Lou Williams had another one of his incredible scoring performances on Sunday night, going off for 40 points to lead the L.A. Clippers to a 106-98 over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on New Years Eve. The feat was his second 40-point outburst of the season, but his first coming off the bench. His 42-point explosion earlier this season against the Lakers came as a starter when the team was marred with injuries.
With Sunday's game against the Hornets, Williams became the first player to drop 40 points off the bench this season. Williams was also the last reserve to go for 40 since he did so himself, back on December 3, 2016 when he took on the Memphis Grizzlies as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers.
#Clippers' guard Lou Williams (@TeamLou23) has two 40-point games this season. One came as a starter vs. the #Lakers, and last night's vs. #Hornets was as a reserve. He's the 1st bench player to put up 40 this year and was also the last player to do so, scoring 40 on 12/3/16.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 1, 2018
Williams was instrumental in helping keep the Clippers afloat without Blake Griffin. He averaged 23.8 points and 5.7 assists in the 13 games Griffin missed and finished December averaging 25.2 points while coming primarily off the bench. On top of that, Williams is averaging career highs 21.4 points and 4.8 assists in 31.2 minutes per game through the first 35 games of the season.
With his strong performances this season, Williams is making yet another convincing case for the Sixth Man of the Year award. He was also in serious contention when he was with the Lakers last year, but his candidacy lost steam after he was traded to the Houston Rockets.
If Williams stays with the Clippers for the entire year and keeps up this type of production, the Sixth Man of the Year award may already be in the bag.
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