Lakers-Warriors airs tonight at 5:30 p.m. PT, on Spectrum SportsNet and NBA TV.
Head coach Darvin Ham is hoping his Los Angeles Lakers roster will be able to elevate its preseason record to 1-3 this evening, when the team faces off against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. The Lakers will be striving to secure a preseason victory with a somewhat depleted roster, but two of the Warriors’ four best players will also be unavailable.
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Per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, Los Angeles forward Juan Toscano-Anderson will sit tonight, as he continues to recover from a thigh contusion incurred Thursday during the team’s 114-99 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves in a Las Vegas exhibition. Trudell notes that JTA was unable to practice with the club yesterday. e Troy Brown Jr.’s Lakers debut will have to wait, as he is still nursing a back injury and will sit.
Star Lakers big man Anthony Davis, still dealing with lower back tightness that has kept him unavailable for the team’s two previous preseason games, was able to practice with Los Angeles yesterday, reports Kyle Goon of The O.C. Register. Whether or not he will be able to play against Golden State tonight remains up in the air.
Is it ominous that L.A.’s second-best player is actually hurt enough to miss preseason games, after having an extended offseason to get healthy? Somewhat, yes.
Goon also reports that L.A. combo guard Dennis Schröder, who had been dealing with a work visa hangup that kept him in his native Germany through the beginning of the team’s preseason, will meet up with the Lakers on Monday, after the team has returned from San Francisco.
On the Warriors side of the equation, power forward Draymond Green has stepped away from the team, after footage was leaked by TMZ that revealed Green sucker-punching sixth man Jordan Poole in the face. He will not be with the team for the contest. Trudell notes that starting shooting guard Klay Thompson is dealing with a personal issue and will also not be with the club.
LeBron James, Patrick Beverley, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry, and Andrew Wiggins will all be very much available, and will certainly be looking to step up for a big confrontation between two of the NBA’s glam markets.
L.A. is hoping to nab its first win of the preseason against the reigning champs. The game commences at 5:30 tonight on Spectrum SportsNet and, for non-locals, NBA TV.
Of course, a win will be mostly contingent on the second-half performances of young players from either side, as both Ham and Dubs head coach Steve Kerr will look to rest their vets for a fairly meaningless exhibition game.