The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled mightily of late, especially on the road, so head coach Mike Brown decided to change things up on Sunday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. Brown inserted Metta World Peace into the starting lineup for the first time this season, looking for a change of pace.
The Lakers have lost five of their last seven games overall, are 1-7 on the road, and have scored under 100 points in 13 straight games, the longest streak in franchise history since the advent of the shot clock in the 1954-1955 season.
The former Ron Artest started 721 of 763 games in his first 12 NBA seasons, but this season World Peace has been exclusively a reserve, averaging 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 20.9 minutes per game. World Peace is shooting just 33.1% from the field this season, and has made just seven of 43 shots from three-point range (16.3%). Here are Sunday's starting lineups:
Lakers (11-9)
Point Guard: Derek Fisher
Shooting Guard: Kobe Bryant
Small Forward: Metta World Peace
Power Forward: Pau Gasol
Center: Andrew Bynum
Timberwolves (9-10)
Point Guard: Ricky Rubio
Shooting Guard: Luke Ridnour
Small Forward: Wesley Johnson
Power Forward: Kevin Love
Center: Nikola Pekovic
Center Darko Milicic is out sick for Minnesota.
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