Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons why fans shouldn’t panic right now
By Robert Marvi
5. Russell Westbrook looked much better in his second game than he did on opening night
The University of California, Los Angeles product looked awkward and tentative in the exhibition season, and it continued in the first game of the regular season.
But on Friday against the Suns, Westbrook looked more like himself.
He attacked the basket much more often and had open lanes to do so. He also crashed the boards and found open teammates quite often.
Westbrook only shot 6-of-15 from the field and 3-of-8 from the free-throw line, both of which are pretty poor. But he had 15 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and two steals.
He is one of those uncommon players who can make a big positive impact on a ballgame even when he isn’t shooting well. He can also affect a game and his teammates simply with his intensity and ferocity.
The Lakers as a team showed plenty of emotion and intensity overall despite getting blown out by Phoenix. Trailing by 27 heading into the fourth quarter, they finally started to figure some things out and trimmed the final margin to 10.
Maybe those are things they can build on and will serve them well moving forward.