Russell Westbrook shows off his handles before clowning Lakers D
On the basketball court, Russell Westbrook’s about as friendly as a swarm of bees protecting their hive. He’s not there to make friends, and in his eyes, if you’re not with him, you’re against him.
Westbrook didn’t post his best performance of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, but he did pick up one of the best highlights from the night’s action. After coming down the floor with the ball in his possession, the superstar point guard was met by four very confused Lakers defenders, and following a quick dance with the ball on a string, made them look very silly as he finished at the rack with ease.
The Lakers have been up and down all season, but tonight it was clear from the beginning that they never stood a chance. Led by Carmelo Anthony’s 27 points in 27 minutes, the Thunder led by as many as 25 and added another W to the win column with a 114-90 trouncing of the Lakers.
Oklahoma City took charge early and bullied the Lakers on the boards. Los Angeles neither shot poorly nor turned the ball over at a particularly high rate, but with a -24 rebounding disadvantage, they never gave themselves the opportunity to stay in the game.
For all that has been made of the struggles of the league’s most polarizing rookie Lonzo Ball, the Lakers have failed to win a single game without their starting point guard. He doesn’t shoot the best percentages or play the toughest defense, but tonight was more of the same from LA as they looked lost without Ball.
The Thunder are far from perfect, though they’ve looked like a new team since December came around last year. Their 17-8 record over that span is more in accordance with their preseason expectations than their 8-12 start to the season, but as hot and cold as OKC has been this year, it’s hard to tell what direction they’ll be heading in next.
Do they have the talent to contend in the West? Sure. Can they put it all together in time to compete in the playoffs? That is yet to be seen.
