After a forgettable night of preseason action against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers should have been happy to see the Sacramento Kings on the schedule again. Do not let the final 114-110 score line fool you, this was a relatively comfortable night for the Lakers.
In the encouraging performance, there were a few players who stood out or continued to build on the foundation they had been laying for a handful of games. Why beat around the bush? Let us talk about the Lakers whose stocking is trending firmly upward.
Stock up: Sandro Mamukelashvili
One of the things that immediately became apparent after just one preseason game was why the Lakers pushed for Sandro Mamukelashvili instead of using that money to potentially bring back Rui Hachimura. Mamu's passing and decision-making popped mightily on the screen. That continues to be the case.
Mamukelashvili paired another solid night of passing, featuring four assists, with his best scoring performance of the preseason. The Lakers big poured in 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. Mamu also finished the night leading the team in plus-minus at +13.
There were times during this game when Mamukelashvili's limitations were on display. With JJ Redick continuing to deploy him as the backup center, the Lakers had a hard time controlling the defensive glass when Mamu was used in smaller lineups. Stretches with him at the five and Jake LaRavia at the four stood out as challenging for the rebounding battle.
Even so, the good definitely outweighed the bad here. Mamukelashvili continues to build anticipation over what he can do to help lead the second unit for the Lakers.
Stock (back) up: Jake LaRavia
Despite the specific struggles securing defensive boards alongside Mamu, LaRavia had himself another strong night overall. After a dud in the second game of the preseason, Jake had his confidence flowing again versus the Kings.
LaRavia put up 17 points, shooting 6-of-9 from the field and 3-of-6 from deep, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block. The Lakers forward trailed right behind Mamukelashvili among the plus-minus leaders at +12.
This now makes two strong preseason performances for LaRavia to build a foundation for the regular season. There should be a lot more trust in deploying him off the bench as a part of the rotation. His shooting stroke and lack of hesitation, in particular, has really shined thus far.
Stock up: Adou Thiero
Adou Thiero got to start his second game in a row with no Ziaire Williams available. This time around, things went much better for the second-year forward.
There were still hiccups for Thiero. That came mostly on offense, with the main standouts being two mistimed alley-oops from both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. The Lakers will want to see that cleaned up in due time.
However, Thiero was active and involved on the defensive end. Adou could regularly be found picking up full court and he did a good job staying in front of his matchups more often than not. The Lakers forward also chipped in two steals and two blocks in just over 21 minutes of play.
For those who want to see Thiero become a regular contributor in the rotation, this was a strong building block game for him.
Add us as a preferred source on Google