The Los Angeles Lakers took the court for the first time on Saturday night, losing to the Golden State Warriors in the preseason opener.
Despite the loss, there were plenty of positives to take away for L.A., especially considering they were without both LeBron James and Austin Reaves. One of those positives was the play of D’Angelo Russell, who had 15 points and five assists in just 16 minutes of action.
In the absence of Reaves, Russell shared the backcourt with Gabe Vincent, who was brought in to replace Dennis Schroder. After the game, Russell discussed how much he enjoyed playing with Vincent and revealed that his preference is to share the floor with another point guard, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Just very high IQ. He’s a professional. You add a guy like that to any team, the value is very high. And it’s appreciated with the league being so young, you have a lot of guys that are straddling that line of vet, experience, things like that. He’s got a lot of experience coming off the season he just had and the previous one as well. He’s just a professional. I can play with a lot of different lineups but I feel like my strength when I play great is when I have another point guard next to me. I like to play the game at a high IQ level, pace, and usually when you don’t have another point guard and you’re the only point guard out there, guys don’t get you the ball when you’re open. You backdoor cut, you set a flare, things like that. But when you’re playing with guys like that, it allows you to be on the other end of receiving those type of compliments I would say on the floor.”
Vincent had seven points and four assists in his Lakers preseason debut, allowing Russell to play off the ball and look to score a little more while also getting his teammates involved.
It remains to be seen how the Lakers’ guard rotation will shake out, but there is a ton of experience and versatility in the trio of Russell, Vincent and Reaves, giving Darvin Ham a lot of options when it comes to different lineups as Max Christie also begins to emerge.
Russell appreciates Ham naming him starting point guard
Russell was a free agent this past offseason and eventually re-signed with the Lakers on a two-year contract. There were some questions marks about whether he would start or come off the bench this season, although Ham quickly put those questions to an end by naming him the starter, which Russell appreciated.
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