Has Russell Westbrook Finally Found a Home with LA Clippers?

Russell Westbrook has been a Los Angeles Clipper for less than a week, and if we count the Utah Jazz, this is his sixth team in five seasons.

After Friday's 176-175 loss to the Sacramento Kings (the second-highest-scoring game in league history), he's only made one appearance for L.A.'s "little brother" franchise.

But that was plenty of time to generate some takes on this experiment for the Clippers and their newfound Wayward Son.

And those takes cover the gamut. In one 58-minute (thanks to two overtimes), 351-point game, we saw plenty of good, bad and otherwise from Russ, whom the Lakers traded to the Jazz and was then subsequently bought out and signed by a contender.

All this month.

The transactional chaos seems oddly appropriate for this version of Westbrook. Friday, he had a double-double (17 points and 14 assists, which is tied for the most ever in a Clippers debut), seven turnovers and multiple missed layups. He didn't hit a three till the first overtime. He fouled out in the second one.

And despite the Clippers losing, Russ was plus-3.

Throughout his 39 minutes, Westbrook was almost overly deferential. He started the game in place of Terance Mann (who'd held down the role for weeks) and was constantly moving the ball in halfcourt situations.

There wasn't as much off-ball activity like cuts or screens as one might like (and perhaps that was by design), but the absence of drives to nowhere and ill-advised pull-up jumpers was encouraging. He generally looked engaged on the defensive end too.

And as he started to get a feel for the game and his role with this team, Westbrook's playmaking came alive in the second quarter.

Midway through that frame, he took the ball coast-to-coast, Eurostepped through the paint and hit Norman Powell for a three in the corner. Westbrook's ability to push the pace was on display, which should help a team that ranked 24th in possessions per game entering Friday.

A few minutes later, Russ had another transition opportunity, but there were no outlets on the three-point line this time. Instead of attempting to power through the two Kings who were back on defense, Westbrook dropped it off to Kawhi Leonard. He missed (which turned out to be a pretty rare occurrence in Kawhi's 44-point performance), but the play demonstrated Westbrook's willingness to look for his new star teammates.

After halftime, his connection with Kawhi only got better. Multiple drive-draw-and-kick assists to the two-time Finals MVP felt like a sneak preview of how the new point guard could elevate Leonard.

Leonard went 16-of-22 from the field and 6-of-9 from three, and plenty of those buckets were catch-and-shoots.

Entering Friday's game, Leonard was using 3.7 possessions per game out of isolation and scoring 1.02 points per those possessions. For spot-ups, he was at 2.9 possessions per game and averaging 1.11 points.

Westbrook will get Kawhi more of the latter. And while that difference in efficiency may seem small, it should add up over the rest of the season and into the playoffs.

The chemistry between Russ and Paul George that dates back to their time in Oklahoma City was evident too. They assisted each other twice each. On one transition possession, George waved off Westbrook, and there didn't appear to be any angst from the latter over it.

It wasn't all good, though.

First of all, L.A. lost the game. It gave up 153 points in regulation, and Westbrook was minus-3 before the overtime periods.

He missed two layups in the second half, including one that would've put the Clippers up 14 with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter. On the season, his two-point percentage is a whopping 7.6 points below the league average. That kind of inefficiency is going to haunt L.A. in more than one game from here on out.

The same could be said for his three-point shooting, but that's an issue that's been explored by more than enough analysts on more than enough occasions.

There's also the turnovers. Russ averaged 3.5 in 28.7 minutes with the Los Angeles Lakers. He had six in Friday's loss.

After a decade-and-a-half in the NBA, his shot selection and ball control aren't likely to change dramatically overnight. But if he can just temper himself the way he did for much of his playing time against Sacramento, this pairing might actually work.

The fit with the Lakers was never going to. With three high-usage players, two of whom were creators, there simply weren't enough possessions and opportunities to make plays.

Leonard and George get plenty of shots up too, but neither is anywhere near the distributor LeBron James is. They've been called upon to do a bit more of that with L.A., but most of their careers have been spent as finishers.

Now, they have a high-volume creator to give them plays to finish.

Potential pitfalls are going to be all over the path from now to the end of the season. And despite the game not finishing the way they wanted to (in part because of a minutes restriction that kept George out of the second overtime), Friday's loss demonstrated how to avoid them, or at least most of them.

Westbrook has spent much of the last five seasons trying to cling to the MVP version of himself for four different teams. This looks like the right situation for him to finally reinvent himself.

Stop me if you've heard this before.