Gabe Vincent had his first game back after knee surgery, and both LeBron James and Anthony Davis praised him for his effort.
The Los Angeles Lakers had a successful Sunday night at the Barclays Centre, defeating the Brooklyn Nets 116-104. LeBron James’ “masterful” shooting performance will undoubtedly make headlines, but the Lakers were equally excited to see Gabe Vincent return.
Vincent, who had been out since December 20, replaced Austin Reaves with 3:34 left in the first quarter, and the Lakers led 26-6. In 14 minutes, he converted one of his four field goal tries, a quick turnaround off the glass in the first quarter.
“He was solid,” said Anthony Davis (24 points, 14 rebounds). “Obviously, it’s a feel-thing, a rhythm thing to get back out there. He looked really well on both ends of the floor, to me. We had some miscues. I know I did with him. But, that’s just coming back, being part of the team and getting game reps. Overall I think he looked really solid.”
Vincent finished with one assist (a lob to Davis set up by dribble penetration), one rebound, one steal, and one turnover. He missed both of his three-point shots.
Vincent, out since Dec. 20, subbed in for Austin Reaves with the Lakers up 26-6 with 3:34 remaining in the first quarter. In 14 minutes, hemade one of his four field goal attempts, a short turnaround off the glass in the first quarter.
“He was solid,” said Anthony Davis (24 points, 14 rebounds). “Obviously, it’s a feel-thing, a rhythm thing to get back out there. He looked really well on both ends of the floor, to me. We had some miscues. I know I did with him. But, that’s just coming back, being part of the team and getting game reps. Overall I think he looked really solid.”
Vincent finished with one assist — a lob to Davis that he set up with dribble penetration — one rebound, one steal, and one turnover. He missed both of his 3-point attempts.
“He makes it easy,” Vincent said about connecting with AD. “He’s huge.”
“I thought for a guy that’s been out that long, he came in and had some big possessions,” said Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. “Defensively, he was trying to get after it, Offensively, his time is gonna come. He’ll see his shot go in … He had the only bucket off our bench, ironically.”
Vincent, who inked a $33 million contract in free agency to bring point-of-attack defence, timely shooting, and playoff experience, has missed the last 46 games. He appeared four times in October before being shelved with a bone bruise. His knee swelled up following the Dec. 20 return, necessitating arthroscopic surgery one week later. (Jarred Vanderbilt is scheduled to return in the coming days.)
“First and foremost, I just told him, ‘Happy to have him back. “Congratulations, we’re glad to have you back,” said LeBron, who lowered expectations for his friend on Friday. “This is the first activity in so many months. The legs and lungs will be the first things to disappear. But I felt he was fantastic in the few minutes he was out there. It was wonderful to have him back.”
Vincent was the Lakers’ second guard off the bench at Barclays, trailing Spencer Dinwiddie. He replaced Cam Reddish and Max Christie in the rotation.
“I’m going to let them take care of it,” Vincent stated of his job. “I got faith in the training staff and the coaching staff and they have faith in me, they put me in there for whatever minutes they do and hopefully I continue to build trust with these guys in this locker room.”
Ham praised Vincent for handling difficult defensive responsibilities. The guard examined Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, and Dennis Schroder.
“What I saw is a guy trying to get his rhythm in the right area,” said the Lakers coach. “When you come back from that long of a layoff, the tendency is — just how the ball feels, how the climate feels, in terms of the torque, the force in which you’re on the court out there with nine other guys playing at a very high level. You gotta figure out that the little things are what is gonna get you back in rhythm. And he did that.”
In his first five Lakers appearances, Vincent averaged 5.4 points and 25.4 minutes (including crunchtime burn). In 22 postseason starts for the Miami Heat en route to the 2023 NBA Finals, he averaged 12.7 points and 3.5 assists while shooting 37.8% from three.
The Lakers (42-33) are on a roll, having won six of their previous seven games. They go to Toronto on Tuesday and Washington on Thursday. They’re 3-1 on their important East Coast road trip.
“I was encouraged by his pop, his speed, his energy,” Ham said about Vincent. “It’ll just continue to get better. We’ll see how he feels when he wake up in the morning.”
It turns out that the Lakers have a lot to be excited about, and at the perfect time.
