5 Observations Following Lakers First Preseason Game

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2. Jordan Clarkson and Julius Randle are still rookies….talented rookies

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Maybe the most surprising (and possibly misleading) stat of the night was that Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers in scoring with 14 points. It could be misleading considering he shot 3 for 13 from the field, but he did get to the line a handful of times, going 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.

Randle, on the other hand, was undoubtedly impressive. His 10 points came on 5 of 9 shooting and he pulled down 8 rebounds. Most impressive was his first points of the game, when he hammered home a dunk over Jusuf Nurkic. We saw a glimpse of some of post-moves, scoring on a nifty up-and-under.

However, as many glimpses of the two we had that gave us hope, there were moments that reminded us they are still rookies. Randle had three turnovers and tried doing too much at times. Clarkson, while aggressive, tended to force the issue at times, evidenced by his putrid shooting percentage.

We don’t, and shouldn’t, expect these two to light the world afire. There will be lots of learning curves along the way. But the glimpses are enough for now to keep us excited about what the future could hold.

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