We are only three weeks away from the start of the playoffs and the Lakers are feeling thankful to see Gabe Vincent return to the lineup after missing three months due to injury. The team welcomed him back and saw him finish his night with 2 points, 1 assists, 1 rebound, 1 steak and 2 fouls in 14 minutes of play.
As the Los Angeles squad beat Brooklyn 116 to 104, the purple and gold improved to 3-1 on their six-match road trip, which comes to an end this Wednesday after visiting both Toronto and Washington.
The 27-year-old believes he was ready to contribute to his team. “I wouldn’t step on that court if I didn’t feel like I could help my team win games,” Gabe made sure everyone knew he was feeling strong. “Whatever the role may be, whatever the minutes may be, that’s not for me to decide.”
This was the laker’s only bench points and gabe Vincent’s first shot back from injury.
— LakerMuse (@Laker_Muse) April 1, 2024
The guard played for the first time since his arthroscopic surgery on his left knee on December 27, as he replaced teammate Austin Reaves while they were up 36-6 in the first quarter. He then made a turnaround 8-footer off the glass and extended his team’s lead by 24 points.
The following quarter, he handed out his only assist by drawing defender close to him and leaving Anthony Davis alone to catch a lob pass for an easy score at the rim. “He makes it easy,” he said about the Lakers’ big man. “He’s huge.”
The star center, on the other hand, said his teammates’ return was strong as he used up the minutes that usually go to Max Christie and Cam Reddish. “Overall, I think he looked really solid,” AD assured.
Vincent is playing his first campaign with the purple and gold, as he inked a three-year, $33 million deal last summer. He’s mostly known to provide his tough-perimeter defense that helped the Miami Heat reach last year’s NBA Finals. “The reason we brought him here was his competitive fire, his physicality, his point-of-attack defense, his ability to score the ball,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
Coach Darvin Ham further explained why Gabe will provide more depth to the Lakers during their postseason run
Lakers coach Darvin Ham is well aware of his pupil’s qualities and believes he isn’t afraid to step up in the big stages. “And just him being highly competitive in the biggest moments, him not taking a backseat to anybody. We saw the run he had through the playoffs last year with Miami. And just he’s a fighter and just he has a quiet leadership, a quiet toughness about him. So we thought that would fit well with what we have going on here already,” he explained.
On the other hand, Gabe was clear if he would end up playing again during this six-game road trip. “I’m going to let them take care of it,” Vincent said with two games left before returning to Los Angeles. “I got faith in the training staff and the coaching staff and they have faith in me, they put me in there for whatever minutes they do and hopefully I continue to build trust with these guys in this locker room.”
Teammate LeBron James was extremely excited to see the guard make his way back to the basketball court, as he shook Gabe’s hand with a big smile once the game was over.
“Just told him, ‘Happy to have you back, man. Congrats and happy to have you back out there,’” the superstar shared. “Obviously, first action in so many months, the legs, the lungs are the first thing to go. But I thought he was great in the minutes he was out there and it was great to have him back.”
