‘Whatever it takes’: Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant in playoff first

Last summer, as the Clippers were racking up a luxury tax bill projected to cost nearly $150 million to assemble a roster regarded by many within the NBA as the league’s deepest, and as team owner Steve Ballmer was declaring the “sky’s the limit,” making the first round of the NBA playoffs would never have been something worth celebrating.

It still isn’t. Despite playing themselves out of home-court advantage in the first round and facing Phoenix as the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed, and with All-Star forward Paul George out for at least the start, if not all, of the opening series because of a sprained right knee, the Clippers still consider themselves dangerous enough to play deeper than the opening round.

“We’re going to be ready no matter what,” starting center Ivica Zubac said Sunday after a win in Phoenix. “We got a good chance. It’s been a long season, but we’re finally here.

“We’re going to get some time to rest, and let’s go win a first series and then go from there.”

One benefit of a first-round series is the six days it will afford for rest and preparation while waiting for the play-in winners, and on Sunday, less than an hour after the matchup had been decided, one Clipper used the time to express a measure of gratitude he was in the playoffs.

Russell Westbrook began his 15th NBA season on a Lakers team that started 2-10. When the Lakers traded him to Utah along with a future draft pick to entice the Jazz to make a deal in February, the appetite among playoff contenders for a 34-year-old who had shot 41% from the field and 29% on three-pointers with 3.5 turnovers per game was unclear.

Now he will face off in the postseason for the first time against Kevin Durant, the perennial All-Star who made up the other half of their superstar duo for eight seasons in Oklahoma City.

Teammates for 608 games, including playoffs, with a winning percentage together of .622, Durant and Westbrook will face off Sunday.

“We haven’t probably played a series against each other, it’s probably the first time, I think?” Westbrook said, smiling. “I don’t remember. So yeah, it’ll be good. Exciting.”

Westbrook said returning to the postseason “is big, man.”

“It’s a blessing and something that I don’t personally take for granted,” said Westbrook, who missed the postseason last year with the Lakers “I’m grateful to be in a situation where I have an opportunity to do so, and I’m looking forward to it.”

That opportunity was never a foregone conclusion with the Clippers, despite all their championship aspirations. Making the playoffs meant overcoming a five-game losing streak that began Westbrook’s Clippers tenure.

“It just shows the character of the team,” Westbrook said. “Obviously with injuries and different things you can’t account for, but just having the proper culture and doing the right thing ultimately means a lot.”

Since Durant left Oklahoma City and Westbrook behind in 2016 to sign with Golden State, he and Westbrook have played against each other 11 times, with Westbrook’s teams holding a 6-5 record. Their last meeting was in November, when Westbrook was a Laker and Durant a Net.

As opponents, Westbrook has averaged 28.3 points, 10.1 rebounds, 9.3 assists and 5.5 turnovers while making 42% of his shots. Durant has averaged 32.0 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.7 turnovers while shooting 54% — including nearly 48% on three-pointers.

Durant arrived in Phoenix just before February’s All-Star break to be the first option on a team already boasting an elite scorer in Devin Booker and setup man in point guard Chris Paul.

Still at the peak of his powers, even after his recovery from an Achilles tendon tear during the 2019 NBA Finals — a severe injury that typically signals the end of a player’s most productive seasons — Durant’s arrival in Phoenix drew several thousand fans to a public introductory news conference in February. Phoenix is 8-0 with Durant in the lineup. Even more remarkable, he is 21-1 in his last 22 games dating to December with Brooklyn.

In stark contrast, few teams seriously entertained rolling out the welcome mat for Westbrook. He was a former NBA most valuable player, like Durant, who had spent his career as a top option. While Durant had shown in Golden State and Brooklyn that he could mold his game around other stars’ needs, there were vocal concerns within the Clippers that Westbrook’s style of play would clash, rather than complement, their stars.

“I’ve never seen an MVP get criticized and marginalized the way he has,” said Phoenix coach Monty Williams, an Oklahoma City assistant during Westbrook’s time with the Thunder. “I’ve always felt like a lot of it was kind of weird. I’m not in their locker rooms or the locker rooms he’s been in, but I know he’s one of the best players historically in the game.”

The Clippers moved Terance Mann to the bench to make room for Westbrook in the starting lineup as soon as the ink was dry on his mininum contract. Expectations were muted, the Clippers knowing they got a veteran who would play every day, but beyond that, “I didn’t know” how he would fit, Lue said last week. In recent weeks, the backup combination of Bones Hyland and Mann has performed better than starters Westbrook and Eric Gordon, and Lue has shifted playing time during second halves.

“You never know,” Lue said of knowing Westbrook’s malleability upon his signing. “I mean, when you’re dealing with a Hall of Fame player and a guy who’s played a certain style of basketball his whole career, sometimes it could be difficult. But he’s been right in. He’s been great.”

George’s injury has changed the calculus on what the Clippers have asked of Westbrook. In his first 12 games before George’s injury, Westbrook attempted 11 shots per game and averaged 13.3 points, 7.3 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 3.7 turnovers. His shooting resembled the kind that ultimately made his Lakers tenure untenable: 46% from the field, 25% on three-pointers.

Since George’s injury March 21, Westbrook has averaged 19.2 points, third on the team, with 8.0 assists, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 turnovers.

Most notable is his shooting: 52% from the field and 45.9% on three-pointers while taking four per game.

“Do whatever it takes to win,” Westbrook said of his playoff mindset. “Whatever that may be, every game will be different.”