Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images
Denver Nuggets guard Russell Westbrook took to Instagram to seemingly celebrate Denver’s massive win over the Los Angeles Lakers – his former team – on Saturday night.
Westbrook and the Nuggets dominated the Lakers, especially in the third quarter (they outscored Los Angeles 37-15) to win 127-102. It marked the fifth win in a row for Denver against the Lakers in the regular season.
The veteran guard had a big game on Saturday night, scoring 14 points off the bench on 6-of-10 shooting. He also added seven rebounds and 11 assists in the win.
Beating the Lakers may have been especially sweet for Westbrook since his tenure with the franchise didn’t exactly go as planned.
The Lakers traded for the former league MVP prior to the 2021-22 season, hoping the he would be the missing piece to get them back to a championship level.
Unfortunately, the Lakers struggled in Westbrook’s first season with the team and ended up missing the playoffs. He remained with the franchise for the start of the 2022-23 season, but the Lakers traded him at the deadline.
Los Angeles ended up making a major run after the Westbrook trade that season, reaching the Western Conference Finals. Unfortunately, the Lakers ran into Denver in the playoffs, and the Nuggets swept them in the Western Conference Finals in four games.
Denver has had the Lakers’ number in recent seasons, but head coach J.J. Redick insisted that his team wasn’t “haunted” by its past failures against Nikola Jokic and Denver.
Still, it’s hard not to worry about the Lakers in a matchup with the Nuggets, especially since they lost in the playoffs to them in the 2023-24 season as well.
Westbrook is looking to carve out a future for himself in Denver after bouncing around and playing with the Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers in recent seasons.
So far in the 2024-25 season, Westbrook is averaging 11.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game while shooting 37.6 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Following Saturday’s win, the Nuggets are now 9-6 on the season, just behind the Lakers (10-6) in the standings in the Western Conference.
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