With the Los Angeles Lakers having started the season 0-4, new head coach Darvin Ham had to change this up a bit. The front office had seemingly refused to make any changes to this roster till Thanksgiving, so Ham had to make do with making some adjustments to what he already had with him.
He decided it was time to experiment with Russell Westbrook coming off the bench and it is something the Lakers will stick with for the foreseeable future. Ham had made the call to have Westbrook come off the bench in their final preseason game as well, but Russ exited that one with a hamstring injury in the first quarter, so we weren’t really able to get a good look at how it would work out. Westbrook played the whole game this time around and the results were promising.
LeBron James Makes A Statement After Russell Westbrook’s First Game Off The Bench
Russ had his second-highest scoring game of the season as he finished with 18 points to go with 8 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block. He was inefficient, but there were still a lot of promising signs, and Lakers fans were encouraged by what they saw. LeBron James also complimented Russ when he was talking to the media after the game.
“He was great…He was great. All game.”
– LeBron on Russ
(h/t @_Talkin_NBA)
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 29, 2022
It is just one step at a time. Westbrook wasn’t suddenly going to have a terrific game just because his role changed, but he was more effective than usual, which is a positive. If he can completely embrace this role, then we expect him to keep getting better as the season goes on.
Despite this positive though, the Lakers still lost the game 111-102 for their 5th straight defeat to start the season and the fans in the arena trolled them with ‘0-5’ chants. One contributing factor to this defeat was that they didn’t have Anthony Davis, who fell short of his goal of playing all 82 games by missing a game this early on due to injury. The injuries just keep piling up for Davis and he isn’t going to get healthier as he turns 30 next year. The Lakers at some point will have to consider their options as it is becoming more apparent with the passing day that you cannot rely on Davis to stay healthy. The problem, however, is that his stock is as low as it has ever been at this point, so they won’t get much in return, which makes a trade unlikely. They’re stuck with what they have and it, unfortunately, might not be enough to even earn a spot in the playoffs.
