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Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
NEW YORK — With fewer than three weeks remaining until the postseason begins, the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed Gabe Vincent back to the lineup after missing the reserve guard for the past three months.
Vincent finished with 2 points, 1 assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal and 2 fouls in 14 minutes in L.A.’s 116-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets. The Lakers improved to 3-1 on their six-game road trip, which concludes with a back-to-back against the Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“I wouldn’t step on that court if I didn’t feel like I could help my team win games,” Vincent said before the game when asked if he felt ready to contribute. “Whatever the role may be, whatever the minutes may be, that’s not for me to decide.”
Playing for the first time since undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Dec. 27, Vincent checked in with 3:34 remaining in the first quarter, replacing Austin Reaves with L.A. up 26-6.
He made his first shot, a turnaround 8-footer off the glass, to extend the Lakers’ lead to 31-7.
In the second quarter, he recorded his only assist by driving and drawing a help defender, leaving Anthony Davis free to catch a lob pass for a score at the rim.
“He makes it easy,” Vincent said. “He’s huge.”
Vincent took up the minutes in the rotation that had been going to Cam Reddish and Max Christie.
“Overall, I think he looked really solid,” Davis said.
Vincent signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Lakers in the offseason. He was brought in for his tough perimeter defense and shot-making ability after helping the Miami Heat on a run to the NBA Finals.
“The reason we brought him here was his competitive fire, his physicality, his point-of-attack defense, his ability to score the ball,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “And just him being highly competitive in the biggest moments, him not taking a backseat to anybody. We saw the run he had through the playoffs last year with Miami. And just he’s a fighter and just he has a quiet leadership, a quiet toughness about him. So we thought that would fit well with what we have going on here already.”
Vincent was unsure how much he would play in the back-to-back to end the road trip.
“I’m going to let them take care of it,” Vincent said. “I got faith in the training staff and the coaching staff and they have faith in me, they put me in there for whatever minutes they do and hopefully I continue to build trust with these guys in this locker room.”
LeBron James had a big smile on his face when he shook Vincent’s hand in the locker room after the game, congratulating the 27-year-old on his comeback.
“Just told him, ‘Happy to have you back, man. Congrats and happy to have you back out there,'” James said. “Obviously, first action in so many months, the legs, the lungs are the first thing to go. But I thought he was great in the minutes he was out there and it was great to have him back.”