In what has become a terrible trend, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered yet another letdown after losing to the Sacramento Kings in triple overtime.
Every time it seems like the Lakers have turned a corner, they come back the next game and make things harder than they need to. In this case, Sacramento was down two starters in Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes but Los Angeles allowed them to hang around throughout the night.
LeBron James and Anthony Davis had subpar games, though Russell Westbrook was a bright spot as he recorded a triple-double and played a team-high 51 minutes. Westbrook has previously come out and said that the team will need time to figure things out and his stance has not changed despite another troubling defeat.
“I don’t think it’s dramatic for us internally,” Westbrook said. “We know like AD said, we got a sense of urgency. But we also understand adversity, understand bumps in the road. And one thing I live by is never, never panic. Don’t panic, stick with each other, never spread out at times like this regardless of what people outside of our locker room, how quickly they think we should be playing this way, that way. It’s a long year, but also just to reiterate what AD said, we do got to have a sense of urgency of taking care of home wins and winning games we’re supposed to win.”
Davis admitted he and the team are frustrated after losing again, and while Westbrook is technically right that more time together should improve things, the optics of the process have been poor, to say the least.
Through 21 games, the Lakers have yet to really put together a complete game and while most of the season is still left to be played it feels like time is already running out.
Westbrook discusses how he prepares for games after playing extended minutes
Westbrook was one of the few positives against the Kings though it came at a cost because of how many minutes he ended up playing. For a veteran, the heavy workload could cost him in the short term, though he did not seem too concerned when asked how he prepares for the next game.
“Get some rest, get ready for Sunday. That’s all you can do, the game is over. Regardless of how many minutes we played, we know we’ve got to get our mind and our bodies prepared to be able to play Sunday.”
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