Lakers start Vincent for LeBron in opener preview

LOS ANGELES -- Using Friday's preseason finale arsenic a "dress rehearsal" for adjacent week's regular-season opener, Los Angeles Lakers manager JJ Redick enactment Gabe Vincent successful the starting lineup to capable successful for the injured LeBron James.

Vincent capped a beardown idiosyncratic grooming campy with 14 points connected 5-for-6 shooting (4-for-5 from 3), but the Lakers lost 117-116 to the Sacramento Kings to decorativeness the preseason 1-5.

The existent happening starts Tuesday erstwhile L.A. hosts the Golden State Warriors connected opening night. While the Vincent determination was made, determination is plentifulness much for the Lakers to fig retired successful the adjacent fewer days.

"We person 2 much practices, truthful we request to cleanable up immoderate things," said Luka Doncic, who scored a game-high 31 points to spell with 9 assists successful 33 minutes.

Vincent said the coaching unit informed him astir the starting motion Friday morning. If the unit was connected the obstruction astir the choice, Vincent surely helped his origin successful the Lakers' preseason crippled against the Dallas Mavericks connected Wednesday erstwhile helium scored 18 points successful the archetypal 4 minutes of the archetypal quarter, going 5-for-5 from 3.

"I deliberation I conscionable bring what I've been doing since I've been here," Vincent said erstwhile asked astir his acceptable with the starters. "Just defending, effort to support astatine a precocious level. Playmake erstwhile I person opportunities, abstraction the level portion Luka and [Austin Reaves] are creating themselves."

James is not expected to instrumentality to the lineup and play until mid-November, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania, arsenic helium continues to recover from sciatica affecting the close broadside of his body.

While Vincent volition articulation Doncic, Reaves, Deandre Ayton and Rui Hachimura connected the tribunal to extremity disconnected the 2025-26 season, Redick made it wide that the existent starters are not permanent.

"I don't cognize thing astir who I'm going to beryllium starting the remainder of the season, because, again, there's injuries, and there's things that hap passim a year," Redick said. "I person a beauteous bully thought who's going to commencement Game 1, aft that, I don't know. But I bash deliberation successful that lineup there's batch of shooting astir Luka and DA and Gabe is different shot handler, different pugnacious defender.

"I deliberation helium fits successful well, but you person to instrumentality a look astatine each matchup we play against and person to marque a determination there."

Redick has downplayed the value of his starters determination repeatedly during grooming camp, pointing retired that helium utilized 25 antithetic starting lineups past season.

Redick and his squad sounded acold much acrophobic astir their defence aft allowing 59 second-half points to a Kings squad that changeable 54.7% wide and 44.8% from 3.

"I deliberation successful signifier we were much physical," Doncic said. "We request to enactment connected our physicality."

The Lakers were without 1 of their much carnal defenders successful halfway Jaxson Hayes for the 2nd h...