It didn’t take a scout’s eye the last few games to realize that when Ramon Sessions was on the floor, the Lakers offense was much, much better. We’ve covered all this before — with Sessions on the floor the Lakers offense has been as good as any in the league.
That situation led to calls all over Lakersland to start Sessions over Steve Blake. Which is kind of a moot point — Sessions played nearly 29 minutes against the Mavericks last game and Blake 17. The old coaching axiom is it doesn’t matter who starts a game, it matters who finishes — Sessions played in the fourth quarter and Blake sat against Dallas.
But still, usually you want to start your best players. And so Sessions is getting the start Friday night against Portland, Brown told the media at shootaround.
It’s the smart move. The Lakers with Sessions starting could get out to an early lead and get a comfortable win against a slumping Portland team. But take them lightly, start slow and you can end up losing like Memphis did Thursday night.
This is the rotation everyone knows the Lakers would have in the playoff, better to get guys comfortable in roles and rotations now to build good habits for the playoffs. Or, at least that’s what Mike Brown is hoping.