Pacific Notes: Wall, Booker, Green, Westbrook

Having previously contemplated suicide amid a series of personal tragedies, Clippers guard John Wall is in a much better place now as he prepares for his D.C. homecoming on Saturday night, writes Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Describing the basketball court as his “sanctuary,” Wall said he believes he still has a lot left in the tank.

“(If) the money and all that s–t go out the window, I could come here and play the game I love,” he said. “… Just being here around the guys, in an environment where I know I’m on a team, that calms a lot of it out.”

As Youngmisuk details, tonight will be the first time since his last home game as a Wizard in December 2018 that Wall has played in front of fans in Washington. He returned to the city as a Rocket during the 2020/21 season, but no fans were in attendance due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The veteran point guard, who bought 50 tickets for the game, told Youngmisuk that it will be an “emotional” night for him.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

• Suns guard Devin Booker is considered day-to-day due to left hamstring tightness, head coach Monty Williams said today, per Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. With Phoenix in a three-game losing streak and another showdown with the Pelicans on tap for Sunday, Booker will presumably do his best not to miss any time.
• Tweaking the rotation to ensure that Draymond Green is playing with the second unit might go down as the move that saved the Warriors‘ season, writes Kendra Andrews of ESPN. As Andrews outlines, Golden State had been attempting to find ways for its young players to emulate  Green, but ultimately decided that Green himself was the only player capable of filling that role alongside the reserves.
• Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group checks in on how Russell Westbrook has settled into his reserve role, suggesting that the Lakers guard seems comfortable with his place in the rotation after coming off the bench for the last 21 games.