Even though the Lakers lost by 21 points at Dallas Tuesday night, the return of Gabe Vincent provided some good news, writes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Vincent sat out the previous four games with a strained left oblique he suffered December 28. He went scoreless in 24 minutes, but coach J.J. Redick was happy to have Vincent back on the court.
“Have missed his toughness first of all,” Redick told reporters before the game. “He’s someone that has, as the season (goes on), it seems like he’s got increasingly tougher on the defensive end. His screening takes care of the basketball. Another handler. And then he’s shot the ball really well for a sustained stretch starting with that Utah game (on December 1) when he was in the starting lineup. So we’ve missed him. He’s a pro. It’d be good to get a look at the group with him back.”
Price notes that before the injury, Vincent had been playing his best basketball since joining the Lakers in the summer of 2023. He averaged 7.3 points on 43.9% shooting in his previous 11 games.
Shake Milton replaced Vincent while he was sidelined, and Price points out that L.A.’s rotation is the healthiest it has been since acquiring Milton and Dorian Finney-Smith in a December 29 trade with Brooklyn.
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Finney-Smith has only played five games since the deal, but he’s noticed that the Lakers aren’t communicating enough on defense, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. They gave up 119 and 118 points in two road games this week. “We got to do a better job of talking behind guys, giving them confidence so defenders can crawl up in ball handlers and force them to the rim,” Finney-Smith said. “And we got (Anthony Davis) down there, so we got to use it.”
- Mismatches have been a problem for the Lakers on defense, as Dallas repeatedly targeted Austin Reaves and Dalton Knecht with isolations, observes Johan Buha of The Athletic. The recent return of backup center Jaxson Hayes was supposed to provide another rim protector, but Buha states that Hayes hasn’t been good in that role since he was cleared to play. Jarred Vanderbilt will be reevaluated in a week and Christian Wood is expected to be back soon, but they might not make an impact right away. Redick said Tuesday that Vanderbilt will be eased back into the rotation, probably starting at around 10 minutes per game.
- Redick said his family was among the many who had to evacuate Tuesday night due to a wildfire that swept through Southern California, per Stefan Stevenson of The Associated Press. The NBA released a statement regarding the status of Thursday’s scheduled game against Charlotte at Crypto.com Arena, relays Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). “We are in communication with the Lakers and Hornets and continue to closely monitor the situation to determine if any scheduling adjustments are necessary related to tomorrow night’s game,” league spokesman Mike Bass said.
I have watched about 7-8 Lakers games and the biggest issue I see, they just aren’t athletic. They might be the least athletic team in the NBA that I have watched.
Lakers need miracle trade to be title contender. Let’s speak loud “Miracle Trade”.
I like the Lakers idea to trade for Walker Kessler. He is only available for 2 first round picks.
For the first 27 games this season, Kessler is averaging a career-high 10.4 points, 11.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.7 assists, plus he has made a remarkable 71.2 percent of his shot attempts.
Lakers have a bad contract Vincent to attach with 2 Firsts.
Agree he’s been good, but does he start? if he does, LeBron has to guard at the 3. if he doesn’t, where are his minutes? hard to block shots and finish at the rim if you’re on the bench…
Chuck said it best ‘Lakers stink’
Can Jeanie Buss please fire herself?
Grimes looked good for Dallas. NY bench could have used him now. Rose has been fantastic, but giving up OBI and Grimes was questionable.