One week into the NBA season and the Los Angeles Lakers have one win and one loss. The Lakers first started with a road loss to the Denver Nuggets, 107-119. Then on October 24th, Lakers won their first game at home against the Phoenix Suns, 100-95.
Now the Lakers are scheduled for their first weekend game of the season on Sunday. They will face the 1-1 Sacramento Kings. The Kings are coming off a loss, 114-122, to the Golden State Warriors, while the Lakers are coming off a victory over the Suns. What should we expect from the Lakers in their third game against the Kings? First let’s start with a few takeaways from the first two Lakers games.
Two Games Down for the Lakers: What To Expect vs. the Kings
Lakers 107 – Nuggets 119 Key Takeaways
The reigning champion Nuggets were ready to defend their title reign with a victory against the Lakers. They were in high spirits after their championship ring ceremony before the opening game. However, they meant business as soon as the match started. Here are a few takeaways from this game:
1) The Denver Nuggets are stacked. The Nuggets opened the season with an impressive starting five: Jamal Murray (PG), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SG), Michael Porter Jr (SF), Aaron Gordon (PF), and the reigning MVP Nikola Jokic (C). Not to mention, a valuable 6th man like Reggie Jackson couldn’t help either. They also have a couple of young guys who are showing potential like Christian Braun and Zeke Nnaji. Jokic had a triple double, the former Laker KCP had 20 points to his name, MPJ and Gordon looked incredible defensively as well as rebounders. Murray had 21 points to his name, too. There is probably not a more complete team than the Nuggets this year, their chemistry seems to be unmatched.
2) Inconsistence performance from Anthony Davis. The talented Center/Power Forward just can’t seem to finish a game from start to finish consistently. He finished the game with 36 minutes of playing time, 17 points, 4 assists, and 8 rebounds. All 17 points came from the first half of the game. For the first two quarters, AD dominated the paint, made shot after shot, got a couple of free throws to his name, and overall just played fantastic. He was the reason why the Lakers were in close numbers to the Nuggets.
That is, until the second half started. AD did not score in the third and fourth quarters. He kept missing shot after shot. AD made no positive impact to finish off the game. As a player who was endorsed by LeBron James as the face of the Laker organization, he needs to show up every single second of every single game.
3) The Lakers have no depth. King James was the only Laker to have over 20 points throughout the whole game. Davis only showed up for the first half. D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves were mid throughout the game. The bench players were not much better. No one seemed to stand out besides Christian Wood off the bench. Taurean Prince continues to show glimpses of a future star. The Lakers seemed to alternate a starting five throughout the whole pre-season to see what stuck. Nothing has stood out so far, from the role players or bench players. This has been clear as every time the bench comes in, the opposing team takes over by at least a 10 point difference. The Lakers need to work on their depth if they want to have any chance of competing.
Things did not go according to plan for the Lakers. However, LeBron was not going to let Lakers go 0-2. Here are some key takeaways from Lakers versus the Suns.
Lakers 100 – Suns 95 Key Takeaways
1) LeBron James is still LeBron James. King James dropped 21 points, 9 assists, and 8 rebounds to scrape pass the Booker-less Suns in 35 minutes of play time. That’s right 35 minutes! Not even a whole week went by since Lakers coach, Darvin Ham, announced that he was planning to only play LeBron for 30 minutes a game. The restriction is probably based on LeBron’s injury history and his age,38. However, Coach Hamm was smart enough to know in order to edge out a victory they needed LeBron for a few more minutes.
LeBron might be 38 but he is still a key factor for the Lakers. He is still one of the key players that could take this Lakers team to the playoffs. He was also the key player to lead the Lakers to victory against the Suns. The Lakers did not want to be 0-2 and with LeBron on the court it opens up more possibilities for the other players to get open especially AD.
2) AD has finally arrived. The big man dropped 30 points in 39 minutes. AD also had 12 rebounds and 2 assists. More importantly, AD had an all-around good game. Defensively, he stopped the Suns whenever he could with block after block inside the paint. He was aggressive defensively as he was offensively. Even more importantly, he played great basketball and played with intensity throughout all four quarters. AD is considered the next face of the franchise and he needs to continue to have more games like this on a consistent basis. This game showed us if AD and LeBron are both playing well we can always contend with any roster.
3) The Suns need Devin Booker and Bradley Beal back. As good as Lakers did defensively, offensively, they could have used work. The Lakers barely made it to 100 points, while their defense saved them the game by only allowing 95 points to the Suns. Aside from Kevin Durant who dropped 39 points, no one got above 15 points. As good as the Suns players are defensively, offensively this unit could not produce—with the exception of Durant. If the Suns have any hope to compete they need their two starts, Booker and Beal, to come back. Not having those two around cost the Suns the game and gave the victory to the Lakers.
What To Expect Between the Lakers and Kings
With the game in Sacramento and both teams 1-1, who will come out on top? Expect a fast-pace game from the Kings and a defensive game from the Lakers. The Lakers are a big team who is in dire need of one of their best defensive big men back, Jarred Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt is not expected to return in tomorrow’s big game but he might be ready in a couple more weeks. Also, expect both teams to start with the same two starting lineups from the last two games. More than likely, both teams will not move around their roster too much. With the winner going 2-1 which team will come out victorious and which team will need to adjust their roster?
