During last season’s playoffs, Rui Hachimura enjoyed the best run of his career as the Los Angeles Lakers made their run to the Western Conference Finals. He parlayed that performance into a new contract during offseason, and with that came higher expectations.
So far, this season has been an up-and-down one, however, as Hachimura, like many other Lakers, has dealt with missed time due to injury. But with LeBron James out against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, Hachimura was thrust into the starting lineup and played some extended minutes.
Hachimura finished with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting and admitted that playing big minutes helped him get into a rhythm that he has been struggling to find, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, I’m just trying to get back to my rhythm. Playing a long time, of course it’s gonna help me in the long term and yeah, today I think defensively was the key for me. We did a pretty good job on Towns but the others guys on their team were scoring pretty good. I think we fought through the whole game so it was good.”
One reason Hachimura has been struggling to get into rhythm has been an inconsistency in minutes. He played more minutes in Minnesota than in the Lakers’ previous two games combined as the coaching staff tries to figure out the right rotations amidst players returning from injury.
The Lakers forward admitted it has been difficult with his minutes changing but he simply has to do whatever is needed when his number is called:
“I mean, it’s hard, but it is what it is. That’s what they decided. It’s nothing I can control, just got to play my minutes and do what I can do defensively, offensively, on both ends. Just be aggressive and play hard, bring energy off the bench.”
Things have been rough for the Lakers overall as they return to full health. Many players thrive on consistency and having a good idea of when they will be on the court. That hasn’t been the case for Hachimura and others, but the effort and energy must be there regardless in order for the Lakers to ultimately be successful.
Rui Hachimura to keep wearing face mask
Something else making things tough Hachimura is a recent broken nose that caused the Lakers forward to miss a handful of games and wear a face mask upon his return.
Hachimura admitted that he hates playing with the face mask, but knows it is necessary as his nose recovers and expects to have to continue wearing it for another month.
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