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The Los Angeles Lakers backcourt is about to get deeper just in time for their playoff push.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Gabe Vincent will return from his left knee surgery by mid to late March barring any setbacks.
“Gabe Vincent is doing more and more on the court,” Charania said on the March 5 episode of the “Run It Back” on FanDuel TV. “The Lakers will know more, I think, next week where Gabe Vincent stands. But barring any setbacks, it’s still mid to late March that he can get back in the lineup. The Lakers can still use another guard in the backcourt.”
Vincent, the Lakers’ top free-agency acquisition signing for $33 million over three years, will return to a lineup where D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves have firmly entrenched themselves as the starting backcourt.
Vincent will compete with the Lakers’ buyout market signing Spencer Dinwiddie for backup duties.
“What you’re seeing is [Lakers] players are starting to figure out their roles,” Charania said. “Taurean Prince is now coming off the bench, playing around 15 to 20 minutes spotting up, making threes; Spencer Dinwiddie, who’s serving as a three and D guard off that bench, and then Gabe Vincent, you’d want to kind of change the tempo, change the pace. That’s why they signed him from Miami. So the hope is barring any setbacks or returns at some point over the next few weeks.”
Vincent averaged 5.0 points, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals in five games for the Lakers before he decided to go under the knife.
D’Angelo Russell Catches Fire
After getting benched down the stretch in a 124-114 loss to the defending champion Denver Nuggets, Russell responded with 26 points to lead the Lakers’ bounced-back win.
Russell shot 9 of 17 from the floor and hit 5 3-pointers as they beat West’s No. 2 seed Oklahoma City Thunder for the third time this season 116-104 on Monday, March 4 at home.
With Russell firing on all cylinders, the Lakers overcame a 12-point Thunder lead in the first quarter and led by as many as 25 in the fourth quarter.
Russell hit three consecutive 3-pointers in the opening moments of the fourth quarter that killed any hopes of a Thunder comeback.
“I just knew he has those D-Lo moments, man,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham told reporters after the win, “where he can just throw it up any kind of way and he’s going to find his way through the hoop. It’s great to see him out there having fun, his teammates cheering him on, encouraging him, being aggressive and decisive. D-Lo is uber talented and we need him to play at that level in order for us to have that ultimate success.”
LeBron James Gets Near Triple-Double After 40K Milestone
After becoming the first player in NBA history to score 40,000 points, LeBron James played his usual all-around game.
The 39-year-old Lakers superstar produced 19 points on 50% shooting from the floor with 11 rebounds and 8 assists.
His co-star Anthony Davis contributed a double-double (24 points and 12 rebounds) with 3 blocks for the Lakers, who improved to 34-29 and are now just two games outside the top six of the West.
The Lakers have won 10 of their last 14 games.
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