The Lakers will conclude their preseason stint at home on Friday against the Sacramento Kings. With most of their key players expected to suit up, L.A. looks to transition to the regular season on a strong
note.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Sacramento Kings
When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Oct 17
Where: Crypto.com Arena
Watch: NBA TV, Spectrum Sportsnet
With the regular season tipping off in exactly five days, the Lakers are expected to treat their last preseason game as a dress rehearsal, at least according to JJ Redick. This means expecting Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and most of the core players to not only suit up but also play heavy minutes. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to get a glimpse of how this team currently looks like and determine whether or not they look ready for the regular season.
Besides that, it’ll also be interesting to see how Redick manages his rotation: Who will round up the starting five, especially knowing that LeBron James isn’t playing on opening night? Who will see the most minutes off the bench? Which pairings or even lineups will get the most burn on the court? How does the offense look with most guys active in the lineup?
These little details matter especially if L.A. is serious about treating this one as a dress rehearsal.
Hopefully, this dress rehearsal provides some excitement for fans who have been eager to see a complete Laker team compete. It’ll be nice to see another strong performance from Dončić and Reaves who played really well together in the loss against the Phoenix Suns last Tuesday. It’ll be even more exciting to get a good game from Deandre Ayton, who should feast in this one with Domantas Sabonis ruled out due to a hamstring injury.
Aside from the top three key players, it’ll also be fascinating to see who continues to stand out in the preseason. Last game, it was obviously Gabe Vincent who scored a team-high 22 points in 25 minutes, including five 3-pointers in the first quarter alone. Rui Hachimura also stood out with 19 points along with two-way guard Nick Smith, who had eight. These three were the key highlights from last Wednesday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks and despite the result, provided some encouragement on the outlook of their season.
Hopefully, there will be more encouraging signs and positive takeaways from the Lakers’ last preseason game. Ones that will give the team and its fans more confidence for the upcoming regular season. Wins and losses in the preseason don’t matter but hey, a victory to conclude Friday’s dress rehearsal for some good juju would be nice. Let’s see if the purple and gold can make that happen on Friday.
Notes and Updates
- The Lakers will face a Kings team that just made a huge move by signing Russell Westbrook this week. It’s unclear as to whether or not Westbrook will play in this one but expect the likes of DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Dennis Schröder to get some burn in this one. Meanwhile, Malik Monk (illness) and Keegan Murray (left thumb) won’t be playing.
- The Lakers won’t release an injury report but it’s safe to assume that LeBron James (sciatica), Chris Mañon (ankle sprain) and Adou Thiero (left knee hyperextension) will not play. The team will likely release more details on their health status after Friday morning’s shootaround.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
