Russell Westbrook Stifles Ja Morant, Leads All Scorers: “I’m A Very Good Defender”

Russell Westbrook, photo: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Russell Westbrook‘s tenure as a Los Angeles Lakers guard has been very Hollywood — in the sense that there is always drama. The former NBA MVP is now playing a reserve role on LeBron James‘s team, though it’s a sixth man position that give Westbrook starter-like minutes.

And against one of the NBA’s hottest teams, the Ja Morant-led Memphis Grizzlies, Westbrook had an uncommonly good night, going 10-of-18 from the field to lead the Lakers with 29 points. (James had 23.)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Los Angeles Lakers (@lakers)

But it was Westbrook’s take-charge attitude on defense that bodes well for the Lakers, especially during a season in which his role hasn’t always been clear and in which he has been uncharacteristically passive in stretches. At the end of the Grizzlies game, coach Darvin Ham revealed Westbrook wanted to guard Morant, the most lethal weapon the Grizzlies possess.

Asked about this move in the postgame press conference, Westbrook said: “I just know I’m a very good defender. And I believe in my abilities to be able to stop anybody, no matter what position.”