LOS ANGELES - For the second time this season, Russell Westbrook was benched by Lakers coach Frank Vogel for calling off a game. Only this time, the Lakers won by defeating the New York Knicks 122-115 in overtime on Saturday.
And the result made all the difference in getting Westbrook to accept the decision.
"The best part of this game is that you win," Westbrook said after scoring five points on a 1-for-10 shooting with six assists and four turnovers in 29 minutes. "Friends competed. We won the game and that's what counts."
Vogel, who had Westbrook on the bench for the first six minutes and 30 seconds of the fourth quarter as LA took a six-point lead after trailing 21 early in the game, saw Westbrook in the OT. decided to withdraw. How the point guard closed the fourth.
Westbrook scored zero points, lost his only field goal attempt and went 0-for-2 from the free throw line and recorded no other stats as the Knicks went 16–10 on the run-to-end regulation when he was involved. happened. score tie. Vogel went into the extra season with a lineup of LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Malik Monk, Trevor Ariza and Talen Horton-Tucker.
"That [fourth quarter] stretch was part of it," Vogel said of his decision-making process. "I think obviously the juices were a tough night on either side of the ball and Braun was really going. So I knew the ball would be in Braun's hands and I thought we were going to get more from a defensive standpoint. - Ball action with TALEN, so ... you make tough decisions in the spirit of what the team needs to win a game."
During a post-game meeting with reporters, Westbrook was good-natured and described how the experience felt different from what it was nine games earlier when he was pulled after a 111–104 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
Westbrook said of the Indiana game, "I just talked to [Vogel] about what I was upset about." "But I was more upset that I didn't win the game. But not about when and how he would. But it doesn't matter. Like I said, it's not about me. I don't make up about it." Want. Me. It's more about our team and our people. Tonight we got a good win and now move on to the next one."
Acquired in a blockbuster trade on draft day that included sending two key contributors to the Lakers' 2020 championship team to the Washington Wizards in Kentavius Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma, Westbrook has become the poster boy for LA. Low achievement season. From his exorbitant salary of $44 million to his high turnover rate and sometimes erratic shot selection, he has been criticized every step of the way since joining his hometown team.
However, on Saturday, his teammates picked him up.
"I told him to text me later," James said of his postgame conversation with Westbrook. "I told him to go ahead, to stop himself from second guessing during the game. There were times he looked good, second guessed and twice where he had some drives and he had and second-guess himself. He's a spontaneous player and he should never, what he's done in this league, he should never second-guess himself whether he worked - and he worked. So I told him that just kill me later.
"And I don't have to tell him. I mean, he's a big-time player. And I have immense faith in his ability, not only for this team but for myself, personally."
The Crypto.com Arena crowd met with Boo on Westbrook, first for a shot when he miserably missed a midrange jumper off the edge of the backboard in the second quarter and then for a shot he passed when it was open Gaya in the back corner of the 3-point line late in the fourth.
"It can be frustrating," Davis said. "The fans, of course, want to see him play better. But the one thing you can't do is put too much pressure on yourself. You have to go out there and play freely. There were a few shots tonight that He usually takes the rhythm. Whether he kind of passed or hesitated. Me and LB were telling him, 'We don't care if you miss everyone else. Just play. Shoot your rhythm shots.' Do it. Don't hesitate.'"
Westbrook underestimated their poor game, explaining that nights like Saturdays happen during an 82-game season.
"It happens," he said. "I missed some shots that I normally do. Like I said, I don't want to make it about myself. When I play poorly, you guys ask me a ton of questions. And then again when I shoot I'm ball well, I don't listen to a lot of them. So I don't want to keep making it about myself and what I'm doing. We won the game and that's the most important part."