LeBron James comes out in support of teammate Russell Westbrook, who had one of the worst shooting nights of his career in a home loss against arch-rivals Clippers.
Advertisement
The LA Lakers failed to defend their first home game against the Clippers despite LeBron James and Anthony Davis showing up with 20-points each. The purple and gold had one of their worst shooting nights, especially from the 3-point line, going 9-for-45.
In what it seems, the Lakers haven’t learned from their past mistakes, whether it be Russell Westbrook being a misfit or the lacking depth in their bench. Nonetheless, Brodie continues to be the most visible point of contention, the latest instance being his shooting horror against the Clippers.
The former MVP failed to make any shot from the field, going 0-11, with his only 2-points coming from free throws. The Lakers Nation made their displeasure evident during the game, yelling “no” every time Westbrook attempted a shot from beyond the arc.
Fortunately for Westbrook, he had the support of teammate LeBron James, who didn’t find anything anomal about the former OKC superstar’s shooting performance.
On the other hand, LBJ gave a shout-out to Westbrook for his defense.
LeBron James gives his take on Russell Westbrook’s horrid night from the field.
The Lakers failed to get the W in their first home game against arch-rivals Clippers, making it their second consecutive loss post the season opener against the Warriors. Newly hired head coach Darvin Ham is yet to figure out a possible way to fit Westbrook in the mix.
Mr. Triple-Double, who had a fairly decent performance in the first game of the season, would hit one of his worst slumps against the Clippers.
Russell Westbrook missed all 11 of his field goal attempts tonight, the fourth time he’s failed to make a field goal in his career and first since going 0-for-3 in 2016 against Dallas (was ejected in the second quarter). pic.twitter.com/TeF8n9coXS
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 21, 2022
It was no surprise to see Westbrook earn the wrath of the fans but luckily had the King by his side.
LeBron James’ advice to Russell Westbrook after his 0/11 shooting night: “Flush it down the toilet.” pic.twitter.com/8Fv1lPZ0YA
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) October 21, 2022
Adding to James’ point of Westbrook coming up big on the defensive end of schemes, the two-time scoring champion had 5-steals. Another interesting observation is him having only one turnover during the game.
Will Russell Westbrook come off the bench?
The mystery around this question continues. While many expected the nine-time All-Star to come off the bench this season, such hasn’t been the case.
Though he did come off the bench during the preseason game against the Kings, Westbrook ended up tweaking his hamstring, something he contributed to coming off the bench.
Darvin Ham said he had a talk with Russell Westbrook about what was out there, ie, Westbrook saying the hamstring injury was caused by him coming off the bench. He said he wanted to leave it at that. He also said his staff would never put a player in a position to injure himself
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) October 21, 2022
Well, the Lakers need to take an immediate call over this matter, given their chances to make the playoffs look bleak, amid a stacked western conference.
Also read: Russell Westbrook and Jaden McDaniels Play a Heated Game of Hot Potato Leaving NBA Twitter in Splits