Lakers' Wesley Johnson trying to be more consistent

On Feb. 20, Lakers forward Wesley Johnson was benched. Coach Byron Scott decided to send Johnson a message with a DNP-CD. 

Message received. The next game, Johnson hit nine of 11 shots for a career-high 22 points. 

“I should sit him down again and not play him," Scott told Mark Medina of the LA Daily News. "He seems to come back and play better. ... If I do that every other game, he’ll probably average about 20.”

That inconsistency is part of the problem that Johnson is trying to solve. 

“We all have problems trying to understand Wesley. For three or four games, he plays terrific. The next game he’s not there,” Scott said. “If he thought about going out and saying, ‘I’m going to prove myself every single night,’ maybe he would be a different player.”

Johnson will be a free agent after the season and hopes to return to the Lakers. He knows that his ability to give a reliable performance every night will help make the team's decision easier. 

“I’m not always being aggressive,” Johnson said. “I’m trying to feel the game. (Scott) tells me to disrupt the game and take over.”