Getty Lakers star Russell Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook had a rough final minute in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 107-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.
The former MVP turned the ball over, left his man wide open for a dunk and missed the game-tying 3-pointer in the closing seconds, putting a bow on yet another disappointing loss for the Lakers, who fell to 5-4.
After the game, Westbrook was asked about the end of the game and his unfortunate series of events.
“You saw it. Don’t ask any questions you know the answers to,” Westbrook told the reporter with an accompanying death stare. “Watch the game. I lost the ball and missed a three. Nothing to it.”
Westbrook had a solid game — with 27 points, six rebounds and five assists — but was just 10-of-23 from the field. He probably wasn’t the person the Lakers wanted taking the last shot, especially considering had his five 3-pointers during the contest.
“Not good enough. We want to get a better shot than that,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “The spacing wasn’t great, we were trying to get Melo to the top of the floor, but the spacing wasn’t great.”
Lakers Dealing With Absence of LeBron James
The Lakers were missing the services of LeBron James, who is expected to be out at least a week with an abdominal strain. Even in his absence, the Lakers are a veteran-laden team who should be able to best a team like the Thunder, who have only beat the Lakers this season.
“It’s interesting,” Westbrook told reporters. “But you know … I’m a person that you play the cards you’re dealt. Whatever it is, whatever that’s available, that’s what we work with. We haven’t had our full team one time — not even close actually.
“So, we just got to take whatever it is that we have and make the best out of it and compete to the best of our abilities.”
Anthony Davis echoed that sentiment.
“We have enough pieces to still win basketball games even though he brings a huge part at both end of the floor with what we do,” Laker big man Anthony Davis said.
Davis notched 29 points and 18 rebounds in the win, with the majority of that coming in the first quarter. He hauled in nine rebounds and 14 points over the first 12 minutes of the game. However, just before half Davis injured his thumb, although he fought through the pain. The team announced that the injury was a sprain.
Lakers ‘All Over the Place’ Defensively Against Thunder
The Lakers blew a 19-point lead this time against the Thunder, after blowing a 26-point lead the first time they met. Defense has been the issue for LA, which is a tough reality considering how good they were on that end the last two season, ranking among the top teams in the league.
“Defensively we were all over the place,” Davis said. “I feel like they were waiting on our coverages and were just picking us apart. … For some reason this team comes in every time they make shots against us, they made 15 3s again tonight.”
The Lakers have a chance to turn things around against the Blazers on Saturday.