The Los Angeles Lakers earned their first win of the preseason Sunday night, defeating the Sacramento Kings 75-69 in what was easily their best defensive performance so far.
One player that struggled though was Brandon Ingram, who returned to the starting lineup after missing the last game with a head contusion.
Ingram was unable to find his shot for the third preseason game in a row, scoring just five points on 1-of-6 shooting. He did have five rebounds and two steals in 29 minutes though, so it wasn’t all bad for the second-year forward.
After the game Ingram commented on his play so far this preseason, saying that he is not satisfied with it, via Lakers Nation reporter Serena Winters:
Brandon Ingram on @SpectrumSN, says he has not been satisfied w/ his play the last 3 preseason games.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 9, 2017
He added that he is hopeful that his shot will start falling, but is still focused on improving on the defensive end:
Brandon Ingram on his focus: "I hope I can make some shots, but just to continue to work on the defensive end." (on @SpectrumSN)
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 9, 2017
So far this preseason Ingram has averaged 8.0 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting just 26.7 percent from the field, which is not what was expected of him after everyone raved about the great offseason he had and after seeing him score 26 points in his lone Summer League outing.
While his play has been a bit concerning, it is just preseason and he is only 20-years-old so it is not the finished product we are seeing with Ingram. As long as Ingram continues to work hard then he will show improvement each time he takes the court, much like he did throughout his rookie season last year.