The Los Angeles Lakers headed into their matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night shorthanded. They haven’t had Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Wayne Ellington, or Trevor Ariza for a single game yet this NBA season. Against the Spurs, they added LeBron James to the injury list.
James was dealing with a sore ankle suffered in the game on Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies. He banged into Desmond Bane, re-aggravating the injury which lingered throughout the second half of last season.
Facing an uphill battle, things looked even bleaker when the Lakers entered the fourth quarter down 12 and Anthony Davis went down in a heap as well.
Despite all of that, the Lakers were able to pull out a 125-121 overtime victory. Davis was able to come back into the game and he helped carry the team to a victory along with Russell Westbrook.
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Westbrook spoke highly of Davis after the game, praising him for being aggressive and stepping up without LeBron James in the lineup.
“We understand that with (James’ absence) comes the responsibility of making guys around us better,” Westbrook said. “And tonight, I thought A.D. did a great job of just being aggressive all night, miss and makes, finishing well around the basket. He was big for us tonight.”
A big night indeed. Anthony Davis led the team with 35 points and 17 rebounds, but they wouldn’t have gotten the win without Westbrook’s contributions as well.
Westbrook has had some brutal performances to begin his Los Angeles Lakers tenure, but the Spurs were on the receiving end of one of his classic performances. Westbrook poured in 33 points on 15-of-27 shooting from the floor. He added 10 rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and had only three turnovers in 40 minutes.
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Head coach Frank Vogel spoke highly of Westbrook’s production, sharing this is as big of a reason as any as to why the team acquired him in the offseason.
“That’s why we felt great about this move,” Vogel said. “Last year we lost LeBron and A.D. for a long stretch, and we didn’t have enough to sustain throughout the regular season and win in the playoffs. To get a guy like Russ, if one of those guys is down, we have another guy that can put up a monster night like we saw tonight. Paying early dividends in acquiring Russell.”
It was great to see Westbrook get on track as he desperately needed to have a good game. Now, Vogel and the coaching staff will have to figure out how to get that production more often when all three of their stars are in the lineup together.
