LOS ANGELES — Before catching a flight back to Southern California late Saturday night, the player who spent high school in Lawndale and college in Westwood threw on a Dodgers cap.
Russell Westbrook's history is intertwined with Los Angeles. That will continue Wednesday, when the 34-year-old point guard will be at the center of one of the most consequential games between the Clippers and Lakers in recent memory.
With each rival stuck in the muddled morass that is the Western Conference standings, and each desperately attempting to avoid the NBA's play-in tournament — with its slimmer margin for error than a seven-game first-round series — Westbrook will be the Clippers' starting point guard as he faces his former team for the first time since the Lakers dealt him at February's trade deadline.
