westbrook said, referring to his time with the Clippers. “They have a dynamic roller with [Ivica Zubac], great cutters and guys that catch lobs. My job is to be able to be the low man and find ways to, excuse my language, f— s— up.”
It was the kind of spark Denver has come to expect from Westbrook this season. When Westbrook is at his best, he impacts the game with high-energy plays, offensive rebounds and defensive disruptions. The downside, of course, comes when he gets too aggressive or makes poor decisions with the ball late in games.
That happened in Game 1 as well, when Westbrook turned the ball over at the end of regulation after dribbling into traffic, jumping up in the air and trying to throw the ball off Harden’s foot before he came down. That didn’t affect the outcome as it had a few weeks ago, when Westbrook made two bad plays at the end of a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
But in true roller-coaster, Westbrook-ian fashion, he came up with a defensive deflection at the end of overtime, which helped seal the win.
“Russ is Russ,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said with a smile after the game. “Defensively he was absolutely incredible. He was playing free safety out there. I thought a lot of the reasons why the [Clippers’ 20] turnovers happened, even if it wasn’t him forcing it, just the way he was roaming around and impacting the game, it was great for us. Then offensively, a couple of times I thought he attacked, maybe we could have pulled it out and executed, but that’s what Russ does. He’s going to play in attack mode. I don’t think he’s going to change after 17 years. If he sees somebody in front of him one-on-one, he’s going to attack, and he made an enormous 3 in the fourth.”
The Clippers knew Westbrook’s tendencies well from his time in L.A. and clearly tried to use his swagger against him as they aggressively left him defensively to double-team Jokic and Jamal Murray, especially near the end of the game.
As is his custom, Jokic always will pass the ball to an open man. Which meant Westbrook was wide open for a 3-pointer with 24 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. He drained it to give Denver a 98-96 lead.
Asked if Saturday’s performance will give Westbrook more confidence in these playoffs, Jokic shrugged.
“His confidence?” Jokic said. “I think he has the most confidence of anyone in this matchup.”
Jokic finished with 29 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds as the Clippers swarmed him every time he touched the ball. They were especially focused on being physical with him and limiting his effectiveness in transition.
That created a strange situation in the fourth quarter when Jokic tried to take the ball out of the hands of Clippers associate head coach Jeff Van Gundy and athletic trainer Jasen Powell, looking to inbound the ball quickly. But Van Gundy and Powell wouldn’t give the ball up and engaged in something of a wrestling match with Jokic.
This has become something of a trend for Jokic, who has become excellent at inbounding the ball quickly and getting out in transition. Earlier this year, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault was given a delay of game warning as he tried to slow Jokic’s quick inbounds plays down by having a player stand near the scorer’s table but not actually check in.
In 2023, Jokic was involved in a similar tussle with Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia during a playoff game.
“I think definitely it’s not supposed to happen,” Jokic said of the tussle with Van Gundy. “The NBA wants to make a quick speed game. Inbound the ball quicker … that’s what they emphasized when they came before the season. They said sometimes when I take my shoes and this and that, I can steal a couple seconds, and they said I cannot do that anymore. But seems like they can do it.”
Adelman made light of the situation, joking that “my guys need to step up” if the bench is allowed to grab a hold of the ball like that when an opposing player is trying to take it. But Adelman noted that he was sure “the league will look at it.”
Nuggets swingman Christian Braun joked that Van Gundy, 63, looked “pretty good.”
“He held his own,” Braun said. “He held onto the ball. It was pretty embarrassing for [Jokic]. He’s in the weight room now.”
Jokic smiled when asked about Van Gundy’s strength, saying, “It was two against one.”
