The Russell Westbrook Experience rip cord

Starting him alongside a non-shooting center seems to not be working very well.

Good morning. Happy De La Day. Let’s basketball.

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The L.A. Clippers lost again. This is the team’s fourth consecutive loss since Russell Westbrook joined the starting lineup off of the waiver wire. With the exception of the first game of the new era — the instant classic 176-175 loss to Sacramento — the L.A. offense has left something to be desired: the Clippers scored 101 against the Wolves a few nights ago and just 91 against the Warriors on Thursday.

Westbrook is starting with a non-shooting center every night. That’s been Mason Plumlee (zero threes attempted this season) for three games and the normal starter Ivica Zubac (two threes attempted this season) for one.

Westbrook has been fairly judicious with his three-point attempts to date: about 30% of his total field goal attempts have been threes, roughly the same as his rate with the Lakers. He’s shooting a little less frequently per minute. He’s trying to fit in: make plays, get out in transition and attack the rim.

But teams treating him like this to load up the paint and help on the more dangerous Clippers. First quarter:

Joe Viray @JoeVirayNBA

Lmao

Fourth quarter:

Joe Viray @JoeVirayNBA

Look at Draymond during this possession lmaoo

After the game, Green explained the strategy:

Warriors on NBCS @NBCSWarriors

Draymond explains the game plan to sag off Russ and how it could've made him overthink

Westbrook is not the extent of the Clippers’ problems of late. He’s -24 in 121 minutes with this L.A. team. The Clips are -18 in 86 minutes with Russ on the bench in those four games. But there’s no question that on offense playing Westbrook with a non-shooting center creates real problems for the team.

The question is whether Tyronn Lue lets it ride and sees if the team can sort it out, or if Lue swaps Westbrook for Terance Mann in the starting lineup, or if Westbrook simply falls out of the rotation.