In another down season for the purple and gold, how about some back-to-back slam dunks from Brandon Ingram and Ivica Zubac to get you going? On Tuesday, the 19-year old rookies, who were on opposite teams during the Los Angeles Lakers 5-on-5 scrimmage, took turns taking the rock to the rim.
Zubac, who’s been going back and forth between the Lakers and D-Fenders, their D-League affiliate, has finally been given consistent opportunities this month, and has made the most of them. In the best game of his rookie career, against the Denver Nuggets last week, Zubac recorded a double-double: 13 rebounds, 11 points, and three blocks in his 26 minutes. In the month of January, Zubac is averaging 5.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and is shooting 55.6 percent from the field (15-27) in 12.8 minutes per game.
Ingram has been surrounded with opportunity since the start of the season (appearing in all 48 games, which includes 14 starts at three different positions) and is actually leading the Lakers in minutes with 1,354. His 28.2 minutes per game average is the highest of any rookie this season.
The former Duke star has definitely turned some heads in recent weeks, averaging 11.0 points per game in his 12 games in January. After holding his own against Paul George, head coach Luke Walton even said Ingram is advancing far quicker than any rookie he’d expect at that age. Hopefully these trends continue!