The Los Angeles Lakers Saturday came back from down 21 points to defeat the New York Knicks, but L.A. did not need Russell Westbrook to do so.
Westbrook turned in one of his worst games of the season, which even prompted Laker fans to boo him. He finished with just five points in 29 minutes on 1-of-10 shooting overall, including two missed free throws late in the game that allowed the Knicks to force overtime.
That made Lakers head coach Frank Vogel bench Westbrook during the extra five-minute period for Talen Horton-Tucker. After the game, Vogel explained why he made that decision.
“That (fourth quarter) stretch was part of it. Obviously, Russ was having a tough night on both sides of the ball, and ‘Bron was really going. So like I knew the ball was going to be in Bron’s hands, and I felt like we were going to get more from a defensive perspective and off-ball action with Talen,” Vogel said. “So, you make tough decisions in the spirit of doing whatever the team needs to win a game.”
Vogel hopes Westbrook can respond in a positive way.
“Well, there’s nothing wrong with any player, if someone’s not playing well enough where they don’t get to close the game out, there’s nothing wrong with giving somebody else that you feel is going to give you a better chance, giving them that opportunity,” Vogel said. “And, hopefully, the response is that that player (Westbrook) plays better. That’s the hope.”
This isn’t the first time Westbrook has been benched. Vogel made a similar decision near the end of regulation against the Indiana Pacers, though the Lakers still lost that game. The Lakers front office reportedly gave Vogel the green light to make those types of decisions on Westbrook, and Vogel needed to do so again for this contest.
That’s not a good sign for someone the Lakers gave away important assets for and now pay $44 million for. Now it’s up to Westbrook to adjust his game and play better.
