SAN FRANCISCO — Four veterans sat. Another got waived. The Los Angeles Lakers season, functionally over after being eliminated, still had to take the court — even if 80% of its once-projected starting lineup wasn’t available.
LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Anthony Davis and Carmelo Anthony all sat and the team cut Trevor Ariza — all while using their 40th different starting lineup of the season against the playoff-bound Golden State Warriors.
But in that void Talen Horton-Tucker delivered the best game of his career, a reminder of why the Lakers valued him this past offseason, scoring 40 in a 128-112 loss to the Warriors. It’s the third-year player’s career high.
It was against another reminder of how far the Lakers fell from their early-season goals.
There was a time early in the season when the Lakers imagined potentially closing games with James, Westbrook, Davis, Anthony and Ariza. Now, with the stakes completely removed, the Lakers played with nearly all of its star-power sidelined.
“LeBron’s ankle is still not ready. He wouldn’t be playing if we weren’t eliminated. And Anthony’s plantar fasciitis is causing him to limp around out there. So he’ll be out tonight and day-to-day,” Frank Vogel said pregame. “And Russ, him dealing with a shoulder thing that’s been slowing him down and we’re going to have him out tonight. And Melo has been trying to get over that stomach bug that he had last week and really hasn’t been quite fully recovered from that.”
The Lakers play at home Friday against Oklahoma City, and Vogel wouldn’t say whether any of the team’s best would be on the court for the final time this season in Los Angeles.
“We’ll see,” Vogel said. “We haven’t ruled that out for any of those guys. We’re literally going to see how those guys are physically feeling tomorrow and make that call then. And we do recognize it’s fan appreciation day so we want to make sure that our fans feel appreciated.”
Earlier in the day, the team waived Ariza, creating an open roster spot that the Lakers intend to fill before the season ends on Sunday. But signing a new player and, potentially, signing him to a non-guaranteed contract for next season, the Lakers can use that player in potential trades.
It marked the end for Ariza’s second-stint with the Lakers, his preseason ankle surgery setting him instantly behind while keeping him from becoming the critical piece the Lakers had hoped he’d be when they signed him.
“The first half of the year he was either out or clearly trying to recover from that,” Vogel said of Ariza’s surgery. “And as the season got towards the end, he felt like it was bothering him very minimally. But it did derail most of his season and his impact on our team this year.”.
Ariza, 36, played in 24 games this season with 11 starts, averaging four points on 33.3% shooting.
With an abbreviated roster, the Lakers started Austin Reaves, Stanley Johnson, Dwight Howard, Malik Monk and Horton-Tucker, leading by as many as nine before the Warriors pulled ahead in the second half. It was a strong performance despite being eliminated from the postseason the game before.
But it was Horton-Tucker’s game that should be the most encouraging.
Before the game, Golden State coach Steve Kerr — who had suffered over a year-plus of losing before the Warriors returned to the playoffs. He said the key to navigating those final games is finding something to be excited about — and at least Horton-Tucker delivered on that.
“The most important thing was finding something late in the year, building some momentum and carrying that over to a great start this year,” Kerr said pregame. “I just think when you’re in a tough spot and you have injuries or whatever adversity knocks you back, you’ve got to be able to latch onto some hope. And where you find that hope is different in every set of circumstances.”
