The Los Angeles Lakers suffered another deflating loss on Monday night after losing a close one to the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-112. Russell Westbrook turned the ball over in LA's final possession and they didn't even get a chance to get a shot up in what could have been a game-winning attempt.
After the game Lakers head coach Darvin Ham provided a strong reaction to Russ' last-second blunder. Ham believes that Westbrook had the right thing in mind when he decided to isolate against Sixers superstar big man Joel Embiid:
“But make no mistake about it: Down one, with the ball in Russ' hands with Embiid standing in front of him? I have confidence in my player. And that's not gonna change. We just gotta make a better play,” Ham said.
"But make no mistake about it: Down one, with the ball in Russ' hands with Embiid standing in front of him? I have confidence in my player. And that's not gonna change."
Lakers HC Darvin Ham on Russell Westbrook's decision during the final possessionpic.twitter.com/CwWveCtvsK
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 16, 2023
Unfortunately for Westbrook and the Lakers, the final play did not materialize as they would have hoped. There was even some talk about the referees missing a foul call on Embiid on the crucial play, but the Last 2-Minute report quickly refuted those claims.
As Ham said, however, he believes that Russell Westbrook made the right call. He was actually having a good game (Russ finished with 20 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists), and it just so happened that he committed a critical error in the final play of the contest.
That's now three straight losses for the Lakers, who are back in action on Monday on a second night of a back-to-back set against the Houston Rockets. They obviously want to snap their losing skid against the league-worst Rockets, and a loss could prove disastrous for the struggling Lakers.
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