“Russell Westbrook’s career and legacy is undeniable,” Lillard said. “That’s just the bottom line. The player, the career he’s had, what he’s accomplished, the things that he’s done — nobody else has been able to do it. With all these triple-doubles, I don’t care if you stat chasing or whatever people wanna say. If I try to go every game and get a triple-double for a whole season, I can’t do it. And there’s a lot of other people that can’t do it either. That’s hard in itself to actually do it, whether you’re trying to do it or not.”
Source: David Akerman @ Lakers Daily
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
Alex Kennedy @AlexKennedyNBA
NBA leaders in total minutes played:
1. Mikal Bridges, 2662
2. Miles Bridges, 2621
3. Jayson Tatum, 2569
4. Saddiq Bey, 2531
5. Russell Westbrook, 2513
6. DeMar DeRozan, 2484
7. Julius Randle, 2481
8. Tyrese Haliburton, 2440
9. Dorian Finney-Smith, 2440
10. Tyrese Maxey, 2385 – 11:07 AM
Eric Woodyard @E_Woodyard
Should the #Lions take Notre Dame Safety Kyle Hamilton at No. 2? pic.twitter.com/XeGhxKA3T8 – 7:53 AM
StatMuse @statmuse
Players in the top 10 in PPG, RPG, APG in a season:
Wilt Chamberlain
Elgin Baylor
Oscar Robertson
Russell Westbrook
Nikola Jokic
(h/t @Bill Simmons) pic.twitter.com/egsl4f0UQt – 10:34 AM
Kyle Goon @kylegoon
Russell Westbrook on how the intensity shifted in the second half: “Honestly I don’t have an answer for you. I wish I had an answer for you.” – 9:52 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
LAL, struggling to score all 4th Q, found themselves down 111-105 with 2:20 to play.
They cut it in half with a Monk 3, thanks to 2 offensive boards from Westbrook. LAL ball with 1:30 left. – 9:14 PM
Casey Holdahl @CHold
Brown III (eye) is questionable; Bledsoe (Achilles), Hart (knee), Ingles (knee), Lillard (core muscle), Little (shoulder), Louzada (knee), Nurkic (foot), Anfernee Simons (knee), Watford (knee) and Winslow (calf) are out for Monday’s game against Oklahoma City. – 8:52 PM
Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Third quarter: Lakers 94, Pelicans 90
The Pelicans outscored the Lakers 41-25 in the third to make this a game in the fourth. LeBron James has 35 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Russell Westbrook has 16 points. Malik Monk has 14. The biggest 12 minutes of the season for LA. – 8:48 PM
Kyle Goon @kylegoon
If you are taking it slow running back on defense, Russell Westbrook will zoom past you and take the free bucket. His hesitancy during his slump was pretty apparent, but in this game he’s 8 for 13 and making the Pels pay on those. – 8:48 PM
Jamie Hudson @JamieHudson_
Blazers Injury Report:
Brown III (left eye) is questionable.
Bledsoe (Achilles), Hart (knee), Ingles (knee), Lillard (core muscle), Little (shoulder), Louzada (knee), Nurkic (foot), Simons (knee), Watford (left knee; bone contusion) & Winslow (calf) are out Mon.’s game vs OKC – 8:26 PM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
With his sixth field goal of the game, Russell Westbrook passed Adrian Dantley for 30th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, via Lakers PR. – 8:23 PM
Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Halftime: Lakers 69, Pelicans 49
The Lakers just had one of their best halves of the season in their biggest game of the season. LeBron was spectacular with 25 points, including six 3s. Russell Westbrook and Malik Monk each have 12 points. – 8:05 PM
Brad Turner @BA_Turner
LeBron James has 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting, 6-for-9 on threes, Russell Westbrook 12 and Malik Monk 12 as Lakers open 69-49 lead over Pelicans at the half. – 8:04 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Lakers are on fire from 3, now 11 for 18 after Westbrook hit his second tonight. LeBron has 6, Monk 1 and Augustin 2.
Including his 2 for 2 tonight, Augustin is 21 for 41 from 3 since the Lakers acquired him, good for 51.2%. – 8:00 PM
Brad Turner @BA_Turner
Russell Westbrook with a 3 and then a drive for layup, as Lakers are blowing this game open with a 65-42 lead. – 7:58 PM
Oleh Kosel @OlehKosel
LeBron James is 6-9 from deep and now Russell Westbrook just hit his second 3-point attempt. pic.twitter.com/qXNS4NrQEM – 7:58 PM
Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Augustin-Westbrook-Anthony is a rough defensive trio. – 7:43 PM
Brad Turner @BA_Turner
Behind LeBron James’ 11 points, Russell Westbrook’s 7, Malik Monk’s 7, Lakers open 31-23 lead over Pelicans end of first. – 7:34 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
LAL take a 31-23 lead out of a productive 1st Q in which LeBron led the way early (10 points in a 12-0 run) and Westbrook and Monk closed the quarter strong after NOP had trimmed the margin to 3. – 7:34 PM
Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
First quarter: Lakers 31, Pelicans 23
A dominant first-quarter performance from LeBron, who scored 11 points, grabbed 3 rebounds and blocked a shot. Russell Westbrook has 7 points. Malik Monk has 7 off the bench. LA is playing with the sense of urgency they’ve displayed lately. – 7:33 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Nice minutes from both Monk and Westbrook on offense, picking up the scoring load with LeBron on the bench.
Monk has 7 quick points, and Westbrook 7 as well as LAL lead 31-23. – 7:32 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
With a corner 3, Russell Westbrook surpassed Dwyane Wade for 31st on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, with 23,167 points.
He’s now 11 points from catching Adrian Dantley for 30th. – 7:28 PM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
With his first basket of the night, Russell Westbrook passed Dwyane Wade for 31st place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, via Lakers PR. – 7:24 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
New Orleans battled back quickly into this one with a 7-0 run, which Russell Westbrook broke with his first jumper tonight.
It’s 16-9 midway through the 1st Q. – 7:22 PM
Jovan Buha @jovanbuha
Lakers’ starters vs. New Orleans:
Dwight Howard
Wenyen Gabriel
LeBron Jame
Austin Reaves
Russell Westbrook – 6:33 PM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter
Dwight Howard’s workout found him good enough to play with the sore hip, and he’ll start alongside Westbrook, Reaves, LeBron and Gabriel.
As expected, New Orleans will have McCollum, Ingram and Valanciunas all available. – 6:32 PM
Bob Garcia @bgarciaivsports
Russell Westbrook can scratch off a potential new #NBA home next offseason.
#LakeShow #Lakers
sportscasting.com/russell-westbr… – 1:46 PM
Damian Lillard @Dame_Lillard
Prayers up for my youngin @Trendon Watford 🙏🏽 – 1:35 AM
Alex Kennedy @AlexKennedyNBA
Jaden Ivey has a bright future and he’s perfect for today’s NBA.
“He has burst like Morant, explosiveness like Westbrook and a playing style like D-Wade,” an NBA scout told @Matt Babcock. “He’s a Ferrari.”
“He will be a beast in the league,” a GM added. basketballnews.com/stories/is-pur… – 6:40 PM
Jamie Hudson @JamieHudson_
Blazers Injury Report:
Bledsoe (left Achilles), Hart (left knee), Ingles (left knee), Lillard (core muscle recovery), Little (left shoulder), Louzada (left knee), Nurkic (plantar fasciitis), Simons (left knee) & Winslow (left calf inflammation) are out for Saturday’s game vs HOU – 6:39 PM
Dwight Jaynes @dwightjaynes
I am surprised how many people think a lineup featuring Lillard, Simons, Hart and Nukic is so much better than Lillard, McCollum, Powell, Nurkic and either Nance or Covington. – 5:55 PM
Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Lillard said he believes Trail Blazers roster can quickly be flipped into contender nba.nbcsports.com/2022/03/26/lil… – 5:01 PM
David Hardisty @clutchfans
According to @Jake Fischer, the Lakers are very unlikely to waive and stretch Russell Westbrook’s contract, the Knicks have “no interest” in a Westbrook trade and @Marc Stein has not heard of any team interested except Houston. pic.twitter.com/4r7xBPfdGg – 1:11 PM
More on this storyline
Christian Clark: Final: Pelicans 116, Lakers 108 New Orleans comes back from 23 down to beat LA. Trey Murphy scored 16 of his 21 points in the third quarter. Pels move a 1/2 game ahead of the Lakers and win the head-to-head tiebreaker. -via Twitter @cclark_13 / March 27, 2022
Bill Oram: An indefensible collapse. The Lakers blow a 23-point lead and lose 116-108 in New Orleans to drop to 10th in the West, half a game back of these Pelicans. They are clinging to that final Play-In spot by just one game over San Antonio with eight games remaining. Buckle up. -via Twitter @billoram / March 27, 2022
“That s— piss me off. I ain’t gone lie, bro,” Bradley Beal told Golden State Warriors star Draymond Green. “It really — it really frustrate me, especially being a guy that played with him. The disrespect — that s— gotta stop, bro. It’s gotta stop because we acting like this man is not a Hall of Famer.” -via YouTube / March 25, 2022
