I’m seeing a lot of James Harden hate for his past two performances, but I don’t see how it makes sense for Westbrook to handle the ball and shoot 18 fgs (the most on the Clippers). Harden was the leader in assists last year and every team with him as the primary ballhandler has seen some level of success (a solid playoff team).
Westbrook playing better than he did on the Lakers is STILL worse than Harden.
Russell does not have off ball “gravity” because of his lack of shooting. James does have off ball gravity because of his shooting.
This is the main driver behind the thinking of - - when on the floor together it is more advantageous to the teams spacing for Russell to be the primary ball handler not James.
Not saying it’s the way to go but hope this helps explain the thinking behind who is the primary ball handler when on the court together.