The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night thanks in large part to Russell Westbrook and Paul George's big third quarter. All eyes, however, were on James Harden and PJ Tucker, who arrived after a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The former guard and forward arrived on a flight from Philly Tuesday afternoon, and immediately went to Crypto.com Arena to check out their new team. Upon arriving in the locker room, Harden and Tucker quickly embraced Westbrook, their former Houston Rockets teammate.
Russell Westbrook finished Tuesday's win with 18 points, six rebounds, seven assists, and five steals on the night, which included a monster 14-point, three-steal third quarter.
Russell Westbrook shuts down trade questions
With the trade technically still unofficial — whether it be too tight of a window, physicals not yet completed, etc — Russell Westbrook took a cautious approach to his postgame press conference. He sat down, finished chewing his snack, and put everyone who wanted to ask about James Harden and PJ Tucker on notice.
“I'm telling y'all right now, James [Harden] and PJ [Tucker] are off limits. I got nothing for you until it’s official.”
“It would be a great quote though,” one reporter responded.
“James and PJ, off limits. I got nothing for you until it’s official. So, hey, anything else y'all got?”
When asked a few minutes later in the same press conference if he was happy to have his old teammates around, Westbrook couldn't hold back the smile.
“Yeah. Yeah. I mean, sh*t. Why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't I be? Yeah, yeah. Excuse my language, but definitely, definitely happy,” Russell Westbrook said.
Will James Harden hurt Clippers' stingy defense?
The Clippers really focused on defense and transition offense this training camp. It was a huge point of emphasis for them and they've come out strong to start the season. Bringing James Harden may help or hurt that, but they're putting a lot of faith in The Beard to help take them over the top.
“We are a team that relies on our defense,” Russell Westbrook said postgame. “Missing main shots regardless, that's going to happen in this league a lot of games, missed shots. But collectively we picked up the defensive intensity, which primarily in the second half, even in the first half, we defended well, just didn't make any shots. And we okay with that because we know we're a defensive team first and then second half we made shots and seen the difference.”
The Clippers' next matchup is against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night. It's the second night of a back-to-back set for the Clippers, so it'll be interesting to see what the team decides to do with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
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