Against Knicks Los Angeles Lakers Russell Westbrook was benched by coach Frank Vogel. This was the second time Russ was benched in OT. But, this time lakers won over New York Knicks 122-115 on Saturday.
Russ is known for his high-scoring games however, he ended up scoring only five points in 29 minutes. He scored five points on 1-for-10 shooting in one of the worst rounds of his career.
Russell Westbrook Overstates his poor play
This is the second time in three weeks that Vogel has gone without Westbrook in Overtime. Frank Vogel benched Russ for the first 6 minutes and 30 seconds of the fourth quarter as the Lakers managed a six-point lead after trailing by 21 points, decided to take Russ back out in Overtime after seeing how the point guard closed the fourth.
Laker fans are booing Russell Westbrook after this awful miss 😳 pic.twitter.com/yOrAtlB5EA
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) February 6, 2022
Later in the post-match press conference, Westbrook told the reports, “The best part of this game is that you win” Russ continued “Guys competed. We won the game, and that’s all that matters.”
Russ explained that nights like Saturday happen over the journey of an 82-game season.
Lakers’ Coach – Frank Vogel on Benching Westbrook
Vogel went with a lineup of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Trevor Ariza, Talen Horton Tucker, and Malik Monk in the extra session. Russ scored zero points 0-for-2, but Knicks managed a 16-10 run after getting him subbed in to tie the score.
Good to see the comradery between Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis pic.twitter.com/Y5ApZlNvpK
— LakeShow (@LakeShowCP) February 6, 2022
“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.”
LeBron leads the Lakers to Victory
It was just the 17th game that Westbrook, James, and Davis have played together so far out of the 54 games Los Angeles has logged this season. In spite of Westbrook’s shaky play a few times, Los Angeles is now 10-7 in those games.
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