The Los Angeles Lakers may not have fared well against the Utah Jazz, but head coach Luke Walton can take solace in his South Bay Lakers’ strong performance.
The Jazz played with a rather comfortable lead from start to finish which allowed the already-undermanned Lakers to give their younger players some more time on the court.
They certainly did not disappoint as their play even spurred the Jazz to leave their starters in longer than expected in order to secure the victory.
It is clear that the G League affiliate players were able to make quite the impression on Walton following the 115-100 loss to the Jazz, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I thought Machado was great. I thought Caruso had another very, very good game in both the first and second half. Mo got some good experience — he looked good offensively. There were some nice moments to be taken away. With the amount of young guys we’re playing right now, we got to continue to evaluate and get them better.”
It is not often that G League players can have such a tremendous impact on a game. The fact that it came as a collective effort from a number of them makes it even more impressive.
Despite Alex Caruso’s status as a two-way player, he has seen plenty of minutes for the Lakers all season long so his stellar performance should come as no surprise. He was one of the few bright spots for Los Angeles as he registered 13 points and four assists with the bulk of his production coming alongside his fellow South Bay teammates.
Jonathan Williams continued to show why he is deserving of more minutes down the final stretch of the 2018-19 NBA season. He was extremely active with eight points, six rebounds, and two steals in just 22 minutes.
Meanwhile, Scott Machado was able to make the most of his limited playing time as well. He was rather efficient as the primary ballhandler after finishing with seven points, three assists, and one steal in just 15 minutes.