Many things can be said about Russell Westbrook, but two are certain: who is not afraid of anything and who is not a great shooter. When these two certainties meet, however, the first is almost always the one to prevail, and the last match against the Oklahoma City Thunder is the proof of this. After committing a bad turnover and losing Lu Dort’s marking, giving two very easy points to the Thunder, Westbrook sealed a horrible last minute by taking a triple without even trying to pass the ball, despite Carmelo Anthony having scored two triples within 30 seconds (and both on Westbrook’s assist!) to get the yellow-violet back into the game. A wrong choice that is certainly not new in his career: according to what Stathead wrote and taken up by Tom Haberstroh, from 2017 to today no one has taken more triples than him to equalize or overtake in the last minute of play. Only that his record is 8/42 in these situations, a 19% which is clearly worse than the already uninspiring 30% of his career or the 26% he’s been shooting with this year. Then there are other data that do not play in Westbrook’s favor: up to now the Lakers with him on the field attack slightly better (about 1.5 points more out of 100 possessions), but defensively they drop by almost 7 points out of 100 possessions compared to when he is out. A trend that has been going on since the beginning of the season – even if the numbers are improving – and to which coach Frank Vogel will have to find a solution to cope with the absence of LeBron James, out for a strained abdomen.
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