The Lakers (2-1) have their first back to back of the season as Portland (1-1) comes to Los Angeles for a 7 p.m. tip on Spectrum SportsNet.
Below are three things to know about the matchup:
STAR AVAILABILITY?
Even with the seeming excess of talent on the Lakers roster coming off consecutive games producing 265 total points, everything still revolves around LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and we won’t know for sure if one or both are available until Frank Vogel’s media availability at 5:15 p.m.
L.A. beat Minnesota 127-91 on Sunday night despite the absence of Davis (calf contusion) thanks in part to Kyle Kuzma’s 20-point first half from AD’s starting spot.
Vogel did allow that he was hopeful Davis would be able to play against Portland, and that they were being conservative by holding him out against Minnesota. Meanwhile, LeBron turned his left ankle in the second quarter, the same ankle he tweaked in the season opener. I asked him about the ankle after the game.
“It’s been better, but it feels pretty good,” he allowed. Last season’s Finals MVP did look to be moving well on the ankle in the third quarter, but we’ll have to wait and see how it responds overnight. Meanwhile, Alex Caruso is also questionable to play due to a strained hand muscle, though Vogel said he probably could have returned in the second half vs. Minnesota if they needed him.
Portland comes in healthy, aside from the injured Zach Collins, while Carmelo Anthony didn’t make the trip due to COVID health and safety protocols. Robert Covington and Derrick Jones Jr. are newcomers on the wing for a Blazers group that had no answer for the Lakers in the 4-1 Round 1 series in the Bubble. More on them in a bit.
BIG SPAIN BREAKS OUT
In his statistically quiet first two games in Purple and Gold, Marc Gasol attempted only one total shot. Against the Wolves, he wasn’t exactly chucking it up like one of our favorites, Nick Young, but he did take four shots, including three triples, and made all four. In fact, Gasol became the first player in NBA history to total 12 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and four blocks in 21 minutes or less since blocks became an official stat (1973-74).
It was the assists that really stood out, as Gasol beautifully bounce-passed teammates towards four easy buckets.
Gasol isn’t always the shot-blocker that the Lakers had in 2019-20 via JaVale McGee, Dwight Howard and Davis, as he often cuts off the lane to the basket with his anticipation and size, but he’ll certainly have his nights with the straight blocks, as Minnesota learned.
LeBron loves playing with fellow high IQ guys, and we’re already seeing the impact that can have on an opponent.
Gasol is a good matchup for Jusuf Nurkic, a versatile offensive player that can pass and score, in a fun faceoff between European bigs.
ABOUT THOSE NEW BLAZERS WINGS
The Round 1 series between these two teams wasn’t close after the opening game in which the Lakers missed an absurd amount of open shots (statistically, they missed more uncontested looks than in any other game in the Bubble for any team). The biggest difference is simple: L.A.’s two stars can dominate on both sides of the ball, but Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum cannot have much impact defensively due to their lack of size. Furthermore, the Lakers had personnel to help slow Dame and CJ, with big, defensive-minded guards like Danny Green, KCP and Alex Caruso. The Blazers, meanwhile, had few answers for LeBron and AD, with Anthony and Mario Hezonja the only bigger wings available for LeBron, and the too-slow Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside for Davis.
Portland traded a first round pick for Covington, and signed Jones, Jr. to try and address that lack of defensive impact on the wing, and the two-game sample size is far too small to conclude anything. In a 20-point opening loss to Utah, Covington was a -18 and Jones a -16, but they bounced back in an OT win over Houston in which Covington was +16 and Jones +5.
The issue in playing the Lakers is that even the best defensive wing in the NBA may not be able to do much with LeBron, among the select few greatest offensive players of all time, who’s either too big, too fast, too smart or too just too good for a 1-on-1 matchup. LeBron averaged 25.8 points on 50.6 percent shooting plus 10.4 boards and 7.4 assists against Houston in Round 2 last season, with Covington spending significant time on him.
If both Davis and LeBron play, one would think Portland would try Covington more on Davis, since he played the four for them and Jones the three, with Rodney Hood available off the bench at the three, and Harry Giles at the four.