Category: NBA Basketball

Jazz at Lakers: Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors out Saturday

The Los Angeles Lakers will face a Jazz team without all three of their All-Stars on Saturday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers caught themselves a bit of a break on Saturday. Now all that’s left for them to do is take advantage of the opportunity they’ve been given as the Utah Jazz have decided to rest several of their key players, having them join Donovan Mitchell on the Jazz bench for Saturday afternoon’s meeting.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news that the Jazz would rest Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors in their Saturday afternoon matinee at Staples Center. Mitchell injured his ankle on Friday afternoon in a Jazz win over the Indiana Pacers. An MRI revealed no structural damage in the ankle, according to Woj.

The Jazz may also have another motivation at play, other than keeping their stars healthy. With the Lakers currently only a half-game ahead of the 6th place Blazers, the Jazz likely don’t want to see the Lakers fall further down the standings and potentially risk playing them in the first round of the playoffs, when Anthony Davis and LeBron James are both expected to be ready to go.

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Lakers news: Anthony Davis cleared for all on-court activities

The Los Angeles Lakers could get Anthony Davis back for a little bit of action this weekend against the Utah Jazz.

The Los Angeles Lakers lost last night to one of the hottest teams in the league but they also received a major dose of good news despite dropping their game to the Celtics.

Prior to Thursday night’s game, Lakers coach Frank Vogel told reporters that star big man Anthony Davis has been cleared to resume all on-court basketball activities, including full-contact practices. Practices may not be the only time that Davis could see the floor this weekend, either. Vogel followed up by saying that while he doesn’t think it’s likely, it is possible we could see Davis in one of the two games the Lakers have this weekend against the Utah Jazz.

Davis will, however, be on a minutes restriction when he does return.

Even if Davis doesn’t play in the upcoming two-game set against the Jazz, this is huge for the Lakers. They’ve been without Davis for over two months and while they’re still firmly in the top-six. Following last night’s loss, the Lakers are in 5th place, 1.5 games behind 4th-place Denver and 4.5 games behind the 3rd place Clippers.

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Celtics at Lakers: Jaylen Brown’s 40 helps Boston continue roll at Lakers expense

Jaylen Brown and the Boston Celtics improved to 9-3 over their last 12 games with their latest victory.

While the Los Angeles Lakers made things interesting with their reserves in the final minutes of the game, they fell behind by too much too early on Thursday night as they ultimately fell to a red-hot Boston Celtics team, 121-113.

Instead of Jayson Tatum, who has been dominant over the past week, it was Boston’s Jaylen Brown who stole the show on Thursday. Brown finished with a game-high 40 points and missed only three shots despite taking 20 attempts from the field. He even made some clutch shots in the final minutes after the Boston reserves were unable to hold the big lead their starters built.

Things won’t get any easier for the Lakers in the coming days as they will welcome the Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz to Staples Center for a two-game set.

 

 

Lakers Player Grades Since LeBron James Got Hurt

The Los Angeles Lakers have had a tough test without their leader. How have the remaining players faired?

The Los Angeles Lakers have had to navigate a whole new world over the past few weeks after losing their leader LeBron James. While the loss of Anthony Davis was certainly difficult, losing James robbed the Lakers of their offensive quarterback and their defensive middle linebacker. So this latest edition of player grades will reflect how the Lakers have faired since LeBron James went down.

And considering they don’t have LeBron, we will be grading things on a LeBron Curve. James has been out for 12 games and is expected to miss at least another two weeks, with eight of those 12 games coming on the road for the Lakers. There have been several Lakers who’ve stepped up and a few who have struggled lately as they fight to improve their playoff position.

 

Celtics at Lakers: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Thursday

The Celtics come to L.A. after scoring two great road wins against Western Conference teams.

The greatest rivalry in NBA history adds another chapter on Thursday night when the Boston Celtics visit the Los Angeles Lakers. While the Lakers are without their two stars, they’ve been able to string some wins together lately and just finished a stretch of seven straight road games with a 4-3 record.

But even though they beat a Brooklyn team with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant earlier this week, there’s a fair case to be made that the Celtics are playing better than any team the Lakers have faced over the past month. Jayson Tatum’s scoring is up as he continues to return to form after testing positive for COVID-19 and Marcus Smart’s return to health has helped ease woes on the defense.

In addition to Smart, the trade of Daniel Theis has opened up playing time for young center Robert Williams. Since trading Theis and opening playing time for Williams, the Celtics have gone 8-3.

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:

  • Date: Tuesday, April 15
  • Time: 10:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT
  • TV Channel: TNT, Spectrum SportsNet (LA), NBC SPORTS BOSTON (Boston)

READ: The 5-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s final game 

Injury Report:

Los Angeles: The Lakers have not yet submitted an injury report.  Anthony Davis (Achilles) and LeBron James (high ankle sprain) are out, but expected to come back in the next couple of weeks.

Boston: Evan Fournier (health and safety protocols) out.

Probable starting lineups

Los Angeles Lakers

  • F Kyle Kuzma
  • F Markieff Morris
  • C Andre Drummond
  • G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
  • G Dennis Schroder

Boston Celtics

  • F Jaylen Brown
  • F Jayson Tatum
  • C Robert Williams
  • G Kemba Walker
  • G Marcus Smart

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Lakers at Hornets: Defense helps L.A. finish trip with winning record

The Los Angeles Lakers ended their seven-game trip with a 4-3 record despite not having their two stars, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

It was far from pretty, but the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t needed pretty over the past few weeks without their superstars. They needed to steal some wins and on Monday night, the Lakers did it again as they delivered another gritty performance, defeating the Hornets 101-93 in Charlotte.

The Lakers didn’t have a great offensive game and they nearly avoided a disaster in the final moments as the Hornets were resilient in making a run to win the game on their home court. But the Lakers were able to keep their cool and also get some huge shots down the stretch, two 3-pointers from Alex Caruso and another from Dennis Schröder, to hold off the Hornets.

Kyle Kuzma was key for the Lakers all night long, scoring 24 points in a starring role while the Laker stars continue to recuperate. Andre Drummond also made his presence felt with 12 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds to help get extra possessions. Now the Lakers come home for a two-game set against the Western Conference-leading Utah Jazz.

 

LeBron James comes back at Ted Cruz after Cruz attacks ‘More Than A Vote’

The Texas Senator shared a video from “More Than A Vote” starring Michael Vick and chose to insult Vick rather than understand the issue.

LeBron James may not be on the court but he won’t sit ever sit idly when he feels disrespect. That goes for politicians as well. And the latest politician to go after LeBron James and get a response out of him was United States senator from Texas, Ted Cruz.

LeBron has been a vocal opponent of Cruz before, but this time Cruz directly insulted something very important to James. “More Than A Vote” the non-profit organization LeBron James and Maverick Carter helped found to combat voter suppression shared a new video with former NFL quarterback Michael Vick. Vick had been part of ‘More Than A Vote’ as a voice and someone who the organization helped, as Vick’s quest to restore his voting rights after being a convicted felon were chronicled by “More Than A Vote.”

As states like Georgia and Florida try to make voting more difficult, “More Than A Vote” turned to Vick again. Which is where Cruz decided to share the video with Vick and turn it into a comment on the dogfighting charges that landed Vick in jail, which Vick served his time for. James then shared a quote from author James Baldwin in response to Cruz’s insult.

James has gone at Cruz before. During the 2018 midterm elections, during which Cruz was up for re-election, James wore a hat for challenger Beto O’Rourke during a game in Cruz’s state of Texas.

James did this while he and his team are in Charlotte for the final game of their road trip on Tuesday night.

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Lakers at Hornets: Prediction, point spread, odds, over/under, betting picks

The Lakers will need to pull another upset if they are going to get a win on Tuesday night in Charlotte.

The Los Angeles Lakers have one more game before they get to go home but they likely won’t have an easy send-off from their longest road trip of the season. Even though they’re banged up and missing several key contributors at the moment, the Charlotte Hornets are a young team that never stops going at their opponents.

The Hornets lost their last game and it was a disappointing loss at that, dropping a game at home to a Hawks team missing Trae Young, John Collins, and several other key players. The Hornets led by 10 in the 4th quarter and couldn’t hold onto the lead, or 4th place in the Eastern Conference as Atlanta leapfrogged them with the win.

The lines, courtesy of BetMGM

  • Point spread: Lakers -1
  • Money line: Hornets -105 / Lakers -115
  • Over-under: 206.5

Place your legal, online sports bets in VA, CO, IA, IN, NJ, PA, TN and WV at BetMGM.

Advice and prediction

Last night, I believed the Lakers would be able to use their size and their defense to pull out a win in a low-scoring game. I’m sticking with the same mindset tonight. The Lakers struggled mightily offensively against the Knicks and while the Hornets play hard, they are not as physically imposing as the Knicks are at every position.

While the Knicks have plus-size at every spot on the floor, the Hornets start two smaller guards and they’re currently starting 6-7 PJ Washington at center. Washington, Miles Bridges and Cody Zeller will also have to check Andre Drummond. The Knicks took Drummond out of the game with constant double-teams but it’s unclear whether the Hornets, who value the 3-point shot on both ends, will follow the same strategy.

I’m leaning on the Lakers pedigree, even though they’re going up against a team with a lot of talent on the road. I also think the under hits tonight.

Prediction: Lakers 103, Hornets 95

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Lakers at Hornets: Lineups, injury reports and broadcast info for Tuesday

The Los Angeles Lakers have one last road game before they head back to Los Angeles against a depleted Hornets squad.

The Los Angeles Lakers only have one more game before they head back to the West Coast after spending most of the last two weeks living out of their luxurious suitcases and five-star hotels. After spending the weekend in New York, the Lakers are down south in Charlotte to face a Hornets team that is playing above expectations while also dealing with significant injuries.

Here’s when you should tune in to see the game:

  • Date: Tuesday, April 13
  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT
  • TV Channel: Spectrum SportsNet (LA), Bally Sports Charlotte (Charlotte)

READ: The 5-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant’s final game 

Injury Report:

Los Angeles: The Lakers have not yet submitted an injury report after last night’s loss to the Lakers. However, players that were questionable, Kyle Kuzma, Wesley Matthews and Marc Gasol all played. Dennis Schröder also played through a pelvis injury on Monday. Anthony Davis (Achilles) and LeBron James (high ankle sprain) are out, but expected to come back in the next couple of weeks.

Charlotte: Forward PJ Washington is probable to play. LaMelo Ball, Gordon Hayward, and Malik Monk are out.

Probable starting lineups

Los Angeles Lakers

  • F Kyle Kuzma
  • F Markieff Morris
  • C Andre Drummond
  • G Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
  • G Dennis Schroder

Charlotte Hornets

  • F Miles Bridges
  • F Jalen McDaniels
  • C PJ Washington
  • G Terry Rozier
  • G Devonte Graham

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Lakers at Knicks: Julius Randle goes off for NY in dominant win

The former Laker lottery pick went for 34 points and 11 rebounds in a win for the New York Knicks on Monday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers came back to Earth on Monday night after their stunning upset over the Brooklyn Nets over the weekend. It was a former Laker himself who delivered the dose of reality as Julius Randle scored 34 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in 39 minutes for New York in a 111-96 win over L.A.

The Lakers jumped out to a strong start but two players who were key to their success on Saturday night, Andre Drummond and Ben McLemore, both were non-factors for most of the night. While McLemore’s off-night can be credited to the ol’ missed shots, Drummond’s lack of impact on the offensive end was due to New York’s decision to double-team him frequently throughout the night.

Rather than let Drummond use his size in post-up situations, the Knicks forced it out of his hands and let the rest of the team try to make scoring plays. It worked out for New York as the Lakers were held to just 96 points.