Getty Images Talen Horton-Tucker of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Talen Horton-Tucker made a lot of new fans with his stellar preseason with the Los Angeles Lakers, and among those appears to be Portland Trail Blazers star CJ McCollum.
Horton-Tucker played just 11 minutes in the Lakers opening loss against the Clippers, scoring 6 points in his short time on the court. But as the Lakers offense sputtered early, the support for inserting the Lakers preseason phenomenon grew. After all, Horton-Tucker averaged 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists while shooting over 50 percent from the field and 3-point range.
ALL the latest Los Angeles Lakers news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Lakers newsletter here!
Sign up for the Heavy on Lakers Newsletter!
A hilarious tweet from Josiah Johnson showed a video of a man singing, “give me a chance” over and over with the caption: “How THT on the Lakers bench looking at Frank Vogel.
McCollum responded with a series of crying laughing faces — the only appropriate response to the video, but maybe not one expected from one of the Lakers’ Western Conference rivals.
Lakers Expecting to Rely on Talen Horton-Tucker Off the Bench
Horton-Tucker played in just six games last season, but the 20-year-old guard has shown he’s capable of playing at the NBA level. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel believes THT can be a key contributor with the team’s primary scorers on the bench.
“We’re a ball movement team, so whether he’s out there with LeBron or AD, he still gets the ball on second-side action and has shown to be very effective with that,” Vogel told reporters, per Silver Screen and Roll. “And obviously what he did in the preseason games with those guys out has been very impressive.
“We like what he brings to the table if we’re asked to lean on him as a primary scorer (and) playmaker like we did in some of those preseason games, but he definitely has shown that he can be effective playing off of other guys as well.”
Lakers Looking to Get Marc Gasol More Involved
While the Lakers have depth, it was Marc Gasol — a new addition to the starting lineup — who might have struggled the most in LA’s opening night loss to the Clippers.
“Never got in a rhythm offensively,” Gasol told reporters Wednesday. “Obviously never really had a chance to be in a lot of actions and help my teammates and the team. And defensively, just got put in a couple bad positions from the get-go. Little ticky-tacky fouls. The referees were being very hard … on the first half of the game, I think, and I got the worst end of the stick, or the short end of the stick a couple times. When you’re in foul trouble, you’re always then more cautious. But I got in more foul trouble again and every chance I got to get in the game. But it can only get better from now. So, that’s definitely a positive.”
Gasol is not worried about himself and the Lakers bouncing back, and Vogel thinks that the key will be involving Gasol more in the offense.
“I’m disappointed in myself because I didn’t put the ball at the top of the key like we did in the preseason, to take advantage of his passing ability,” Vogel said. “So, part of learning new players is making sure guys get comfortable and acclimated.”
Gasol and the Lakers will hope for a better result on Christmas Day as they welcome the Mavericks to Staples Center.
READ NEXT: Rajon Rondo in Hot Water After Video Released of Parking Lot Dispute