The Los Angeles Lakers are hosting the Portland Trail Blazers tonight, December 23rd, 2017 at the STAPLES Center. Here is all the information you need to watch and listen to the game!
The Los Angeles Lakers played a tough game against the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. The Lakers won’t have much time to recover from that game, as they are back in action to finish up their back-to-back tonight.
The Lakers will be hosting the Portland Trail Blazers tonight in their second matchup of the season. The first game, which was played in Portland, was a close one.
The Trail Blazers pulled out a 113-110 victory over the visiting Lakers. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope knocked down a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to tie the game. It looked like overtime would be coming, but Damian Lillard drilled a 30-foot 3-pointer with one second remaining in the game.
That has been the case for the Lakers plenty this season. They play tough and hang around, battling right to the end. However, they are unable to pull it out in the end. That is some of the growing pains for a young team and something they will learn over time.
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In that first matchup, the Lakers also struggled with Jusuf Nurkic. Nurkic scored 28 points with five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Brook Lopez did his best to match him, scoring 27 points, but the Lakers will be without his services tonight.
Lopez sprained his ankle earlier in the week against the Warriors. He will be sidelined for the foreseeable future, which will put some pressure on Andrew Bogut. Luke Walton could rely on Julius Randle off the bench as well, or maybe the recent recalled Ivica Zubac will get a shot.
One thing that will help the Lakers get a victory tonight will be a different Lonzo Ball. In the first matchup, Ball attempted only two shots, missing both, with four assists, three rebounds, two blocks and one steal.
Ball didn’t play with much aggression or confidence in that matchup, but he is a totally different player right now. Ball is in the midst of his best stretch as a professional, averaging 17.2 points on 47 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from 3-point land. He is also averaging 7.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.
The game will be much different this time with Ball playing like the No. 2 overall pick and Kyle Kuzma at his side. Kuzma has been outstanding thus far in his rookie season, leading the Lakers with 17.7 points per game.
Will the rookie duo of Ball and Kuzma be enough to help lead the Lakers to a victory tonight? We will have to watch and see! Here is all the information you need to watch or listen to the game tonight!
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Date: December 23rd, 2017
Start time: 9:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 p.m. PT
Location: Los Angeles, California
Stadium: STAPLES Center
TV Info: NBCSNW, SpecSN/D, SpecSN/D
Radio Info: Rip City Radio 620, 710 AM ESPN / 1330 AM ESPN DEPORTES
Live Stream: NBA League Pass