Frank Vogel has many options for line-ups to match up well with the majority of teams in the league. While it is the pre-season, and it is a time for bench/role players to get the majority of minutes in the rotation, the core of AD/LeBron needs to start getting reps in with those role players, especially the new players. Tonight felt like too few of minutes for LeBron/AD, and no real conclusions could be drawn without being premature. The Lakers played the starters in the first quarter with the exception of KCP and Caruso. Schroder ended up being an observer for much of this contest while Gasol didn’t get the ball in his hands as much as he needs to in order to help the offense run smoothly. The Lakers fell down 20-7 in the midst of these lulls. Harrell, THT, and Matthews quickly changed the energy of the game once they were brought in. The Lakers then went on a 25-7 run.
The Lakers sat their starters for the second half of the game while the Suns stuck with their squad. Behind the efforts of THT and Kyle Kuzma, the bench rallied to drop 43 points to close out the game with a 112-107 win.