Damian Lillard scored 41 points, Jerami Grant made a driving layup with three seconds left, and the unbeaten Portland Trail Blazers kept the Los Angeles Lakers winless under new coach Darvin Ham with a 106-104 victory Sunday.
Ham was unflinching when asked if he’d have to manage any fallout with the point guard from his decision.
“We don’t have time for feelings or people being in their feelings. Like, we’re trying to turn this thing around,” Ham said after the Blazers’ win dropped the Lakers to 0-3 on the season. “For one person to be in their feelings about when and where and how they should be in the game, I don’t have any time for that.”
Westbrook, who finished with 10 points on 4-for-15 shooting, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and zero turnovers, had been subbed back into the game by Ham with 4:42 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Lakers leading by eight. Over the next four and a half minutes, Portland outscored L.A. by 10 before Ham pulled Westbrook with 12.4 seconds left.
L.A. struggled as a team down the stretch, shooting 3-for-9 overall and 0-for-4 from 3 — contributing to a 6-for-33 day from the outside (18.2%) that brought the Lakers’ season total to 25-for-118 on 3-pointers.
LeBron James, who led L.A. with 31 points but missed a potential game-tying jumper at the buzzer.
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James said the team’s mood following the loss was “s—ty,” which is to be expected.
“If you’re around a group of guys that are excited after a loss, then that’s the worst business that you can be in. So that’s the mood right now. But I’ll leave my frustration and what I have here. Once I drive out the tunnel, I’m going to leave it here.”
