The Los Angeles Lakers dropped their first game of the 2020-21 season last night, losing 116-109 to the Los Angeles Clippers. Now, we know from experience that it’s not the end of the world to lose to the Clippers on opening night as the Lakers did just that last year on their road to winning a championship. Still, there were concerns that were confirmed last night in regards to the Lakers coming out slow to start the season after having only 71 days between Game 6 of the 2020 NBA Finals and last night’s game. Frank Vogel has acknowledged this in addition to adding in new guys, saying the Lakers’ play may be “ugly” to start. After the game, Anthony Davis acknowledged that there may be times where the Lakers are drained early on in this season, saying that Dennis Schröder and Montrezl Harrell will help in that regard (per Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll).
AD also thinks that the energy that Dennis and Trezz bring are going to help the Lakers as they start the season and feel drained.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) December 23, 2020
Frank Vogel talked about Dennis Schröder and Montrezl Harrell as well after the game, as the two impressed in their Lakers debuts with 14 points each. He thinks both players will be “big time” players for the Lakers in their pursuit of a championship while pointing out that he thinks the younger players will help in early load management for LeBron and AD — emphasizing Dennis Schröder assistance in this role (quote below from Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll).
Vogel says that on the minutes distribution, he thinks that the younger players will carry more of the load for the veterans on that early. “Dennis is definitely one of those guys I think is going to carry a heavy load early.”
Vogel really liked what he saw from Dennis Schröder and Montrezl Harrell in their debuts tonight, saying they're going to be "big time" and "winning" players for the Lakers this season.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) December 23, 2020
Frank Vogel also stated that he plans to be conservative with LeBron and AD’s minutes to preserve them for the end of the season. AD and LeBron played 31 and 28 minutes, respectively, with Vogel still expressing confidence in the Lakers’ depth to get the job done in light of the Lakers’ lopsided loss with their two superstars not playing much. We’ll just have to see how Dennis Schröder and Montrezl Harrell respond to the added pressure of giving LeBron and AD some needed rest.
