Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers opening night preview

The Los Angeles Lakers will open up the 2018-19 NBA regular season on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Los Angeles Lakers fans, the time has finally come. After watching every other team tip-off their 2018-19 season, it is finally time for the purple and gold to get down to business.

The Lakers will begin their season on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers on national television. Last season, the Blazers swept the regular season series, winning all three games. However, all three games were close, as they won by three points twice and five points in the other game.

The Lakers will be looking to change their fortunes this season against the Blazers. They will look a lot different this time around, as they will have LeBron James on their side.

James will be making his much-anticipated debut with Los Angeles after signing a four-year, $154 million deal with the team in free agency. Los Angeles is hopeful that some of those close losses to the Blazers last season can be turned into wins with James now in the fold.

This will be the first chance to see how Luke Walton will manage all of the different personalities on the roster. In addition to James, veterans JaVale McGee, Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo and Michael Beasley were also signed. That is only the beginning for Walton trying to figure out his rotations.

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In addition to the new faces, Walton has holdovers in Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Ivica Zubac. That is 11 players right there, not including draft picks Moritz Wagner, Svi Mykhailiuk and Isaac Bonga.

Figuring out the minute distribution will be a challenge for Walton each night. Who could we see in the starting lineup on opening night? We’ll take our best guess later on in the preview.

Game Info

Date: October 19th, 2018

Start time: 10:30 pm ET, 7:30 pm PT

Location: Portland, Oregon

Stadium: Moda Center

TV Info: TNT

Radio: 710 AM ESPN / 1330 AM ESPN DEPORTES, Rip City Radio 620

Live Stream: FuboTV

This may surprise some people, but the Lakers are actually underdogs heading into opening night. Respect is being shown to the Blazers, who made the postseason following last season. However, these numbers can change as the public will assuredly bet on LeBron James as an underdog.