The Los Angeles Lakers ended the five-game road trip with a 2-3 record thanks to the overtime victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday.
L.A. showed signs of improvement towards the end of the road trip despite Anthony Davis and LeBron James sliding in and out of the rotation. Starting from Sunday’s eventful victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Lakers had spells when they played up to their potential on both ends of the floor.
Head coach Frank Vogel previously said he thought the comeback victory over the Pistons — which came after LeBron James’ infamous incident with Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart — could serve as the momentum changer for his team.
Vogel has now expressed hope the triumph in Indianapolis shows the Lakers are indeed building their momentum.
“We actually said before the game had it on the board before the game, let this be a game to start the streak,” the head coach said.
“Obviously, we’re going back home, this has been a tough trip. A lot of traveling. Late-night arrivals and whatnot. Our guys are tired, but we knew that if we got this, this would be one of those games that builds a lot of momentum for us.”
Vogel added the next thing he’s looking forward to is having his entire roster available for the first time this season.
“Hopefully, we get our full cast back for the most part,” he said. “We are still a ways away with Kendrick [Nunn] and Trevor [Ariza], but get Bron, Russ and AD in there.
“We haven’t seen enough of that to obviously make any kind of judgments on this season and where we’re at and what it’s going to look like, so it’s going to be one of those seasons where we evolve throughout the entire 82-game regular season and hopefully peak and hit our stride at playoff time.”
Russell Westbrook emphasizes Lakers’ resilience
The Lakers have had to combat double-digit deficits in the last three games, completing a comeback twice. Russell Westbrook thinks the latest performance from L.A. speaks of the team’s resilience and potential.
“We’re a resilient group that’s been in different situations many different times and as you saw tonight, when you have that group you’re able to kind of get stops on demand and make big shots,” Westbrook said.
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