"Magic's entitled to his opinion; he's not here every day" - Russell Westbrook hits back at Magic Johnson's criticism of the LA Lakers 

Russell Westbrook has fired back at Magic Johnson after the latter criticized the LA Lakers following their 96-133 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. Magic pointed out the Lakers' "lack of effort" against the Nuggets. He tweeted:

"After being blown out by the Nuggets 133-96, we as Lakers fans can accept being outplayed but we deserve more than a lack of effort and no sense of urgency. Owner Jeanie Buss, you deserve better."

Russell Westbrook did not take kindly to Magic's criticism. When asked to react to the Lakers legend's tweet following the loss to the Nuggets, Westbrook told the media:

"I do not. I do not have a reaction. Everybody's entitled, in this world, to their opinion regardless of what that is. You can either take it and run with it or take it and put it in one ear and out the other or you can not respond to it."

Westbrook emphasized that things within the organization are different from how they appear from the outside. He added:

"Magic's entitled to his opinion. He's not here every day. He's not around us every day. He's not aware kind of what's going on internally with us and trying to figure things out. But, I have no response to that but like I said, everybody in this world is entitled to their opinion."

Russell Westbrook posts double-digit scoring for LA Lakers first time in four games

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Despite the 37-point loss to the Nuggets, Russell Westbrook had some reason for joy. The LA Lakers superstar brought up his first double-digit scoring performance after being restricted to single digits in the previous three games. Westbrook had 19 points on the night and yet another zero-turnover game, his third such outing in the last five contests for the Lakers.

His individual statline aside, Westbrook explained the Lakers' current three-game slide as a need for the team to play "harder." He said:

'We've got to make a decision, we just got to play hard. Sometimes the schemes and how you play doesn't really matter. Sometimes teams are just playing harder than us. Simple as that. Even when we're winning, we get up up a lot of points. But now it's showing especially [when] we lose games. And teams are just putting their head down and going and we got to do a better job of defending."

Russell Westbrook and the LA Lakers will soon get a chance to end their losing streak. They return to the comforts of Crypto.com Arena, where they host the Utah Jazz on Monday.