Yet another new-look first five.
As even more Los Angeles Lakers go down, first-year LA head coach Darvin Ham is getting creative.
After starting yet another new first five last night in a 121-109 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, Ham will be a bit more, um, hampered tonight in terms of the personnel he can roll out for his side.
Star center Anthony Davis, because he’s Anthony Davis, is resting tonight on the second evening of a back-to-back pair of games.
Last night, Ham started reserve point guard Dennis Schroder in the stead of injured starter D’Angelo Russell, normal starter Malik Beasley at shooting guard, small forward Troy Brown Jr. for injured All-Star LeBron James, standard starting power forward Jarred Vanderbilt, and Davis at center.
With AD out, Ham is bringing back the other four, and promoting Mo Bamba, who can at least shoot from outside, and represents a cleaner offensive fit than Wenyen Gabriel, whom he played over Bamba last night in the team’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
It’s an interesting approach for LA, on the road against an Oklahoma City Thunder team missing All-Star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, key reserve power forward Kenrich Williams (one of the team’s many Williamses), and of course freakish big men Chet Holmgren and Aleksej Pokusevski. Time will tell if it pans out.
The action starts right now on Spectrum SportsNet, but presumably anyone with League Pass will be tuning into the Phoenix Suns-Charlotte Hornets game, as All-Star power forward Kevin Durant is set to make his Suns debut.
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