Lakers: Russell Westbrook's Big Night Inspires Hope For Los Angeles

Is this a sign of things to come?

The Lakers did not walk away with a win over the Hornets on Friday night. But despite being down a whole bunch of guys, Los Angeles kept it close and came within a shot of tying up the game in the final seconds. 

Los Angeles played without Malik Monk, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis in this one. That's 3 Lakers starters who were out, leaving very little hope that they would be able to pull out a win or even keep it close. 

But Russell Westbrook carried the load and gave Lakers fans a reason to smile for the first time in a while. Russ scored 35 points and shot 52.2 percent from the field. He also sunk 3 of his 7 attempts from beyond the arc. It was huge. After the game, Frank Vogel spoke about his performance and what it meant for the team.

“That’s going to be something that we can build on, honestly. When we see him do that in a Lakers uniform in our system, with the way we’re screening for him — there’s lessons in every game, and that’s one of them that we’ll take. That he’ll carry the load if we get him downhill the way he was tonight.”

He did miss the final three-point attempt of the game, which would have tied it in the final seconds. But he was the guy out there that the Lakers wanted to take the shot, especially the way he had been shooting. 

It's very encouraging to see Russ have a game like this, especially after the game AD had in Brooklyn. If the Lakers can get their big three healthy and firing on all cylinders, don't be surprised to see them make a late push.