With LeBron James having an off night for the future Hall of Famer's standards, it was up to new shooting guard Danny Green to keep the Los Angeles Lakers afloat in the team's opening matchup with the Clippers on Tuesday.

Now with a bout against Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz on the horizon for Friday evening, Green once again is a crucial factor in elevating Los Angeles' offense while maintaining his usual solid defense. The Lakers are hoping not to fall to 0-2 following their 10-point margin of defeat to Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers earlier this week.

Green, the 32-year-old veteran swingman, led the Lakers in scoring on Tuesday with 28 points. Most impressive was the former Raptor's third quarter—a brilliant sequence that saw him score 18 points and pour in five 3-pointers. His fine line was shooting 10-of-14 from the field, 7-of-9 from deep, along with pulling down seven rebounds and poking away a pair of steals.

After the game, Green had this to say about his first impression playing with new teammates in L.A., per Tania Ganguli in the Los Angeles Times:

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“Teammates did a great job of finding me,” Green said. “Got into a nice little rhythm. Made a couple lucky ones but that’s not my concern. Offensive end of the floor, it’s the defense is our end. My job is to get us going, get us talking, communicating and making sure we’re on the same page. Did my job decently on the defensive end but I didn’t play the way I should have … we gotta do a better job of containing Lou [Williams] and Kawhi [Leonard].”

His line about “communicating” is a key part of how Green can deliver for a championship-caliber team. When the Lakers swooped in and signed the free agent this past summer to a two-year, $30 million contract, preventing Green from playing with his ex-teammate Leonard, they were paying for a proven veteran with plenty of playoff experience. Additionally, the Lakers' gambit to trade for Anthony Davis further exacerbated a necessity for top-of-the-line perimeter shooting. Green fits that mold perfectly, especially if his debut in purple and gold is any representation.

With the Jazz on tap at home Friday night, Green will be tasked with trying to stop the third-year phenom shooting guard Mitchell, an undersized athlete with incredible leaping ability and clutch scoring prowess. Utah won its first contest of the young 2019-20 regular season on the back of Mitchell, who collected a double-double; 32 points and 12 rebounds on 63.6 percent shooting from the floor.

Green will get the undaunted assignment to cover Mitchell and be the bastion of consistent outside shooting from James and Davis. Can he do it? Well, that's what the Lakers are paying him to do.