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After multiple weeks of waiting, the Lakers were finally able to see what it looked like when their Big 3 was on the floor together.
The results made it clear there’s plenty of room for growth.
With Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler available for Friday’s preseason finale loss to the Nuggets on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena, the wait to see how the team would look with its most consequential players alongside each other ended.
Finally, the highly anticipated Doncic-Kessler pick and roll would be unleashed on an opposing team instead of held within the confines of the team’s practice floor.
The 7-foot-2 center, who made his debut in Tuesday’s loss to the Warriors in Las Vegas, would be able to build off his first NBA game in nearly a year in a positive way and complement both of the team’s star guards.
And the Lakers’ wing defenders — this time with Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams in the first unit in what could be a preview for the regular-season opener against the Warriors — would have their defensive anchor behind them, allowing them to be more aggressive with their perimeter defense.
Some of this came to fruition.
But other aspects left a lot to be desired.
The biggest among them: too many early turnovers, with the Lakers recording six giveaways by the end of the first quarter and 10 turnovers by the middle of the second.
It was evident that Kessler was adjusting to what his new life will look like when defenses load up on Doncic and Reaves, and the playmaking responsibilities that’ll come in those moments.
“There’s going to be some growing pains, just lack of reps together so far,” Reaves said. “More than likely going to pick up on it sooner than later. So we’ll continue to grow that over the next couple days and be ready for Opening Night.”
The growing pains didn’t take away from the good the Lakers were able to accomplish.
Sandro Mamukelashvili and Williams showed immediate connections with Doncic.
Kessler was able to get a better idea of what his life will look like in the short roll when Doncic and Reaves are blitzed in the pick and roll — a strategy that the Nuggets deployed early and often against the Lakers.
“Obviously there’s a transitional period playing with both Luka and AR on the floor together,” Kessler said. “Kind of what I was saying before, about the blitz and ball screens and playing out of that pocket. I started to get it a little bit. Obviously Luka and AR are pretty used to that.”
The hiccups on Friday made it even more apparent how helpful it would’ve been for the Lakers to get more reps with their Big 3 on the court together.
How certain rhythms and cadences can only be understood when players are on the court together against another team.
Coach JJ Redick made it clear his team will be ready to go when the games start to matter in the standings when they kick off the regular season against the Warriors on Wednesday.
Friday will be an important part in making sure Redick is correct.