LOS ANGELES — After a lackluster showing by the West team in the NBA All-Star game this past weekend, only one of the Lakers’ two All-Stars will be ready to battle their Pacific Division rivals.
The Los Angeles Lakers will face the Golden State Warriors on Thursday at Chase Center in San Francisco. The most recent matchup between the teams ended in a thrilling 145-144 double overtime win for the Lakers. However, things will be different this week.
Lebron James, who just participated in his record-breaking 20th All-Star weekend, is listed as out for Thursday’s game. James missed the Lakers’ last matchup against the Utah Jazz on Feb. 14 with an ankle injury, but did play limited minutes in the All-Star game, where the West lost to the East with an eyebrow-raising final score of 211-186.
Lakers center and fellow 2024 All-Star Anthony Davis is listed as probable for tonight’s game. Davis played 22 minutes during the All-Star game compared to James’s 13.
While the last Lakers-Warriors matchup was an electric win for the purple and gold, all of the Lakers’ starters suited up and participated. James and Davis each playing more than 40 minutes.
Thursday’s matchup will mark the second occasion the Lakers have faced the Warriors in the 2023-2024 season. Both teams sit at the bottom of the play-in places, distant from the greatness both teams enjoyed at the height of their rivalry in second half of the 2010s and into 2020.
A 30-26 record for the Lakers has them in the ninth spot in the Western Conference, while the Warriors are a place behind in 10th with a 27-26 record. Interestingly, the Lakers have a winning 20-17 Western Conference record, while the Warriors are 15-20 in the Western Conference. As things stand, the two teams would face each other in the first round of play-in games, which would make for an entertaining winner-takes-all match.
The Warriors managed to secure a win over the Utah Jazz in their final game before the All-Star break. Previously, they had been on a five-game winning streak that ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 14. In the win against Utah, Warriors guard Klay Thompson overcame his dip in form this season by coming off of the bench to score 35.He also scored 24 points in the last game against the Lakers. His fellow Warriors guard and 2024 All-Star Steph Curry scored a monster 46 points in the overtime loss.
In the previous game between Golden State and the Lakers, only one Warriors player who came off the bench, guard Brandin Podziemski, scored in double figures. Warriors’ starting center Draymond Green only scored eight points. However, Green did haul in the most rebounds for Golden State with 14 total.
The Lakers’ bench is the key if head coach Darvin Ham’s team hopes to win. Lakers forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt contributed a total of 25 points off the bench during the last game against Golden State. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Vanderbilt is still listed as out along with several other players and wing Cam Reddish is questionable for the game.
Without James and possibly without Davis, who contributed a combined 65 points in the last matchup against the Warriors, it will be up to guards D’angelo Russell and Austin Reaves to lead the team as they have done so frequently this season. And it wouldn’t hurt if Lakers forward Taurean Prince redeemed himself from his last outing against the Warriors, a 0-points, 3-rebounds and 4-personal fouls performance in 24 minutes of play.
If the Lakers want to win again, this time without James, the bench will need to be able to hold things down.The Lakers vs. Warriors game will be broadcast on TNT at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.