The Portland Trail Blazers (2-0) head south for their first road trip of the preseason with a meeting against the Los Angeles Lakers (2-1) at STAPLES Center Tuesday evening. Coming off back-to-back home wins over the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, respectively, to begin exhibition play, the Blazers visit the City of Angels led by Damian Lillard's average 17 points per game during preseason play.
Portland swept the three-game season series versus the Lakers for the second consecutive season in 2015-16, as Lillard and backcourt mate CJ McCollum combined to average 56.7 points over three games against Los Angeles. In total, the Trail Blazers have won eight straight regular-season meetings with the Lakers despite Los Angeles taking the last two preseason matchups with Portland.
Cleared to play on Saturday following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder in April, Blazers big man Meyers Leonard is expected to make his preseason debut versus the Lakers. The 7-1 Leonard played in 61 games last season for Portland, averaging 8.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game while shooting 37.7 % from behind the three-point arc.
Tuesday's tip-off is set for 7:30 pm PT from Downtown LA. NBATV is set to televise the contest nationally, while Brian Wheeler calls the action locally on Rip City Radio 620 and the Trail Blazers mobile app.