The Los Angeles Lakers lost against their neighbor rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers, in the game where the sixth seed was on the line. Prior to the game, both teams were equal to each other in terms of the stats and shared the same position on the table. This gave the Clippers an upper hand as they went into the game after four days’ rest. But unfortunately, the Lakers had to fight for the spot in a back-to-back game schedule. Moreover, LA is in the spotlight for not treating Russell Westbrook right, who is thriving in the Clippers.
Russell Westbrook was one big impact player last night who determined the flow of the game last night. The Lakers even had a strategy to capitalize on Westbrook’s bad shooting this year. However, the 34-year-old displayed an impressive shooting performance, shooting 6-12 from the field and 2-4 from behind the arc. Davis revealed their tactics after the game, but he also said that it backfired miserably.
Blames On The Lakers That They Left Westbrook Out In The Dry
There is no denying the mistreatment that the Lakers did on Westbrook during his time on the team. He became the target every time the team failed to perform, which it did very often. Moreover, the point guard had to switch his gameplay and position because of the lack of depth in the lineup. Therefore one of the Western Conference’s assistant coaches believes that “The Lakers brought him in and tried to make him a different player.” And after making him do what he could not, they left him out to dry during the trade deadline.
Before coming to the Lakers, Westbrook was pulling great numbers with triple-doubles in almost every game. But then LA brought him in a blockbuster deal from Washington Wizard, and everything went south. After failing to fit in the team in the first season, he started coming off the bench, an adjustment made by Coach Darvin Ham. He helped his team’s second unit, but the team struggled to find wins even then.
Russell Westbrook Doing Well In His New Team Clippers
On February 9, an inevitable trade happened where Russell saw his exit from the Lakers to Utah Jazz. But he did not play a single game to reach his ultimate destination back to Los Angeles but on the Clippers’ side this time. And now, in his new team, he has better relations, better sync, and much better performance on the court. The point guard even enjoys much more success with his new team in Los Angeles.
With a 42-38 record in the league, the Los Angeles Clippers have definitely confirmed their direct playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Lakers will depend on other teams to make a slip-up. But so far, it seems that the Lakers will have to fight in the play-in tournament for playoff qualification. And it all happened because of Westbrook, who still holds the capacity to influence the 2020 champs.