NBA Summer League 2016: Los Angeles Lakers vs Cleveland Cavaliers
In stark contrast to what happened with the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2015-16 NBA season, they have come into Las Vegas, NV for NBA Summer League this year and absolutely dominated. The Lakers won their first three games in Summer League play, a record good enough to earn them the No. 3 seed overall out of the teams present and give them a bye in the first round of tournament play. Now they have a matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night.
Perhaps more impressive than the Lakers record, though, has been how they’ve gone about getting the first three victories.
One thing that’s been clear has been that their players have been able to make impacts in their own way, falling into their niches. While D’Angelo Russell has largely been a player doing it all for this young Lakers Summer League squad, Brandon Ingram hasn’t been playing above himself as he doesn’t want to get overwhelmed as a teenager.
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Beyond just Ingram, though, fans have seen the likes of Larry Nance Jr. going out and making the high-energy plays necessary on both ends of the floor and even Anthony Brown has been making his presence known on the defensive end. Of course, we’d be remiss not to say that Ivica Zubac has also made a name for himself after going No. 32 in the 2016 NBA Draft.
This Lakers team in Vegas for Summer League has been quite impressive and has really made a positive impression for the team moving forward. Now we’ll see if that carries into the tournament portion of the league and if they can pick up a victory against the Cavs on Thursday night.
Details for Thursday’s Lakers Summer League contest are below:
Date: Thursday, July 14
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. PT
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Arena: Thomas and Mack Center
TV Info: ESPN2, TWC Sportsnet
Live Stream: WatchESPN