Fringe rotation players could get major minutes tonight.
Your Los Angeles Lakers are set to square off against the Brooklyn Nets in a bit of an early game tonight (by West Coast standards, anyway) at Barclays Center, which will tip off at 4:30 p.m. PT.
Lakers All-Stars LeBron James (left ankle soreness) and Anthony Davis (recovery from right foot stress injury), as had been previously reported, will be unavailable tonight.
They will be joined by key reserve shooting guard Austin Reaves (left hamstring strain) and two-way rookie players Cole Swider and Scotty Pippen Jr. on the sidelines, per the latest NBA injury report. Lonnie Walker IV, who returned to the floor Saturday night against the Boston Celtics for the first time in weeks, has been downgraded to merely “probable” to play against the Nets with that pesky left knee tendinitis. Walker looked pretty sharp in his first game back. He poured in 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting off the bench.
For the Nets, All-Star forward Kevin Durant (right knee MCL sprain recovery), T.J. Warren (left shin contusion), Kessler Edwards (NBAGL assignment), and two-way players Dru Smith and David Duke Jr. will all sit. Former All-Star Ben Simmons, who has looked more or less like his former All-Defensive Team self on that end of the floor but can’t buy a bucket, is questionable with a sore left knee.
