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LeBron James has Russell Westbrook's back. The 37-year-old superstar offered Westbrook his full support after the latter endured a difficult shooting night against the New York Knicks on Saturday. Westbrook put up five points on 1-of-10 (10.0%) shooting as the Lakers needed overtime to get a 122-115 victory against the Knicks. Westbrook's point-total was his lowest for this season.
Despite the rough game, LeBron kept encouraging Westbrook throughout the contest. LeBron, who made his return to the Lakers after sitting out the last five contests because of swelling in his left knee, told the media after the win against the Knicks:
"I told him to text me later. I told him to keep going, stop second-guessing himself... He's an instinctive player, with what he's done in this league, he should never second guess himself... I have the utmost confidence in his ability."
Westbrook will surely take a lot of confidence from LeBron's constant encouragement and endorsement of his game to the media. Not only did the 33-year-old point guard tally a new season-low, but it was his second-poorest shooting game of the season even as he went scoreless in the second half.
Westbrook compensated a little for his torrid shooting game by gathering four rebounds and dishing out six assists.
LeBron James brings up 103rd career triple-double even as Russell Westbrook is benched during overtime
LA Lakers decided to bench Russell Westbrook for the entire duration of overtime given the nine-time All-Star's shooting struggles on Saturday. But with LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Malik Monk all producing 20-point-plus games, the Lakers were able to get the W on their home floor.
LeBron was particularly impressive as he brought up his 103rd career triple-double, his fourth of the season, in just his first game back from injury. LeBron had 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as he played almost 40 minutes in the overtime contest against the Knicks. LeBron shot 54% (13-of-22) as he finished with an overall plus-minus of plus-12.
Anthony Davis summed up LeBron's awesome game after he had sat out the last five contests. Davis said:
"He's doing LeBron-type things."
LeBron and the Lakers will now host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday night. The Lakers lost the first of the two-game season series meetings between the two teams.
