Sunday’s loss to the Blazers dropped the Lakers to 0-3 on the season, and while the first two losses on the season to the Warriors and Clippers could be explained away by coming against two of the title favorites, this one stung considerably more.
Not only was it a loss to a team the Lakers expect to be battling for a play-in spot in the West, it came after L.A. was up 102-95 with just under two minutes to play. The Lakers should have been able to put the game away, but a series of bad shots and suddenly porous defense allowed Damian Lillard and Jerami Grant to swipe a road win for the Blazers.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for L.A.’s late collapse, from not sending help to Lonnie Walker IV and allowing Dame to walk into the go-ahead three to LeBron getting beat off the dribble by Grant for what became the game-winning bucket, but one play in particular stood out in terms of bizarre decision-making. With 30 seconds to play, Russell Westbrook pushed the ball up the floor with the Lakers lead having just been cut to one, and rather than dribble the clock down, Westbrook went for a 2-for-1 midrange pullup jumper that wasn’t close, slamming off the back iron and setting up the aforementioned Lillard three on the next Portland possession.
In the moment, it was a head-scratching play for a number of reasons, but as ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry noted, even if you strip away Westbrook’s struggles with his shot this year, it’s not a shot anyone every takes in that situation. Ever.
Russell Westbrook has made 3 of 17 jump shots this season.
Also, he is the only player that has attempted a jump shot with under 30 seconds to go and 15+ seconds left on the shot clock with their team up by 1 possession in the last 4 seasons. pic.twitter.com/DrH8UEs2L9
— Kirk Goldsberry (@kirkgoldsberry) October 24, 2022
In the last four years there hasn’t been an early clock jumper from anyone trying to swipe a 2-for-1 while leading by a possession, and for it to be Westbrook of all people, who Goldsberry notes is shooting 17 percent on jump shots this season, to fire it up was egregiously bad. This shot alone didn’t lose the Lakers the game, but it did directly lead to the Blazers not only having enough time to get the go-ahead three for Lillard, but also the game-winning bucket for Grant — while the Lakers were limited to a contested turnaround at the buzzer from James to try and force overtime.
Westbrook is not the only problem with the Lakers, but he is the most notable and is also the player that provides their only path to potentially upgrading the roster in a trade (when coupled with a pair of future first round picks they clearly don’t want to give up). It’s also a very clearly awkward situation that has not gotten better once games started as the Lakers had hoped, and while LeBron refuses to get “set up” to criticize his teammate in postgame for now, it’s very apparent how this group still can’t get on the same page with how to navigate key moments.