About halfway through L.A.’s Sunday night matchup against Portland, they actually looked on track to win the game. After a few moves from James and some great defensive stretches, the Lakers built a lead in the second half that extended into the fourth quarter.
Sadly, for Lakers fans, it just wasn’t enough to win the game, as the team would end up losing by 2 points to Damian Lillard and his red-hot Blazers.
While LeBron had his own moment in the game, he was pretty good overall with a stat line of 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists on the game.
It was Russell Westbrook who played poorly, shooting 4-15 with just 10 points. He also took an ill-advised jumper with about 28 seconds left to go that all but sealed the deal for his team.
Russell Westbrook Gets Blasted By Fans After Another Poor Shooting Night
On social media, fans blasted Russ once again for his showing and lamented the fact that they will likely have to endure his flaws all season long.
Russ might honestly be the worst player in the NBA at this point no BS pic.twitter.com/ri6PzTYmi8
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) October 23, 2022
0-3 for the Lakers.
Westbrook’s pull-up J with 28 secs left up one as the entire arena yelped “NOOOOOOO!” was remarkable stuff.
Their late-game D was a travesty.
Pelicans have their pick.
Remember this was all Frank Vogel’s fault.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) October 23, 2022
Lakers were playing with high energy, elite defense and the ball was moving on the offensive end with Russell Westbrook on the bench. We had an 8-point lead.
It seemed like the energy was sucked out of the Lakers after he checked in. We now lead by just 1 point.
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) October 23, 2022
Westbrook taking that jumper that helped give the Blazers back and the lead might be one of the dumbest IQ plays from a guy who’s been in this league for over 10 years. Absolutely crazy
— 🅵🅾🆁🆃🅷🅴🅵🅰🅽🆂 🎙 (@503Blazerfans) October 23, 2022
Facts over feelings right???
For the most part the Lakers have been EASILY better when Russell Westbrook was not on the floor.
Putting him back on the floor to close out the game is just mind boggling
— Sean Davis (@Sean_Davi) October 23, 2022
RUSSELL WESTBROOK WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE pic.twitter.com/hZYqhr8JVA
— 🟣🟡🏀 (@LONGLIVEKO8E) October 23, 2022
I’ll take a bag of sun chips for Russel Westbrook with all due respect real talk
— Mark Jackson’s Burner (@casualtakeking) October 23, 2022
stop putting russell westbrook in the game when it’s winning time. no excuse for dat sub w/ 5 mins in the fourth.
— Coach Rome (@Rome_Beast) October 23, 2022
The Westbrook shit is sad bc he knows but has to pretend that he doesn’t
— dyson daniels floater (@killmesIime) October 23, 2022
I don't ever want to see Russell Westbrook in a Lakers jersey again dawg
— ℵ (@nicktharula) October 23, 2022
Russell Westbrook is a liability and I can’t believe Ham played him in crunch time.
— Ryan Rueda (@iDude14) October 23, 2022
So basically…Ham put Russ in with the Lakers up by 8 to build his confidence, saw him brick twice, and then pulled him with 12.4 seconds left and the Blazers with a 2-point lead.
Frank Vogel is out there laughing his ass off.
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) October 23, 2022
Unfortunately for Westbrook, this is nothing new. After some initial excitement and optimism upon his arrival, it didn’t take long before his poor play on the court turned fans against him. His ego-centric attitude only served to make things worse, and Russ essentially painted a target on his back for all of Lakers Nation to see.
The Lakers need to trade Russell Westbrook before his reckless play and divisive personality cost them whatever chance this otherwise feisty team has at a rewarding season (via Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times). They can surprise. They can entertain. Their new coach Darvin Ham appears capable of building a new culture that can shake up the Crypt and scare a few people. Believe it or not, they could even make the playoffs. Yet they can’t do any of this while Westbrook and his clanks and his complaining are allowed to create a sort of mud into which this shiny new car’s back tires are sinking.
They can’t move forward with him. They are eventually going to spin into oblivion because of him. They need him gone now.
For a team that desperately needs shooting, why is a guy who can’t shoot taking so many ill-advised shots? Why is he even still on the team at all?
This year, the Lakers are going to be forced to take a hard look in the mirror, and they might not like what they find. Because if these first three games are any indication of how the rest of this season will go, Lakers Nation better gears up now for a bumpy ride.
