LeBron James refuses to blame Russell Westbrook for botching crucial game situation - “You guys can write about Russ… I’m not up here to do that”

LeBron James wasn’t about to be trapped saying anything against Russell Westbrook in a postgame interview. The LA Lakers suffered a heartbreaking 106-104 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, which featured Russ making a somewhat questionable play during crunch time.

Here’s what the four-time MVP had to say when asked about Westbrook’s play late in the fourth quarter:

(Starts at the 1:35 mark)

“I don’t know. I feel like this is an interview that’s trying to set me up to say something. I can tell that you guys are in the whole Russell Westbrook category right now. I don’t like to lose, I hate to lose. … I hate losing, especially the way we had this game.

“Give credit to Portland. You guys can write about Russ and all the things you guys wanna try to talk about Russ but I’m not up here to do that. I won’t do it. I’ve said over and over, that’s not who I am.”

The Lakers had an eight-point lead and momentum on their side when Darvin Ham re-inserted Russell Westbrook into the lineup for Troy Brown Jr. Westbrook promptly missed two shots, including a head-scratching decision to hoist it up with 30.1 seconds left in the game.

LA was clinging to a one-point lead with 18 seconds left on the shot clock when Westbrook missed the shot.

Crypto.com Arena moaned with a collective “No!” when the former MVP attempted the basket. LeBron James, who had just arrived at the 3-point line, spread his arms in utter frustration at Westbrook’s bone-headed play.

Prior to his re-entry into the lineup, Ham kept Russ on the sidelines for about 11 minutes, which was when the LA Lakers looked their best. He went 0-for-2 in the fourth quarter and seemingly killed the Lakers’ momentum, especially with poor shot selection.

Russell Westbrook hit just four of his 15 shots, missing all three of his attempts from the 3-point line. He was also 1-6 in drives to the basket. Among the starters, he was the only one with a negative differential. The LA Lakers were outscored by four points in his 28 minutes of game time.

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The Portland Trail Blazers were blatantly daring Russell Westbrook to shoot all game long

Russell Westbrook had another poor shooting night for the LA Lakers.

LeBron James finished with a team-high 31 points despite facing a phalanx of defenders almost every time he drove into the paint. Part of the reason why the interior was packed with opponents was the LA Lakers’ horrific inability to hit outside shots.

For most of the game, the Portland Trail Blazers were largely ignoring the Lakers’ three-point shots. This became even more obvious in the crucial minutes of the game against Russell Westbrook.

Here’s what Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups had to say about their defensive plans late in the game:

“Putting him [Jusuf Nurkic] on Russ, we were just going to kind of play off of Russ.”

What Billups instructed the Blazers to do was basically what Ty Lue asked of the LA Clippers two nights ago when guarding Westbrook. Both teams used one of their big men guarding Russ to stay close to the paint to help against LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

In two straight close games, the ploy has worked so far. Unless the Lakers can consistently hit their 3-point shots, they will have a tough time beating defenses inside the paint.