The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled for most of this season, and amid all of their injuries and losses head coach Darvin Ham has juggled his starting lineup and rotations.
He began the season with D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Taurean Prince alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis. After the team started 3-5, he replaced Reaves with Cam Reddish. More recently, he moved Russell to the bench and started Reaves again.
For Monday night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, L.A. went back to the starting lineup it had at the start of the season. It worked; the team defeated the Thunder, who came in with the Western Conference’s second-best record, 112-105.
Afterward, Russell and Reaves said they like this starting five.
"This is the lineup that we started with this year and it's something that we feel comfortable with… We like what we can do with this group." Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell on tonight's starting lineup. pic.twitter.com/Wcacoj1jUz
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) January 16, 2024
The two starting guards combined for 29 points and 13 assists, and they seemed to play well off each other. Overall, the Lakers’ offense seemed to flow better: They had 30 assists and 21 fast-break points.
But they were even more impressive on the defensive end. Even though Russell, Reaves and Prince aren’t excellent defenders, the Lakers held Oklahoma City, who came in third in scoring and second in field-goal percentage, to 41.7% from the field and 30.6% from 3-point range while also allowing it to attempt just 11 free throws.
