Jarred Vanderbilt has helped turn the Los Angeles Lakers from a mediocre squad to one that is looking to do some serious damage in the NBA Playoffs.
One may think he would have enough money to buy and keep some nice clothes for himself, but a boutique is getting on him for buying $2000 worth of clothes prior to Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals, only to return them the next day.
The Lakers, somewhat surprisingly, claimed Game 1 by the final score of 117-112 to steal home-court advantage from the Golden State Warriors, only to get routed 127-100 in Game 2 on Thursday.
However, Vanderbilt has been assigned to guard Stephen Curry, and he has done a fairly good job on him so far.
Curry shot 10-of-24 and committed five turnovers in Game 1, and although he shot the ball well on Thursday, he got off only 12 shot attempts and scored just 20 points.
Instead, it was Klay Thompson who killed Los Angeles in Game 2. He made eight 3-pointers and ended up with 30 points, and he keyed the Warriors’ extended run in the second and third quarters that broke the game open.
Prior to that run, the Lakers led 33-26 at the end of the first period and appeared to have a real shot at going up 2-0 in the series, which would’ve put Golden State in the basketball equivalent of the intensive care unit.
Vanderbilt arrived in February’s Russell Westbrook trade. At the time, he was a somewhat unknown 6-foot-8 forward for the Utah Jazz, but almost right away, Lakers fans discovered how unique a player he was.
He revealed himself to be an effective wing defender, and it wasn’t long before head coach Darvin Ham put him on star guards such as the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic. In the first round of the playoffs, he shadowed Ja Morant, and he forced the Grizzlies standout into a couple of very bad outings.
In just a few months, Vanderbilt has gone from relative anonymity to a key part of a team that has championship aspirations.
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