Gabe Vincent was one of many Los Angeles Lakers to sit out the team’s preseason opener. But with Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves all sitting out of the team’s second preseason game, Vincent found himself in the starting lineup on Sunday night and was arguably the team’s best player.
Vincent led the Lakers with 16 points and five assists while knocking down three 3-pointers in the 111-103 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The guard showed he is still capable of handling an on-ball role, even though he will rarely be asked to do so when the Lakers are healthy.
But for Vincent himself, he felt good just being back on the court playing the game he loves and now wants himself and the Lakers to build on what they showed against the Warriors, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“Yeah, I mean, it felt good to have the game back. Just simply put, in that way. Just to go out there and compete, play the game I love and go out there and put some minutes together. Obviously it was my first game, our second game of the preseason. We made some strides compared to the last game and we’re just gonna continue to try to grow.”
Vincent hasn’t been talked about much coming into this season but he had some big games for the Lakers last season and stands to be an important part of the rotation once again both as a defender and shooter. After an injury-marred first season in L.A., Vincent showed what he could bring to the team last season and now plans on building on that this year.
The veteran guard is more than capable of thriving with or without the ball and that is important on a team with three elite creators like the Lakers have. It was good for Vincent to be back on the court and if he can continue to be reliable on both ends of the floor, he will remain a big part of JJ Redick’s rotation.
Gabe Vincent likes JJ Redick being hard on Lakers in training camp
Something that has been a staple so far for the Lakers throughout training camp has been head coach JJ Redick ensuring the Lakers are in what he deems as championship shape. This was something Redick spoke about prior to training camp and Gabe Vincent told the head coach that if the entire team hates him for his conditioning drills then it’s a good thing.
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