As much “potential” as Brandon Ingram has, he hasn’t yet shown the ability to dominate in a slowed-down, halfcourt offense. However, with this game, I would say that he has absolutely shown the ability to dominate in a fast-paced game where all he does is take advantage of transition opportunities. Because that’s exactly what he did against the Mavericks.
Now, the Mavedicks aren’t a team of speedsters (I’m mostly thinking about Dirk here, but DeAndre Jordan lowkey doesn’t look like he wants to do much running these days). They’re going to have trouble keeping up with the young legs of a LeBron-less Lakers team (and the legs of Tyson Chandler that look like they belong to a malnourished sixteen-year-old who has never even heard of the concept of leg day). Still, you have to credit Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart for taking advantage of all those opportunities to run.
This game will be a welcome sight for Lakers fans who watched Ingram put up shooting performances of 8-of-21, 8-of-21 (again), and 5-of-16 in the past three games. It’s always a rollercoaster with this dude. One game, his ceiling is a complementary scorer, a souped-up Austin Daye, and the next game his ceiling is Kevin Durant and Paul George combined. Can’t we just agree he’s Quincy Miller 3.0 with worse shooting form?