With LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Marc Gasol all being out for the Los Angeles Lakers, an opportunity was given to Alfonzo McKinnie to play some minutes.
The 28-year-old forward played 16 minutes during which he scored 11 points and grabbed 2 rebounds. It was his 18th game this season, while the Lakers played 37 games in total.
The Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel was happy with McKinnie’s performance and said he made a case for more minutes in future. “He’s a good player. He’s been sort of buried with our depth here,” he said. “But he’s maintained a great attitude, been a true pro coming and get his work in every day. Really trying to show what he can do in the practices. or pick up games guys playing off days.
“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to get him in there without supplanting one of the rotation guys. Tonight was the night. So it was a good opportunity for it and I thought he played really well. Especially crashing the boards, made a couple buckets for us, played solid defense and really made a case for more minutes.”
This season, McKinnie 2.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.1 assists in 4.7 minutes per game. It is his first year with the Lakers. He has previously played for the Cavaliers (2019-2020), Warriors (2018-2019) and Raptors (2017-2018).
