Wednesday’s loss to the Indiana Pacers was more about what would happen in the aftermath than the actual result for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Lakers couldn’t stop Caris LeVert’s offensive explosion, and during the late comeback attempt with 3:52 remaining in the quarter, Russell Westbrook was not seen.
After the game, Vogel said he played the players he thought would win the game, an interesting quote about a player making $44 million. This was the first time Westbrook had been benched in this context, but according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Vogel had the green light from the front office:
