The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves down 0-2 in their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have played well so far in this series, but their supporting cast has underwhelmed, for the most part. Three of them actually haven't even scored in the two games, despite playing 57 minutes between them.
Gabe Vincent - 23 minutes, 0 points, 0-2 from the field
Spencer Dinwiddie - 23 minutes, 0 points, 0-1 from the field
Jaxson Hayes - 11 minutes, 0 points, 0-0 from the field
I am not sure what's more shocking, that they haven't scored at all or that they have had only three shot attempts between them. While you can understand Hayes not being featured on offense, the other two I am a bit puzzled by.
Dinwiddie averaged 16.5 points per game in the playoffs for the Brooklyn Nets last season while Vincent averaged 12.7 points per game for the Miami Heat. Yes, they are playing more defensive-oriented roles for the Lakers, but surely not to the point where they have taken three shots between them in two games.
I get that Dinwiddie has struggled since signing with the Lakers mid-season and Vincent only returned from injury a few weeks ago, but head coach Darvin Ham has to find a way to involve them a bit more on offense. It would be one thing if they were playing 2-3 minutes per game here, but they're both at over 10.
You can't have two players out there for that long who are virtually non-factors from a scoring standpoint. Ham has to tweak that game plan to at least get something out of Dinwiddie and Vincent.
The Lakers Also Need Austin Reaves And Rui Hachimura To Step Up
While Vincent, Dinwiddie, and Hayes can be given the excuse of just not being given the opportunities to shine, that doesn't apply to Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. The two were expected to have a big impact in this series but that hasn't been the case thus far.
Reaves has averaged just 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game in this series. It was around this time last year when he showed the basketball world that he wasn't some flash in the pan with some incredible displays against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round. We haven't seen much of that here against the Nuggets and Reaves has even looked a bit tentative at times, which is quite concerning.
As for Hachimura, he put in a terrible performance in Game 2. He went 1-7 from the field to finish the night with 3 points and 5 rebounds. Hachimura is now averaging 5.0 points per game in this series and if the Lakers continue to get this kind of production from him and Reaves, it might be time to pack some bags.
Maybe with the series now heading to Los Angeles, we might see some more production out of them and that's certainly what the team would be hoping. Even if they do improve, though, I think this series is over. The Lakers have shown enough to the point where I don't think they'll get swept, but it's hard to see this series going beyond five games.
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