Los Angeles Lakers players relatively quiet in Rising Stars Game
The Los Angeles Lakers players who participated in the Rising Stars Challenge were relatively quiet.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers are hosting the NBA All-Star break this year. The festivities got underway with the celebrity game on Friday night. Following that game, some of the NBA’s brightest young stars took center court.
The first event of the weekend involving NBA players took place Friday night in the Mountain Dew Kickstart Rising Stars game. The Lakers were well represented in the game, as rookies Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma were joined by second-year small forward, Brandon Ingram.
Ball was unable to play in the game, however, because of his knee strain. He was replaced by Sacramento Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox. Ingram and Kuzma both played in the game.
Leading up to the game, the question was how much they would play. While it is nice for these young players to get in the limelight, their regular head coaches don’t want to see them overworked and risk injury.
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Lakers head coach Luke Walton was one of those coaches. The Lakers were one of only four teams to play on Thursday night. Having your guys play in an exhibition on the second night of a back-to-back isn’t ideal.
Walton’s stance lightened up earlier Friday, as he said it was up to the players ultimately how much they wanted to play. He did say he would recommend them taking it easy.
It would seem that the young Lakers headed his advice. Ingram played only 12 minutes, the least of any player on Team USA. Only Joel Embiid played fewer minutes in the game, as he was in there for nine minutes for Team World.
In his 12 minutes, Ingram scored eight points with three rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Off the bench, Kuzma played 19 minutes. He did in this game exactly what he has been doing for the Lakers all season, and that is scoring the basketball and rebounding. Kuzma scored 20 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists. He was also in the lower half of the players for minutes played.
Team World’s Bogdan Bogdanovic took home the MVP award. He scored 26 points in 22 minutes, knocking down seven 3-pointers. He added four rebounds, six assists and one steal. The leading scorer for Team World was his Sacramento Kings teammate, Buddy Hield. Hield scored 29 points in 22 minutes, knocking down 12-of-22 from the field and five 3-pointers. He added three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
For Team USA, Boston Celtics’ forward Jaylen Brown was the high scorer. His 35 points were a game-high, as he shot 14-of-21 from the field and 3-of-8 from distance. He also had 10 rebounds, one assist and one steal.
The NBA All-Star Weekend festivities will continue on Saturday. The Hall of Fame announcement and All-Star practice and media day will take part in the afternoon. Commissioner Adam Silver will be available to the media and hour before All-Star Saturday night begins. The Taco Bells Skill Challenge will kick things off, followed by the JBL Three-Point Contest and Verizon Slam Dunk Contest.
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On Sunday, the NBA G League Internation Challenge will be played in the late afternoon, followed by the NBA All-Star game at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT.