In the NBA regular season, the Lakers lost to the Nuggets 96-133, suffering three consecutive losses, and the record came to 21 wins and 22 losses, ranking 7th in the West. After the game, Lakers legend Magic Johnson criticized the team, arguing that the Lakers' performance was not hard enough.
This season, the Lakers have been trying to stay in steady form, but for a variety of reasons, they have consistently played as expected. After losing to the Nuggets, Magic Johnson said: "Our Lakers fans can accept defeat, but the team's performance lacks effort and no sense of urgency, we deserve better, Jenny Bass also deserves better." ”
Since the beginning of the season, the Lakers' performance has been criticized. And Magic Johnson's expression has amplified the feelings of many People in Lakers fans.
Against the Nuggets, the Lakers conceded 73 points in the first half, the most points the Lakers lost in the first half of the season, and the second time they let their opponents score 70 points at halftime (the Rockets scored 70 points on November 2, 2021). As the home player, James made 23 shots in exchange for 25 points and nine rebounds. Wei Shao, who has been criticized in recent weeks, has 19 points, 5 boards and 3 assists.
After the game, Westbrook was asked about Magic Johnson's comments, and Westbrook thought he wasn't with the team so he didn't know enough about what was going on behind the scenes.
'I'm not going to respond to that, he has the right to give his opinion, he doesn't stay in the team every day, he doesn't have a daily presence with us, I don't have any response to that.
"I'm not going to respond to that," Westbrook said. "In this world, everyone has the right to speak their minds. He wasn't in the team every day or around us every day, and I didn't respond to that. ”
But Westbrook also acknowledged that the Lakers do need to push harder.
"We have to play hard," he said. "Sometimes it doesn't matter how you plan and how you play. Sometimes you have to play hard. The opponent played harder than we did, it was as simple as that. ”
With the deal deadline approaching, Rob Pelinka now needs to do something to save everything left for the 2021-22 season. Next Tuesday, the Lakers will take on the Utah Jazz in Los Angeles.