The Clippers finally got a chance to see what their full squad can look like together on the court on Wednesday night in a 107-104 overtime win over the Celtics, as Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Lou Williams, and Patrick Beverley all came up with big plays down the stretch to erase a deficit and get a win.
The flashes of brilliance from this group were apparent, as were the growing pains they’ll go through as they look to figure out what combinations work best together before they get to that closing stretch when they throw their best five on the floor. That closing group was terrific, and showed the vision of what the Clippers were going for when they made the blockbuster moves this summer, going all in on a title run now with Leonard and George.
The fateful night when the Clippers got Leonard signed and George traded to them happened during Las Vegas Summer League, late at night while most of the league was out at dinners or the tables enjoying themselves. That’s what Lou Williams was doing, playing roulette at the casino when someone walked up to him and told him the news. It was so stunning that Lou didn’t believe it until he did what every other NBA fan does — go to Woj’s Twitter feed, as he told Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on their All The Smoke podcast on Showtime.
Clippers' Lou Williams on Kawhi – "I didn't know shit… I text him, 'What's up killa. I know you bout to have your meeting, if you have any questions, just hit me.' He said, 'Bet, I'll call you after.' He never called me. 3-4 days went by & I went, 'Man, I think I blew it.'” pic.twitter.com/iCZRDVAmEB
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 21, 2019
The first story about thinking he blew it when Kawhi never called him back is fantastic as well, but it’s always funny to confirm that NBA players go to the same sources for news as the rest of us, knowing it’s not official til Woj says so. He then celebrated with Patrick Beverley at the roulette table, as one does, and a five months later they’re finally all out on the floor together, chasing those championship dreams.
