The Los Angeles Lakers are off to one of their best starts in recent memory, improving to 14–4 after Saturday night's win over the Dallas Mavericks to move into sole possession of second place in the Western Conference.
L.A. was powered by a 38-point performance from Austin Reaves, who led all scorers, while Luka Dončić added 35 points, 11 assists, and five rebounds for Dallas. Doncic currently leads the NBA in scoring through 18 games.
Head coach JJ Redick has continued to rely on a tight eight-man rotation, with an occasional ninth or tenth player getting minutes. On Saturday, Jarred Vanderbilt, Dalton Knecht, Adou Thiero, and Bronny James did not play due to coach's decisions.
James has logged just one minute over the last two games, and on Saturday, the Lakers made the expected move during their off day before Sunday's matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans: assigning him to the G League.
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It's the perfect time for James to head down to play for the South Bay Lakers, who have a back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday night. That schedule should give him plenty of on-court reps, which is valuable for the second-year guard drafted 55th overall out of USC in the 2024 NBA Draft.
He's seen more NBA action this season than he did as a rookie, but he's still struggled to carve out a consistent role on a roster that's among the best in the league.
In the G League, though, James has appeared in two games and is averaging 11.0 points, 8.0 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game.
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