LOS ANGELES — After nearly two weeks of exhibition games, the Lakers were finally able to have their long-awaited “dress rehearsal” with Friday night’s preseason finale against the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena.
And it also offered insight into their expected starting lineup when they host the Golden State Warriors in their regular-season opener on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers started Luka Doncic, Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton in their narrow 117-116 loss to the Kings – the first time they had what will be their full, healthy rotation of players when the regular season starts in light of LeBron James being sidelined to start the season because of the sciatica (nerve pain/injury) on his right side.
Rookie forward Adou Thiero will also be sidelined to start the season as his left knee swelling improves. Coach JJ Redick didn’t have an update on the status of second-year guard Bronny James, who suffered a sprained ankle during the second half of Tuesday’s preseason loss to the Phoenix Suns.
“It’s important to get used to the normal process of a game day, going through shootaround, our film and shootaround, our pregame presentation, all that stuff is really important,” Redick said pregame. “And then just having your rotation guys play together for longer stretches. Again, we say this all the time: it doesn’t really matter who we play, it’s just us, right? We’re working on us.”
Doncic led the Lakers with 31 points, nine assists and five rebounds in 32 minutes in his second preseason game. The 26-year-old Slovenian star once again in regular-season form, making six of his 11 3-point attempts and shooting 50% from the field (8 of 16).
Hachimura added 18 points, making four of his five 3s, and Ayton had 12 points and nine rebounds. Marcus Smart, also playing in his second preseason game, had 14 points, four steals and three rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.
The Kings, who sat most of their starters, were led by Dennis Schroder’s 25 points. Zach LaVine had 16 points, six assists and four rebounds, while Keon Ellis recorded 20 points off the bench.
While Doncic, Reaves and Ayton had been viewed as locks for the first unit, and Hachimura was an incumbent starter from last year’s team and finished the 2023-24 season as a starter too, the inclusion of Vincent in the first unit in light of James’ absence was the biggest surprise.
But Vincent, who is entering his third season with the Lakers, has had a strong preseason, including scoring 18 points in the opening 4½ minutes of Wednesday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks in Las Vegas.
Vincent entered Friday averaging 17 points (50% shooting from 3-point range on 7.3 attempts per game) and 3.3 assists in the three preseason games he played in.
He scored 14 points, making 4 of his five 3-point attempts, in 23 minutes before Redick pulled his starters throughout the fourth quarter.
“He’s steady – there’s a steadiness that is required to stay sane,” Redick said before Friday’s game regarding what younger teammates can learn from Vincent. “There’s a steadiness that’s required to gain the respect of your teammates and coaches. There’s a steadiness that’s evident that can literally infiltrate the culture of the team. And Gabe is part of that. He’s had an unbelievable preseason. He’s done a phenomenal job.
“And I think, too, his professionalism. You watch that guy do a rep in practice, a rep in an individual workout, everything is just top notch. He’s growing as a leader, and I’m really excited that there’s a comfort level now in year three, a comfort level coming off last year where he got to play for most of the season. You’re kind of seeing that manifest in the preseason.”
Jarred Vanderbilt and Maxi Kleber were available on Friday after dealing with quadriceps ailments, with Kleber making his preseason debut in the second half after fellow backup big man Jaxson Hayes was ruled out because of bruised right wrist injury.
Kleber had been sidelined for nearly the entire training camp and preseason because of the injury, telling reporters on Friday that he was cleared. The 6-foot-10 German big man, who the Lakers acquired as part of the trade for Doncic last February, was sidelined for three months last season because of a fractured right foot.
“I was very frustrated,” Kleber said. “I put in a lot of work to have something happen like that. But you can’t always control everything. All I can do is put in the work and do my best. The same goes for coming back rehabbing and getting back into game shape.”