Jeremy Lamb started for an injured Nicolas Batum and had a monster night on the glass with 17 rebounds.

Going into this game, it was speculated that Lamb would receive around 20 minutes while a red-hot Marco Belinelli would get the lion’s share. However, this was not to be the case as Lamb ended up playing 36 minutes to Belinelli’s 20. Lamb made an impression early on in this game as he already had his double-double secured by half-time. With Batum expected back soon, Lamb will probably head back to the bench, but he has definitely earned himself more minutes going forward. He is worth a speculative pick up, but don’t expect a repeat performance when Batum is healthy. 

Another interesting storyline to this game was this was the first time since the 2011 NCAA championship game that Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb started together in the same backcourt. They were teammates on the Huskies team that defeated Butler to win the title. 

UPDATE: Marco Belinelli went down with a hamstring injury during the game and sat out the fourth quarter leading to more minutes and production for Lamb. Hamstring injuries can linger so Lamb may be a good candidate to absorb Belinelli’s 28 minutes per game if he isn’t ready by Tuesday.