The Los Angeles Lakers and Brooklyn Nets were supposed to be the marquee matchup on Christmas Day in the NBA. The NBA had two of their championship favorites loaded with superstars facing off in prime time. While positive COVID-19 tests and injuries derailed that, the game still provided plenty of theatrics down to the wire.
Brooklyn, who was without Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Joe Harris, ultimately won the game 122-115 over a Lakers team who was without Anthony Davis and essentially Russell Westbrook, who was an abysmal 4-of-20 from the field.
LeBron James carried the Lakers with a line of 39 points, nine rebounds and seven assists with three steals and one block in 40 minutes. He willed the team back into the game in the fourth quarter, as Los Angeles trailed by as many as 23 points early in the frame before storming back.
The Lakers tied the game with 45 seconds remaining but were unable to get over the hump and complete the comeback. Westbrook’s shortcomings were a major reason why.
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Defensively, he lost Patty Mills, who made the Los Angeles Lakers pay by knocking down clutch 3-pointers. Mills, as he has been all season, was on fire, scoring 34 points, making 8-of-13 from the 3-point line. The eight makes are a Christmas Day record, while the 34 points tied his career-high.
Westbrook’s lapses defensively killed the Lakers’ momentum, and he punctuated it with a missed dunk that would have cut the deficit to one point with 26 seconds remaining. It was about as poor of a finish to a game a player could have, as Westbrook left the arena without talking to the media.
LeBron James did, however, and he stood up for his teammate. Instead of focusing on the negative as so many people were, he highlighted the positives that Russell Westbrook brought to the court on Christmas night.
“He gave us extra possessions, he gave us a lot of looks around the basket, which I know that he can’t stand [failing to convert] as well,” James said. “But as far as the effort piece, if a guy plays hard, if a guy leaves it all out on the floor, I got no problem with that. It’s a make-or-miss league.”
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There have never been any doubts about the effort that Westbrook provides, but he needs to clean some things up if the Lakers are to make any noise in the postseason. The plays defensively at the end of the game are inexcusable for a team that has championship aspirations, as good teams, such as the Nets, take advantage of any small opportunity you present to them.
To put into perspective just how rough things got Saturday night, Westbrook played 36 minutes and recorded a plus/minus ratio of -23. In 40 minutes, LeBron James recorded a plus/minus ratio of +9. In 39 minutes, Carmelo Anthony was +10.
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Winning minutes without LeBron James has always been a struggle for the Los Angeles Lakers, but to lose by that many minutes in such a short period of time is hard to do. Russell Westbrook was brought in to help mitigate those negatives, but thus far, he has been unable to accomplish that.
