On Friday evening in Toronto, the Los Angeles Lakers play game no. 3 of a five-game road trip.
The Toronto Raptors have leveled off after a surprisingly hot start. Entering Friday's contest, Canada's only NBA team ranks fourth in the Eastern Conference despite a recent stretch of play that included nine losses over 10 games.
Since that free fall, the Raptors have slightly steadied the ship with four wins in their last eight games. Mind you, two of those wins came against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the New York Knicks, best described as the worst teams in each conference.
The Lakers, however, are not exactly world beaters, and this is the player development portion of a losing season. The Lakers are not tanking games, as they showed in their overtime win in Minnesota. The development stage may not always look pretty, especially on offense, but it serves a vital purpose in evaluating talent.
For starters, Ryan Kelly and his beard are playing power forward, and it hasn't been a disaster. Since Byron Scott decided to start Kelly at his natural position, the former Duke Blue Devil has put up two straight double-digit scoring performances, which is a first for Kelly in the 2014-15 season. While not exactly shooting lights-out, Kelly's 40.9 percent shooting over the past two games is a dramatic improvement on how the forward had been shooting over the past few weeks. It was ugly enough that we need not get into those numbers.
For undrafted rookie Tarik Black, the opportunity to start games is vital. He is a player only just realizing the natural strength he possesses and the power that comes with it. With his physical presence he can dominate the paint defensively, and experiencing how to impose his presence on NBA games should only further help the 23-year-old center over the coming weeks.
While Byron Scott's approach may not rub the modern analytics folks the right way, he is generally well regarded by his players. Scott dropped Black out of the rotation for a handful of game, which drew modest levels of criticism. However, sitting Black down for a few games may have helped the rookie step back and approach play from a slightly improved mental position.
Certainly, Scott's approach with rookie point guard Jordan Clarkson has not been criticized. The Lakers' coach protected the rookie and allowed him to observe from the bench for the better part of three months. In late January and on the road, Scott set Clarkson free in San Antonio, which happened to be Clarkson's home town.
From that point forward, the point guard has been the best story on the LA Lakers. Even point guard Steve Nash, who recently retired, began mentoring Clarkson in specialized sessions. The pair of point guards meets periodically for one-on-ones.
A couple of games ago, Clarkson went into Oklahoma City and scored a career-high 30 points, and his seven assists and four rebounds in that same contest hinted at the potential waiting to be tapped. In his last game, the rookie willed the Lakers to victory and hit six clutch free throws in overtime to win the game. Clarkson wasn't tanking.
On Friday in Toronto, Clarkson and the Lakers play their 71st game of the 2014/15 NBA season. Game time is 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
