– Lakers bench bounces back
The first time these two teams met, the Lakers had one of their worst showings of the season when the starters were sitting. While the Lakers don’t have the best bench in the NBA, they are much better than what we saw in the first matchup.
In the loss in Milwaukee, the Lakers’ bench scored just four points. One of the reasons for the bench having a bad night was because Kyle Kuzma was absent from the lineup. Kuzma has been one of the top scorers off the bench for the Lakers, and they certainly won’t score four points off the bench in the rematch.
While missing Kuzma hurt the bench, the Lakers also had to have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the starting five. Mostly, KCP has been coming off the bench for the Lakers this season, and he will be back with the second unit in this game.
In addition to having their normal bench unit for this game, the Lakers will also have Markieff Morris. Even though Morris hasn’t had a huge impact on the Lakers yet, the extra practice this week should have him a bit more comfortable than we have seen so far.
The Bucks are a very deep team with a strong bench this season. While the Lakers’ bench might not outplay them, they will certainly be better than the first meeting between these two teams.