On December 16, Beijing time, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers defeated the Lone Rangers 107-104 through overtime, and won three consecutive wins this season for the second time, and it was also their second three consecutive wins after 43 days after November 3, for which Lakers star Anthony Davis also excitedly said: "Now is three consecutive wins, we want to maintain the momentum." ”
Speaking of this game, the first protagonist is undoubtedly the rookie Austin Reeves who completed the kill, who won the victory with a key three-pointer for the Lakers in the end, and received praise from the whole team and crazy celebrations in the locker room after the game. That's what Reeves deserves, but before Reeves kills, Westbrook's crucial pass should also be praised.
After the game, Lakers coach Vogel praised Reeves, who completed the kill, and said that Westbrook, who gave reeves an assist, should also be praised, Vogel said: "For Russell, to hit the paint at that moment, and then trust teammates, pass the ball more, this is an important moment of growth for our team." ”
James also reproduced the tactics of the final stage in the post-game interview, pointing out the importance of Westbrook in it, James said: "We trust everyone on the court, including the rookie. Obviously, we showed that in the final attack. Actually, they wanted to foul me because they had one more chance to foul me, but I was able to get out of the way and pass the ball to Wayne (Ellington), Wayne to Russ (Russell Westbrook), Russ faced the save-choice attack, used the pass to find AR-15 (Reeves) and then he shot it. ”
There is no doubt that Westbrook made a beautiful and correct choice at the last moment, when James had no chance to shoot, and Westbrook's own chances were not good, but he noticed Reeves in the empty position in time, and relied on the breakthrough to attract the Lone Ranger to shrink the defense, and finally sent a wonderful pass to let Reeves seal his throat, to which Westbrook said: "When the game is hanging by a thread, my job is to make the right choice." ”
In this round, Westbrook really reflects his value in this Lakers, in the past Lakers game, when James was wrapped up in the final stage, or could not get a good shot, when he could only choose to pass the ball to others, the Lakers did not have a second person who could create a better shot opportunity for his teammates like him, and pass a good ball for teammates in the empty position. But now that Westbrook is here, you will find that in the final stage, James can safely hand over the ball to Westbrook, and he can do the same job as James.
This is actually what the Lakers hope that Westbrook can bring to the team, reduce the organizational pressure of James, the Lakers have two major organizers on the field to double-core drive, with better passing to tear apart the opponent's defense, the Lakers want to trade Simmons before, to a certain extent, also look at his organizational ability. But compared to Simmons, Westbrook is significantly stronger, and that is that he dares to shoot.
In this game, Westbrook played 42 minutes, shooting 8 of 18, including 1 of 4 three-pointers and 6 of 8 free throws, with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists. It should be noted that Westbrook felt very bad in the second quarter, shooting 0 of 3 in the single quarter, but in the second half he was not afraid to shoot, if it was replaced by Simmons, or he would not dare to shoot. But Wei Shao is different, he still believes in himself, even if he is not accurate, but he still has the opportunity to shoot firmly, and if he dares to shoot, he will have a chance.
James also praised: "Russ (Westbrook) shot a lot of shots in training, he shot an airball, and then when the game entered a key moment again, he shot it. It's about trusting them, trusting the training they're putting into. As James said, as long as Wei Shao dares to continue to shoot, the team will always trust him, and recently Wei Shao's state is getting better and better, the Lakers are getting better, and it is definitely not a good choice to choose to trade Wei Shao at this time.