Of all the ways Carmelo Anthony could debut with the Lakers, this was one of the strangest.
Playing on a court with a WNBA logo in the center on a Wednesday afternoon, Anthony finally stepped onto Lakers ground to begin his 19th NBA season.
Giving up their prime-time slot to the WNBA’s most creditable conference finals, the Suns and Lakers continued their preseason in Phoenix, with LA trailing 117-105.
However, Anthony’s Lakers debut took precedence over any outcome, as the Lakers were able to see what the 37-year-old forward could bring this season.
He played 17 minutes and scored eight points on 10 shots – just one coming from beyond the three-point line.
He and Anthony Davis had their first game action together and there were some bumps, which was to be expected.
“There was a little bit of hesitation on the part of both of them,” Davis said. “We have never played together before so we are trying to understand each other. The more we communicate what we want to do, the easier the season will be ”.
The optimized version of Anthony, however, has yet to be revealed. He, like most of the Lakers’ offseason acquisitions, are designed to contribute around LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Davis.
And for the second game in a row, Davis was the only member of the ‘Big 3 ‘of the Lakers who played, the team and Frank Vogel committed to practicing with their most important players during the preseason.
In addition to James and Westbrook, the Lakers rested center Dwight Howard. With one big man down, Vogel put Davis in center alongside Anthony, Wayne Ellington, Kendrick Nunn and Talen Horton-Tucker. The Suns played their regulars, including Chris Paul, with the exception of Devin Booker.
Although preseason game 2 was missed, this is no time to panic. The Lakers were once again outscored by the rebound.
With Westbrook and James sidelined, the Lakers struggled to employ a playmaker beyond Rajon Rondo, the ball got stuck too many times with guards like Horton-Tucker, and their defense drastically softened after forcing turnovers early on.
Malik Monk continued to be a bright spot, scoring 18 points and hitting four 3-pointers.
“These things don’t happen overnight,” Anthony said. “I mean, again, I thought we had a great training camp, we had a great week and a half, two weeks. As for the game, it is what it is.
“Some things that we have to solve, that we need to work on, we will work on. But once you have the whole team together, then you start to see what happens, what happens, what we need to improve ”.
In other news, Trevor Ariza, who has not practiced with the Lakers since the first day of training camp, will miss at least eight weeks after ankle surgery.
Ariza, 36, signed with the Lakers this summer and was a candidate to start.
The team announced that Ariza underwent an “arthroscopic debridement procedure” on Wednesday.
The Lakers say he will be reevaluated in eight weeks.
To read the story in English, click here
–
