Russell Westbrook will go through unknown territory tonight, as he’ll start the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game on the bench, rooting for his teammates. This announcement comes after Russ missed the Lakers’ most recent matchup against the Denver Nuggets, which ended in the 4th loss of the season for the Purple and Gold.
After yet another defeat for the team, many fans talked about how Russ wasn’t there and the team still lost, calling out the rest of the squad for not living up to the expectations.
Until this morning, Russ was questionable to play tonight. The Lakers upgraded him to probable and Darvin Ham made the decision to send him to the bench for this game. Fortunately for the Lakers, the T-Wolves are struggling too, so they could take advantage of that to get the first dub of the season.
Russell Westbrook Will Start On The Bench Tonight
Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin of ESPN report that the Lakers will bring Russ off the bench tonight after missing the last game due to his hamstring. This will be a big chance for Russ, who will start his first game on the bench for the first time in over 1000 matches.
The Los Angeles Lakers are planning to bring Russell Westbrook off the bench Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, and will continue to feature him in a reserve role for the foreseeable future.
Westbrook missed L.A.’s loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday with left hamstring soreness, but his status was upgraded to probable on Friday morning.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham brought Westbrook off the bench in L.A.’s preseason finale and said that the role allows the former league MVP to have the ball in his hands more often on offense, igniting the Lakers’ attack.
Coming off the bench will break Westbrook’s streak of 1,007 straight starting appearances, the third-longest active stretch in the league behind Chris Paul and LeBron James, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
The report adds that the Lakers finished practice with a starting lineup of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Patrick Beverley, Lonnie Walker IV, and center Damian Jones. James and Davis were listed as day-to-day too, but this points out that they’re playing tonight and from the very beginning.
