After Friday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics, Byron Scott said some changes were going to be made to the Los Angeles Lakers starting lineup. Prior to Sunday’s game, Scott announced that Ed Davis and Ronnie Price would be inserted into the starting lineup in place of Carlos Boozer and Jeremy Lin.
— Have You Seen These LIMITED EDITION “Try Me” T-Shirts? —
For Lin, this is something that happened to him last season in Houston when he was benched in favor of Patrick Beverley. Despite that experience, Byron Scott said that Lin was “OK” with the move according to Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Byron Scott on if he's worried about J. Lin's confidence: "Not really. We talked afterwards in my office this morning & he was OK with it."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 8, 2014
While Lin may have been fine with the move, Scott said Carlos Boozer was unhappy with the demotion according to Winters:
Byron Scott says Carlos Boozer wasn't happy about lineup change (1/2): "Wasn't happy about it, which made me happy."
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) December 8, 2014
Scott also added that if Boozer wasn’t angry about the move, it would have shown that this meant nothing to Boozer which would have been a bad look. Despite the move, Boozer had a solid showing with 12 points and six rebounds in his first game off the bench, but did not speak with reporters following the game.
Boozer and Lin will have to get used to their new roles, however, whether they like it or not as Scott said that he plans on sticking with this lineup for 10-15 games.
[divide]Jeremy Lin: “One Of The Toughest Situations I’ve Been In.”