The Los Angeles Lakers (19-19) squeezed out a 108-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (16-20) on Sunday at Crypto.com Arena — though they had to overcome 10 turnovers from Russell Westbrook, who noticeably struggled for the first three quarters.

In addition to the 10 giveaways, Westbrook — who entered with four consecutive triple-doubles — finished with 20 points (7-of-16 FG), five rebounds, and three assists in 33 minutes. His defense was suspect, he hoisted multiple jumpers early in the shot clock (a bad habit he's reigned in recently), and he missed all five of his three-point attempts.

Prior to hitting a key And-1 jumper to put the Lakers up by six with just under five minutes to play, it was arguably Westbrook's worst game in Los Angeles since opening night.

Not surprisingly, Russ doesn't see it that way.

Westbrook was solid in the fourth quarter and he was overall more responsible with the basketball in the second half (seven of his TOs came before halftime). Afterward, Westbrook was asked what changed later in the game.

“I disagree,” he said, on the idea that the game “wasn't going his way” early on. “My game is not predicated on shots or if I turn the ball over. Like, If I miss some shots, that’s part of the game. I’m allowed to miss shots. I can do that. Like any other player, I can do that. I can turn the ball over, too I can do that. That’s all a part of the game.”

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Westbrook — who is second in the NBA in turnovers per game (4.6) — has repeatedly offered this defense of his game since the preseason. In October, he laughed off a reporter's question about his high-turnover rate, now-infamously saying “the good thing (is) they don’t count. … So, I could turn that bitch over 15 times, ain’t nobody going to do nothing about it.”

For what it's worth, LeBron James (and Carmelo Anthony) were supportive of the Lakers guard's impact after the Wolves win.

“His presence on the floor helps us,” LeBron said. “Obviously, he was kicking himself a lot tonight with his turnovers, especially in the first half. Cleaned it up in the second half — he only had two in the second half. It resulted in us being able to get shots. When we get shots, we're a really good team. What has really hurt us a lot this year is when we've turned it over a lot, and not being able to set our defense … Us being able to take care of the ball in the second half was key to us getting this win tonight … and the ball's in his hands a lot.”