On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will be hosting the Indiana Pacers. Here are three players to watch in the game.
Coming into Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will be short-handed once again against the Indiana Pacers. The injury bug has hit the Lakers hard recently, and it has resulted in them struggling with key players out.
After winning four straight games, the Lakers have now lost two straight to the Memphis Grizzlies and the Oklahoma City Thunder. In both of those games, the Lakers were without Lonzo Ball, as the team has yet to win a game without their starting point guard.
On Friday night, the Lakers will once again be without Ball, and they will also be without his partner in the backcourt, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will also be out. In the loss to the Thunder, Caldwell-Pope suffered an achillies injury, as he had his foot rolled up on. Luckily, the injury doesn’t appear to be too serious for KCP, but he will be out.
With the starting backcourt out, the Lakers are going to need players to step up against a Pacers team that has exceeded expectations this year. After trading Paul George, many believed that the Pacers would be one of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference. However, that is far from the case. The Pacers are over .500 and they will be looking to get a road win against a banged-up Lakers team.
The Lakers will catch a little break with Pacers playing in the second half of a back-to-back. However, that might not be nearly enough for the Lakers. Nevertheless, here are three players to watch for the game on Friday night.