"Teams are just playing harder than us" - Russell Westbrook gives a candid assessment of LA Lakers' recent struggles
LA Lakers' star point guard Russell Westbrook confessed his displeasure with his team's defense. On Saturday night, the Lakers clashed with the Denver Nuggets but were absolutely run over at Ball Arena in Colorado. Michael Malone's team outscored their opponents in every quarter and won the game by a 37 point margin.
While speaking to reporters, Russell Westbrook suggested in his post-game interview that there was no excuse for the disappointing 133-96 loss at the hands of the Nuggets. He emphasized the fact that this team simply needs to play harder, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
"We gotta make a decision on, we just gotta play hard. Sometimes the schemes and how you play doesn't really matter. You gotta play hard sometimes. Teams are just playing harder than us. Simple as that. Even when we are winning we give up a lot of points. Now it is showing, especially when we lose games."
Russell Westbrook: "Sometimes we got to make a decision to play hard." Says "teams are just playing harder than us. Simple as that."
Russell Westbrook and the LA Lakers continue to struggle
Westbrook, who was brought in to turn the Los Angeles team into title contenders, is yet to prove to be a fruitful signing. He is currently averaging 18.7 points per game, the third lowest season tally in his entire career. He has shot 29.1% from the three point line and is averaging only one made shot per game from beyond the arc.
Furthermore, the man who earned the name "Mr Triple Double" is currently averaging 1.3 fewer field goals than in his previous season. In fact, Westbrook is shooting only 28.6% from 5-9 ft zone and 54% from less than 5 ft. In comparison, he shot 35.1% from 5-9 ft and 62.2% from less than 5 ft in 2020-21.
Defensively, Russell Westbrook has also looked lackluster, as has the entire Lakers squad. LeBron James, who has always been a tremendous force on defense, has been slow and sluggish this term. Their inability to switch effectively and control the Nuggets' spacing left much of the Lakers perimeter open last night for Denver's sharpshooters to land easy threes, 23 of them in fact.
When you're losing by 39 points, you can't blame Russell Westbrook or any one player for that.
During the same post-game interview, Westbrook also went on to highlight how the game seemingly got away from the Lakers, saying:
"They was spraying the ball around, they was hitting some contested ones but once they going, ain't really much you can do."
The nine-time All-star scored 19 points against Nikola Jokic and Co. However, he is averaging only 10.5 points per game in his last four appearances. There is a clear lack of connection between Russell Westbrook and his new team. Despite playing 43 games for the Purple and Gold, he is yet to showcase a consistent performance streak.