The Los Angeles Lakers have had a rough start to their NBA campaign. They are now 5-4 this season and have allowed a poor Oklahoma side to do the double over them in less than 10 days. However, while the Lakers played with Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook in both of these fixtures, they missed LeBron. But with or without LeBron, it is a poor result, and Frank Vogel has a lot to think about now.

Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook shone the brightest in the Lakers loss vs Thunder and combined for 56 points. Carmelo Anthony dropped a classic sixth-man performance with 21 points in 32 mins. However, it wasn’t enough as the Thunder completed a double over the Lakers.

The Lakers had many opportunities to snatch the game from OKC’s hands, but they squandered their chances. Coach Frank Vogel was particularly upset about a last-minute game-tying opportunity wasted by Westbrook.

Frank Vogel not happy with the last minute opportunity wasted by Russell Westbrook

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel was clearly not happy with the team’s performance against Thunder. With just 8 seconds remaining in the clock, Anthony Davis hit a three-pointer to bring the deficit to one point. However, Dort converted two free throws to take the scoreline to 104-107.

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With just seconds remaining, Russell Westbrook had a golden opportunity from beyond the arc to tie the game. However, his shot hit the rim and bounced back as seconds ticked away to end the game.

After the game, Lakers reporter Ryan Ward took to Twitter and revealed Vogel’s thoughts on the miss. Vogel said that the team wanted to get a ‘better shot’ at the end of the game than what Westbrook ‘settled for.’

After a poor start to the season, Frank Vogel has been under immense pressure. The Lakers look lost without LeBron James and Vogel needs to do something about it. The Thunder knew what they needed to do to win. With LeBron out, Westbrook led the Lakers’ offense and finished 10-23 from the field for 27 points. He also grabbed 6 rebounds and registered 5 assists in 35 minutes.

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However, the Lakers’ bench was miserable throughout the game. Apart from Carmelo Anthony, the bench failed to contribute much to the team’s cause. Rajon Rondo had zero points, while Wayne Ellington dropped eight in his season debut.

Malik Monk and Dwight Howard settled for two points. This just shows just how dependent the Lakers are on LeBron James. Apart from LeBron, they desperately need their bench to step up if they want to contend for the championship.