Los Angeles Lakers: 3 stars in NBA play-in win over Warriors

Third star for the Los Angeles Lakers: Wesley Matthews

When the Lakers have been at full health down the stretch, offseason signing Wesley Matthews has been placed into a marginal bench role, playing around 10 to 15 minutes per night. At times this season, he has even received a DNP as head coach Frank Vogel went in other directions.

Wednesday night, starting point guard Dennis Schroder was a mess on both ends of the court, unable to keep with Stephen Curry defensively and shooting just 3-14 from the field; he finished a team-worst -20 on the night.

Down the stretch, Vogel instead swapped out Schroder for Matthews, and the Lakers immediately took off. While he shot just 1-of-4 from the field he was moving the ball and moving himself, keeping the defense on its toes as his superstars cut to their spots.

Defensively was where Matthews shined, taking on the Curry assignment and dutifully switching onto larger players. Despite just the three points scored Matthews was a +17 in just 14 minutes, a critical piece of a Lakers comeback that seemed improbable at halftime. Sure the Lakers played better after halftime, but they also played Matthews, and that help to propel them to a win.