Russell Westbrook opens up on LA Lakers' late-game struggles: "Down the stretch, you have to make winning plays"

Russell Westbrook seemed to be beginning to feel the pressure as the LA Lakers suffered another loss at the hands of the Sacramento Kings. A Lakers video went viral recently. It featured Westbrook telling his teammates to have fun no matter the outcome of their games. Apparently, losing is no longer fun for Russ as he expressed his thoughts on his team's struggles late in games.

Russell Westbrook opened up on how the Lakers should've performed in their past three losses considering they were all close games. He mentioned that the squad needs to start making more efficient plays, especially late in the game when it matters most. Being sloppy on defense is another factor that Westbrook believes LA should work on in the final minutes. He said:

"Down the stretch, you have to make winning plays on offense and defense."

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Russell Westbrook's efficient performances as of late

Philadelphia 76ers vs. LA Lakers

Despite the controversial loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday night, people can't deny how good Russell Westbrook has been as of late this season. In the LA Lakers' games this January, Westbrook has averaged 20 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 1.2 steals in nine games. One of those games was even a triple-double performance against the Sixers.

Fans who constantly throw shade at Russell Westbrook for the LA Lakers' failures might want to stop and rethink. The problem with LA right now is that they're struggling to close out games. Their defense gets sloppy down the stretch, while they make inefficient plays on offense.

The Purple and Gold are a good team. They even start their games strong during the first half. It's crunch time LA needs to work on. As the saying goes, it's not important how one starts, it's how one finishes that matter the most.

The LA Lakers are still sitting on the 13th seed with a 20-25 record. The team only has 37 games left to make things right. Luckily for the Lakers, they're only two games behind the eighth seed. If they win the remainder of their matchups this month, they'll likely be at least the 10th seed by then.

If LA is fine with going through the play-in tournament again this year, then it's a very doable at this point. However, if they aim to clinch at least the sixth seed, the Lakers will need to win the majority of their 37 games left.