First off, Westbrook confirmed that his hamstring injury was due to his coming off the bench in the preseason finale.
“I’ve been doing the same thing for 14 years straight. Honestly, I didn’t even know what to do pregame,” Westbrook said.
“Being honest, I was trying to figure out how to stay warm and loose. For me, obviously the way I play the game, it’s fast-paced, quick, stop-and-go. And I just happened to, when I subbed in, felt something.”
“Didn’t know what it was, but I wasn’t going to risk it in a preseason game. But definitely wasn’t something I was used to. Wasn’t warm enough.”
Lakers Head Coach Darvin Ham said: “I thought he was solid.”
“A couple of possessions I wish we could get back. But overall I thought he was solid.”
“You want to start the game off the right way in terms of your energy and being in attack mode,” Ham added. “And no one better than him.”
James on the other hand lay it down as it is and called the team “not great at shooting”.
“I think we’re getting great looks and I think there also could be teams giving us great looks. I mean, to be completely honest, we’re not a team that’s constructed of great shooting,” James said. “And that’s just what the truth of the matter is. It’s not like we’re sitting here with a lot of lasers on our team.
“That doesn’t deter us from still trying to get great shots. When you get those opportunities, you take them. But we’re not sitting here with a bunch of 40-plus [percent] career three-point shooting guys.”
Asked whether he thought the Lakers could win with their three-point shooting as it is, he said: “You continue to defend. You continue to trust the shot. You put in the work. And if you put the work out on the floor when the cameras are not watching, then you trust it.”
“You trust it. And I don’t see myself missing the open looks that I had tonight,” James said.
“And if everybody is putting the work in, you live with those results. That’s all you can do. You continue to defend, you continue to push the ball, you continue to share the ball, and you continue to play for one another.”
”… If you had a football analogy, and you had a bunch of guys that were underneath route runners and wondering why the quarterback is not throwing 20-plus [yard] passes down the field. That’s how the team is constructed. That don’t mean you can’t win. Brady did it.”
Ham tried to placate things saying: “We got to stay on our toes, be able to move onto the next play. Having a next-play mentality is huge, and staying competitive. And, again, it only has to take one guy or two guys,” Ham said.
“And they genuinely care, so that’s [why] they have the disappointment in the first place. But no one is going to feel sorry for you, especially the defending champs.”
“Like, you got to have a short memory. Whether you make a shot, or you miss a shot, you turn the ball over, or whatever, you got to have a short memory and get on to the next play immediately. That has to be something that’s in our fabric and not just against Golden State, but against the entire league.”