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Russell Westbrook is expected to miss the Los Angeles Lakers road matchup against the Golden State Warriors due to right shoulder soreness.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news on Thursday. The Lakers listed Westbrook as questionable for the visit to the Bay. It would be only Westbrook's second missed game of the 2021-22 season. He was held out of a matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers on the night before the trade deadline. As with the “lower back tightness” designation in that instance, Westbrook's right shoulder soreness had not been previously disclosed by the team.
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LeBron James, who continues to nurse a sprained left ankle, and Anthony Davis, still recovering from a mid-foot sprain, are listed as questionable, as well. According to Marc Stein, LeBron is not expected to play, either, despite needing two more appearances to qualify for the scoring title. At time of writing, the Lakers have not formally ruled any of the three future Hall of Famers out for the Warriors game.
The Lakers' final three games are utterly meaningless, now that the team has been eliminated from Play-In contention. Following their loss to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday, Frank Vogel said he would meet with the front office to determine how to manage the last three games.
After the Warriors game, Los Angeles will host the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, then wrap up their disappointing campaign at the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Westbrook has played his best basketball of the season over the last few weeks. He's averaging 19.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.2 assists on 47.5% shooting since the beginning of March. However, the Lakers have won just four of 19 games during that span.
On Tuesday, Westbrook said he hopes to run it back with LeBron James and Anthony Davis in 2022-23, but acknowledged that “nothing is promised.”
