Los Angeles Lakers: Russell Westbrook’s breakout game comes at perfect time

Russell Westbrook shows encouraging signs as he fuels the Los Angeles Lakers to a much-needed win without LeBron James. 

With all the chips on the table, with an ailing LeBron James sitting out as a precaution, the Los Angeles Lakers desperately needed Russell Westbrook to come through for the team. That’s exactly what he did as he fueled a much-needed comeback win for the Lakers over the pesky San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night on the road.

Westbrook finished with 33 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals while shooting an efficient 15-27 from the field. It was his best game to date as a member of the Lakers and the team needed every bit of his production.

Since joining the Lakers, the team has consistently struggled with LeBron out of the lineup. Specifically, during the 2020-21 NBA season, the Lakers were 12-15 when LeBron was not in the lineup.

Part of the reason why the Lakers were so desperate to acquire a third star was for this very reason. In games that LeBron has to miss due to injury or rest, the Lakers needed another consistent player to assist Anthony Davis.

The hope when the team acquired Westbrook during the offseason was that it would be him. However, after such lackadaisical showing in the preseason, and an even slower start through the first three games of the regular season, there was doubt that Westbrook would be the difference-maker that the Lakers needed.

With his back against the wall, as he generally does, Westbrook came through in a big way for the Lakers. Even if it was just for one game, he proved that he can still be that consistent force that every contender needs.

Los Angeles doesn’t need Westbrook to be this player every night; they just need him to have the ability to reach this level every few games – and in the games he can’t reach this level, he needs to, at the very least, be competent and not a liability.

So far this season, that hadn’t been the case. Until Westbrook rose to the occasion against the Spurs when the Lakers needed it most.

It was certainly encouraging to see Westbrook play well against the Spurs. Even more so with LeBron out due to rest/injury. It’s encouraging to see him recognize the situation and play his best basketball when it’s needed.

Russ still has to prove that he can be at least some level of consistency when the Lakers are at full strength. That’s the only way the Lakers will be able to reach their peak with this current core.

The big question for Westbrook is not whether he can repeat this same performance again under these same circumstances. If the Lakers are asking him to do that on a consistent level, then they have way more important issues.

It’s whether Westbrook will let this performance spark him to play at the level that the Lakers need him to as a complementary player next to LeBron and Anthony Davis