Lakers News: Nick Young Back In The Starting Lineup

Corey Hansford
2 Min Read

When Nick Young was moved to the bench in favor of Xavier Henry, he stated his claim of wanting to win the Sixth Man Of The Year Award. Now, it looks like that dream will be short-lived as Young is slated to be back in the starting lineup in place of Xavier Henry, according to Mark Medina of the LA Daily News

The matchup against the Rockets is a difficult one for the Lakers as James Harden and Chandler Parsons form one of the best wing tandems in the NBA and the Rockets are the fourth highest-scoring team in the league at over 109 points per game.

Henry’s play has tailed off a bit since his insertion into the starting lineup, while Young began to catch fire the past two games. With the starting lineup continuing to get off to slow starts, this could be D’Antoni’s way of attempting to breathe some life back in the starters, especially when facing such a high scoring offense.

This could also be a defensive move as neither Blake nor Henry would be well suited to guard Harden, one of the best scorers in the NBA. D’Antoni could believe that Young presents the best defensive matchup for Harden and is looking to slow down the All-Star guard.

D’Antoni is continuing to tinker with his lineups and until he finds the right combination of starting and bench production, we should expect changes like this on a game-by-game basis.

Corey Hansford is the Senior Editor for Lakers Nation, as well as a contributor for Dodger Blue, Rams News Wire, and Raiders News Wire. He is a passionate follower of the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Cowboys, Los Angeles Dodgers, Chelsea FC, and the UFC. He can usually be seen arguing the merits of Kobe Bryant or cursing the decisions of Jerry Jones. He is also a former producer and associate producer for Sirius XM Sports Radio on both the Fantasy Sports Channel and College Sports Nation. Proud graduate of Long Beach Poly High School and The Real HU, Howard University, with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. Follow him on all social media outlets at @TheeCoreyH.
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