Russell Westbrook's first season with the Los Angeles Lakers didn't go so smoothly, but the nine-time All-Star is having a much more productive season this year as he makes the transition to coming off the bench. On Friday, the Lakers pulled off a huge road win over the Milwaukee Bucks and Westbrook's 11 assists put him alongside Laker legend Magic Johnson for most games of at least ten assists off the bench in team history as per the Twitter page StatMuse.
Russ off the bench:
15 PTS
11 AST
6-11 FGMost 10-assist games off the bench by a Laker since Magic Johnson. pic.twitter.com/9KnYyDu2N4
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 3, 2022
Russell Westbrook actually isn't averaging double-digits in assists this season, he's dishing out 7.2. But Friday's game gave him six games this season of at least ten assists while coming off the bench. Westbrook's season-high in assists is 12 which he dished out twice in back-to-back games earlier this month in wins over the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons. Magic Johnson accomplished this feat during the 1995-96 season when he briefly returned to the Lakers after a four-year hiatus.
Heading into the season, it was unclear what Westbrook's role was going to be. He struggled to find a rhythm alongside the starters last season and he's never come off the bench since his rookie year. But new head coach Darvin Ham has given Westbrook the freedom to be himself as a sixth man and gotten him to buy into the new role.
With Westbrook accepting a bench role, the Lakers have seemingly turned things around since their poor start to the season. Including the win over the Bucks, the Lakers are 7-2 in their last nine games.
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