Los Angeles Lakers: Jordan Clarkson And Lou Williams Lead Superb Bench, Major Reason Why Lakers Off To Fast Start

The Los Angeles Lakers are off to their best start since the strike shorten 2011-12 campaign. And a big reason is the play of the Lakers’ bench.

Los Angeles (6-4) got 73 points from its reserves as the Lakers earned their fifth win in six contests with a 126-99 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night. Backup guards Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams combined for 44 points to lead the way. Clarkson tallied 23 points, on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Williams chipped in 21 points, four assists and three rebounds along with two steals. Williams made 9-of-15 shots from the field, and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. The duo finished the game a plus-39 in the plus-minus ratings.

Lou Williams ties his season high with 21 points. #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/yIjPI6qZON

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) November 13, 2016

Los Angeles trailed 56-55 at halftime. The Lakers opened the second half by scoring eight of the first 14 points to take a 63-62 with 8:14 left in the third quarter. The Lakers then took advantage of Pelicans’ star Anthony Davis going out of the game with an apparent back injury, outscoring the Pelicans 16-4 over a six-minute span to push their lead to 79-66 lead with 2:35 left in the quarter. Los Angeles outscored New Orleans 71-43 in the second half as the Lakers poured in 43 points in the fourth quarter. Clarkson scored 13 points and D’Angelo Russell added 12 points in the final stanza.

Russell (22 points, six assists), Nick Young (15 points) and Brandon Ingram (10 points, four assists) also reached double figures against the Pelicans. Marcelo Huertas was the only reserve not to score against New Orleans though he did dole out two assists in three minutes of action. In total, the Lakers bench made 30-of-48 (62.5 percent) shots from the field as well as 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) of their three-point attempts. They also contributed 24 rebounds (five offensive), 17 assists and three assists.

The Lakers bench has outscored their opponent’s bench in all but three games so far. Los Angeles is 5-2 when their bench wins outproduces the opposing team’s bench.

Head coach Luke Walton’s decision to pair Clarkson with Williams on the second unit to lead his young Lakers is a major reason why the team’s bench is thriving. Clarkson came off the bench 21 times during his rookie season in 2014-15. But he started all 79 games he appeared in last year, averaging 15.5 points along with 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32.3 minutes per game.

Clarkson has led the Lakers in scoring three times and in assists twice this year. The 24-year-old combo guard is producing 15.1 points, 2.5 rebounds along with 2.0 assists in 26.6 minutes a game. He is shooting a career-best 50.4 percent from the field, and 36.4 percent from beyond the arc. The six-foot-four combo guard has three 20-point games, compiling double figures in seven games so far.

Williams has made a living getting buckets off the bench, he has started just 89 of his 711 career games. The 2015 NBA Sixth Man of the Year leads the Lakers with 16.4 points a game and is second on the team with 3.7 assists. Williams is shooting a career-best 47.0 percent from the field while also making a career-high two three-pointers a game, shooting a personal-best 40.0 percent on his three-point attempts.

“Me and Lou are going to be real aggressive coming in. We’re trying to do a good job of leading this second group, bringing the energy, scoring the ball, pushing the pace,” Clarkson told reporters following the victory over New Orleans. “Coach gave that to us. That’s our role and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Williams has led the Lakers in scoring four times and assists on three occasions. More importantly, the 30-year-old has been at his best when closing out games for the Lakers. Prior to Saturday’s game against the Pelicans, he was averaging 7.9 points in the fourth quarter – which ranked fourth in the league per the Los Angeles Times.

Larry Nance Jr. has also been good off the bench as has Tarik Black. Nance has been the Lakers best defender achieving a defensive rating of 100. He is very athletic who is very active on the defensive end particularly on the boards. Nance has seven games of hauling in five or more caroms a game. He is averaging 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 steals while knocking down 60.5 percent of his shots for the season.

Black has been the Lakers most consistent big other than Julius Randle. The 24-year-old is averaging 5.1 points and 5.0 caroms in just 14.4 minutes a game. He can score when he gets the ball deep in the low post, and is an excellent rebounder. Additionally, the six-foot-nine undersized center is a physical defender who is limiting opponents to shooting 49 field goal percent at the rim.

Brandon Ingram has gone through the expected rookie growing pains. The 19-year-old has struggled with his shot though he has been better than expected on the defensive end. He collected his second career double-figure scoring performance in nine games against the Pelicans.

Los Angeles travels to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves (2-6) tonight at 7 p.m. (ET). The Lakers then play four straight at home: Brooklyn (November 15), San Antonio (November 18), Chicago (November 20) and Oklahoma City (November 22). In total the Lakers will play six of their next eight contests at Staples Center.

[Featured Image by Kelvin Kuo/AP Images]