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Lakers newcomer Malik Monk was out of action since the middle of December due to health and safety protocols. The 23-year-old shooting guard returned to play on Christmas Day against the Brooklyn Nets.

Monk came off the bench to score 20 points in 35 minutes of play. He made 3 of 7 three-pointers and 5 of 6 two-pointers. “It was my first game back. It was me getting adjusted to how the energy was with the team,” he said postgame.

“But we all know what’s going on. We all know what we got to do. But we’ve been saying all year, we just got to do it, we just got to come out and play like we did in the third and fourth quarter when we went on that run. The guys know, everybody knows we just got to go out there and really do the stuff.”