These Lakers are old hat

It is October, which helps, but these are the Lakers, and Westbrook. Two strikes down, already.

The Lakers are winless through four games, the anguish is not out of the way early. Russell is injured, and there probably won’t be a starting spot waiting for him once his “irritated” hamstring heals.

Dave McMenamin @mcten

Darvin Ham says that Russell Westbrook is out tonight and will be day-to-day with his hamstring, which is “irritated.” Meaning Friday vs. MIN is not off the table for a return. When asked if Austin Reaves would start in place of Westbrook, Ham said “we’ll see.”

If the Lakers started 2-2, which they haven’t, this wouldn’t be as strong a problem.

Worse is a winless team dealing with a superstar controversy alongside its own troubles with putting biscuit in basket.

Morten Stig Jensen @msjnba

I greatly appreciate how the Lakers are giving us all a nice little stroll down memory lane, showing us how three-point percentages often looked in the 1980's.

Percentages from the 1980s, sure, but we are here in the future and the Lakers are on the hook for scoring 99 points on 148 notable possessions through four games. The Lakers, fourth in defense but last in offense, cannot survive like this.

There are ways to keep faith. Point to what Westbrook gave you defensively, through his three games, remind observers that you have just as many wins with Russell as you do without. Laker fans could also skip the games entirely.

Russ’ turnovers are down this season but he can’t hit a shot, 29 percent from the field, 1-12 from deep, ten free throw attempts in 86 minutes. The Lakers are lost even if Westbrook improved to last year’s averages: 18-7-7 plus that 17 percent turnover rate. You can’t waste a quarter of your possessions on a player like this.