The Lakers will look to bounce back from a blowout loss against Minnesota when the visiting Brooklyn Nets come to the Staples Center. Los Angeles will face off against their east-coast opponents in the first of their two battles tonight. Brooklyn is coming off a blowout loss last night to the Lakers’ cross town rivals, the Clippers. They were without their best player in Brook Lopez, who will be back tonight for the second game of their back-to-back.
The Nets, along with the Lakers have started the season a bit surprisingly with records of 4-6 and 6-5, respectively. Both teams had bottom-three records last season so even this slight success is something for each team to try to build upon. And you can expect this game to be played at full speed with both teams being top 5 in Pace in the league.
For the Lakers, the biggest key to winning this match-up will be sustaining their offensive efficiency. The purple and gold are pouring in an impressive 108.6 points per game and the Nets are one of the worst ranked defenses in the league giving up 109.5 points per game. So look for Lou Williams, Julius Randle, and Jordan Clarkson to continue their productive play.
Hopefully, this match-up provides an opportunity for D’Angelo Russell to get back to playing at the level he showed in preseason as the second-year guard has been struggling to start the season. But it bodes well for Russell that he has already had one massive performance against Brooklyn when he erupted for 39 points and 8 threes last season; if you’ve somehow forgotten that game, here is a little refresher:
One bright spot in the past two games has been the aggressiveness of second overall pick, Brandon Ingram. Along with making exceptional defensive plays, Ingram has scored double digits in back-to-back games while shooting 7-12 from the field in those games. The game looks like it is starting to slow down for the rookie, and he’ll look to continue impacting the game in a multitude of ways.
While Brook Lopez has had struggles staying healthy throughout his career, he is one of the more talented bigs in the league, so Timofey Mozgov and company will have their hands full.
The Lakers tip off at 7:30 PST and the game will be televised on Spectrum SportsNet and NBA League Pass.
