For the first time this season, Robert Sacre started for the Lakers in their 106-100 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Sacre got off to a great start, recording seven points on 3-3 shooting with four rebounds and an assist in just over seven minutes before heading to the bench with two fouls. Sacre finished with just over 16 minutes on the night because of foul trouble, but was highly effective in his minutes on the floor. Sacre spoke to reporters after the game about his first career start.
“I felt I did alright,” said Sacre on his performance in his first start. “I contributed the best I could. Obviously, I got in a little bit of foul trouble. But that happens, at the end of the day I can only control what I can control. I just wanted to contribute by any means with this team.”
Sacre finished with 11 points and five rebounds with a pair of blocks on Demarcus Cousins. Sacre was five for seven from the field and looked good in pick and roll sets with Steve Blake. Mike D’Antoni felt Sacre’s was good in his first start.
“I think he did great,” said D’Antoni after the game. “He started off really well. I thought he played well the whole game. He had some big stops on [Demarcus] Cousins. And I thought for the first time out he looked really good.”
With the Sacre start, Jordan Hill was regulated to coming off the bench, but was still able to lead the team in rebounds with nine — four of them offensive. Hill only finished with seven points on three-for-five shooting, but D’Antoni felt he looked better in his role off the bench and suggested that he may continue in his role as a reserve.
“Yeah, for sure. And I think that’s the role that he the most comfortable with. We got him out of it and he’ll go back [to coming off the bench] and he can get even more comfortable.”
D’Antoni has made quite a bit of line up changes this season, and he’s done a great job in reading his team and putting guys in positions to succeed. Tonight was no different as both Sacre and Hill played positive minutes in their respective roles and contributed to a Lakers win. The Lakers are now above .500 (9-8 record) and have won three consecutive road games with Kobe Bryant set to return in the next game against the Raptors. Things are looking up for this Lakers game.
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