After the win over the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers head coach, Luke Walton, recently praised Josh Hart for his performance.
On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers were able to cruise to an easy victory over the Phoenix Suns. The 120-96 win over the Suns was one of the most lopsided wins of the season for the Lakers, and a lot of players had strong games as expected.
While the Lakers had six players score in double figures, head coach Luke Walton pointed out the performance by Josh Hart. After winning the Summer League MVP, Hart proved that he is an important part of the young core.
In the win against the Suns, Hart only totaled six points in 18 minutes, but he had a ridiculous +/- of +32. While that number can sometimes be skewed, a +32 is ridiculous and rarely seen. After the game, Walton talked about Hart and all of the little things that he does that doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet. Here’s what he said to Corey Hansford of LakersNation.com.
"“He was making winning plays all over the court. The plus-minus doesn’t always add up. There are times when you’re on the court with other guys that are playing well and you finish with a good plus-minus.“I thought it was directly related to how he played; fighting over screens, tagging on the weak side, getting a steal when they were hurting us early in the game with those rolls to the rim, making the extra pass. Everything we always preach about, he was doing those things, and he knocked down a couple shots, too.”"
So far this season, Hart is averaging 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 24.3 minutes per game. Hart has been mainly coming off the bench once again this season, as he has only started in three games. Despite having the potential to be a starter, Hart always brings his best for the Lakers off the bench.
Many times this season, Hart has been the spark off the bench that the Lakers need. Whether it be playing great defense or making some big baskets, Hart isn’t afraid of any moment. One of the reasons why the Lakers liked Hart was because of the winning mentality that he had at Villanova. So far in the NBA, Hart has done whatever the Lakers have asked of him, and has done it well.