South Bay Lakers: Scott Machado goes off, earns double-double in Legends win

Even though the South Bay Lakers lost a heartbreaker to the Texas Legends, Scott Machado shined.

The South Bay Lakers, in first place in the Pacific Division, came into this game with a 3-0 undefeated record. After two hard-fought battles with the Santa Cruz Warriors, the Lakers easily handled the Austin Spurs winning 110-82 on Saturday night.

The Legends, 1-1 on the season, were in second place behind the 3-2 Austin Spurs in the Southwest division.

Lakers had Thomas Bryant but was without Vander Blue for a third game. This gave Andre Ingram (36:33 min) and Scott Machado (33:13 min) more minutes to play.

The Legends ended up winning the game as the Lakers shots would not fall in the final few minutes.

Los Angeles Lakers

Head Coach Coby Karl put in Scott Machado earlier than usual into the game. Machado was sporting a new hairdo sans the braids, so we had to find out why (see video interview below).

Machado was the spark plug that got the Lakers engine working hard to pull ahead of the Legends. Machado ended the night with 32 points, 11 assists, three rebounds and a steal. He made seven out of eight of his free throw attempts.

Machado was blazing in the third quarter. He scored 16 points and brought the Lakers within nine. And his flame didn’t burn out in the fourth quarter.

Little by little the Lakers chipped away at the Legends lead to get within two points predominantly because the Lakers were starting to hit their three’s. Machado started loading up on assists as well as three’s (5-9, 56%).

Catch Machado’s highlights and a little getting to know you interview postgame:

GAME NOTES LAKERS vs. LEGENDS:

Texas Legends Notable Players:

• Justin Dentmon (Washington) – Guard
• Brandon Ashley (Arizona) – Forward
• Johnathan Motley (Baylor) – Two-way Center
• Gian Clavell (Colorado State) – Two-way

Lakers Starting Five:

• Thomas Bryant (Indiana) – Center Lakers assignment
• Alex Caruso (Texas A&M)- Guard
• Travis Wear (UCLA) – Forward
• Demarcus Holland (Texas) – Guard
• V.J. Beacham (Notre Dame) – Forward

Highlights:

• Wear started the game with back-to-back three’s
• Ingram ended the first quarter making back-to-back three’s.
• Lakers had 15 fast break points in the first quarter
• Michael Holyfield saw some minutes, hit both of his first free throws.
• Bryant put on a Dunk clinic in the second half, three consecutive dunks, the last one was a one-handed dunk falling back behind the basket.
• Lakers started getting hot towards the end of the third quarter,  especially Scott Machado and Stephaun Branch. A much needed three by Machado brought the Lakers within 10 points.
• Machado racked up 25 points, nine assists, and two rebounds by the end of the third.
• Legends Kyle Collinsworth (BYU) had 13 rebounds.
• Wear hit a three-pointer with seven minutes left to bring the Lakers within two, 101-103. BOOM!
• Machado ended up with 32 points and ten rebounds – DOUBLE DOUBLE!
• Bryant’s will to win, Machado’s spin move to the basket was exciting. Caruso took over for Vander Blue by driving to the basket drawing fouls, the South Bay Lakers way.
• Wear earned another double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

South Bay Lakers News (Per the team’s PR Coordinator Noah Camarena):

• South Bay Lakers forward Travis Wear was chosen for the 12-man USA roster for the November first-round FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 Americas Qualifiers, it was announced today by USA Basketball. The team was selected by the USA Basketball World Cup Qualification Committee.
• Ivica Zubac (assigned to South Bay Lakers) appeared in 14 games for the then-D-Fenders during the 2016-17 season, where he averaged 15.8 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 blocks in 30.1 minutes per game. The second-year center has appeared in two games for Los Angeles this season.
• Josh Hart (assigned to South Bay Lakers) has appeared in 11 games for Los Angeles this season. The 6-5 rookie out of Villanova has posted averages of 2.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 0.3 assists in 13.6 minutes per game.
• Los Angeles has also recalled rookie center Thomas Bryant from the South Bay Lakers. In four games with South Bay, Bryant averaged 20.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 30.3 minutes per game.

Next: Lonzo Ball not upset about sitting out 4th quarter

This season is so much more interesting due to the movement of players between the Lakers and South Bay Lakers. Lakers assigned to the G-League teams have a lot of fun because it’s a tad less pressure and they get to play, and it is not the breeze they think it might be. There are plenty of older players who have some skill and other non-drafted players who are hungry. The SB Lakers will look for a fourth win against the Iowa Wolves (Timberwolves affiliate) on Wednesday, November 15 at 5:00 p.m. when they go on the road.