After losing their fourth straight game this week, the pressure is mounting for the Los Angeles Lakers to end the streak and get back on the right side of the win column. In a last-ditch effort to find a spark in the starting lineup, head coach Darvin Ham announced a new rotation ahead of Saturday’s contest: LeBron James, Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Anthony Davis.
After four straight losses, the Lakers are moving D’Angelo Russell to the bench tonight vs. Oklahoma City for new starting five of LeBron James, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, Jarred Vanderbilt and Anthony Davis.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 23, 2023
This will be the first time that this particular lineup plays together on the court and it will be D’Angelo’s first game off the bench since his Lakers return last season. Against a big and young Thunder team, this lineup could find some success on defense but the lack of shooting could be a big problem for the Lakers, who already rank 25th offensively this season.
Lakers Fans Are Unsure Over New Starting Unit
The judgment from Lakers fans has been pretty mixed so far. Everybody knew changes were coming after their loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves but it seems nobody can agree on the best way to fix this team. At the very least, LeBron’s move to point guard seems like a good choice for most fans.
Bruh the spacing bout to be so shit, why doesn’t Reaves start over Reddish, only positive out of this is Bron at PG
— ²³𝙻𝚎𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜🏀☄️🌎💞 (@BronGotGame) December 23, 2023
LeBron having full control of the offense will make life easier for his teammates, but some argue that Austin Reaves should have joined him as a starter tonight. Following his struggles early in the season, Reaves has been playing much better of late and a lot of people were disappointed to see him get just 27 minutes against the Timberwolves.
Should be Reaves, vando, rui, bron . AD
Or something near it.
— LeDhesi (@dhesi_trades) December 23, 2023
Only time will tell how the new lineup fares in their first run together, but the pressure is on to make this work before things get ugly.
https://twitter.com/StarBoyMuse/status/1738710187639288077
The Lakers have tried multiple lineups this season, except for the one that got them to the Western Conference Finals. Instead, Darvin Ham has put a lot of trust in the newcomers, such as Reddish, Prince, and backup big man Jaxson Hayes. At 15-14, they are still looking for answers on how to turn their season around but their biggest problem of all is with the guy they signed for $36 million this summer.
Lakers Have A Point Guard Problem
The big story of this lineup change is the benching of D’Angelo Russell, who was huge for the Lakers in their Western Conference Finals run last spring. As arguably their best perimeter shooter, and an elite ball-handler, the idea was that Russell would help boost the Lakers’ offense this season. Instead, he’s been wildly inconsistent. After a good start to the season, D’Lo has fallen off hard and has been nearly unplayable since the in-season tournament earlier this month.
Without Russell playing well, the Lakers are very limited in the backcourt and it’s probably why Ham gave LeBron the start at the point tonight. Hopefully, D’Lo can get it going soon and the Lakers can go back to their winning ways. But if he’s playing this for any extended period of time, it could set the Lakers back in a major way this season. But in a Western Conference that goes 8 deep, the Lakers cannot afford to be mediocre for much longer if they want to avoid the play-in bracket.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
