LeBron James and Russell Westbrook made their highly anticipated preseason debuts Friday against the Golden State Warriors.
Both players logged minutes in the first half, but it wasn’t pretty.
James scored nine points in 18 minutes and shot 4-of-12 overall and 0-3 from deep. Westbrook tallied two points and six turnovers in 17 minutes, though he crashed the glass with seven rebounds and dished four assists.
The Lakers trailed at halftime, 59-49, when the two were done for the night, and head coach Frank Vogel discussed what he saw from them after the game.
“Really good energy. It was good to see them play in a real game together for the first time,” Vogel said. “To be expected, there was some rust, and there was some growing pains. An adjustment period is something we expect with those guys.”
Vogel said he thought Westbrook’s turnovers, which all happened in the first quarter, were the result of playing unselfishly.
“But I thought both of them played with great energy, and I thought Russ even was trying to create, play unselfishly too much on a couple of possessions that led to some turnovers. But playing the right way, we’ll live with that. So, overall a good start.”
Vogel added Westbrook has looked much better in practice than what his debut showed, which is reminiscent of James’ comments about not taking too much stock into the preseason.
“Yeah, we’ve had some possessions like that, but Russ has been really dynamic in practices,” Vogel said. “This game, short sample size, is not indicative of how he’s looked with our group. So we’re gonna shake it off, and I think he’s gonna have a h-ll of a start with us here with the Lakers.”
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