After losing their first game of the season on Tuesday, the South Bay Lakers returned home to host the Santa Cruz Warriors at UCLA Health Training Center on Friday.
Their active roster looked a little different than it did on Tuesday when they fell to the Salt Lake City Stars. Bronny James and rookie forward Adou Thiero made their G League season debuts, while Kobe Bufkin was unable to play.
South Bay took a 28-20 lead at the end of the first quarter on Friday, and went up by as many as 19 points midway through the second quarter. After Santa Cruz trimmed their lead to two just after halftime, the Lakers reestablished control by winning the third period 33-16 and cruised to a 115-95 victory.
Thiero scored 19 points and shot 5-of-9 from the field while doing a great job of slashing to the hoop, both in transition and in a halfcourt setting. James made half of his 10 field-goal attempts and went 2-of-5 from 3-point range, giving him 15 points, to go along with four rebounds, eight assists, three steals and one block.
Power forward Drew Timme, who was named the G League Player of the Week a few days ago, tallied 18 points, 15 rebounds and three assists. The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly in the process of getting him signed to a two-way contract.
