Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James praised teammate Russell Westbrook's reserve performance after the team's 111-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night.

"He was great," James said, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "He was great all game."

Westbrook finished with 18 points on 6-of-17 shooting with eight rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes. He missed five free throws and also had the same number of turnovers.

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"Russ, my hat's off to him once again," head coach Darvin Ham said. "Came off and showed the type of impact he can have in that reserve role and shoring up our bench – not just coming in and trying to maintain anything but coming in and taking it up a notch. So he was great in that role tonight. And I look forward to seeing him in it more once we start getting healthy bodies back."