Watch: Russell Westbrook receives adoration from LA Lakers fans after crucial role off the bench in first win of the season
The LA Lakers picked up their first win of the season on Sunday night after beating the Denver Nuggets 121-110. The win helped the Lakers improve to 1-5 following a brutal offensive start to the year.
One of the biggest reasons for the Lakers' win was the improved play of Russell Westbrook. Westbrook, who received a lot of criticism at the start of the season, came off the bench and finished with a game-high plus-minus of +18.
He also received some adoration from Lakers fans who had been itching to see their team enter the win column.
The vibe between LA and Brodie was on another level tonight đź’ś
(via @michaelcorvoNBA) https://t.co/dqasxZ1Nsm
The game marked the first time Russell Westbrook has registered a positive plus-minus this season. He finished the game with a well-rounded stat line of 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. He also shot a much-improved 6-for-12 (50.0%) from the field. So overall he had a very strong game.
This comes after Westbrook had previously been averaging 12.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game on just 30.9% shooting. So Lakers fans were obviously quite relieved to see their $47.1 million man break out of his slump.
Speaking after the game, Westbrook chose to remain humble and gave most of the credit to his teammates.
"I love seeing my teammates flourish, honestly," Westbrook said.
"I get a joy by seeing others do great; my whole career, what lifts me up is to see others do well. And tonight was that night to see guys making shots, competing, and that's all you can ask for," Westbrook continued.
Sunday’s game marked the Lakers’ best team 3-point shooting night by a wide margin. The team finished shooting 13-for-30 (43.3%) from deep. Their previous best percentage had been just 9-for-29 (31.0%) in their prior game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
It’s only one game and the LA Lakers are still 1-5 and 14th in the Western Conference. However, maybe there’s a chance the team might be able to build some positive momentum off the win and continue to shoot better moving forward.
LA Lakers players and coaches on their first win of the season
Following the LA Lakers' win over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, Lakers head coach Darvin Ham spoke about the importance of the win. In particular, he noted how the Lakers needed to prove to themselves that they could play at a high level.
"Tonight, we needed to prove something to ourselves," Ham said
"Not to the world. Not to the media. We had to prove it to ourselves, and I felt great about how we responded," Ham added.
The win marked Ham’s first career win as an NBA head coach, so the Lakers' players celebrated as expected by showering him in water and ice. LA Lakers All-Star big man Anthony Davis spoke about the moment in his postgame interview.
"Very nice little bath," Davis said.
"He made a speech, and it was like, 'All right, Coach, we don't care what you're saying,' and then we drowned him with water," Davis added.
Davis then talked about how happy he was for both Ham and the Lakers team as a whole.
"There's not more we can ask for from a coach. ... We deserve it, he deserves it, and it was good to get him his first win as a head coach,” he further said.
Ham later added that he noticed a difference in the Lakers' ball movement against Denver.
"I just think the ball had a little pop to it. Guys were penetrating, kicking, finding open shooters, and guys didn't hesitate," Ham said.
Ham also said that he has been expecting the Lakers' offense to catch up to their defense for a while now.
"I've been saying it since Day 1: Shots are going to fall. Our offense is going to catch up to our defense," he added.
Following the game, the Lakers now have the second-best team defensive rating in the league at 104.7. However, they are still dead last in team offensive rating at 100.3. So if the Lakers’ offense does end up catching up to their defense, then they will be looking like an elite all-around team.
As for LA Lakers superstar forward LeBron James, he talked about how the Lakers' only goal is to win games.
"We're all here for one reason, and that's to win," James said.
"When guys' numbers are called or not called, we have to understand it's for the better of the team, not individuals.
"And tonight was one of those cases where guys stay ready, and guys who stayed ready and whose number wasn't called as much as it was before, but they were still locked in and cheering on the group, the group that was in there,” he continued.
The LA Lakers will look to pick up their second win of the season on Wednesday at home against the 4-2 New Orleans Pelicans.