– Bench guards provide some help
One of the things that we have been keeping an eye on early on in the season is how the guard rotation is shaking out for the Lakers. For the third straight game, the Lakers were without Rajon Rondo.
In the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, Frank Vogel didn’t play Alex Caruso. However, since then, Caruso has played a bit more, especially in the second half of games. Even though Caruso didn’t do a ton against the Jazz, his presence on the court certainly helped spark them on the offensive end.
Against the Hornets, Caruso didn’t play in the first half once again surprisingly. However, Vogel inserted him in the second half and things once again looked good for the Lakers. Caruso finished with just five points, but was a +17 on the court in just 13 minutes. When Caruso is in, good things seem to happen for the Lakers.
In addition to Caruso playing well, the Lakers finally got some production from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Entering the game, Caldwell-Pope didn’t get a basket in the first two games. KCP finally broke out of the early slump by totaling 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting from the field. Overall, the production from the bench unit for the Lakers was really good.