This was never going to be a sport for the Lakers to keep in mind. But with almost half of the roster sidelined because of accidents or resting, Adou Thiero at least tried to inject some life into a sleepy preseason back-to-back.
Thiero’s towering one-handed dunk over two Golden State defenders offered a spotlight in the Lakers’ otherwise forgettable 124-98 preseason loss to the Warriors at Chase Center on Tuesday. The Lakers leaned on their depth to get through their second short-handed preseason sport in as many nights.
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Guard Quentin Grimes, the only participant who began in the second consecutive sport for the Lakers, had 12 factors and three assists. Forward Sandro Mamukelashvili began at heart and had 15 factors and a trio of three-pointers. Thiero, getting a uncommon beginning second, scored seven factors and grabbed 4 rebounds while Bronny James had 4 factors and 5 assists in a beginning position.
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Star guard Luka Doncic sat out after scoring 21 factors in one half Monday against the Sacramento Kings. After setting the tone defensively against the Kings, forwards Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle watched from the sideline Tuesday. The Lakers were also without heart Walker Kessler (finger), guards Austin Reaves (ankle) and Collin Sexton (decrease physique) and two-way ahead Arthur Kaluma (decrease physique), who all missed their second consecutive preseason sport.
Thiero has been ready for this kind of alternative. The second-year ahead is making an attempt to take benefit of his first true NBA preseason after knee accidents marred his rookie season. He performed in his first summer season league video games, displaying incremental progress during video games in San Francisco and Las Vegas.
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Thiero began the summer season shifting too shortly through video games, crashing into the lane and flying recklessly toward the rim. He even missed time from a minor wrist damage suffered during a fall. But as the summer season progressed, he settled into the tempo of the sport. During a Las Vegas Summer League sport, Thiero flashed his potential with 20 factors, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, three steals and two blocks with zero turnovers in half-hour.
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“I feel like that just came with playing more, and just understanding what I was supposed to do, understanding my role,” Thiero said this week of his progress during the summer season. “I feel like my role during summer league is very different compared to my role during the season. I was on-ball more. Even creating the offense in summer league. And I didn’t have much experience with that at the time, but as summer league kept going on, I got more comfortable with it and realizing when to speed up and everything.”
Thiero is preventing for minutes in a deep wing group led by Williams and Thybulle. The Lakers have stocked their group with versatile perimeter defenders to help complement their offensive-minded backcourt of Doncic and Reaves. Thiero, whom Reaves described as “a freak-of-nature” athlete, could add a distinctive high quality to the rotation.
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“Our ceiling rises if he’s able to [contribute defensively] and be an impactful offensive player with crashing, with cutting, with touching the paint, playing off two feet,” coach JJ Redick said before Monday’s preseason sport. “I’ve seen a lot of growth there from him over the last six, seven weeks. That’s exciting.”
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This story initially appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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