Russell Westbrook's Lakers revenge game was a long time coming

Russell Westbrook's arrival and departure to/from the Los Angeles Lakers was an ugly, well-chronicled topic of discussion.

Many questioned the Lakers' acquiring Westbrook from the moment they traded for him, and those people were right. Despite his pedigree, he was undoubtedly a clunky on-court fit with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Nonetheless, Los Angeles let the door hit the one-time league MVP on the way out, which reasonably hasn't been forgotten.

On Saturday, Westbrook and the Denver Nuggets traveled to Crypto.com Arena to face the Lakers. The veteran floor general appeared to have extra motivation against his former employer.

Westbrook moved differently versus the Lakers, propelling the Nuggets to victory over his former employer. He was motivated and animated, igniting Denver to a blowout road win.

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Russell Westbrook's Lakers revenge game was a long time coming

Being the ultra-spirited, fiery competitor he is, the boulder-sized chip on Westbrook's shoulder only grew because of the dismal stint with the purple and gold. He scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, adding 11 assists, five rebounds and a steal in 24 minutes of action.

Of course, Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic was the catalyst of the team's 127-102 rout of the Lakers. But Westbrook's energy and efficient box-score-stuffing stat line were instrumental, demonstrated by his +17 plus/minus rating. Albeit an imperfect metric, it highlights his positive impact on Denver dismantling Los Angeles.

While Westbrook was part of the problem with the Lakers, he didn't merit being the scapegoat of the failed experiment. Many things went wrong during his time with the franchise, and they weren't compatible. Alas, the 36-year-old has the last laugh -- for now.

However, with three more regular-season matchups, this won't be the last we've heard of the Westbrook-Lakers revenge narrative. Not to mention, the two squads have met in consecutive playoff runs. So, we could get some intense, high-stakes showdowns in the future.