On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers blew a 26-point lead to an Oklahoma City Thunder that entered the game 0-4 (and they’re still projected for the NBA’s worst record, according to Five Thirty Eight). The Lakers led 70-44 in the second quarter and proceeded to lose the game by eight points, 123-115.
The Lakers entered play with a 230-0 record (including playoffs) when leading by at least 25 points in a game over the last 25 seasons.
They led by 26 tonight, their largest blown lead over that span. pic.twitter.com/2fd5GdH5Dd
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 28, 2021
Nobody summarized how the night went for the Lakers more than Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook reached his first triple-double with Los Angeles when he got to 17 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds in the game. But that would turn into a quadruple-double later in the fourth quarter, when he recorded his 10th turnover of the game. Not the way you want to reach a quadruple-double. He finished the night with 20 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists, and 10 turnovers (and a team-worst plus/minus of -12).
Russ’ statline tonight: pic.twitter.com/6U4MLkiMgy
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 28, 2021
Westbrook also finished the game early against his former team, because he was ejected. Well, “early” as in 1.5 seconds before the final buzzer. He got into it with Oklahoma City’s Darius Bazley and was tossed.
Bazley steals the inbounds and dunks, Westbrook takes exception and get tossed, then yells at the referee when she tells him to go pic.twitter.com/rhBiwSuiBi
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) October 28, 2021
The Lakers are now 2-3 and are allowing 119.6 points per game, the worst mark in the NBA. LeBron James sat out the game with right ankle soreness.
[Photo Credit: Spectrum SportsNet]
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.