After losing to a half decent Dallas Mavericks team on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers head back on the road for a three-game road trip starting in Sacramento
Anyone hoping that Luke Walton would beat his record-breaking 39-4 start with the Golden State Warriors last season was let down Tuesday night, as the Lakers lost to an injury-plagued Dallas Mavericks team.
Despite the loss, the Lakers have a reason to be optimistic about the next handul of games on the schedule. Their next four games will be against teams that didn’t make the playoffs last season, including the Sacramento Kings, the New Orleans Pelicans, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Brooklyn Nets.
One interesting trait about each of these teams is the talented big men they have. The Lakers first challenge will be DeMarcus Cousins, who is arguably the most dominant center in the league.
Cousins leads all centers in scoring with 25.8 points per game to go along with 8.6 rebounds. However, his team is ranked 23rd in the NBA for points per game, compared to the Lakers, who are ranked fourth with 108.6 points per game.
Outside of Cousins, the Kings don’t have a ton of talent on the roster. What they do have is the perfect cast for an NBA reality TV show, headlined by Matt Barnes, Ty Lawson, Darren Collison and Cousins.
We can call it “The Real Ballers of Sacramento.” Please make this happen, Hollywood.
Here is more on where to catch tonight’s action.
Los Angeles Lakers at Sacramento Kings
Date: Thursday, Nov. 10
Start Time: 7:30 p.m. PT
Location: Sacramento, CA
Arena: Golden 1 Center
TV Info: Spectrum Sportsnet, TNT
Live Stream: NBA League Pass
Radio: Here
Injury Report
Los Angeles Lakers: Larry Nance Jr. (concussion)
Sacramento Kings: Anthony Tolliver (knee)
Prediction
The Kings are not a good basketball team. Sure, they have a young All-Star in DeMarcus Cousins, but that is literally all they have.
Spoiler alert: you can copy and paste this for Saturday’s game against Anthony Davis the Pelicans.
As mentioned before, the Lakers are fourth in the league in points per game, and the sugar has been shared amongst the team.
Five players on the Lakers are averaging double figures in scoring this season, compared to only two players on the Kings roster, Cousins and Rudy Gay.
Not one player on the Lakers roster is averaging more than 30 minutes a game, while the Kings have two players that are averaging above 30 minutes. Guess who?
Remarkably, the Lakers even lead the Kings as a team in rebounds per game.
Cousins will have to go through Timofey Mozgod if he wants to get his team a win tonight. Yeah, I laughed a little too.
For the latest on the Purple and Gold, make sure to follow @TheLakeShowLife on Twitter and join us during the game.