The Los Angeles Lakers seemed dead and buried entering the fourth quarter of their game against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers were up 103-82 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game but then the Lakers mounted a furious comeback.
Led by LeBron James, who scored 15 points in this stretch, the Lakers cut the Clippers’ lead to 113-103 with just under 7 minutes remaining but all that momentum seemed to vanish after one play. Russell Westbrook’s inbounds pass to Dennis Schroder was stolen by Kawhi Leonard who converted the and-one on the other end. It started an 8-0 run, which ended the game as a contest as the Clippers went on to win 133-115. After that mistake, Westbrook and Schroder got into a verbal altercation on the bench, and when Russ was asked about that play as well as the incident, he reacted furiously.
(starts at 0:39 mark):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZRaXlnXiVg
Reporter: “Where did you and Dennis get crossed up on that inbounds play and we kind of saw you guys kind of arguing about it on the bench after, presumably about that. What was the discussion about trying to get that right moving forward?”
Russell Westbrook: “What’d you mean crossed up? What’d you mean? How were we crossed up?”
Reporter: “You were trying to get the ball inbounds.”
Russell Westbrook: “How was that a cross-up?”
Reporter: “I mean I assume the turnover wasn’t the goal of the play. I’m wondering what the goal of the play was.”
Russell Westbrook: “What was the cross-up then? You said there was a cross up. So, where’s the cross up?”
Reporter: “I’m asking you.”
Russell Westbrook: “No, you said it. You said there was a cross up on that play.”
Reporter: “Did you guys get crossed up on that play?”
Russell Westbrook: “No. It was a 5-man play, it wasn’t between me and Dennis.”
Reporter: “Okay what went wrong on that inbounds play?”
Russell Westbrook: “It was a turnover.”
Reporter: “Did you feel that, that swung momentum at all?”
Russell Westbrook: “No.”
That got tense very quickly right there. Westbrook has had plenty of heated exchanges with reporters over the years and they need to be very careful about what they say to him in these postgame media sessions, especially after losses.
The Lakers Squandered Another Great Performance From LeBron James
LeBron made history against the Clippers, as his 46-point outing meant he had now scored 40 points against every NBA team. It was another incredible showing and if not for that mistake by Russ, they might have gone on to win. It is a shame how they’re finding ways to lose games despite his excellence but some help is on the way.
Anthony Davis and the recently acquired Rui Hachimura are both set to feature in their next game against the San Antonio Spurs to provide a much-needed boost. Davis, in particular, should help ease the load on LeBron who has carried the team since the big man went down over a month back.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
