The new old Lakers are still in the race

Fresh air does not usually hurt anyone, especially when it smells closed. And in the Lakers they had put the freshener of LeBron’s points record, but once that bullet was spent what was left was a more than complicated panorama. After having the play-in a stone’s throw away, several defeats had complicated the objective again. Some of them especially painful when facing direct rivals (Pelicans, Thunder…) in what for them right now are their Finals. They had not given the stature and needed a coup de effect that has come from the offices. They have opened the windows and that much-needed fresh air has entered, which has helped them win today.

The Angelenos take an absolutely necessary victory for them from San Francisco, in a game in which the two most important players of the last 20 years were missing: Stephen Curry and LeBron James. The first has not played for three games and it is not known when he will return (they test him again after the All-Star). The second misses his second match, all since he bested Kareem, although his foot problems don’t seem serious. Without them two, eyes turned to the debut of the new additions to the Lakers. And more specifically towards one in particular with a past in both teams. D’Angelo Russell made his debut with the Angelenos and his rentrée it couldn’t have been much better. The point guard finished the match, in which he played 35 minutes as a starter, with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, with 50% shooting from the field. Correct numbers, not spectacular, but very positive feelings. “It has been a bit strange but I have tried to normalize it. The sooner the better. When they transfer you so many times, irony appears with all your former teams, but you have to normalize it ”, explained the point guard.

Along with him, Jarred Vanderbilt also made his debut, and being important, who scored 12 goals in 17 minutes from the bench, caught 8 rebounds and god 4 basket passes. The one who was not so successful in his first game with the Lakers jersey was Malik Beasley, with 2/9 shooting (0/6 triples) for 4 goals. Another of the additions, Rui Hachimura, continues to show that his signing has been a success with 16 points and 7 rebounds in 31 minutes. The top scorer was Dennis Schröder with 26 points on a day in which Anthony Davis was not very productive: 13 points, with 16 rebounds, yes, but with 26.3% shooting from the field. “D’Lo and I have literally been talking the entire game. Over the pick and rollwhat he saw, what I saw, what he likes, what I like… Trying to create that chemistry on the fly”, explained the star about his new partner.

Perhaps the most important thing about all this is that on a day without LeBron and with a more than earthy David, the Lakers managed to win a game in which the Warriors, who miss Curry even more, squeezed them beautifully at the end. . That part of the games in which the Lakers have stumbled so many times this year that count has been lost. Not this time. This time they take the victory from the Chase Center and are two games away from the play-in and two and a half from his rival tonight, who without his star is expected to lose more than win in the coming dates.