The Los Angeles Lakers were very shorthanded when they took on the Sacramento Kings in Anaheim, Calif. for their third 2023-24 preseason game on Wednesday. LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Austin Reaves were held out, while Cam Reddish and Jarred Vanderbilt didn’t play due to injury.
But they still managed to defeat the Kings, 109-101, to get their second straight victory, even though it wasn’t pretty.
Los Angeles scored only 20 points in the second quarter and was struggling from the outside after it looked impressive from 3-point range in their first two exhibition contests. But the team perked up after halftime, putting 40 points on the board in the third period, and it managed to shoot 50.0 percent from the field for the game.
After giving up 125 and 126 points on Saturday and Monday, respectively, the Lakers found some defensive prowess in this game. They held Sacramento to just 38.9 percent overall and 30.0 percent from beyond the arc, which is an encouraging sign, especially given the fact that Sacramento averaged 120.7 points a game last season.
D'Angelo Russell is looking sharp
After putting up excellent efficiency numbers in the regular season, Russell struggled at times in last year’s playoffs, especially during the Western Conference Finals. It led to some doubt about whether he could be a positive factor for this year’s Lakers, but so far, things are looking good for him.
Russell was hot in their first two exhibition games, and that marksmanship continued on Wednesday. He shot 8-of-12 overall and 2-of-5 from 3-point range, giving him 21 points, to go along with eight assists in 21 minutes, and he even had a block on De’Aaron Fox near the end of the first half.
Gabe Vincent's shooting is looking promising
When L.A. signed Vincent in early July, many liked the fact he would bring defense and grit to the team, but some were unsure whether he would help in terms of shooting, given the fact he shot just 33.4 percent from downtown last season.
But in the Lakers’ first two exhibition contests, he went 4-of-11 from that distance, and on Wednesday, he did even better. He connected on half of his eight trey attempts, and overall, he scored 18 points in 26 minutes.
If Vincent shoots in the high-30s from downtown throughout the season, perhaps he will see playing time on head coach Darvin Ham’s closing lineups at least some of the time.
Christian Wood finally made a contribution
In L.A.’s first two preseason games, Wood looked a little out of sorts. He shot 2-of-8 on Saturday against the Golden State Warriors, and although he improved a bit on Monday, he was still at just 4-of-10.
But against Sacramento, the free agent pickup went 5-of-7, scoring 13 points while also grabbing four rebounds in 20 minutes.
Getting Wood up to speed with his new teammates will be very important, as he has the ability to give the Lakers a major boost throughout the season.
