NEW YORK — Lakers guard Gabe Vincent didn’t originally expect for his ailing left knee to require surgery.
But after missing seven weeks of action between November and mid-December and playing one game on Dec. 20, in which Vincent experienced swelling afterward, surgery was required. Leading to a longer-than-expected journey back to the court.
That journey ended during Sunday’s 116-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets, with Vincent returning to the floor at Barclays Center after missing the previous 46 games.
“It’s been a lot of ups and downs, been a long year,” Vincent said. “Obviously trying to avoid surgery early and then having to had surgery. At this point, I’m grateful to be here.”
Vincent added about his return: “It felt good. It felt good to go out there and sweat, compete a little bit and get a little stat sheet going – a tiny bit, here and there. But it felt good to go out there and run around.”
He finished with two points on 1-for-4 shooting in 14 minutes off the bench. He was the lone Lakers’ reserve to score against the Nets.
His impact was felt most defensively at the point of attack, getting back in transition and chasing the Nets’ offensive players around screens.
“For a guy that’s been out that long, he came in and had some big possessions,” coach Darvin Ham said. “Defensively, he was trying to get after it. Offensively at times it’s gonna come, he’ll see his shot go in. But I think just him getting thrown out there, he had the only bucket off our bench, ironically. But he’ll get there, it’s gonna take a little bit of time.
“But what I saw is a guy trying to get his rhythm in the right area. When you come back from that long of a layoff, the tendency is you just, how the ball feels, how the climate feels in terms of the torque, the force in which you’re out there on the court 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.”
Vincent also assisted Anthony Davis with a lob late in the second quarter.
“He was solid,” Davis said. “Obviously, it’s a feel thing, a rhythm thing to get back out there. But 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 with being a part of the team and game reps. But overall, I think he looked really solid.”
With just seven games left in the regular season, there isn’t a lot of time for Vincent to get his rhythm back ahead of potential postseason play.
Those seven games include back-to-back road games against the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Vincent not sure what’s in store for him in those games playing-time-wise.
“I’m going to let them take care of it,” Vincent said. “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.”
VANDERBILT PROGRESS
Jarred Vanderbilt, who’s been sidelined since early February, went through extensive on-court work ahead of Sunday’s win over the Nets.
It was the most on-court work multiple reporters have seen Vanderbilt go through since being sidelined because of a sprained right midfoot injury that he suffered in the Lakers’ Feb. 1 road win over the Boston Celtics.
“Just not to skip any steps just to keep taking things day by day and don’t listen to whoever’s out there putting target dates on his return,” Ham responded on what’s next for Vanderbilt. “Just maximize each day, try to get better each day and just stick to the plan. Gabe had to do the same thing, JV has to do the same thing as well. Just stick to the plan.”
Vanderbilt’s played just 29 games this season after missing the first seven weeks because of a left heel injury.