Lakers' Woes With Russell Westbrook Continue; Calls For Change Grow Louder

KEY POINTS

Russell Westbrook 's mishap continues as the Lakers drop their third-straight game
A disappointed LeBron James prefers to maintain focus
Westbrook has put up lackadaisical numbers in his first three games this season

The Los Angeles Lakers remain winless and continue to search for that critical first win.

However, LeBron James and Anthony Davis were among the players who felt that they could have registered their first 2022-23 NBA season win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

The franchise appeared close to that, leading by a point over the Blazers.

But that was before Russell Westbrook took a jumper with about 27 seconds left in the game.

The Lakers were up at that point, 102-101. But with still 18 seconds left in the Lakers' shot clock, the 2017 NBA Most Valuable Player attempted a jump shot that inadvertently cost the team the game.

When asked why he took the shot, Westbrook explained he was trying to execute a two-for-one.

While the intent was reasonable, it was the type of shot attempt that drew a howl.

No less than first-year Lakers head coach Darvin Ham stressed that he would have hoped for an attempt where Westbrook or any other player to attack the rim.

"That's the one shot that teams want you to take and want to give up--long 2s, contested 2s, what have you. And with his ability to explode and get to the basket still being at a high level, I wish he would've done that. Especially with Nurkic standing back there with five fouls," the Lakers coach rued.

James, who finished the game with 31 points, was unsurprisingly miffed at losing the game.

In the post-game interview, the four-time NBA champion knew that questions related to Westbrook would be thrown his way.

"You guys can write about Russ and all the things you want to try to talk about Russ, but I'm not up here to do that. I won't do it. I've said it over and over. That is not my [M.O.]. That's not who I am," the 37-year-old NBA star said.

Moreover, Westbrook had a woeful outing, finishing with just 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the field.

Even though the Lakers were upbeat about seeing a Westbrook redemption drive, his averages in the first three games for the current NBA season are far from comforting.

In three games, Westbrook has averaged 10.3 points on 28.9% shooting from the field and an atrocious 8.3% from beyond the arc.

The Lakers are 0-3 thus far. They will next face the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday, October 26 followed by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, October 28.