Lakers: Russell Westbrook Was Noticeably Absent in the Final Minutes on Friday

The Lakers did not have Russ out there in the closing minutes of the Lakers win on Friday night.

The Lakers did manage to get a win out of Friday night against the Wizards. That's the most important part. But another poor performance from Russell Westbrook looms large, and it's hard to ignore.

Russ shot 2 of 11 from the field and scored just 5 points in the Lakers win. After putting up a single point in th first quarter, nothing really improved for him. That included being booed once again after missing a pair of easy lay-ups. 

But Westbrook was also out of the rotation in the closing minutes of the Lakers win. Frank Vogel has shown that he is not afraid to sit Russ as the game comes to an end, something that has become more common since he came to Los Angeles.

Westbrook came out of the game with 8:37 left in the fourth quarter. He did not come back in, even though the Lakers led by just 6 points at the time of his departure. After the game, Vogel had said that his benching had come as a result of the younger guys stepping it up late. 

That would include Malik Monk, Austin Reaves, and Talen Horton-Tucker. Each of those guys played more than 30 minutes in the win, with Westbrook adding 31 minutes of his own. 

Still, it's hard to ignore your highest-paid player sitting on the bench in the final minutes of a relatively close win. But that's just where the Lakers are this season with Russell Westbrook. 

They take on the Suns tonight, looking to win consecutive games for the first time in a long time.