Predicting a tough first 15 games for the Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are starting off their 2022-23 NBA season with a gauntlet in the first 15 games facing some of the best teams in the NBA, including the Golden State Warriors and their city rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers.
With Anthony Davis being questionable to start the season as well as Russell Westbrook and Dennis Schroder, it is very likely that the Lakers get off to a slow start before they begin to come around and look like a possible playoff team.
Breaking down the Los Angeles Lakers’ first 15 games:
On the Warriors’ ring night, it’s hard to imagine a battered Lakers team emerging victoriously. Even with all drama surrounding Golden State right now, we will likely see the same result as last season’s opening night.
The Clippers are another incredibly tough team and many fans favor them to win their first-ever championship this season with the addition of John Wall and Kawhi Leonard returning from injury. This is another difficult game to win for the Lakers, especially if Davis is still sidelined with injury.
One of the weaker teams in their first fifteen games is the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that may struggle to make the play-in tournament in the stacked west. Although it’s never safe to doubt Damian Lillard, this is probably where the Los Angeles Lakers get their first win of the season in front of a home crowd.
The Denver Nuggets may be a difficult team for the Lakers to beat on the road, running the same lineup as last year but with the addition of the young standouts Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. This is a team where It’s difficult seeing an injured Lakers squad winning against.
Next up on the schedule is the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the most underrated teams in the league featuring two seven-footers in their starting lineup that are two of the top four centers in the league. This may be tough for the Lakers to win with their lack of rim protection coming back to haunt them.
Another game against the Nuggets, but this time at home. The Lakers should be healthier this time around and with home-court advantage, the Lakers stand much more of a shot against the defending MVP. Still a toss-up game though.
Next on the schedule is the biggest mystery in the NBA, the New Orleans Pelicans. With newfound spacing to surround Zion Williamson and increased star power to gather more attention away from the budding star, he may just be an MVP candidate. However, we still do not know how good this team can be. This game could go either way for the Lake Show.
The Utah Jazz are up next and this one shouldn’t be too much in question. Although the Jazz have an incredibly underrated young core, they likely are focusing on drafting Victor Wembanyama in the upcoming draft and should give the Los Angeles Lakers another tick in the win column.
Following the Jazz game is a home game against LeBron James’ former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. With the addition of Donovan Mitchell and a possible leap from Isaac Okoro, this may be a difficult game for the Lakers even with a fully healthy roster.
Then it’s a trip to Salt Lake City where the results should be about the same as the first game, bringing their win total to an optimistic five wins and five losses ten games into the season assuming they win their second game against the Nuggets and their game against the Pelicans.
Next up are the Clippers again. This game should be more competitive, but it is most likely going to end in favor of the Clippers as their roster is just better than the Lakers in just about every way.
Staying in Los Angeles the Lakers now play another underrated team in the Sacramento Kings, a personal favorite for the play-in tournament, but will likely still fall to the Lakers as they just lack the star power to keep up with LeBron James.
This game is followed by a home game against the Brooklyn Nets where Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons will likely take down the Los Angeles Lakers as they have an incredible roster.
The next game is interesting. The Detroit Pistons roster is less talented but has the ability to run the aging Lakers out of the gym. While I expect the Lakers to win this game, I would not be surprised if the Pistons get this game on the road.
With their fifteenth game of the season, the Lakers face the San Antonio Spurs, another team focused on the French prospect Victor Wembanyama, another win for the Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have a tough stretch to begin the season but it will be a great test to see how well they can hold up later on when the playoffs roll around.
Optimistically, the Lakers could finish this stretch with a record of 8-7 but could also lose a lot more than that. They could just as easily lose their first seven games and finish this stretch at 3-12 with a lot of alarms going off in the front office.
Health will be a major concern through the first quarter of the season as already they may be missing three big players on opening night. The first fifteen games are going to set the tone of the franchise for the rest of the season and may dictate whether or not they hit the reset button at the deadline.