LOS ANGELES — Lakers wing Cam Reddish made a comeback to the lineup on Wednesday night against the Clippers after a month-long absence due to a sprained right ankle.
Reddish had missed the Lakers’ previous 14 games since suffering the ankle injury in the last matchup against the Clippers on Jan. 23, where the Clippers secured a 127-116 victory.
“Just balance out the rotation,” said Coach Darvin Ham regarding Reddish’s return. “We looked at it [Tuesday], we looked at it again [Wednesday] morning so we feel comfortable with where everyone is slotted, and we’ll just see what happens. See what the game dictates.”
With Reddish’s return, the Lakers welcomed back one of their top perimeter athletes and defenders. He entered the game alongside Taurean Prince at the 4:19 mark of the first quarter, playing for nine minutes in the first half before resting midway through the second quarter.
Reddish’s return prompted another adjustment to the team’s rotation, with guard Max Christie not included in the first-half rotation after averaging 15.7 minutes over the previous three games. Christie only played for five seconds in the first half, subbing in at the end of the first quarter for defensive purposes.
The Lakers relied on smaller lineups for significant portions of the first half, including playing LeBron James at center alongside Reddish, D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Taurean Prince.
“It’s just a matter of looking at what we have,” Ham explained. “Reintroducing someone into the lineup, obviously, that’s gonna come with parameters. So everyone just needs to be ready. You never know when your number is gonna be called. Our coaches do a phenomenal job of keeping our guys ready, and watching film so they know what’s supposed to be happening on both sides of the ball. And you just have to stay ready.
“There’s no secret pill or anything like that that’s gonna make everything clear-cut all the time. We have a team full of really, really good players. And so trying to find those right combinations, it’s just … you have to rediscover that rhythm when you’re reintroducing a Cam Reddish or someone of that nature. It was [Jarred Vanderbilt] when he was coming back a few weeks ago. That’s just a natural, organic circumstance. So just trying to manage that as best as possible. But the message is just stay ready. You never know.”
TOUGH HOME STRETCH Wednesday’s game kicked off a stretch of 11 out of 12 games in Los Angeles, with the lone game the Lakers aren’t playing at Crypto.com Arena over the next 3½ weeks being a road game against the Sacramento Kings on March 13.
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