Los Angeles Lakers come up short in opener; 3 takeaways
3. Danny Green showed up and showed out
One of the Los Angeles Lakers signature offseason acquisitions was Danny Green. Sure, Kawhi Leonard will get most of the credit for the Toronto Raptors’ title run last season — and rightfully so — but Green had his fair share of memorable moments as well.
During the 2018-19 campaign, Green posted a double-digit scoring average for the third time in his career and he knocked down 45.5 percent of his looks from 3-point range. Based on that stat, it was easy to see why the Lakers were interested in acquiring his services.
In the season opener, Green more than lived up to expectations. He led all players in the purple and gold with 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field and an efficient 7-for-9 effort from beyond the arc. This included an 18-point outburst in the third quarter that saw him connect on all six of his shot attempts.
https://twitter.com/NBAonTNT/status/1186864471270023169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1186864471270023169&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fin.nba.com%2Fnews%2Fclippers-take-early-bragging-rights-in-los-angeles-opening-night-win-over-lakers-kawhi-leonard%2Fdrmdavvhzi0m13do3ro0y58fz
Not only did Green lead the team in scoring, his 28 points was the most scored by a Lakers player in their debut.
Danny Green has 28 points so far tonight, the most in a player's Lakers debut in franchise history.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 23, 2019
The previous mark of 27 was set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1975. h/t @EliasSports
LeBron James had 26 in his Lakers debut last season. pic.twitter.com/CJEzbPHLBh
So, for all of the talk about the battle for the city of Los Angeles, along with the team’s new duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it was Green’s superb effort that kept the Lakers afloat during the third quarter, in which the Clippers led by as many 14 points and could have easily run away with the game.