The Los Angeles Lakers have been playing short-handed of late and head coach Luke Walton is proud of how his players have done considering.
Despite playing some good basketball in the second half of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been derailed by injuries of late.
Right before the All-Star break, the Lakers saw Channing Frye have to get his appendix removed. After the emergency surgery for Frye, Josh Hart then suffered a broken hand. While the injury to Frye did have a major effect on the rotation, the one to Hart certainly did.
Since being given the opportunity, Hart has proved that he is a great two-way player, and can perform off the bench or in the starting five. After the injury to Hart, the Lakers then saw Brandon Ingram go down.
As one of the best players on the team, losing Ingram might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Lakers. Recently, the Lakers have been extremely short-handed and that has resulted in their starters playing big minutes. After the loss to the Detroit Pistons, head coach Luke Walton talked about being proud of his starters. Here’s what Walton said on Spectrum SportsNet with text via Harrison Faigen of LakerNation.com.
"“It was in the same boat as far as the competitive level. I was a little concerned because I thought we played really well in the first half. We weren’t turning the ball over, we had 20 assists on 22 field goals, yet we were only up two. They went on that late 7-0 run, so I knew our guys were fatigued. I pretty much played Zo that entire first half. KCP and Kuz played most of it, so I knew we were going to get tired. It’s been a long trip. … I’m really proud of our group for the way that they fought all trip long, with being down in numbers.”"
On the road trip, we have seen Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope all play a lot of minutes, with some nights being in the 40s. Despite having a lot asked of them, they aren’t complaining, and they have all played pretty effectively.
While the Lakers have been short-handed, help should be on the way soon. Both Hart and Ingram are expected to be back soon, and that can’t come soon enough for the Lakers. Isaiah Thomas is now dealing with a hip injury, which is concerning considering he had surgery on the hip not too long ago.
Next: 3 Takeaways from loss to Pistons
With nine games left to play, the Lakers will be trying to finish the season strong. If they can get a little bit healthier, they should be able to accomplish that.