Just when things were looking like they were getting better for the Lakers, they suffered yet another setback. The Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder last night, one of the youngest teams in the league. What makes it worse is that the Lakers blew a 26-point lead to lose the game.
The Lakers had decent performances from Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook. Westbrook put up his first triple-double for the Lakers, against the team where he established himself as ‘Mr. Triple Double’. But he was a big part of the Lakers blowing the lead after he had 10 turnovers in the game.
The game between the Thunder and the Lakers was close till the final seconds. With 4 seconds left on the clock, the Lakers need 5 points to send the game to overtime. Rajon Rondo was inbounding the ball to Carmelo Anthony from within his own half but turned the ball over to Darius Bazley who hustled to get the steal.
Bazley then raced up the court to get the dunk and put the game to bed for the Thunder. Westbrook was furious with Bazley for doing this in the final seconds of the game and confronted him about it. Westbrook went to confront him, causing the refs to take notice and eject him from the game.
Russ was clearly unhappy about the play that Bazley made, thinking it was unnecessary showboating for a game that, in his mind, was already over. After the game, Russ doubled down on his anger and said that it was unsportsmanlike for Bazley to make that play.
“When sh*t like that happens, I don’t let it slide. There’s certain things you just don’t do in sports.”
It’s hard to understand where Westbrook is coming from. There were 4 seconds left in the game, and the Lakers had a small chance to send it to overtime. So Bazley stealing the ball and dunking it to close the game was the right call. But regardless, he is very unhappy.
Fans of the Lakers were also upset with their performance, calling out many players, including Russ, on social media. The Lakers will get a chance to avenge this loss next week, as they play OKC at the Staples Center. Perhaps this will serve as extra motivation for Westbrook to perform on the night.
