Injuries have been a constant theme for the Los Angeles Lakers so far this year with Rui Hachimura being among those to miss significant time.
After recently missing five games with a left calf strain, Hachimura made his return off the bench on Saturday against the Utah Jazz.
The 25-year-old played 19 minutes and looked good, scoring 17 points on 6-for-12 from the field. In a game that did not feature LeBron James, Hachimura’s scoring was a shot in the arm for the Lakers and those kinds of performances are what is needed from him.
Slow starts have plague L.A. a lot so far this season, often struggling to get out of their own way in the first quarter. It seems that the team is always in an uphill climb trying to get a win.
After missing a handful of games, Hachimura believes that energy is something that the team is lacking and he is trying to fill that void, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, I just got to bring the energy. Especially in the first quarter, we got to bring the energy. Every team we play, they want to beat us. We’re the Lakers so they want to come out with good energy so we can lose to them. We’re always trying to catch up in the second quarter, so we just got to match the energy from the first quarter.”
Hachimura is onto something by saying the team has a target on their backs due to the kind of franchise they are. Opponents are going to want to show out with a lot of eyes being on every Laker game.
L.A. has to be able to handle and respond to opposing team’s runs while also maintaining a high energy level for as close to 48 minutes as possible. Keeping that energy level up is dependent on the bench, which is a unit that Hachimura often finds himself a part of.
It is good to see Hachimura point out an issue that the team is lacking as it is about being proactive with L.A. currently being below .500 and needing to fix things fast. The 6’8″ forward was brought off the bench to bring a scoring punch and that is going to be needed as the offensive end has been up and down as of late.
Austin Reaves & Rui Hachimura become trade-eligible on Jan. 15
With the recent struggles of the Lakers, it has resulted in more trade rumors and the increased possibility of a move being made. Jan. 15 marks the trade-eligibility of Austin Reaves and Hachimura, two pieces that can now be included in trades if the Lakers want.
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