There have been two constants in the Lakers’ lineup for the first half of the season: Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony.
The latter – the oldest member of the already wizened Lakers – finally had to sit out a game on Wednesday night.
Anthony woke up with lower back soreness, Coach Frank Vogel said, and after a pregame warmup, it was determined he couldn’t play against the Kings in Sacramento. It ended an ironman start for the 37-year-old, who has only ever played all 82 games during his rookie season in 2003-04.
Signed to a veteran’s minimum in the summer, Anthony has been a stalwart scorer for the Lakers’ second unit – averaging 13.2 points and 38.9% three-point shooting while coming off the bench in all but three of his games. Anthony has also played many of his minutes at center lately, anchoring small-ball units without traditional bigs to help spread the floor.
The Lakers made a subtle rotation adjustment in the frontcourt, starting Trevor Ariza and bringing Stanley Johnson off the bench.
Given the absences due to injuries and the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, Anthony’s start and Westbrook’s perfect availability through 42 games is all the more impressive, Vogel said, calling it “a bright spot of our season.
“Those guys, it doesn’t matter how late they are in their careers,” he said. “They want to play every night. And it’s a league where there’s a lot of load management and whatnot and those guys are really not interested in that. There’s games being played, they want to compete. They want to be there for their teammates and they want to win.”
Westbrook has played all 82 games in a regular season four times and has played at least 80 games seven times. However, the last time he played at least 80 games was in 2018.
The Lakers will have to decide soon whether or not to sign Johnson for another 10 days (or for a full-season roster spot). His current 10-day contract is set to expire after Saturday’s game in Denver. He’s provided a versatility that has helped support LeBron James and Anthony as small-ball centers.
“The speed, athleticism and toughness that he brings to the defensive side of the ball is sorely needed,” Vogel said. “I think there is an element of we feel like we’re potentially discovering something with his game that hasn’t been seen by the league in terms of him trying to play as a wing, as opposed to we’ve been using him as a defensive small-ball center and someone who can get out and trap on pick-and-rolls and those types of things. And just give you another elite defender on the floor.”
LAKERS RE-SIGN SEKOU DOUMBOUYA
The Lakers brought back 6-foot-9 forward Sekou Doumbouya on a two-way contract, waiving rookie center Jay Huff to make room.
Doumbouya has already been part of a number of moves this season: He started the year with the Brooklyn Nets, was waived and picked up early on by the Lakers. He played two games, averaging 7 points and 3 rebounds. The 21-year-old is a former 2019 first-round pick of the Detroit Pistons.
Huff, a 7-1 big man out of Virginia, played just five minutes in four games for the Lakers. He had four rebounds and no points.