The Los Angeles Clippers' season is getting away from them, and Russell Westbrook knows it. Repeatedly on the back foot in the middle of a third quarter offensive flurry from the Phoenix Suns, Westbrook had to, one way or another, take out his frustration. After all, the Clippers point guard was also in the middle of a dreadful shooting night. And it all came to a head when Westbrook took a violent swing from behind to prevent Bismack Biyombo from cashing in on an easy bucket in the paint.
The Suns center crashed hard to the ground, clutching his shoulder after Westbrook appeared to yank his arm with what must be said is an admirable defensive effort to prevent two easy points. Alas, as admirable as that effort may have been, the referees still called a flagrant foul penalty one on the Clippers point guard, as they deemed the contact to be of an excessive nature.
Russ got a flagrant 1 after this foul on Biyombo. pic.twitter.com/avssxzkJUv
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 26, 2023
The decision to foul Biyombo, despite the excessive contact, seemed to work at first, as the Suns big man split a pair at the charity stripe. However, everything that could go wrong for the Clippers in the third quarter did go wrong, as they proceeded to allow 50 points in total in the quarter.
As dispiriting as that third quarter was, the Clippers can hold their heads up high as they made the Suns sweat to end the contest. But that's all a moot point for a team that will have plenty of offseason decisions to make as they navigate yet another heartbreaking playoff defeat.
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