Kings' Historic Win in Russell Westbrook's Clippers Debut Leaves NBA Fans Speechless

Russell Westbrook's debut with the Los Angeles Clippers was spoiled in a thrilling 176-175 double-overtime loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night.

The 351 combined points were the second-most in a game in NBA history, with the highest mark set when the Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets 186-184 in triple overtime on Dec. 13, 1983.

Kawhi Leonard, De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk all scored over 40 points on Friday, while both teams combined to make 44 three-pointers. The Kings shot 58.6 percent overall from the field, and the Clippers made 60.2 percent of their field-goal attempts.

While the historic performances by both teams will grab the headlines, Westbrook quietly had a terrific debut for Los Angeles. The former NBA MVP finished with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 14 assists, tied for the most by a Clippers player in their debut with the team.

Head coach Tyronn Lue used Westbrook in the starting lineup. He played 39 minutes and finished plus-three, better than Leonard (minus-seven) and Paul George (minus-nine).

NBA fans and analysts on Twitter had a lot of thoughts about Westbrook and the offensive display by both teams:

Amid all of the discussion about marquee teams in the Western Conference, the Kings just keep winning games to strengthen their postseason resume. This was the quintessential game for Sacramento in 2022-23 with a lot of points and no defense.

The Kings overcame a 14-point deficit with under four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter just to force overtime, and they closed the second overtime period on a 7-0 run to secure the win.

The Clippers continue to play well on offense—this was their fourth time with at least 120 points in the past seven games—but they are only 4-3 in this stretch because the defense is allowing 125.7 points per game.

Westbrook did provide a much-needed spark at point guard. He even showed willingness to run the pick-and-roll, something that was a problem during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers.

As long as Westbrook continues to distribute the ball like he did on Friday and avoid the back-breaking mistakes that have plagued him in recent seasons, he will be a very good addition for the Clippers.

Westbrook and the Clippers will have another difficult test in their next game against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on Sunday.