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What’s good y’all. It’s Prince here with another Layup Lines, and I want to talk about the Lakers for a minute, because their Russell Westbrook problem already appears to be on thin ice just one game into the season.
Westbrook’s status for their opener Tuesday was in question due to a hamstring strain he suffered in LA’s preseason finale, a game head coach Darvin Ham used to experiment with bringing Westbrook off the bench. And though Westbrook ultimately played and started in the opener, he used his postgame availability to say Ham’s decision “absolutely” played a factor in his injury.
“I’ve been doing the same thing for 14 years straight. Honestly, I didn’t even know what to do pregame. Being honest, I was trying to figure out how to stay warm and loose.”
On one hand, Westbrook is right. Coming off the bench was new territory for him. It’s something he hasn’t been asked to do since his rookie season all the way back in 2008. On the other hand, it’s laughable for him to blame that for an injury when so many other players, veterans or not, come in cold without issue. And starters strain hamstrings too.
His answer was just such an unnecessary thing to say…unless, of course, his intention is to make known his feelings about coming off the bench to ensure it never happens again. And that’s a big problem for the Lakers.
In order for them to win with the roster as currently constructed, if possible at all, Ham needs the flexibility to experiment with lineups. One of the apparent best options is allowing Westbrook to run the second unit. Even though he scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 11 rebounds in Tuesday’s game, they still lost. And we saw enough last season to know his game isn’t optimal next to LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
If he’s already resisting things that can potentially improve the team’s chance for success, the Lakers should just get it over with and cut bait. This is just a sign of another long season in La La Land.
The Tip-Off
Some NBA goodness from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Another issue for the Lakers, and perhaps their biggest is a lack of shooting. Building a team with either LeBron James or Russell Westbrook, but especially both, without shooting is preposterous.
That weakness was on full display in the loss to Golden State, and James pointed it out after the game.
Sure, doing so means he kind of threw his teammates under the bus. But as my colleague Bryan Kalbrosky wrote, James was right:
“The idea is that if defenders sag off the Lakers and leave them open, they’ll be tempted by the open space. But because they don’t have a ton of shooting talent, the shots won’t go in, and the best defense is simply nothing at all.
Unfortunately for LeBron, this strategy worked like a charm. According to Synergy, Los Angeles was 1-for-9 (11.1%) on uncontested catch-and-shoot attempts against Golden State.
That is simply not a recipe for winning basketball, and it’s not sustainable.”
Of note, Anthony Davis is a part of that shooting problem, as our guy Sykes wrote.
One to Watch
(All odds via Tipico.)
Denver Nuggets (-280) at Utah Jazz (+6.5, +215), O/U 225.5, 9 PM ET
This game features one team I think can be the best in the NBA against another that I think will be near the basement. Give me the Nuggets -6.5, because this spread is way too small.
Shootaround
— Joel Embiid’s beef with Marcus Smart didn’t just start Tuesday night
— James Harden looked like his old MVP self, but is that good for the Sixers?
— Malcolm Brogdon’s Sixth Man award odds have some great value
— These are the top 20 NBA players over 30 years old
