The Houston Rockets have the worst record in the Western Conference and are just percentage points ahead of the Orlando Magic in the "race" to post the worst record in the entire NBA, but the L.A. Lakers lost to the Rockets in overtime on Wednesday night, 139-130. This loss will be tough to blame on everyone's favorite scapegoat, Russell Westbrook, but I have full faith and confidence that Skip "Clueless," "Screamin' A" Smith, and the rest of the village idiots will figure out how to trash Westbrook's name and Westbrook's game.
The Lakers' overall problem, as Charles Barkley has repeatedly noted, is that without Anthony Davis they are old, slow, and lack defensive presence in the paint. The Lakers sometimes play well in stretches, but they cannot sustain good play for much more than a quarter or two at a time. Another Laker problem is that LeBron James has entered "We're not winning anyway so let me pad my stats" mode. "Lakers Lose Despite LeBron James' Triple Double" is the headline that LeBron James wants to see after the Houston loss, and most media outlets will bow to the self-proclaimed King and comply. Let's look a little deeper at that 23 point, 14 rebound, 12 assist triple double: James shot 9-26 from the field (.346), hoisting five more field goal attempts than any other Laker, he had five of the Lakers' 16 turnovers, and he had the worst plus/minus number (-17) of any player on either team.
To top it off, despite jacking up more shots than any other player, James eschewed a potential game-winning layup at the end of regulation to pass to Carmelo Anthony, who missed a long jumper at the buzzer. When Ben Simmons passed to a teammate for a layup down the stretch of a playoff game last year, he was pilloried for being afraid to shoot, but there is no doubt that James passing up a layup for a long Anthony jumper will be portrayed as a heroic example of "making the right basketball play." Anthony shot 5-13 from the field, and his plus/minus number (-14) was second worst to James in this game, but we are supposed to pretend that the points the Lakers hemorrhaged with James and Anthony on the court do not matter, and we are supposed to pretend that a long jumper by an over the hill player is a better basketball play than a layup attempt by the player who cannot stop telling us that he is the greatest player of all-time.
After the game, Rockets rookie Jalen Green--who scored a career-high/game-high 32 points, including 10 in overtime--said, "Our game plan was just to attack Melo and find the mismatch on the floor. So when it came down to it, we were looking for Melo and I was attacking him every time."
Meanwhile, Russell Westbrook scored a team-high 30 points on 11-21 field goal shooting. He had eight rebounds, six assists, and just two turnovers in 40 minutes. His plus/minus number was -2, but it was in positive territory until the disastrous overtime that would not have been necessary if James had not been afraid to make a game-winning layup. The collective amnesia about Westbrook's prior accomplishments and the notion that he is washed up now are two of the most ridiculous basketball narratives that I have ever had the displeasure of reading and hearing. Hubie Brown is 88 years old and he does not do a full schedule of games, but he is still as sharp as ever, and it is fascinating to contrast his take on Westbrook with the dominant narratives. For example, during Sunday's broadcast of Milwaukee's 132-122 win over Phoenix, Brown noted that Giannis Antetokounmpo is on pace to become the first player to average at least 25 ppg, at least 10 rpg, and at least 5 apg in four different seasons. Brown mentioned that the record for such seasons is currently shared by Oscar Robertson (three, 1961-63) and Antetokounmpo (if the NBA counted ABA numbers--which should be counted--then Julius Erving's 1974-76 seasons would be included). Brown added that Wilt Chamberlain (1964, 1966) and Russell Westbrook (2017-18) are the only other players to accomplish this more than once, and Brown said of Westbrook, "A lot of people don't want to give him credit, but that's the company he's in." It should be noted that reigning regular season MVP Nikola Jokic is set to join that company as he is on pace to have his second consecutive 25-10-5 season.
Westbrook is one of the greatest players of all-time, and he can still play at a high level. Just last May, the Washington Wizards put the ball in Westbrook's hands, and he set records while lifting them from oblivion into the playoffs. Will Lakers' General Manager/Coach/Media Relations Manager/Team Captain/Heir to the Regular Season Scoring Crown LeBron James play defense, display championship-level leadership, and let Westbrook run the offense to give the Lakers a fighting chance to salvage this train wreck of a season? Why should he? He is chasing the all-time scoring record, his media friends and allies will cover for him, and he knows that Westbrook--and Coach Frank Vogel--are set up to be the fall guys.