The Minnesota Timberwolves continued their hot streak since the All-Star break by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 104-124 at home. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards combined for 57 points, while Patrick Beverley had a strong outing with 18 points and three blocks.
The Lakers’ offense looked completely flat all game, as even LeBron James couldn’t carry them to make this a competitive game. That became even more emblematic towards the end of the game when Russell Westbrook air-balled an open corner three.
After Russ’s airball, KAT collected the rebound and passed it off to PatBev, who started ducking and pretending as a ‘brick’ would fall on him. After that, KAT started mimicking wearing binoculars and looking at the rim, throwing further shots at Westbrook.
has to be one of the more disrespectful moments ive seen in a long time, watch Pat Bev and KAT after Westbrook’s airball. pic.twitter.com/PnMU3nVd8T
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) March 17, 2022
Russell Westbrook in his prime made a name out of mocking opponents after highlight plays. While it was never ill-intentioned, Westbrook’s trademark Rockababy celebration was a great sight to see after one of his thunderous plays. We have seen the Rockababy occasionally this season, but there have been more lowlights for Russ than highlights.
Beverley and Westbrook have a long-standing rivalry that saw the former Clippers guard make a recent appearance on J.J. Redick’s podcast to discuss the feud. With the tides turned on Westbrook, all the people he celebrated on will be looking for their revenge.
This win helped Minnesota put pressure on the Denver Nuggets for the sixth seed, as the Western Conference looks to settle into the playoff seeds for this post-season. The Lakers are now 11 games under .500, but will most likely make the play-in unless teams like the Sacramento Kings or the Portland Trailblazers make a late push for the 10th seed. With Anthony Davis still out with injury, it looks like this nightmare season for the Lakers won’t get any better.
