Five minutes into Thursday’s first quarter, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue looked down his bench in San Antonio, preparing to make his first substitution.
For the first time in four years, the NBA’s all-time top-scoring reserve was no longer on the roster, waiting to pull off his warmups, dribble to the left and shoot the fadeaway that has helped him reach 15,000 points.
Three-and-a-half-seasons and two Sixth Man awards after he arrived in a trade from Houston, Lou Williams’ Clippers tenure ended with a trade to Atlanta just before Thursday’s trade deadline, hours before a gritty 98-85 win that marked the team’s fourth consecutive.