LOS ANGELES — It’s been over a month since it became evident that Gabe Vincent was starting to round into form offensively during his second season with the Lakers.
And the sixth-year guard has sustained that offensive rhythm, providing the Lakers with much-needed stability off the bench.
Since having his first double-digit scoring game as a Laker in their Dec. 1 road win over the Utah Jazz, Vincent’s averaged 6.9 points on 44.7% shooting, including 39.3% on 3-pointers, in his last 16 games, after averaging just 2.8 points on 31.3% shooting (20.9% on 3s) in his first 19 games.
With his 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting to go with three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots in Friday’s home win over the Brooklyn Nets, Vincent had consecutive double-digit scoring games for the first time since signing with the Lakers as a free agent in July 2023.
Vincent scored a season-high 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting to go with four assists in the Lakers’ Jan. 15 home win over the Miami Heat, Vincent’s former team.
“My role…is just win games, help us win games,” Vincent said. “Some nights it might be purely defensive, some nights I might be on the ball some more, some nights I might be spotting up. But whatever the task is, I’m out there to help this ballclub win games.”
Vincent played just 11 regular-season games last season after dealing with left knee ailments that required surgery, returning in late March and playing in six of the Lakers’ final eight games before the postseason.
It was clear that he was still finding his way offensively to start this season, but still found ways to contribute as a point-of-attack defender who could also guard bigger players.
But his presence on both ends of the floor have been felt after a slow offensive start.
“Grateful to be healthy, grateful to be on the court,” Vincent said. “Just taking one game at a time.”
RUSSELL’S IMPACT
As Lakers coach JJ Redick put it, Austin Reaves has played at an “All-Star level” over the last few weeks.
Reaves, who scored a career-high 38 points against the Nets, has averaged 22.2 points (44.7% shooting, 40.6% from 3-point range), 8.9 assists and 5.3 rebounds in his last 10 games.
But when asked where he felt like he’s made the biggest strides this season, Reaves credited a friend and former teammate who was an opponent on Friday: D’Angelo Russell.
“There’s so many ups and downs in this league,” Reaves said. “The scrutiny is high being a Laker. So the more you can just stay connected to the group and connected with one another is the most important thing for me. To be honest, like I spoke [Friday] morning about DLo really helped me with that when he got here with him being through that, being drafted here, being a young player. He’s seen everything that I had been through, I was going through.
“So when he got here, he really taught me how to you, not that the noise was affecting me, but to really just push that aside and worry about the betterment of the team, how I can continue to grow and be better. I feel like that’s the main thing is just really continuing to grow as a leader.”
LAKERS AT CLIPPERS
When: Sunday, 6 p.m.
Where: Intuit Dome
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet, FanDuel Sports Network SoCal, NBA TV/710 AM, 570 AM