Lakers: Vincent starts for LeBron, NBA debut vs. Warriors

Lakers Fine-Tune Details for Season Start

The Lakers’ coach, JJ Redick, used the last preseason game as a “dress rehearsal” for the start of the regular season, placing Gabe Vincent in the starting lineup in place of the injured LeBron James. Vincent demonstrated his good form in training camp, scoring 14 points on 5 of 6 shooting (4 of 5 from three-pointers), but the Lakers fell to the Sacramento Kings with a score of 117-116, finishing the preseason with a 1-5 record. The regular season will begin on Tuesday night, when the Lakers face the Golden State Warriors. Although the decision on Vincent has already been made, the Lakers still have a lot to resolve in the coming days.

“We have two more practices, so we need to improve some things,” commented Luka Doncic, who led the game with 31 points and nine assists in 33 minutes.

Luka Doncic

Vincent revealed that the coaching staff informed him about the change in the lineup on Friday morning. If there were any doubts, Vincent took care of dispelling them in the preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks, where he scored 18 points in the first four minutes, with 5 out of 5 in three-pointers.

“I think I just bring what I’ve been doing since I got here,” Vincent said when asked about fitting in with the starters. “Just defend, try to defend at a high level. Create play when I have opportunities, space the floor while Luka and Austin Reaves create their own opportunities.”

Gabe Vincent

James is not expected to return to the lineup until mid-November, as he recovers from sciatica affecting the right side of his body. Although Vincent will join Doncic, Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura on the court for the start of the 2025-26 season, Redick made it clear that the current starters are not permanent.

“I don’t know anything about who will start the rest of the season because, again, there are injuries and things that happen throughout the year,” Redick said. “I have a pretty clear idea of who will start Game 1. After that, I don’t know. But I do believe that in that lineup there’s a lot of shooting around Luka and DA, and Gabe is another ball handler, another tough defender.

JJ Redick

Redick has repeatedly downplayed the significance of his decision regarding the starting lineup during training camp, noting that he used 25 starting lineups last season. Both he and his team were more concerned with their defense, after allowing 59 points in the second half to a Kings team that had a 54.7% overall field goal percentage and a 44.8% three-point percentage.

“I think we were more physical in practice,” Doncic said. “We need to work on our physicality.”

Luka Doncic

The Lakers were without one of their most physical defenders, center Jaxson Hayes, in the second half on Friday. He exited the game due to a right wrist contusion after finishing a dunk in the first quarter. Redick said Hayes’ wrist X-rays were negative, and the Lakers will have more information on Hayes when they practice on Sunday. Former Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Smart, who scored 14 points and stole four balls off the bench against Sacramento, committed to helping with physicality in the meantime.

“Just follow my example,” Smart said. “That’s all. I’m going to try to set the tone every night. And just follow me.”

Marcus Smart