With the Los Angeles Lakers missing both Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent — the former for at least four weeks — Nick Smith Jr. knew that his number was going to be called. This was made especially obvious after head coach JJ Redick said changes would be coming to the Lakers rotation.
Smith received 24 minutes of game action on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings. He played the sixth-most minutes of any Laker and received the second-most minutes off the bench beside Jake LaRavia’s 25. He more than made the most of those minutes as the guard scored 21 points on 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-10 from deep. He was instrumental in keeping the Lakers afloat during non-Luka Doncic or non-LeBron James minutes, making his first seven shot attempts on the night.
Smith took the opportunity he got and ran with it, and fans are sure to see more of him over the next few weeks. One defining trait of Smith is his confidence, and he spoke about that, saying that it’s required in the NBA in order to thrive.
“Well, in this league, you’ve got to have confidence,” Smith said. “If you don’t, they’re gonna go out there and see it right away. And we’re one of those teams where we’re gonna try with matchups and stuff like that, try to go at matchups we think we can score on every time. I feel like I can hoop with the best of them. I know I’m still young and got a long ways to go in this league, but I’m just trying to put one foot in front of the other and keep working.”
Smith received the game ball from Redick for his work on Sunday night and while the ball itself might just go into his mom’s trophy case for him, he reflected on what the sentiment of that moment means for him.
“It means everything,” he said. “Just going home and watching film and making sure I’m ready. It’s a different stage from where I came from, and I understand that. So I just want to make sure I’m ready.
“The game ball? I guess it’s just another thing to go up with my trophies and stuff at my mom’s house. I’m pretty sure she’s going to take it as soon as she sees it, but I’m blessed man. I’m blessed to be here. Just to have the opportunity to play with the Lakers, even be in the league. A lot of guys where I’m from would love to be in this situation, so I’m just blessed.”
However, Smith is keeping his focus squarely on improving and doing what he can to help the Lakers instead of focusing on pride of personal accomplishments.
“Not really. I’m just in a space where I’m just locked in right now. Just trying to do what I can to help this team win and like I said I try to prepare every day like it’s game day, and it showed tonight. Coaching staff got a lot of trust in me to go out there and do what I do, and I haven’t had that in a long time, so it’s definitely been very helpful,” Smith said.
If the Lakers are going to survive a month or more without Reaves, they are going to need contributions from players like Smith. And despite not having significant NBA opportunities since being a first-round pick two years ago, he appears to be more than ready for the task.
Lakers plan to stick with Luka Doncic rotational shift
Part of the changes that Redick made to the rotation on Sunday night was bringing Smith in for Doncic at the 3-minute mark of the first quarter, a major change. Doncic usually plays the entire first before resting in the second, but Redick went to the bench earlier on Sunday, to great success.
Redick said after the game that he plans to stick with that change.
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