Three takeaways from the Lakers' summer league game on Monday

One day after coming from behind to defeat the Miami Heat in sudden-death double-overtime on a Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers‘ summer league squad played its final game of the California Classic. It faced the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, and once again, it had to fight from behind.

It got off to an ugly start, as it put only six points on the board with just over three minutes to go in the first quarter and committed eight turnovers in that first quarter. But after trailing by as many as 12 points in the second quarter, the Lakers changed the tenor of the game after halftime. They outscored San Antonio 27-16 in the third quarter, and they came away with an 88-84 victory.

After rookie guard Cameron Carr looked impressive in their first two games, a couple of different guys displayed some potential for them on Monday.

Carr couldn’t find the range during Monday’s game. He made just one basket during a quiet first quarter for him, and he was 2-of-7 from the field in the first half.

He didn’t play in the second half, as it looked like perhaps the Lakers wanted to take a closer look at some other players deeper on their bench. Carr ended up with five points, one rebound, one assist, one steal and one block in 13 minutes.
Made an Impact

Kaluma, a 6-foot-7 forward who spent last season with the G League’s South Bay Lakers as a rookie, was a significant reason L.A. came back to win Monday’s game. He was fairly active on both ends of the floor and ended up second on the team in scoring.

He put up 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field, although he missed all four of his 3-point tries. Kaluma also contributed two rebounds, two assists and one block in 28 minutes.

The man who had the most to do with the Lakers’ comeback win was Chris Mañon, a guard who they brought in on a two-way contract last summer. The 6-foot-4 guard is known as a tenacious defender, but on Monday, he also provided plenty of scoring.

He made seven of his 10 shot attempts, two of his three 3-point attempts and six of his eight free throw attempts to score a game-high 24 points. He also added eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks.

Eighteen of his 24 points came in the second half as L.A. mounted its comeback.

Mañon shot very well in his two previous games at the California Classic, but he didn’t attempt a single trey in those two contests. If he develops into a true 3-and-D player, perhaps he can claw his way into the big-league Lakers’ rotation at some point.