On Saturday night, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will travel to Ohio to face his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers, where he spent 11 seasons and won a championship in 2016.
The Lakers suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, a game in which they trailed by 20 points early in the fourth quarter but led by two in the final seconds. However, Kyrie Irving hit a clutch three-pointer to seal the victory for Dallas.
The Lakers have a 7-2 record at Crypto.com Arena and are 2-5 on the road, where they hope to turn things around. Now begins a four-game road trip, which will be an opportunity for the Purple and Gold to build momentum.
However, as injuries continue to mount, the Lakers will once again be short-handed. It was reported on Saturday that Hachimura underwent surgery for a broken nose and will be re-evaluated within a week and will likely miss the entire schedule. Jared Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish remain out.
Reddish has been dealing with left adductor soreness and while he remains sidelined, he was upgraded to doubtful for this game.
On the plus side, James and Anthony Davis are both pretty good. James is still overcoming a left calf contusion and Davis is dealing with a left adductor injury.
The Cavaliers enter Saturday with an 8-7 record and have dealt with their own injuries, particularly Donovan Mitchell, who has missed the past four games with a hamstring issue. He was listed as questionable but returned against the Lakers. The same deal applies to Isaac Okoro, who has missed nine straight games with a knee injury and is listed as doubtful, but he has also suited up.
Mitchell’s return is a huge boost for them as he is the team’s leading scorer with 29.2 points per game, while his backcourt partner Darius Garland trails behind with 20.3 points per game .
With Reddish out of the lineup, Max Christie is once again in the starting lineup and will likely be tasked with guarding Mitchell, which will be a difficult task. Another potential issue for the Lakers is the rebounding battle, as the Cavaliers have two big men capable of dominating the glass in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Cleveland also lost on Wednesday, being eliminated by the Miami Heat 129-96. They’ve got some reinforcements now though, so expect a competitive game.
Los Angeles Lakers (9-7) vs. Los Angeles Lakers Cleveland Cavaliers (8-7)
November 25, 2023 at 4:30 pm Pacific Time
Rockets Mortgage Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
TV: Spectrum Sports Network
Broadcast: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers starting lineup:
Point Guard: D’Angelo Russell
SG: Max Christie
SF: Taurus Prince
PS: LeBron James
Center: Anthony Davis
Main substitutes: Austin Reeves, Christian Wood, Jaxson Hayes
Projected Cavaliers starting lineup:
Point Guard: Darius Garland
GS: Donovan Mitchell
SF: Max Strus
Power Forward: Evan Mobley
C: Jarrett Allen
Main substitutes: Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Georges Niang, Craig Porter, Tristian Thompson
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