LOS ANGELES – LeBron James has a way of pulling attention to his orbit. But even as he scored 50 points on Friday evening, he was hardly alone as the Lakers pulled away in the fourth-quarter stretch.
There were Malik Monk 3-pointers in quick succession. There was Talen Horton-Tucker, spinning past Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and dunking over Kyle Kuzma. There was Austin Reaves, attacking a closeout and finishing a layup over Corey Kispert.
The Lakers young players were out in such force, that Russell Westbrook was benched for nearly the last nine minutes of the 122-109 win over Washington.
“Those guys are talented guys,” coach Frank Vogel said. “They’ve continued to improve and get better and more comfortable in our system, in our environment. And I got them down as 21 for 38. Malik, Austin and Talen. That trio is another reason amongst others why I believe we have a chance.”
It seems telling that on a roster that originally touted its experience, the young members of the Lakers have recently been the players Vogel leans on. Against the Wizards, Trevor Ariza, Dwight Howard and Avery Bradley didn’t play a minute. The Lakers went with a starting lineup of James, Westbrook, Reaves, Monk and Stanley Johnson for the fourth time this season (no Lakers lineup has started more than five times so far).
When the team closed with that group and Horton-Tucker in Westbrook’s place, Vogel said it wasn’t an indictment of Westbrook (who was 2 for 11 but had 9 assists against one turnover) as much as it was an endorsement of that particular lineup.
“The game is about the five guys on the floor,” he said. “Those three guys (Monk, Reaves, Horton-Tucker) were playing at a super high level. Defensively, with the lead, we wanted Stanley in there. And it was just about having those guys in there to win, it wasn’t any more than that.”
There are several key factors in the ninth-place Lakers’ belief that they can do damage in the postseason. One is James, who is now leading the NBA in scoring average (29.7 ppg). One is Anthony Davis, who may or may not get healthy in time to play in a potential play-in game(s) in April. One is Westbrook, whose hit-or-miss performances keep building the Lakers’ hope that he might turn it on at the right time as he did in Washington last season.
But an understated factor is the youth movement afoot among the Lakers. As Vogel has gradually turned toward younger players for stability, their upside could very well spell the difference for the embattled franchise.
“I expect those guys to make plays because they’re on the floor and I know what they’re capable of,” James said. “I know what Malik is capable of. Obviously I’ve been in the foxhole with THT and Austin has proven himself. So, it was great to see those guys make plays down the stretch. Especially when the Wizards started doubling off pick-and-rolls with my isos and those guys continued to make plays. It was great to see that.”
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While the recent starting lineup has played just 48 minutes together, according to NBA tracking data, that five-man group has a whopping 31.4 net rating. The defensive versatility of that lineup has convinced Vogel to ignore the better angels of his nature and go small for more minutes, unleashing James on offense.
As the Lakers play the young lineup more minutes, more might depend on how much those players can take on. As James lit the Wizards up from all over the court, those role players found ways to seize off his standard.
“I think they definitely picked up on Bron’s energy, because Bron keeps our belief strong, you know what I mean, and keeps us connected,” Vogel said. “Those guys are talented guys. They’ve continued to improve and get better and more comfortable in our system, in our environment.”
It’s not clear how much the Lakers veterans will play down the stretch: Its possible that Howard, Ariza, Bradley and Wayne Ellington will have roles as the Lakers try to close out strong.
While they’re a relatively inexperienced group, Horton-Tucker said the team understands how they need to shift to win in tight games.
“When Bron is going like that, we kind of got to reward him,” he said. “So everybody out there got to do their job and tonight pretty much everybody did that, stepped up to doing the things that they need from us whenever somebody is going like that.”