EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- After a slow start to the season that left them with a 5-6 record, the South Bay Lakers have rebounded in a major way since, and are headed into the G League’s All-Star break on an upward swing at 11-8, just two games behind first place in the Western conference.
In a six game stretch from January 9th to the 22nd, South Bay lost 5 of 6 games, and averaged 113.17 points in those games. Dealing with players in and out of the lineup, there was no continuity at the time.
In the eight games since, spanning from January 24th to February 11th, the Lakers are 6-2, averaging 127 points in those games.
A large part of their struggles to begin the season came from the ever-changing roster, with five players, including Bronny James Jr., Nick Smith Jr., Drew Timme, Adou Thiero and Kobe Bufkin all going back and forth between South Bay and the Los Angeles Lakers
Coach Zach Guthrie and his staff never shied away from the challenge though. Guthrie spoke during this time about how his job and goal is to elevate players to a place of being called up, but also embracing this challenge that is unique to the G League. Even with a revolving door of players coming and going, it was his job to figure out how to make it work with what he had, and he did exactly that.
During that eight game stretch, Bufkin was the only of the aforementioned guys still with South Bay. These games consisted of a free flowing offense with the ball moving constantly, allowing Bufkin and guard R.J Davis to both get theirs, while also getting the rest of the roster more involved.
Guys like Arthur Kaluma, Tevian Jones, Anton Watson, Augustas Marčiulionis, Kylor Kelley, Chris Mañon and more have been on this roster for the majority of if not the entire season, and have all had increased roles and flourished in them in the past eight games.
The team has also improved defensively, something that Guthrie has preached, being able to lock in at the ends of games and get stops. In the stretch where they lost five of six, South Bay ranked 25th in the league with a 118 rating, while they ranked top 10 in the league in their last eight with a 112 rating.
On top of this, the Bufkin and Davis backcourt absolutely torched their opponents. Davis averaged 23.3 points, 6.5 assists, and 5.3 assists in this eight game stretch, including an unforgettable pair of games against Salt Lake City, where he dropped a 30 point triple double in the first, followed by a career-high 45 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds two nights later. He then earned G League player of the week, and was named to the G League Next Up Game roster as a result of these video-game like performances.
Bufkin balled out too, averaging 28.8 points and 5.2 assists in six games during the span, including a 41 point and eight assist performance on February 4th. Bufkin was then signed on a new two-year deal by the Lakers, and will now be with the parent squad for the time being.
Despite his absence, the team has found its identity even with the many moving parts. If they have guys come down from the parent team to help out, so be it. If not, they have a superstar in R.J. Davis to lead them, as well as a roster full of guys who are ready and can go off on any given night.
Their season will pick back up with a pair of two game series against the Texas Legends and Valley Suns, two teams who sit in the bottom four of the Western Conference. They face Texas first, with the first game taking place on February 21st at 5:30 p.m. from the Lone Star State.