After a win on national television, the Los Angeles Lakers traveled to San Antonio to take on the Spurs. The 12th seed in the conference, San Antonio entered this contest on a four-game losing streak.
We knew Anthony Davis wasn’t going to play, but LeBron James was battling significant knee soreness and was out.
Despite being without their two stars, it was quite a competitive game. Guys like Talen Horton-Tucker and Malik Monk stepped up to carry the load on offense. Off the bench, Carmelo Anthony did his thing.
Melo made him touch the ground ? pic.twitter.com/rAukOnzRrR
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 8, 2022
The Lakers’ effort was not enough, as the Spurs outscored them in the fourth quarter on their way to a 117-110 win. Point guard Dejontae Murray flirted with a triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists), and makes another case for the Most Improved Player award.
Shooting guard Josh Richardson had 18 points of his own, while center Jakob Poeltl chipped in 18 points and eight rebounds.
For Los Angeles, Horton-Tucker had 18 points on 50% shooting. Russell Westbrook finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds in the losing effort.
The Purple & Gold fall to 28-36, 20 of those losses on the road. San Antonio improves to 25-40.
Thoughts?
To be without your two superstars, the Lakers’ effort against the Spurs was decent. Horton-Tucker made his first start in a while and balled out.
Carmelo continues to be a revelation off the bench, bringing a scoring boost to a Lakers bench that lacks that.
However, Russell Westbrook’s post-game press conference must be addressed. He was asked about his family after tweets surfaced about receiving death threats.
“I stand behind my wife with how she’s feeling…it’s reached a point where it’s really weighing on my family.” @russwest44 shares his thoughts on the comments made by his wife saying she and her family are “harassed on a daily basis”. pic.twitter.com/ize5TLvVnb
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) March 8, 2022
Let’s be clear. Many Lakers fans have been disappointed with his play. He has struggled to find his role in Los Angeles, which has led to many mediocre performances.
Sports fans have every right to express their feelings. But, pushing it to write death threats to Russ’s family is absolutely disrespectful.
As he mentioned, Westbrook is fearful of bringing his family to the game.
Imagine that. Your kids want to see you play, but they can’t because you want to protect them from the many fans that treat you like garbage. That’s exactly how Russell feels.
Athletes are people too. They deserve to be respected. Westbrook hasn’t done anything wrong off the court. His on-court play can be criticized.
But, when fans are wasting their time threatening Westbrook and his family, that’s too far. It takes a toll on him and his family. These death threats won’t help Russ perform better, and you’re only hurting him.
So What Now?
Let’s be clear. I have been one to criticize his mediocre play. But, once he steps off the court, he heads back home to be a father to his children. Fans need to leave his family out of any criticism.
NBA fans need to stop with the disrespect and encourage Westbrook to play his best. Especially Lakers fans. If we want any hope of our team making the playoffs, Russ must step up and be that #2 scorer.
The lesson we should all take from this? Treat athletes the way you want to be treated.
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