Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton hopes return home will provide a spark
By Nick Ziegler
As the season comes to an end for the Los Angeles Lakers, Luke Walton hopes playing at home will help give them a needed boost of energy.
With the long NBA season coming to a close for the Los Angeles Lakers, they will be back at home on Wednesday night after a tough four-game road trip. On the road trip, the Lakers were only able to win one game, as injuries have left them short-handed.
While the Lakers played well on the road, they were forced to have some of their starters playing over 40 minutes per game, which is a recipe for failure. Due to the injuries, the Lakers are certainly a bit worn down.
There are nine games left in the season for the Lakers, with seven of those games being at home. The two road games are against the Clippers in the Staples Center, and then in Utah against the Jazz. The Lakers are hopefully going to be getting a bit healthier soon, and Luke Walton also believes that playing at home will help give them a needed boost.
After the road trip, Walton discussed the team looking forward to getting home and finishing the season strong. Here’s what Walton had to say via Spectrum SportsNet with text from Trevor Lane of LakersNation.com.
"“One, it will be nice to hopefully get some bodies back. And two, when you’re a young team, fatigued late into the season, it’s nice to be able to use that home crowd to help carry through some of those things. We’re looking forward to getting back to Staples.”"
The first game that the Lakers play at home will be a very winnable one against the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas has had a rough season this year, and playing them at home should be a win for the Lakers, even if they are short-handed.
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With the return of Josh Hart and Brandon Ingram hopefully right around the corner, the Lakers should be able to finish the season strong. Even though the Lakers are playing some playoff teams to end the season, they have shown an ability to beat them when healthy this year.