Two major Lakers stars: Smith trains hard every day, and he deserves all the applause

In the previous NBA regular season, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers at home 123-115. After this game, the Lakers' record, which had won 4 consecutive victories, improved to 6 wins and 2 losses; while the Trail Blazers' record dropped to 4 wins and 3 losses. After the game, Lakers starting center DeAndre Ayton and backcourt general Marcus Smart were interviewed by reporters. In the interviews, they both talked about Nick Smith Jr., who had a huge explosion in this game.

When talking about Smith's performance, Ayton said: Nick trained hard day after day. We were short-handed in this game. We needed him to provide this kind of performance, and he stepped up. Nick has always worked very hard and he is incredibly talented, he has the kind of qualities that very few people have. It's great to finally see him play, get a lot of playing time and show his quality. I am happy for him, our whole team is happy for him, all the applause is the honor he deserves, and I sincerely admire him.

Smart was asked in an interview: Smith is now only a two-way contract. When he had his big break in this game, were you a little bit empathetic or inspired by his performance? In this regard, Smart said: It is necessary. Nick works really hard in training and does so every day. Everyone in our team knows this. And he also has a special talent. I am very happy that he finally got a chance to play and showed his talent in front of everyone. Like I said before, we needed the performance from him in this game. In the end he did it and we are all happy for him and he deserves it.

In this game, Smith made 10 of 15 shots and 5 of 6 from beyond the three-point line in 26 minutes and 52 seconds of playing time. He scored 25 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists and 1 steal. He also made 3 turnovers, with a plus-minus of +9. Since the start of this season, Smith has played a total of 3 times, averaging 19 minutes per game. He averaged 11.3 points, 1.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game. He also had 2 turnovers and 1 foul. He shot 50% from the field, 50% from the three-point range, and 66.7% from the free throw line. Smith was once one of the top three five-star high school students in the country and was considered to have huge talent and potential. It's just that he has never shown his talents in the NBA, and his performance also seems to be struggling. In the previous two games, Smith's performance was very average and he did not show any outstanding talents. Unexpectedly, in this game, Smith actually performed such an incredible performance, which really exceeded everyone's expectations. I don’t know if this game will be a turning point in his NBA career.