The Lakers opened their pre-season schedule with two wins against the Clippers, but all the fans keep talking about is Talen Horton-Tucker. The 20-year-old guard from Iowa State has quickly become a fan favorite and LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been his biggest cheerleaders on the sideline.
Now, they will no longer have to admire from afar. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Frank Vogel said that both James and Davis will see the floor in the first half against the Phoenix Suns:
Frank Vogel says that AD and LeBron will play first half minutes in Tuesday’s game in Phoenix to make their preseason debut. He says Alex Caruso will sit.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 15, 2020
The reigning NBA Finals MVP and current MVP favorite will take the floor for the first time this pre-season, while Alex Caruso will get the day off. Don’t expect them to play very much in a meaningless game, but it will be nice to see the most two important pieces on the floor with the rest of the team.
With so little time in between last season and this season, the Lakers are in no hurry to get James and Davis minutes, so you will likely see them with ice on their knees in the second half. James is known for the amount of work he puts into his body and with another season looming, you can expect Davis to take a similar approach. While the NBA has taken steps to discourage load management, it is inevitable, especially for teams like the Lakers who played until October.
James will be 36 at the end of this month and Davis had some lingering injuries at the end of the NBA Finals, so it’s possible this could be the one and only time we see them in the pre-season.
For those of you interested in catching James and Davis make their debuts, they will be visiting the Suns at 6:00 pm and the game will be televised on Spectrum SportsNet.
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