Wayne Ellington has enjoyed some on-court action in the last two games after falling out of the Los Angeles Lakers’ rotation at the end of December.
Ellington clocked in almost 14 minutes in the Christmas Day loss to the Brooklyn Nets, scoring three points. He made just one appearance in the six games that followed, spending over five minutes in garbage time of the blowout 139-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
The veteran guard reemerged in Sunday’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, leading the Lakers’ fourth-quarter 21-0 run with 16 points, shooting 4-for-5 (80%) from behind the 3-point line. Head coach Frank Vogel suggested Ellington’s explosive cameo might earn the 34-year-old some more rotation minutes in the game to come.
“We’ll see,” Vogel said ahead of the 127-119 loss to the Sacramento Kings. “Obviously if Melo is in or out could impact that, but Wayne definitely reminded us of his shooting ability with how he played in the fourth quarter the other night.
“Not that we forgot, but other guys have just been playing at a high level, meaning Austin, Talen, and Malik and obviously Avery’s skillset on the defensive side of the ball. So we just have a lot of depth at the wing, a lot of guys that we believe in and Wayne is one of those and he’ll get a shot to come back into the rotation at some point if not tonight.”
Ellington played nine minutes against the Kings, going 0-for-2 from downtown and recording one steal.
Lakers reportedly expect Kendrick Nunn to return before end of January
Ellington could soon fight for a spot in Vogel’s rotation with one more teammate, as latest reports claim Kendrick Nunn might make his season debut for the Lakers before the end of January.
Nunn has been sidelined with a bone bruise in his knee since the preseason.
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