The Lakers have the opportunity to build much-needed momentum to start the year in their upcoming game against the Blazers.
The Lakers look to bounce back from their tough loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday when they host the Portland Trail Blazers. This will be the first night of a back-to-back for Los Angeles, who will also take on the visiting Atlanta Hawks the following day.
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Portland Trail Blazers
When: 7:30 p.m. PT, Jan 2
Where: Crypto.com Arena
Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet
In my most recent preview, I mentioned that the Cavaliers were the perfect test for the Lakers to see how they would fare against the best team in the association. Turns out, the purple and gold got a reality check on New Year's Eve, realizing that they’re still miles away from truly being able to beat the best teams in the league.
Whether it’s more trades, rotation changes, or schematic adjustments, the Lakers have a lot to accomplish. That’s just the reality of things, but one can also argue that this team is not far off from reaching its potential. More needs to be done to fully unlock the Lakers’ potential and ceiling.
One of the best ways the Lakers can do just that is to take games against lottery teams like the Blazers as seriously as possible. Thursday’s playdate with Portland should be treated as a get-right game for the purple and gold. The Lakers need to string some wins together now to avoid constantly finding themselves in and out of the play-in amidst the competitive Western Conference standings.
Aside from aiming for victory in this one, the Lakers should utilize this time to integrate Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton — who both combined for eight points in their debut— in their system.
It’s also the perfect opportunity for JJ Redick to see where they fit in the rotation and help them build chemistry with the team. I’d like to see these two new faces more involved in this game, especially since the Lakers have some wiggle room in this one.
But that’s also not to say that the Blazers will be a walk in the park. They may have lost seven out of their last 10, but they have surprised some teams this season, like when they defeated both the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets last month.
The Lakers can’t sleepwalk in this one and, more importantly, should get back to piling up those wins at home. They can also carry over some of what they did when they first beat the Blazers last month.
In that same game, Anthony Davis went off for 30 points while D’Angelo Russell added 28 and 14 assists. With D’Lo now off the team, I’m curious to see who fills the void he left in terms of scoring production and ball-handling duties. Austin Reaves — who tied his career-high with 35 points last game — seems to be the best candidate to do just that and he can once again show why in this one.
This Blazers team is statistically not very good on both ends of the floor and it would be nice if the Lakers can take advantage of that. Moreover, it would be ideal if this get-right game serves as an opportunity for them to tip off 2025 on a strong note, which hopefully carries over not just in their next stretch of games but for what’s to come this year.
Let’s see if the Lakers can do just that on Thursday when they play their first game in 2025.
You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.
