The Los Angeles Lakers lost their opening game of the regular season to NBA champions Golden State Warriors, and Russell Westbrook played despite picking up a slight injury on Saturday.
Westbrook limped off in their defeat to the Sacramento Kings which capped off a brutal pre-season run, and was initially a doubt to face the Warriors. But he played, scored 19 points and picked up 11 rebounds in 31 minutes of play.
Although Westbrook looked in good shape, it's likely he had the recent hamstring tweak in the back of his mind. And after the loss to the Lakers he appeared to take aim at his coaches for their decision to have him lead the second unit in the game.
The Lakers were thrashed 133-86 against the Kings in their final pre-season game, with star players being given limited minutes as they prepared for their regular season opener. But with less time on the court, and more time left being static, it does increase the chances of muscular pulls if not warmed up correctly.
And this is exactly what happened to Westbrook, who only lasted five minutes before limping off. Seeing as he played against the Warriors, he got away with it this time.
But that didn't stop him from making a comment about the coaches decision to have him as a bench player in that pre-season game. Westbrook said he 'absolutely' believes that coming off the bench against the Kings played a major part in tweaking his hamstring.
"I’ve been doing the same thing for 14 years straight," he said after the Lakers lost to the Warriors. "Honestly I didn’t even know what to do pregame.
"Being honest, I was trying to figure out how to stay warm and loose. That's something I just wasn't accustomed to."
Head coach Darvin Ham spoke highly of Westbrook after the opening game, and welcomed his approach to competition to help boost the Lakers chances this season. "You want to start the game off the right way in terms of your energy and being in attack mode, and no one better than him (Westbrook)," said Ham, who spoke to reporters before Westbrook did after the game.
"I mean, it's what we have, and we got some key guys hurt. It's Game 1, give them a chance to go out and compete at the highest level. I thought he was solid. I thought he was solid. A couple possessions I wish I can get back, but overall, I thought he was solid."
As usual, it was LeBron James and Stephen Curry that stole the show, as both scored over 30 points in the Warriors' 123-109 win. James was close to recording a triple-double, but other than a good effort from Anthony Davis, none of his team-mates where close to being on his level.
