One of the bright spots for the Los Angeles Lakers this season has been the play of Jordan Clarkson and Julius Rande. In the loss to the Houston Rockets, both struggled.
Arguably one of the greatest strengths of the Los Angeles Lakers this season is their bench unit. When the team is healthy, the Lakers are able to use Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson off the bench.
That trio makes for one of the best bench units in the league, as all three can score and create their own shots. Having players that can score off the bench is very important, and the Lakers are fortunate enough to have three of them.
Despite all three being bench players, Luke Walton frequently uses them to play big minutes and also sometimes to close out games. So far this season, all three have played very well. However, that was not the case against the Houston Rockets.
In the blowout loss, the Lakers didn’t get what they normally do from Clarkson and Randle. On Sunday night, Clarkson totaled five points on 1-for-9 shooting from the field. In addition to the poor shooting night, Clarkson also had four turnovers.
For Randle, it was a very quiet night, as he only played 16 minutes, as fouls were an issue for him. Randle was only able to total five points and five rebounds, as he picked up five fouls very quickly in the loss.
Having both Randle and Clarkson struggle really put the Lakers behind the eight ball, as both have been extremely important for them this season. Even though Kyle Kuzma was able to record a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, it wasn’t enough.
Next: 5 Positive takeaways from the first quarter of the season
The Lakers have certainly hit a tough stretch in their schedule, but with a few days off before their next game, there is time for improvement. If the Lakers are going to have success in December, they will need the entire team playing well at the same time to defeat the upcoming playoff opponents on their schedule.