After losing the starting small forward position to Devin Ebanks before the season started Matt Barnes has found himself virtually out of the Lakers rotation.
Barnes didn’t play at all in the Lakers season opener against the Chicago Bulls before getting 13 minutes of run in the second half of the team’s game in Sacramento against the Kings on Monday. However, Barnes found himself on the bench again for the entirety of Tuesday’s game against the Utah Jazz.
The team listed Barnes as probable for the game against the Jazz but he still didn’t see any playing time. What made this more puzzling was the fact that Los Angeles blew the Jazz out. The game was basically decided halfway through the third quarter, but Barnes still didn’t see any action.
When asked whether or not he was healthy enough to play Barnes replied, “I’m fine, I’m healthy.”
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This once again shows that head coach Mike Brown is keeping Barnes out of the rotation when he is willing to play. Why this is the case has yet to be revealed, but it’s very apparent that the fans in L.A. believe Barnes should be on the floor. During the second half of Tuesday’s game the Staples Center crowd chanted “We Want Barnes.”