On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers hoped to turn things around in their city rivalry with the Los Angeles Clippers. Instead, the Clippers continued their recent dominance over the Purple and Gold.
With the Lakers out of it midway through the fourth quarter, head coach Darvin Ham pulled his regulars, and guards Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook had an animated discussion right afterward.
LeBron looking absolutely fed up after willing his team in the 4th quarter only for Russ to come in and completely erase everything pic.twitter.com/kPAPqQACXx
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 25, 2023
Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder just had an animated exchange on the bench, seemingly about the inbounds pass that led to the and-1 opportunity for Kawhi Leonard.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) January 25, 2023
After trailing by as many as 23 points in the third quarter, the Lakers started to peck away and try to make things competitive. They came to within 16 at the end of the period, and with LeBron James red-hot from 3-point range, they cut the Clippers’ lead to 10 in the fourth quarter.
But the momentum quickly shifted when Westbrook threw an errant pass to Schroder. Schroder tried to save the ball, but he lost it, which led to a layup and 3-point play by Kawhi Leonard.
Schroder didn’t mince words about the key play, and it seems he has no hard feelings for Westbrook.
Schroder on his argument with Westbrook: "I was so frustrated about that play because I had a chance. It was a 50/50 ball. Then I fouled Kawhi, and-1. I don't care if somebody does a mistake, nobody is perfect. So I don't care. It was nothing about him, and I told him that too."
— Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) January 25, 2023
However, Westbrook seemed angry after the game about the same interaction, and he even criticized a reporter for asking him about it.
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) January 25, 2023
After that miscue, James’ crew had nothing left.
Although he had 46 points, almost no one else played well for the Lakers, especially offensively. Schroder went just 3-of-9 from the field while Westbrook was only 4-of-13.
As a team, the Lakers shot only 44.2 percent from the field, and to make matters worse, they got outrebounded 47-32 while giving up 50.0 percent 3-point shooting to the Clippers.
As bad as this loss was for the Lakers, things may get considerably better for them. Their new acquisition, Rui Hachimura, could make his debut as soon as Wednesday when they face the San Antonio Spurs, and Anthony Davis will reportedly make his return in the same game.
Having both in the lineup would considerably help with their size and length issues, which would make it much easier for them to play sound, fundamental defense without having to help or double team as much on opposing players who can hurt them.
