Lakers: Russell Westbrook Gets Into Heated Exchange With Aaron Gordon Following a Foul Call

Russ was HEATED.

It was mostly a night to forget for the Lakers playing in Denver on Saturday night. With an early goal of shutting down Nikola Jokic, Frank Vogel's offense found itself watching him sink shots all night long. 

Jokic dropped just 17 points but put up 12 rebounds and dished out 13 assists. That resulted in the Nuggets rolling past the Lakers, scoring 133 points and keeping Los Angeles to under 100. 

That anger and frustration for the Lakers came to a crescendo in the third quarter when Russell Westbrook got into it with Aaron Gordon. With Russ driving in the paint, he threw in a few hard elbows trying to back Gordon off. Gordon responded with a shove of his own before the two got into a heated exchange and had to be separated. 

Double technical fouls on Russell Westbrook and Aaron Gordon. pic.twitter.com/iY1lWBliUq

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 16, 2022

It was a slightly more productive night for Westbrook, who dropped 19 points and once again did not have a turnover. He also shot 7-15 from the field, which is much better than he has been doing lately. 

 Russ and Gordon were both issued technical fouls for the fracas. The Lakers would go on to allow 60 second-half points after 73 points in the first half. Unfortuantely, they were able to dish out just 36 points of offense in the second half, sealing their fate. 

Up next, the Lakers will take on Utah Jazz back at home on Monday night. The Jazz come into this one as the number 4 seed on the Western Conference, having won 28 of their 42 games as of Saturday night.