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dave mcmenamin
LOS ANGELES — Using Friday’s preseason finale as a “dress rehearsal” for next week’s regular-season opener, Los Angeles Lakers Coach JJ Redick imposed gabe vincent In the starting lineup to compensate for the injured. Lebron James,
Vincent had a strong individual training camp with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting (4-for-5 from 3), but the Lakers lost 117-116 till Sacramento Kings To finish the preseason 1-5.
The regular season begins Tuesday night when L.A. hosts Golden State WarriorsAlthough Vincent’s decision has been made, the Lakers have a lot more to find out over the next few days.
“We have two more practices, so we need to clean up some things,” he said. luka doncicWho scored a game-high 31 points with nine assists in 33 minutes.
Vincent said the coaching staff informed him of the lineup change on Friday morning. If the staff was unsure about the option, Vincent helped his cause in the Lakers’ preseason game dallas mavericks Wednesday when he scored 18 points in the first four minutes, going 5-of-5 from 3-point range.
When Vincent was asked about his fitness with the starting players, he said, “I think I bring the same things I’ve been doing since I got here.” “Just try to defend, defend at a high level. Play when I have opportunities, look for Luka and create space on the floor.” [Austin Reaves] “Building ourselves.”
Sources told ESPN’s Shams Charania that James is not expected to return to the lineup until mid-November, as he is still doing so. recover from sciatica Due to which the right side of his body is being affected.
Although Vincent Doncic will join Reeves, deandre ayton And Rui Hachimura On the court to tip off the 2025-26 season, Redick made it clear that the current starters are not permanent.
“I don’t know anything about who I’ll start the rest of the season with because, again, there are injuries, and things like that happen throughout the year,” Redick said. “I have a pretty good idea who will start Game 1, after that, I don’t know. But I think there’s a lot of shooting around Luka and DA in that lineup, and Gabe is another ball handler, another strong defender.
“I think he fits in well, but you have to look at each game he plays against us and make a decision there.”
Redick has repeatedly downplayed the magnitude of his starting lineup decisions during training camp, stating that he used 25 different starting lineups last season.
Redick and his team seemed more concerned about their defense after giving up 59 points in the second half to a Kings team that shot 54.7% overall and 44.8% from 3.
“I think we were more physical in practice,” Doncic said. “We need to work on our physicality.”
The Lakers were without one of their more physical defenders at center jackson hayes For the second half of Friday. He left the game with a right wrist injury after finishing a lob dunk in the first quarter. Redick said X-rays on Hayes’ wrist were negative, and the Lakers will get more information on Hayes when they practice on Sunday.
Former Defensive Player of the Year marcus smartHe had 14 points and four steals off the bench against Sacramento, meanwhile, vowed to help with physicality.
“Just follow my instructions,” Smart said. “That’s really it. I’m going to try to set the tone every night. And just kind of piggyback me off.”
