The Lakers (0-2) play their first day game of the season with a 12:30 p.m. PT tip at Crypto.com Arena, where they’ll face Portland (2-0) on Spectrum SportsNet.
Below are three things to know ahead of the matchup:
THREE-POINT STRUGGLES
Through two games, the Lakers have struggled immensely to convert three-point attempts, most of which have been of high quality, and as such, they rank last in the NBA at 22.4 percent. Only the Warriors, Kings and Jazz have attempted more than LAL’s 42.5 threes per game, yet only 9.5 of them have gone in.
As LeBron James explained after the season-opening loss at Golden State, at least some of the misses should be expected, as L.A. aren’t among the more talented shooting teams in the league. But the kind of misses that typically capable players like Patrick Beverley (18.2 percent), Lonnie Walker IV (16.7%), Kendrick Nunn (30.0%) and even LeBron (27.8%) and Anthony Davis (28.6%) have seen come off the rim are bound to go down sooner than later.
Darvin Ham and LeBron both spoke about individual players needing to continue to trust the ball movement that’s been very good thus far, and to not hesitate when the open looks appear. The Blazers will surely pack the paint and try to make the Lakers show that they can make shots on Sunday … and makes shots they’ll have to do in order to get out of the L column.
TROY BROWN JR. TO DEBUT
One of L.A.’s offseason acquisitions, 6-6 wing Troy Brown, Jr. is set to make his season debut after dealing with a back injury since training camp began. The 23-year-old didn’t play in a preseason game, but has been practicing with the team and ramping up his activity level steadily.
Last season in Chicago, Brown Jr. was asked to focus on a limited role as a three and D player, and he averaged 16.0 minutes towards 4.3 points (35.3 percent from three), 3.1 boards and 1.0 assists, translating to 9.7 points, 6.9 boards and 3.1 assists per 36 minutes. In Washington, the former lottery pick had some more opportunity, and he averaged 10.4 points with 5.6 boards and 2.6 assists in his best season.
In their two losses to start this campaign, the Lakers have struggled some due to their collective lack of size, and that’s something that Brown Jr. can help with by his mere presence. How he shoots the ball, and whether he can provide some secondary ballhandling that he flashed with the Wizards will matter, but his defensive size and activity alone has the chance to earn him a rotation spot.
BLAZERS START 2-0
Portland comes into the game as one of nine undefeated teams in the league, after beating Sacramento 115-108, and Phoenix 113-111 (OT). It’s no surprise that Damian Lillard leads the way from a scoring perspective with 30.5 points per game after going for 41 against the Suns, while backcourt partner Anfernee Simons (19.0) and Jerami Grant (15.5) have helped carry the load.
Former Lakers draft pick Josh Hart has been handling much of the dirty work, while still producing 14.5 points per game with 7.0 rebounds per night, while center Jusuf Nurkic is chipping in 14.0 points, 12.0 boards and 1.5 steals.
Coach Chauncey Billups is playing a rather tight nine-man rotation, with subs Justice Winslow, Drew Eubanks, Nasir Little and rookie Shaedon Sharpe claiming all of the available bench minutes.