NBA Updates: Warriors vs. Lakers takeaways: Westbrook saga; lack of shooters
Warriors ring night became more memorable after they picked up their first win of the season beating West rivals Lakers. Follow for more NBA updates here!
Los Angeles faced another season opening loss for the second consecutive season with Russel Westbrook against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors had a very comfortable win, thrashing the Los Angeles Lakers 123 – 109. Visit for the 2022-2023 NBA odds here!
In this article, we will give you two takeaways from the Lakers – Warriors Opening game.
Too many point guards, lacks on shooters
It is very great to note that Russell Westbrook did a great production against the Warriors as he scored a double-double with 19 Points and 11 Rebounds in 31 minuteS of playing time. This shows that the 2017 NBA MVP is very eager to help his team steal the ring night from the Defending Champions. However, this game showed us a glimpse of what will be the major hindrance of the Los Angeles Lakers for a championship – shooting. Rob Pelinka really did a terrible job this offseason, he failed to sign even a single elite three point shooter.
This limitation will really kill the production of their two primary options in James and Davis who needed enough floor space to facilitate both the offense and defense. The Warriors took advantage of that and gave the Lakers a shooting clinic, a tight defense inside the paint to clog Davis and make Lebron James run out of breath. If the Lakers had an elite shooter, things will be better for the Lakers as James, Davis and Westbrook will use that opportunity to attack the inside defense and pass it outside to a wide open elite shooter like Buddy Hield.
The Russell Westbrook
Russell Westbrook proves to his haters that he can contribute to the Lakers and he can bring his 2017 form. His season-opener was a bit impressive. The most notable number in his season-opening performance was his 12 field goal attempts. This is much lower than last year. Although there were a couple bad shots including his air-balled three point, overall, Westbrook did his westbrook thing by being aggressive and kept on attacking the basket rather than stopping the attack and settling for bad jumpers.
The only problem that haunts Westbrook is his defense and off the ball actions. As the years go by, the defense of Russell Westbrook is regressing. Far from his 2017 self where he really dives on the dead ball, making the one-on-one possession his forte on defense, his astonishing arsenals on blocking combined with his athleticism are somehow missing the prime Russel Westbrook. If he gets back on that form, the Lakers will probably be a Championship contender. His off-the-ball movement is always his problem, he becomes stagnant and dead whenever he does not have the ball in his hand, he can’t contribute on offense and in defense. If he solves this problem, it will create a huge positive impact for the Lakers.
Overall, the Lakers really sacrificed some players in exchange for elite shooters that really helped the team this season like Buddy Hield of the Indiana Pacers. They should rebuild their rosters full of point guards/ball handlers who can’t even shoot threes or average 35% beyond the arc.
Exciting games and big wins as you visit 12BET where exclusive promotions await you.
Visit 12BET login and join us to claim exclusive benefits and more.
