De'Aaron Fox Defends Russell Westbrook amid Criticism During Clippers' Losing Streak
The Los Angeles Clippers have lost five straight games since signing point guard Russell Westbrook, and criticism has mounted as the team fell to 33-33.
Two of those losses have occurred against point guard De'Aaron Fox and the Sacramento Kings, including a 176-175 double overtime game Feb. 24 and a 128-127 defeat Friday.
After the latest game, Fox gave great praise to Westbrook.
Westbrook played well in the absence of star forward Kawhi Leonard. His 27 points on 12-of-16 shooting led the Clippers, and he added 10 assists and two blocks.
Westbrook is averaging 16.6 points on 53.2 percent shooting, 8.8 assists, 1.6 steals and 4.4 turnovers with the Clips. He's been far more efficient offensively after making just 41.7 percent of his shots during his time with the Los Angeles Lakers earlier this season.
The Clippers have disappointed for many reasons. They are mediocre on both ends of the floor (No. 19 in offensive rating, No. 15 in defensive rating), per Basketball-Reference. Leonard and Paul George have missed a combined 45 games. Terance Mann, who's arguably been the third-best player, doesn't get consistent playing time.
It doesn't appear the team is meshing well with Westbrook in the mix, but the experiment is in the early stages, and the team had issues before he arrived.
