Los Angeles Lakers lose as Russell Westbrook has a historic night
By Ronald Agers
The Los Angeles Lakers had their two-game winning streak snapped by the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night behind a historic performance from Russell Westbrook.
Russell Westbrook sent the Los Angeles Lakers home with something to remember in their last road game of the season. For that matter, Russell Westbrook gave the NBA something to remember becoming the second player in history (Wilt Chamberlain being the other) to post a 20 point, 20 rebound, 20 assist triple-double.
The Los Angeles Lakers played hard and competed at times, but did not have enough ammunition as they fell 119-103 stopping a two-game winning streak. It’s hard to say what a game like this does for the franchise at this point with LeBron James shut down for the season and Kyle Kuzma sitting next to him in street clothes putting on his necklace.
The Lakers lost the game pretty much the same way they have all season long. The players did not do the little things on the floor giving up 21 turnovers and surrendering 17 offensive rebounds. Then Luke Walton failed to make timely in-game adjustments and substitutions to stem the tide. With four games left in the season, maybe winning games is not the Lakers priority.
Meaning, the Los Angeles Lakers now have the 11th worst record in the NBA and it may get worse with the World Champion Golden State Warriors playing them on Thursday. After losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves in a controversial fashion, they destroyed the Hornets by 47 points the very next game. Hopefully, they won’t repeat the performance.
On Friday, Lakers fans got a special invite from Ivica Zubac this week courtesy of the Orange County Register.
"“A bunch of fans have come up to me and they say, ‘Why did we trade you? The Lakers front office did the biggest mistake,’” Zubac said Tuesday before the Clippers practiced at their training facility in Playa Vista. “Everyone’s like, ‘We miss you.’ And I always say, ‘I’m on a better team now. You don’t have to be sad for me.’ And I always make sure to tell them, ‘Check our game out if you want to see good basketball.’"
The Lakers fans will have that chance on Friday when the Lakers play their rivals the Clippers who are fighting the Lakers final two opponents, the Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz, for the 4-5-6 seeds in the Western Conference playoffs. The Lakers could close out the year on an extensive losing streak.
The Lakers and the rest of the NBA did not see this coming. There will be playoff basketball in the Staples Center but most saw the purple and gold representing and not the red, white and blue.
The Lakers front office hopefully are preparing for the draft and scouting (We all know Magic Johnson will be at the Final Four!) talent to better this team. If not, the Lakers could start losing its fanbase. Now there are options according to Zubac.
"“I always make sure to tell them, ‘If you want to watch playoff basketball, we’re at Staples,’ ” he added. “So it’s up to them, but I’m always gonna keep trying. People got this bad image about Clippers, like Clippers did something bad. But the thing is, the Clippers never did something bad, they’re just another team in L.A.”"
Oh, the Clippers did Ivica, they stole you from the Lakers for a box of Newports and Puma Sweats.
Enough about the rest of the week, let’s have a history lesson!