After having a breakout performance in the win over the Boston Celtics, rookie Ryan Kelly has started to turn some heads on the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff.
Apparently, Kelly’s career night was enough to convince head coach Mike D’Antoni to start the rookie against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday according to Lakers Nation.com’s Serena Winters:
Ryan Kelly gets his shot at the starting line-up. D'Antoni says he's made the starting line-up tomorrow vs. Raptors.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) January 18, 2014
In the win over the Celtics, Kelly scored a career-high 20 points in 34 minutes off the bench. The Duke product went 6-of-12 from the floor and 2-of-4 from beyond the arc while also ripping down four rebounds and going a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
Kelly will get the start at the power forward position while Chris Kaman and Jordan Hill will come off the bench against the Raptors. Both Kaman and Hill have seen their minutes go up and down all season long with no real consistency in terms of playing time.
It’ll be interesting to see if the rookie can continue to impress the coaching staff and as a result receive more playing time moving forward.
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Ryan Kelly Reacts To Being A Part Of Lakers Celtics Rivalry For The First Time
