LOS ANGELES — Playing on a team that features a three-time scoring champion and two perennial All-Stars, Russell Westbrook looked for other ways to impact a game besides scoring. On Sunday, he focused on defense rather than the basket.
His faithful play down the stretch, including blocking a potential game-winning three-pointer with less than a second left, allowed the Clippers to hold off the Cleveland Cavaliers, 120-118, in a wild comeback Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena.
Westbrook only scored eight points but had seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and that key block coming off the bench.
“Well, all year, honestly, I relied on my defense, holding people back and stopping people when I had to,” Westbrook said. “And tonight was one of those nights where we had to make stops to be able to close out the game and close the gap.
“I thought we did a good job as a team.”
With the Clippers down by 26 points in the third quarter, Paul George took over, scoring 23 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter for the team’s biggest comeback of the season and largest in franchise history .
” Never back down. Never give up. Always find ways to keep fighting,” Westbrook said. “You never know. One possession, one thing could turn things around. One stop. A three, whatever it was. And I kept telling our guys to keep playing with it, keep playing to beat, to keep stopping. Tonight we held on, supported each other and got a victory.
LEONARD SITS AGAIN
Kawhi Leonard did not play Sunday against the Cavaliers, the fourth straight game he has missed due to inflammation in his right knee – the same knee he had surgery on in 2021 to repair a partial tear of his ligament anterior cruciate.
And with four games left in the regular season, coach Tyronn Lue said he’s not worried about the two-time Finals MVP.
“I have no concerns,” Lue said, adding that he doesn’t know when to expect Leonard to be back in the lineup.
Leonard has played in 68 games this season, his most since the 2016-17 season with the San Antonio Spurs, where he played in 74 games. He averages 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists.
HAPPY TO SEE YOU AGAIN
Marcus Morris Sr. returned to Crypto.com Arena for the first time on Sunday, this time wearing a Cleveland Cavaliers jersey. The veteran forward played three-plus seasons with the Clippers before being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in November as part of the trade that brought James Harden to Los Angeles.
He was greeted with an in-game tribute featuring scenes from his time at Crypto.com Arena on the scoreboard.
The Sixers then traded Morris to the San Antonio Spurs, but he did not play a single game for them before being waived in February. A month later, he signed with the Cavs. He is averaging 6.0 points off the bench in 10 games with Cleveland.
Morris averaged 12.1 points in 195 games with the Clippers and averaged 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds during their 2020 playoff run. He is 10th on the franchise’s all-time 3-point list.
“He’s a guy that can shoot the basketball, he can stop, play the post, present mismatches,” Lue said. “He played a big role in what we did here.
“When we got to the conference finals. Marcus played a big role in that during the playoffs. the playoffs are happening. He’s always been big on that, so I’m just happy to see him and we’re lucky enough to see him today.
Morris entered Sunday’s game in the second quarter and finished with two points in 13 minutes.
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