LOS ANGELES - Russell Westbrook returned from his nine-turnover outing on Sunday, scoring zero misses in the Los Angeles Lakers' 122-114 win over the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, the first time the point guard nearly protected the ball well. six years.
Westbrook broke a personal streak of 407 straight games with turnovers, dating back to March 14, 2016, when he played for the Oklahoma City Thunder. And the Lakers followed suit when it came to ball safety. According to research by ESPN Stats & Information, LA had a season-low five turnovers as a team against Sacramento, the lowest the franchise has posted in a game since 2014.
"It shows we can do it as a team when we put our mind to it," said Westbrook, who finished 34 minutes with 19 points, seven rebounds and a game-high plus-minus of 17 ended.
LeBron James, who scored 31 points, five rebounds and five assists to top 30 for the eighth time in LA's last nine games as Anthony Davis sprained his left knee, said the Lakers' management was responsible for his misbehavior. Management was the one to make the difference.
"Well, that's why we won the game," James said. "We won the game because we didn't turn the ball tonight. And when we get shots on goal, we can be very dangerous. And we weren't shooting the ball well, and because we didn't turn Tha ball over, we caught fire. We caught fire because we got shots on goal and we didn't turn the ball.
The Kings actually had a more efficient offensive night shooting the ball, hitting 51.8% off the field compared to 49.5% for the Lakers - including 3 to 41.2% compared to 34.4% for the LA - but the Lakers had much more Were assets and thus more opportunities to score.
"We shot the ball 99 times; they only shot it 83 [times]," Westbrook said. "We like it better than rolling the ball."
The Kings turned the ball 18 times, making it 21 points for the Lakers. By taking care of the ball, L.A. was able to set up their defense and keep Sacramento at just six fast-break points, well below the Kings' average of 12.6 fast-break points per game.
"Defensively, obviously live ball turnovers kill you," Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. "They're what Phil Jackson used to call 'CFU', right? Compound... mistakes. So, it hurts you on both sides."
Westbrook was defiant after his nine turnovers in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
"I am allowed to miss the shot. I can do that. Like any other player, I can do that too," he said. "I can turn the ball too. I can do that."
Vogel credits Westbrook for playing so well and being engaged after the Wolves game. Tuesday's win was the Lakers' third consecutive win and fourth win in the last five games to pull off a virtual tie with the Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks. All three teams are five games behind the No. 4-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings.
"Russ is really invested in this team, you know what? He's not always right, but he really cares, and he really wants to do the right thing," Vogel said. "And after the last game of that high-turnover night and zero turnover tonight, I was really proud of the bounce-back performance. It's a great display of ball safety, which I challenge to my team, not my own." Only Russell, but I challenge my team to get better with the safety of the ball. And that was a big part of the win."