Underground GOAT: Lou Williams’ regular season classic battle/peak record

Who is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) in your mind? Michael Jordan, LeBron James or even Stephen Curry, Kobe Bryant? In addition to these figures who are already famous on the stage and can influence the global basketball world by one person, there are some figures who are low-key killers: they are not famous, do not often attract the spotlight, and are often even ignored: However, they are always on the court. The killing will catch you off guard!

There are quite a few such low-key alliances of strong players: Damian Lillard, Pascal Siakam... However, what is even more exaggerated is that the next one, who is the core leader of the team, does not even have a starting position, preferring to remain invisible. Among the substitutes, it took a while before they started to take over the game. He is the three-time Sixth Man of the Year, the all-time bench scoring leader, "The Strongest Underground" Elder Lu, and Underground GOAT: Lou Williams. Let's review the peak moments of his career!

Elder Lu helps the Eagles to extend their frontline in the playoffs

• season：2020-21
• result:Eagles 110-88 Bucks
• data:21 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, FG 7-9

The Eagles were without their main coach Trae Young in the fourth game of the 2021 Eastern Conference Championship. However, the Eagles, who were about to be suspended after losing a game, decided to use veteran Lou Williams. Williams used his easy-going nature to link up the entire team offensively. In the first half, he made 4 of 4 shots. In the second half, when the Bucks began to double-team Lou-Will, the experienced Lou-Will took the initiative to adjust his offensive strategy and switched to passing and organizing. He handed out 7 assists and led the team. A wave of 12-2 attacks also laid the foundation for victory.

The starter hit 30 points for Elder Lu for the first time in his career.

• season:2009-10 (fifth season of career)
• result:Grizzlies 102-97 Sixers
• data:31 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 steals, FG 75% (12-16)

Lou Williams, who started his career with the 76ers and was drafted in the middle of the second round, did not get many opportunities in the first two years of his career. He was not reused until the beginning of the 2007-08 season and showed the potential of a good scorer; but it was still not until 2009- It wasn't until 2010 that he began to escape his bench role and become the Sixers' starting point guard. From the first game to before being injured at the end of November, he averaged 17.4 points and 5.1 assists, including the explosion in that game. This was the first time in his career that he scored 30+ points.

However, he finally managed to get through, but he was disrupted by injuries, and when Allen Iverson returned to Philadelphia, he was put back on the bench again. From then on, Lou began to learn to embrace the position of a substitute. Years later, he also appreciated all this luck: "Honestly, if I didn't accept the substitute role at that time, I might not be able to gain a foothold in the NBA now. Because if I didn't accept the substitute role, I may pursue something that is not suitable for me, and then my career will be over. I have to accept the role and style of play that suit me, so that my career can last longer."

Claw ambush the sixth Elder Lu of the year

• season：2014-15 (tenth season of career)
• result:Tyrannosaurus 110-93 Cavaliers 
• data:36 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals

After two years in Atlanta, Lou-Will was traded to Northland by the Hawks. At that time, the two-gun combination of Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan was gradually taking shape. The Raptors were emerging as a power in the Eastern Conference. It would be great to add another scoring player on the bench. Even more powerful. The Raptors started the season with a 13-2 record. In this season, Lu won his first Sixth Man of the Year award.

Among them, on November 22, the Raptors challenged the Cavaliers, who had the new Big Three. The Raptors fell into a 13-point deficit at the beginning. However, at the beginning of the second quarter, Williams used speed and outside to smash the Cavaliers' defense, and a buzzer-beater in midfield. Instead, the Raptors took a 2-point lead, and the game heated up in the second half. They scored a career-high 36 points, leading the Tyrannosaurus to bite the Cavaliers who would bring them countless fears in the future.

last quarterScored 23 points

• season：2015-16 (eleventh season of career)
• result:Thunder 117-113 Lakers 
• data:44 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, FT 15-15

His good performance in Toronto earned Williams a three-year, $21 million contract and put him on the purple and gold jersey. At that time, he came to the Lakers who were desperate to do anything, and became teammates with Kobe Bryant, who was approaching the end of his career, and Nick Young, known as the "little boss". Of course, Lou-Will's usage rate and scoring also declined.

However, against the Thunder in early January, facing top opponents such as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Lou played like his teammate Kobe, constantly drawing fouls and firing from the outside to regain lost ground for the Lakers. In the fourth quarter of the game, the Lakers almost gave the ball to Elder Lu, and he fully lived up to expectations. He scored 23 points in the quarter and staged a crazy showdown with Thunder's Westbrook (he scored 15 points); Unfortunately, at the last minute, Kobe failed to hit both of his jump shots, and the elder's career-high was in vain.

peak late bloomer

• season：2017-18 (the thirteenth season of his career)
• result:Clippers 125-106 Warriors 
• data:50 points, 7 assists, 3 steals, FG 59.2% (16-27), 3P 8-16

"I remember at the beginning of the fourth quarter, someone told me that I went crazy in the third quarter; I had no idea what they were talking about; and after the game, they told me that I won the game in the third quarter. 27 points. I didn't even realize it, I just kept playing.

Lou Williams

After more than a dozen seasons in his career, he has experienced five teams. Lou Williams once wanted to retire, but finally stayed and joined the Clippers. However, he did not expect that it took him two years back to LA to reach his peak! Although he is still serving as a substitute, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the only person on the team besides Blake Griffin who can carry the victory on his shoulders at critical moments is Lou Williams.

Blake Griffin did not play in the game against the Warriors. Even though the Warriors rested the Splash Brothers and only sent Kevin Durant and Draymond Green to play, the game was still one-sided; unexpectedly, the defending team encountered tenacious resistance. Lou Williams played his career masterpiece, shooting 16 of 27 from the field, including 8 of 16 three-pointers, and all 10 free throws. He scored 50 points and 7 assists, directly overpowering Durant who also scored 40 points!

This is not only his career scoring high, but also the 13th player in history to score 50+ points against the Warriors. The last Clippers player to score 50+ points was Charles Smith (1990). 27 years later, Williams completed the game. He achieved a high score that neither Chris Paul nor Blake Griffin could achieve - of course, he also won his second Best Sixth Man Award this year.

Bench weapon

• season：2017-18 (the thirteenth season of his career)
• result:Speedboat 109-100 Grizzly Bear
• data:40 points, 2 rebounds, 10 assists, 4 steals, FG 63.2% (12-19)

The 50-point defeat of the Warriors may be the peak of Lou-Will's career in the regular season; however, this game may be the most suitable for his title of "Underground GOAT", for no other reason than that he started as a substitute in this game. Before the Clippers traded Blake Griffin at the last minute, Williams paired perfectly with him and DeAndre Jordan, and with the addition of competent green leaves such as Milos Teodosic and Montrezl Harrell, the Clippers won a beautiful victory.

Elder Lu also became the first bench player to score at least 40 points and 10 assists in a single game since 1982. Before him, only Pete Maravich in 1973 and Brian Winters in 1982 had done so. The strongest sixth man of the era is definitely worthy of the title.

First time threepair

• season：2018-19 (fourteenth season of career)
• result:Bulls 115-104 Suns 
• data:31 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, block, FG (15-21)

"This is very special for the first time in my career. Rebounding is not my main job. I never thought about winning three yuan. I would give up most of my rebounds and let the big guys grab them. Today I just played hard. The only thing The person who reminded me was Boban Marjanovic. I thanked him very much, but also told him that it would hinder my psychology. In the end, I completed the triple triple, which was really fun!"

Lou Williams

Looking at Lou Williams' bench career, he always rushed in and out as a "lone ranger"; but after arriving with the Clippers, he had more aid. In addition to starter DeAndre Jordan, Montrezl Harrell, who was traded from the Rockets to Los Angeles with him, became an excellent weapon to match him and also earned him many assists.

In the 2018-19 season, Lou Williams scored 31 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Bulls, winning the triple triple for the first time in his career. It took him 903 career games to win his first major triple, which ranks second in NBA history, second only to Zach Randolph's 973 games. The Clippers, who led by three points with 16.9 seconds left, successfully sealed the victory with Harrell's dunk assisted by the elder.

king of substitutes

• season：2018-19 (fourteenth season of career)
• result:Celtic 115-140 speed boat 
• data:34 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, FG 70% (14-20)

"Anytime you have a 'historical' record to relate to, it's definitely pretty special."

Lou Williams

After his first season with the Clippers, Lou Williams successfully proved his ability to the Los Angeles fans. He even expressed his tenderness that he did not want to be sent to other teams and was even willing to sign the low-priced contract proposed by the Clippers (3 24 million per year), becoming the most value-for-money team ace in the league.

In his second season with the Clippers, against the Celtics, Lu also completed an important record belonging to the "Underground GOAT": he scored 34 points with an exaggerated shooting rate of 70%, not only helping the Clippers win by 25 points He stunned his opponents and became the bench player with the most points in history.

Prior to this, Dell Curry accumulated 11,148 points in his career, becoming the best substitute player in history; however, after this game, Lou Williams officially overtook him with 11,154 points - officially securing the Iron Throne of the bench king!

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