The Los Angeles Lakers made their way to Oklahoma City Tuesday night for a matchup against Russell Westbrook and the Thunder. Westbrook has emerged as a strong MVP candidate and the Thunder have widened their gap for the Western Conference’s eighth seed. Despite the solid performance by the Lakers backcourt, the Thunder were just too much to handle as they defeated the Lakers, 127-117.
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Jeremy Lin and Jordan Clarkson were both in the starting lineup against the Thunder, and they combined for 49 points. The point guards were also very effective creating plays for others and had seven assists each. Despite the loss, there were a lot of positives for the Lakers and Jeremy Lin believes this new backcourt duo can be successful, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
J. Lin on him & Clarkson in the starting 5: “It doesn’t matter who brings the ball up & that’s the beauty of it. It definitely can work.”
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) March 25, 2015
The Lakers are fortunate to have two guards that can handle the ball that are able to score and set up teammates for easy baskets. With only a few weeks left in the season, the coaching staff is also keeping an eye out for who will come back in the 2015-16 campaign. If this tandem of Lin and Clarkson turns out to be effective, they may continue to share a backcourt with each other.
Los Angeles will play a big game in terms of draft positioning Wednesday night when it travels to Minnesota. The two teams have spilt their first two games, with the Lakers three games back in the loss column in the standings.
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