This unflattering and negative perception of the Lakers prompts Gabe Vincent to declare that the club must play hard.

This unflattering and negative perception of the Lakers prompts Gabe Vincent to declare that the club must play hard.

Before suffering a knee injury that sidelined him for almost two months, Gabe Vincent had only appeared in four games for the Los Angeles Lakers.

He returned to the starting lineup for an away game against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, but the game ended in a landslide loss. In just 14 minutes of play, Vincent had a minus-12 rating and was still adjusting to the game’s rhythm.

The Lakers are back to nearly full health after Vincent’s injury. This is their best point of the season. However, the Lakers have a lot of work ahead of them given their current three-game losing streak and the mess their rotation has created.

However, Vincent discussed his personal experience of playing in just his fifth game of the season upon his return, as reported by Spectrum SportsNet:

“It definitely felt better as the game progressed. My wind improved a little bit as we warmed up and moved about to let rid of the first breeze. While playing with the others on the court, I began to develop a small rhythm.

After seeing the Lakers up close, Vincent feels he can make a few little improvements now that he is back in the starting lineup:

“Travel has been difficult, but to be honest, I think we can play harder, man.” We just need to push ourselves a little bit and put in a little extra effort, in my opinion, and I think we can pull through. Every day, we will get better and closer. Naturally, December 20 is not our ultimate objective; rather, we are working toward a larger vision, so there will be highs and lows along the way. However, we will continue to improve day by day and game by game.

After 28 games in the regular season, the Lakers are undoubtedly not where they would like to be. It is not a good place to be with a 15–13 record, a three-game losing streak, and a 5–10 record away from Crypto.com Arena. But the NBA season is long, and there will be a lot of ups and downs between now and April, when the games really start to count.

Regaining Vincent and starting to establish a consistent rotation with a healthy squad will go a long way toward resolving some of the problems that have dogged Los Angeles in the early going of the campaign.

Austin Reaves: As the Lakers work out their rotations, they must win.
Although Vincent’s comeback provided head coach Darvin Ham with a fully loaded bench, the point guard had not appeared on the court for almost two months, thus lineups and rotations had to be adjusted once more. For the Lakers, things have gotten harder as a result of these ongoing rotation modifications.

After the Lakers’ loss to the Bulls, Austin Reaves discussed this, saying that the club needs time to win games while figuring out the best lineups and developing chemistry now that they are healthy.