Lakers Cannot Shoot 3’s

Westbrook

When asked if he would have to deal with any fallout with the point guard due to his decision to sit Westbrook for the final three possessions of Sunday’s 106-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Lakers coach Darvin Ham was unyielding.

“There isn’t time for feelings or for people to be in their emotions. In other words, we’re attempting to reverse this, ” Ham stated following the Blazers’ victory, which dropped the Lakers to 0-3 on the year. “I don’t have time for one individual to be in their feelings about when, when, and how they should be in the game,”

With 4:42 left in the fourth quarter and the Lakers leading by eight points, Ham brought Westbrook back into the game. Westbrook finished the game with 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting, six rebounds, six assists, and zero turnovers. Before Ham removed Westbrook with 12.4 seconds left, Portland had scored 10 more points than Los Angeles in the following four and a half minutes.

L.A. struggled as a unit in the final stretch, going 3-for-9 overall and 0-for-4 from three, which helped the Lakers have a 6-for-33 day from the free-throw line (18.2%), raising their season total to 25-for-118.

With 27.3 seconds left in the game and 18 seconds remaining on the shot clock, Westbrook missed one of those shots. He missed a 15-foot pull-up jumper with L.A. leading 102-101 after Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic practically urged him to shoot it by creating space with his defense.

According to Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, “putting him on Russ, we were simply going to kind of play off of Russ in that time.” Nurkic was switched to guard Westbrook.

Two For One

When questioned about the shot, Westbrook said that he was attempting to complete a two-for-one, a move in which one attempts to obtain two offensive possessions before the end of a quarter by looking for a scoring opportunity early in the shot clock on the first one. Ham claimed that he disagreed with Westbrook’s tactic more so than the location of his shot.

Ham added, “I just wish we’d gone straight for the rim. “Teams want you to take and give up that one shot, whether it be a long two, a contested two, or something else. I wish he had done that because he still had a high level of explosiveness and the ability to get to the hoop. more so with Nurkic there in the back with five fouls.”

“Shot selection is something we have to work on,” Ham continued.

LeBron James was questioned about his attitude on going for a two-for-one when you have the lead rather than playing from behind. James led Los Angeles with 31 points but missed a possible game-tying shot at the buzzer.

James remarked, “I feel like this interview is attempting to set me up to say something. I can tell you guys currently fall under the Russell Westbrook umbrella. I dislike losing, I detest losing in any situation. No matter what occurs during the course of my season or career, I detest losing. and in particular how we conducted this game. But give Portland credit. You folks are welcome to write about Russ and attempt to talk about him in whatever way you like, but I’m not up here to do that. No, I won’t. I’ve repeated it numerous times. That is not how I operate. I’m not like that at all.”

Defense

But James’ reaction to a question about how he tries to trick opposition defenses later in his news conference was insightful.

James claimed, “I always have time and score and what’s happening and how the defense has been playing me during the course of the game, it’s constantly in my brain. I’m not just wandering around, that much is certain.”

Anthony Davis had a tremendous game, scoring 22 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and blocking 6 shots.

An obviously irate Davis replied, “The shot-making has not. The defense has been pretty good. ‘That’s a major distinction,'”

James described the team’s attitude as “s—-ty,” which is to be anticipated, after the defeat.

“The worst situation you can be in is around a group of guys who are ecstatic after a defeat. So, that describes the current mood. However, I’ll leave my frustration and my possessions here. I’m leaving it here once I’ve driven out of the tunnel.”

With two games on the road against the 2-1 Denver Nuggets on Wednesday and the 1-1 Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, L.A. continues its early-season schedule.

Davis asserted, “There’s no way we’re supposed to lose this game. That’s where my annoyance stems from.”

Written By Dylan Santoyo

Sources 

ESPN: 3-point shooting sinks Lakers again; Russell Westbrook benched late

SB Nation: The Lakers have been a historically bad 3-point shooting team through three games

Fan Nation: Lakers News: Former Russell Westbrook Teammate Thinks Russ Could Fall Out Of The League If His Poor Play Continues

Top and Featured Image Courtesy of Erik Drost’s Flickr page – Creative Commons License

Inset Image Courtesy of Erik Drost’s Flickr page – Creative Commons License