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He’s entering his fifth season in the NBA and he’s yet to find his niche.
His new coach, Darvin Ham of the Lakers, says “it’s going to be defense — three-and-D.”
It is a role Cam Reddish said he’s willing to accept, but he feels as if he has more to offer.
But when the Lakers played the Clippers on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena, Reddish was asked to play defense, and more defense and more defense.
He was in the starting lineup because Taurean Prince was out with left knee soreness.
Reddish’s job was to defend Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the top two weapons on the Clippers. And there were times when Reddish was asked to defend Clippers point guard Russell Westbrook, too.
LeBron James scored 35 points and the Lakers mounted a big second-half comeback to hold off the Clippers in overtime, 130-125 on Wednesday.
During one sequence, Reddish was crouched and eyed the basketball as George dribbled. When George started to make his move, Reddish picked the ball away for a steal and passed it ahead to D’Angelo Russell, who scored even after George was called for goaltending.
Reddish’s effort had given the Lakers a little lift, forcing the Clippers to call a timeout with 8:04 left in the third and the Lakers down by nine points.
“That’s fun to me. I’m trying to get stops,” Reddish said. “I’m really trying to get steals and stuff like that, get myself going offensively, get locked into the game. To me it’s fun.”
In taking on those challenges, Reddish showed Ham that his 6-8 wing player has the potential to be a three-and-D player in the NBA.
“The kid is special. The only thing he needed was consistency,” Ham said. “Just a program that’s going to put their arms around him and encourage him to constantly get better, simplify things and he’ll respond in the right way, which he did tonight. He’s been awesome since he’s been an L.A. Laker.”
Reddish played 37 minutes, and he was just two for seven from the field and scored just eight points.
But it was his defense that was needed on this night, and Reddish delivered three steals and one block.
“I can do that, be a three-and-D player, but I bring more to the table,” Reddish said. “I can do that. But I got a lot of game, too.”
Here are three takeaways from the Lakers’ 130-125 overtime win over the Clippers.
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Reddish still has room for growth
Even with his defensive success, Reddish learned many lessons Wednesday night.
He ran into Mason Plumlee as the Clippers center was setting a screen for Leonard, drawing a foul, his fourth of the game with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
The Clippers maintained interest in James Harden all summer because they were convinced the star guard has a championship goal.
Ham pulled his young pupil aside, put his hands on Reddish’s shoulders and offered advice and encouragement.
When Reddish returned in the fourth quarter, he made his most aggressive move of the game, perhaps the entire season. He took a pass from Christian Wood in the corner and attacked the basket, where Clippers center Ivica Zubac waited. Reddish rose up for a one-handed dunk that he missed because Zubac fouled him. But Reddish made both free throws.
But the lessons were not over for Reddish.
The Lakers were leading by three points late in the fourth quarter and Reddish was defending George once again.
As George rose up for a three-pointer, Reddish fouled the forward with 17 seconds left in the fourth. The Lakers’ challenge of the play was unsuccessful, leading to three free throws that George made to tie the score at 117-117.
But Reddish played all five minutes of the overtime and kept playing his defense — whether it was on George, Leonard or Westbrook.
“It’s all about opportunity,” Anthony Davis said. “And now that we know what Cam brings to our team — which we already knew, but now he’s shown it — we’re going to expect that from him no matter how many minutes he’s playing. He’s got to bring that same intensity every night.”
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Lakers big lineup worked
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
There was a stretch in the third quarter in which Ham had all three of his big men in the lineup at the same time. And the 6-10 Davis, 6-10 Christian Wood and 7-0 Jaxson Hayes held their own.
At times, Davis, or Wood, or Hayes would find themselves defending on the perimeter against George or Leonard.
Davis finished with 10 rebounds and four blocks. Wood had 11 rebounds and one block and Hayes had two rebounds and one block.
They all did their jobs, and it allowed LeBron James to get some extra rest.
“We were able to step it up with that lineup with AD and C-Wood and Jax,” James said. “It gives us a lot of length, a lot of ability to switch a lot of things, but also rebound. So, it was good minutes for us.”
The Lakers believed in Austin Reaves enough to reward him with a four-year contract worth almost $54 million. He will have to play better.
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Max Christie gets an opportunity
With backup point guard Gabe Vincent out and with Reddish starting, that opened the door for Max Christie to get some playing time.
He made just one of his seven shots and finished with just five points, but he was solid enough during his 22 minutes.
