As the Los Angeles Lakers continue to slide down the Western Conference standings following a disheartening 118–78 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder last Saturday, head coach Byron Scott said the team was scared.
"Those guys looked like they were scared tonight or intimidated by [Kevin] Durant and [Russell] Westbrook," Scott said, following the game, according to ESPN.
Scott added, "They didn't play well at all and really just got embarrassed by the way we played tonight. Like I told them, I said, it was pathetic in every area. We didn't come to compete, and they just played harder than we did. Like I said, it just looked like we were in awe of that team."
Durant and Westbrook did play well in the victory to hand the Lakers a second consecutive defeat.
The 2014 Most Valuable Player (MVP) led all scorers for the Thunder with 22 points, also tallying eight rebounds and two assists.
Westbrook, on the other hand, again provided a double-double 13 points with 11 assists that came along with one rebound and one steal.
The purple and gold also played without retiring superstar guard Kobe Bryant who missed the game to rest a shoulder woe.
Los Angeles fell to 4–23 in the standings and is last in the Western Conference, also second to the last in the National Basketball Association.
If Scott believes that his players were scared of the Thunder, his younger players disagreed. Both 2015 number two pick point guard D'Angelo Russell and second year forward Julius Randle stated that they were not scared, according to ESPN.
Russell may have backed up his statement well as he contributed 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and one steal off the bench in a losing effort.
But Randle was unable to have a productive night, only listing two points and seven rebounds.
Making it to the playoffs is a far-fetched goal for the Lakers this season, but they need to get their acts together when they head to the Pepsi Center on Tuesday to face the Denver Nuggets.
