Last Night, In Basketball: The Clippers Let Lou Williams Cook


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Lou Williams had another big game against the San Antonio Spurs, scoring 23 points off the bench and making several big plays in the fourth quarter to help the Clippers to their third straight win. As usual, Lou got help from the way the Clippers design their offense in order to put him in position to succeed.

Williams is on the shorter side for a primary perimeter scoring option, so the Clippers love to have him work dribble hand-offs and, especially, double-screen action either on the wing or near the top of the key. Giving him multiple screens allows him more room to operate, but also tests the defense’s patience and ability to help in the right places at the right times. There is perhaps no team in the NBA more disciplined defensively than the San Antonio Spurs, but even they could not manage to deal with the Clippers’ double-screen actions for Lou.

In this episode of Last Night, In Basketball, we break down exactly why Williams is so tough to stop when the Clippers get him the ball on the move and with multiple players screening for him in order to confuse the defense.

Last Night, In Basketball is a video breakdown series from the basketball mind of Jared Dubin. You can see the videos for free on Twitter and YouTube, but if you enjoy the work and want to see more, you can pledge your support on Patreon.