LOS ANGELES — When an NBA team without several starters plays against a reasonably healthy team, likethe Lakers did when they hosted the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesdayin their second night of a back-to-back, two things typically happen.

The short-handed team is likely going to lose, with the talent disparity and lack of on-court familiarity too great for the under-manned team to overcome.

This came to fruition, withthe Spurs blowing out the Lakers 136-108in a game the hosts at one point were down by 41 points and trailed by at least 25 points for the entire second half.

But what also happens is that players who are either at the back end of the rotation or don’t regularly play receive playing time they usually don’t.

Bronny James was among those players, with the second-year guard and son of Lakers star LeBron James having his highest-scoring and most productive game of the season so far.

The younger James scored a season-high 12 points against the Spurs to go along with a season-high-tying six assists and three rebounds in 25 minutes.

“Feel different,” Bronny said. “Feel way more comfortable. My teammates believe in me; my coaches beleive in me. That’s all I’ve wanted. It’s just good to get out there and take advantage of the minutes I get.”

What was different about the younger James’ performance against the Spurs is that it came without him receiving as much playing time with the franchise’s South Bay G League affiliate leading up to Tuesday.

In his rookie season, James played 18 games with South Bay as part of his development process, including 12 by mid-February. He didn’t go more than a month without playing a game in the G League, in addition to most of his playing time with the Lakers coming once the result of the game was decided.

He’s played in nine G League games so far this season, with most of his playing time with the Lakers once again coming in garbage time outside of briefly being in the rotation in the early parts of the season when the team was short-handed.

Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos