Los Angeles Lakers: Why their bench is better than the Clippers

In Monday’s scrimmage win, the Los Angeles Lakers bench was impressive. This fuels the debate as to which is the best bench in the city of LA.

In a game where the Los Angeles Lakers were without LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma and Dwight Howard, the bench mob took matters into their own hands.

In a very exciting game, considering all the talent that was absent, the Lakers bench delivered, raising quite a few eyebrows. A team that has forever been known for being to star-dependant showed that this roster is way bigger than two superstars.

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In fact, all 12 players that stepped on the court, scored at least three points, meaning that the Los Angeles Lakers had no members of their remain scoreless. This–essentially–bench team shot 46.4 percent from behind the arc, behind J.R. Smith‘s 6-of-7 shooting from 3-point range.

But how do these guys stack up compared to their roommates, the LA Clippers? The Clippers have been considered as the team with the most efficient bench for almost a decade now, meaning that it would take a lot to dethrone them.

Unfortunately, it is fairly hard to compare these two sides, given all the roster changes that they’ve both gone through during their most recent weeks of basketball action.

The Lakers have added Markieff Morris, J.R. Smith and Dion Waiters to their squad. Countering these moves, the Clippers added Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson and Joakim Noah. Basically, two very strong teams, becoming even stronger.

So far, these two sides have played each other three times, with the Clippers holding the upper-hand at two games to one. The Lakers did, tough win the most recent battle, a game that was played just a few weeks prior to the NBA’s hiatus.

In those games, the Lakers bench averaged 31 points per game, while the Clippers outshined them at a remarkable 44.3 points per game.

However, during these three scrimmages, the Clippers have seemed to be a bit too dependant on Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, with the bench not always delivering. Additionally, most of the guys that have done the scoring in those games are guys that won’t even step on the court, come playoff time.

On the contrary, the game against the Washington Wizards proved that the Lakers bench is enough to stand on its own. Head coach Frank Vogel wanted to do one last experiment with the team, with the results being nothing but positive.

Playoff experience will come in handy in a neck-to-neck series between those teams. The only players on the Clippers with experience of such are Kawhi Leonard and Joakim Noah. Take a quick glance at the Lakers squad, and you can see it’s full of proven winners.

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With all the Lou Williams drama, the locker room atmosphere will be a bit shaky. When you have your best bench player and third-leading scorer creating unwanted havoc around the league, it’s bound to affect your play somehow.

The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be in a great place right now. If you weren’t already aware of that, Javale McGee’s vlogs will certainly alter your thinking. Team chemistry is through the roof, with a roster full of guys with their eyes on the prize.