NEW YORK — The Lakers, and specifically coach Darvin Ham, have been here before.
Roll out a starting lineup; have that lineup be the first unit for a couple or few games; and then have to alter the starting lineup again because of injuries.
It happened in November. It happened in December. And it happened in January.
So instead of saying the Lakers’ new starting lineup that debuted in Saturday’s 113-105 win over the New York Knicks (with Rui Hachimura replacing Taurean Prince as a starter alongside D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, LeBron James and Anthony Davis) will be the unit for the “foreseeable future” – a phrase Ham’s used in the past after lineup changes – he could just be hopeful that this one will stick.
It’s expected all five will be available for Monday’s game at Charlotte to close the road trip in which the Lakers have won three of five games.
“I’m hoping,” Ham said while knocking on the table for good luck. “I’m hoping. I’m hoping like crazy. We’ve had probably, out of those 15 different [starting lineups], it’s been three that’s been deliberate and not unforeseen circumstances.”
The lineup of Russell-Reaves-Hachimura-James-Davis had played just 16 minutes entering Saturday but had a net rating (point differential per 100 possessions) of plus-37.5 because of elite offensive production.
The quintet also produced at a high level for the Lakers last season in limited minutes during the regular season and playoffs, especially offensively,
The lineup, which started its second game with one another, was outscored by two points in the 12 minutes together against the Knicks but gave the Lakers a better start compared to previous lineups.
“Just coming out being bigger along the frontline,” Ham said of the reasoning for the lineup change. “Taurean, he has to do it on both sides of the ball. I just felt like him coming off the bench just would allow him to not only shore up our bench in terms of a…
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