LA Clippers: A look into the recent troubles
By Aymin Bakr
Lou Williams injury/limited play
Because the LA Clippers lack consistent scoring from the guard position, Lou Williams has been pivotal to success, especially in late game situations.
After suffering an injury early in a recent game against the Phoenix Suns, the 32-year-old vet may now be missing up to two weeks of play time from hamstring complications.
Williams has hit three game-winners so far in just 26 games and is in the top-10 in the league in fourth-quarter points per game with 6.7. His ability to score is uncanny and is often relied on heavily in the clutch as he seemingly always has the ball in his hands.
The 17.2 points per game he’s currently averaging will be missed over the coming weeks, but his injury has only affected the last three games. As previously mentioned however, their last three losses have been by an average margin of 28.3 points.
The most recent two games in which Williams hasn’t played, they’ve lost by 38 and 24 respectively.
Not only is his injury going to cause issues in the future like it already has, but even before the injury Williams hadn’t played 30 or more minutes since Nov. 23 against the Memphis Grizzlies.
As previously mentioned, the Clippers have lost five of their last eight games. Excluding the three most recent games in which he was injured, Williams has played an average of 24.4 minutes per contest.
While this isn’t anything too alarming on the surface considering that he is a sixth man and is averaging a similar 25.2 minutes for the season, comparing this to the entire month of the November shows some discrepancies.
In 14 November games, Williams played 30 or more minutes in five games and played 25 or more in three, two of which he played 28. While he hasn’t been averaging starter’s minutes, he’s almost always playing during late game situations and is relied upon to help close out games.
His absence will definitely hurt the team going forward considering the lack of scoring from other guards and semi-limited play beforehand hasn’t helped too much either.