NBA: 3 early-season Western Conference trends to keep an eye on

Russell Westbrook’s struggles could nuke the Lakers’ championship chances

At least for one night, Russell Westbrook managed to quiet the naysayers with a tremendous and much-needed breakout performance against the San Antonio Spurs to secure an overtime win for the Los Angeles Lakers without LeBron James.

However, during his previous three performances to start the season – including the entire preseason slate – Westbrook had given Lakers’ brass little to feel confident about. He’s still shooting barely above 40 percent from the field and is a putrid 13 percent from deep.

The hope is that his recent performance is something that can spark him when LeBron returns, but if he can’t find his way with the Lakers, there’s no question that the team’s championship chances this season will take a major nosedive.

The Lakers need Westbrook to be good, if not great. And I’m simply not sure that’s consistently possible at this point in his career.