ONTARIO, Calif. -- Thanks to their starters, the Los Angeles Lakers constructed a cozy double-digit lead Sunday -- a foreign circumstance in recent years --but then watched the lead crumble when their reserves took the reins.
It wasn't doomsday, though. After all, Sunday only marked a preseason tilt against the Denver Nuggets, a no-penalty opportunity to experiment with lineups and adjust to a new system under rookie head coach Luke Walton. But rather than swallow a meaningless loss, Walton re-inserted several starters in the second half, and they helped secure a 124-115 win.
The victory might seem small -- and in the grand history of the NBA, this game won't register as so much as a blip -- but that meager notch in the ledger still counts as a step toward the winning culture that Walton hopes will take shape in the coming seasons.