Russell Westbrook experiment works but it can’t save the Lakers on Friday

The Los Angeles Lakers have gone from championship contenders in Vegas to when will they get their first win in about a year. While the Lakers front office (Cough, cough Kurt Rambis!) and the fanbase play this week’s version of “Who Do We Blame Next?” the Lakers have found themselves at the bottom of the Western Conference.

After losing to the Denver Nuggets in one of the more listless games of the season, now Anthony Davis has officially failed in his goal of playing 82 games. He was listed out with back soreness.

The Los Angeles Lakers tried, Lord knows they tried, but they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 111-102. The Lakers are still winless, and the Denver Nuggets, the same team that dragged them earlier this week, get to run it back Sunday.

The formula worked yet again against the Lakers…

• LeBron gets his points (28), but as long as someone matches him being Anthony Edwards (29), everything is fine!
• Let a non-scorer in Rudy Gobert dominate the game with 22 points and 21 rebounds…
• Continue to donate bricks to NBA cities from the 3-point line!

Man…Dr. Jerry Buss is rolling over in his grave, knowing that his creative vision is being destroyed by his daughter and the rest of this bunch! Scary performances can be considered “Showtime” too!

The good from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss: 

Anthony Davis did not play, but the jokes on Twitter are getting funnier and funnier!

The clock on AD sitting out a game started the second he took that fall trying to block Kawhi Leonard’s shot in the second game. But let’s be clear here, after that whipping he took from Nikola Jokic, there was NO WAY he was going to put up with the beating that Karl Anthony -Towns and Rudy Gobert were going to give him in the paint. Needless to say, the jokes came out after the announcement.

They say AD will be back on Sunday, but do you believe it? And more importantly…does it really matter when he won’t bang against the two-time reigning MVP?

The Russell Westbrook experiment worked in the second quarter!

Russ looked awful at the start missing his first five shots, but in the second quarter, he started to find a rhythm and scored 10 points, starting with his second 3-point shot of the season. After Rudy Gobert turned around, he began to take it personally and played very well after watching the ball go in.

His best play was the give-and-go with LeBron just before halftime!

Sadly for Russ, if this keeps up, he will be glued to the bench for the rest of the season. He just has to see the big picture and know he’s auditioning for another team next year. Westbrook finished with 18 points and 8 rebounds. He shot 6-17, but at least he has the heart to look at the rim to even shoot! More on that later…

The Los Angeles Lakers sure know how to close out the first half! 

7-0 run to end the second quarter brought the Lakers back to tie things at 52-52. Readers that follow these post-game reports know where this is going, right?

Troy Brown Jr… 

The dude hit 3 point shots. That’s it. That’s more than it. Give him a contract extension!

The bad from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss: 

The Los Angeles Lakers turned the ball over too much!

If a team can’t shoot, they have to take care of the ball. The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t, and it cost them this game. The Timberwolves did not play well and shot as badly as the Lakers. The only difference is that the Wolves turned the Lakers’ mistakes into points. 22 turnovers is not going to get it with this team. They don’t score enough. Speaking of scoring…

The offense just evaporates in the second half! 

Remember the game was tied at 52 right? It’s like the opponent goes into the locker room then discusses the Lakers’ tendencies and then shuts them down in the second half.

The Los Angeles Lakers guards (Not named Russell Westbrook!) are scared to shoot!

The Lakers need shooting right? Well, let’s look at the guards and how they did shall we?

• Lonnie Walker IV: 3-10 shooting for 6 points.
• Patrick Beverley: 2-4 shooting for 6 points.
• Austin Reaves: 4-5 shooting for 12 points.
• Kendrick Nunn: 4-9 shooting for 9 points. 

Here’s the point. These shots from all of these players are widely spread out. Open shots (ESPECIALLY FOR BEVERLEY!) are being passed up. They are not being aggressive enough for anyone to worry about them. Lonnie Walker IV just had an off night, it happens, but if these guys don’t take the open shots and pass, it doesn’t mean anything. It hurts the offense.

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss (Whatever…the season!):

Here’s the reality Lakers fans!

The Lake Show Life is putting together a special Lake Show Life Lessons feature on why the Los Angeles Lakers are stinking up the NBA. It will feature the reality of this team and how they got to this point. But for this game, it’s just plainly obvious…

Number one: This team can’t shoot!

Obviously, outside of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, there are no consistent threats to score the ball. Even LeBron is barely above average from beyond the arc. The Lakers shot 41.6 percent from the field, 31 percent from beyond the arc and they got their shots rejected eight times.

Number two: This team is too small!

See the concept of basketball is that if you miss a shot the rules state that a team can go get the ball and try again. Hence the major problem, which is worse than the shooting. The Lakers have no centers and AD will not do it.

What this means is when the shot goes up basically the possession is over and the Lakers have to run back on defense. A special shout-out goes to Wenyen Gabriel and Damian Jones because they showed heart, but they can’t match the Wolves’ big men.

Visual proof…