about him, and I thought this was a great week of growth for him.

Week 12 in the NFL features several teams directly fighting one another for playoff positioning, with the marquee matchup coming Sunday night. The Chiefs visit the Broncos in that game with both teams 7-3.The winner can continue to pursue the AFC West crown, while the loser will likely have to scramble for the wild card.The prime time game comes after 11 games on Sunday afternoon, including eight for the early afternoon start.One early game to watch is Arizona playing Atlanta, where the Cardinals need a win on the road in a season where they havent performed up to their talent level. Atlantas offense has been strong but has a difficult matchup against the Cardinals top-ranked pass defense.Other early games Sunday include: Titans at Bears, Chargers at Texans, Jaguars at Bills, 49ers at Dolphins, Bengals at Ravens, Rams at Saints and Giants at Browns.The late afternoon slate includes: Seahawks at Buccaneers, Panthers at Raiders and Patriots at Jets. 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LAS VEGAS -- Los Angeles Lakers fans have shelved their loudest cheers for much of the past three loss-packed seasons, save for?a handful of throw-back Kobe Bryant performances (such as his 60-point finale) and the teams near-miracle upset of the mighty Golden State Warriors at Staples Center last season.But much of their long-dormant jubilation erupted whenever the Lakers took the floor during NBA summer league play here in Las Vegas in recent days, with the purple-and-gold faithful packing the Thomas & Mack Center and hollering like the good old days.And those fans had reason to be excited, as they witnessed many bright glimpses of promise from key members of the teams core -- young, talented players who, in time, could help lift the team from rebuilding status, while providing plenty of nightly highlights along the way.Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak heard those cheers -- whether the crowd was chanting Lar-ry! after a Larry Nance Jr. dunk or Zu! after one of rookie center?Ivica Zubacs many blocks -- and felt encouraged as he looks?forward.I sense some excitement among the fans, which hopefully will carry over, Kupchak said before the Lakers closed out summer league play with a 92-88 loss to the Utah Jazz on Friday. Some of our best players are not here -- Julius [Randle], Jordan [Clarkson] and, of course, the veterans, some of which we had last year and some of which we signed -- Luol [Deng] and [Timofey] Mozgov. So overall, I like where we are. I like our mixture from young players, which are really what the future is all about. Were very hopeful that two or three of them can develop into real, real productive NBA players. [But] I think, as you know, its hard to get a player to change overnight. It takes time.The Lakers finished 3-2 in summer league, and though?DAngelo Russell?didnt play Friday, the Lakers second-year point guard?said Thursday that he liked what he has seen.I think we learned a lot, Russell said. A lot of guys went forward, a lot of guys stayed the same, and a lot of guys went backwards. But as a team, I feel like we showed that were on our way. As a team, we didnt go backwards. Thats all that matters right now.Russell was unquestionably the Lakers biggest summer league star, as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2015 draft more than rebounded from a rough debut on this stage a year ago to become one of the most dominant players here this year.The former Ohio State standout averaged 21.8 points on 48 percent shooting from the field to go along with 6.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists in four games. He also hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to help the Lakers top the Philadelphia 76ers 70-69.Just a young player growing, Kupchak said. His talent [is] not to be disputed. Everybody felt that a year ago, and I think if you took a poll, everybody would think the same thing today. But its just the growth process that hes going through. Provided he works on his craft, hell be better next year at this time.As Lakers rookie head coach Luke Walton said, My favorite part about DAngelo so far has been his work ethic and his trying to get better at leading a team from a point guard position. Hes obviously been scoring. Hes a great scorer, but at the point guard position, theres so much more to the game. Hes coming over to the gym and watching other teams play.As far as our system, we want him to give the ball up and cut and come back and get it on the other side. Hes been working on it. Anything that the coaches have told him to do, hes trying to get it done, and he goes to the gym and he works on it.Lakers rookie forward Brandon Ingram, the No. 2 overall pick, showed poise in his summer league debut by not forcing the issue and being selective with his shots, but in several instances over his next four games, teams were far more physical with the slight 6-foot-9, 190-pound former Duke freshman standout.Hes going to be challenged every game, Kupchak said. A lot of its because hes the No. 2 pick in the draft, and he has some bigger and stronger players and theyre going to try to be physical -- and thats going to happen, because hes not going to get stronger overnight.And thats going to be a process that may take a couple years. But it is something that hes going to work on right away. So thats something that hell just have to get used to. To me, he doesnt back down. He competes. And thats really the biggest plus of all.All in all, Ingram averaged 12.2 points on 41 percent shooting, 4.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in five games. He also shot 25 percent from 3-point range. And he capped off summer league by scoring a game-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting against the Jazz, while also possting five rebounds and four assists.ddddddddddddt was OK, Ingram said of his overall summer league play. I think as a player, youre never satisfied. I think I couldve shot the ball a lot better, and on the defensive end, I couldve been a lot better. But overall, the camaraderie, just being with the team, just building chemistry all the time during this whole process, I think its been pretty good.Hes young, Russell said of the 18-year-old Ingram. Get some experience under his belt and hes going to come back and dominate this thing.As Walton said, Brandons great. Hes a very intelligent basketball player, which I love, for someone his age. You can see when he plays, hell go to attack, and if its not there, he doesnt have to look for other players. He knows where theyre at. Hell obviously continue to learn the NBA game. Hell learn how to play against the guys that are being physical with him and trying to bump him off spots. I think the more he does, the better hell be at it, naturally. He can play multiple positions. He can shoot. He can drive. Very high potential for Brandon.Both Ingram and Russell, along with Randle, will now join the USA Select Team, which will practice against Team USA in Las Vegas next week to help it prepare for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics later this summer.Kupchak said he saw two players make a dramatic improvement, specifically Russell and Nance -- who averaged 9.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 2.8 steals, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 assists in four games before spraining his right wrist. (Nance is day-to-day with that injury, the Lakers said Friday.)He had a great summer league, Kupchak said of Nance.As Walton added, Larry Nance has been phenomenal.And the Lakers biggest surprise of all was Zubac, the rookie center whom the team selected with the No. 32 overall pick. The 7-foot-1 Croatian averaged 10.6 points on 65 percent shooting, 7.2 rebounds and a team-high 2.6 blocks in five games.Zubac finished summer league with 16 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks against the Jazz, concluding a week in which he became a crowd favorite.I didnt know [I was] going to play like this, Zubac said of his play throughout summer league. I know Im going to let everybody see what I have and prove myself [and] why they picked me. But I didnt know [I was] going to play like this.Lakers second-year swingman Anthony Brown took it a step further.That boy Zubac, he definitely impressed me, Brown said. Im still trying to figure out how he went second round. Man, [in] two, three years, I cant see why he cant be like Marc Gasol. I mean, seriously, hes talented.As Ingram added, I didnt know much about him coming into this. I saw him workout about one or two times, but coming into this, I loved what I saw. Very impressed. He really has a chance to be a great player.Given that many rookies struggle in summer league, Lakers assistant coach Theo Robertson was asked why that wasnt really the case in any game with the 19-year-old Zubac.He knows how to play, Robertson said. Its hard to teach that size. He establishes good position. He has soft hands. He can do a variety of things, whether its pop out to the 3-point corner, hit those types of jump shots. I feel like he can be a percentage free throw shooter, and he has good touch around the rim. Hes starting to feel more power and understand the level of physicality that it takes to be successful in this league. Very, very excited about him, and I thought this was a great week of growth for him.The 36-year-old Walton, the NBAs youngest head coach, has been on the job for only a few weeks and hasnt had much time to begin to implement the culture and system in which he believes.Overall, Walton said, I think summer league has gone great, but Im looking at more than just the games, like practice, how hard theyve worked and how theyve embraced competing, whether its a summer league game or practice and the drills. [Im looking at] their acceptance of wanting to win. Even if its a defensive drill or anything, they want more. They keep asking for more. They keep coming in the gym every day and working. Overall, Im thrilled with all of them.Its obviously early and its a small sample size, he added, but Ive been thrilled with the way theyve responded to what weve asked.This is to say, Walton is heartened heading into training camp in the fall.Absolutely, he said. Theres a lot weve got to work on to get better at. But as of now, Im very pleased with the way the guys are playing, acting, representing themselves. Everything. Theyve been great. ' ' '