It probably took way too long, but the Los Angeles Lakers finally settled on a starting lineup and the results have been tremendous. In particular, Rui Hachimura has been excellent as a starter and has looked much more like the player fans saw in last year’s playoffs.
Against the Washington Wizards, Hachimura knocked down 9-of-12 from the field to finish with 19 points and seven rebounds in the win. In the Lakers’ last 10 games, he has averaged 16.9 points on 62.4% shooting and 45.7% from 3-point range.
This lineup is one the Lakers turned to for much of their postseason run last year and Hachimura feels like that five-man group is just very comfortable with one another, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“We’re just comfortable playing with each other. Offensively, defensively, we have a good chemistry as you guys can see. We already had it in the playoffs and we finally got back. I know at the beginning of the season there were all these lineup changes and injuries so we didn’t have the time, but now we got back together right on time. We just got to keep building and get ready for the playoffs.”
The lineups and rotations are pretty set for the most part now with the Lakers, which allows for that chemistry to grow. Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell around LeBron James and Anthony Davis has proven to be extremely effective and the forward has truly thrived in this lineup.
And Hachimura credits playing next to LeBron and Davis for much of this, noting that with the attention they garner, his job is easy:
“Playing with LeBron and AD, they get a lot of attention so I get a lot of wide-open looks. It’s easy, it’s a practice shot. I practice with Phil (Handy) all the time and we always talk about it, I got to be the guy shooting those 3s because with this lineup, I gotta be the one that’s open. They can’t leave AR, DLo, AD or LeBron, so it makes it easier for me.”
Everything runs through LeBron and Davis and when they have it going and continue to draw attention from the defense it leads to open looks for everyone else. If Hachimura can knock those shots down consistently, it makes the Lakers practically impossible to stop and defeating them a much more difficult task.
Lakers Rui Hachimura had a ‘great time’ in first return to Washington
This contest against the Wizards was Rui Hachimura’s first time back to Washington D.C. since he was traded to the Lakers in the middle of last season. And overall, Hachimura felt good in his return.
The Lakers forward admitted it was a little weird at first, but that all of the people who work for the Wizards came and said hi and made it more comfortable, adding that he had a great time.
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