LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers will be facing off against Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors tonight. As NBA fans must certainly know, this has been a long offseason filled with nothing but trade discussions. Thankfully, the NBA preseason has already begun and gives fans a chance to enjoy NBA stars competing at a high level.
Since LeBron is on the back end of his career, the Los Angeles Lakers will want to make the most of his 21st year in the league and get off to a good start this season. One way to do that would be winning over Curry and the Warriors in their first preseason matchup.
With that being said, let us take a closer look at the injury reports and expert predictions for this preseason game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.
LeBron James will miss the Los Angeles Lakers vs Golden State Warriors game tonight
Many members of the basketball community will know that King James has been known for his longevity and durability. However, he has not been the healthiest version of himself over the past few years. LeBron even missed a significant part of last season after suffering a foot injury. Fans of the Lakers star instigated that this injury played a role in the Lakers getting swept by the Denver Nuggets in the WCF.
Thankfully, LeBron looks completely healthy and is expected to play tonight. The Lakers’ head coach Darvin Ham even claimed that he looks like a younger version of himself. However, reports have revealed that King James plans to miss about half the preseason games.
Coming back to the other stars that will be playing tonight, here are the injury reports and expected rosters for both sides.
Los Angeles Lakers injury report
- LeBron James (out)
- Austin Reaves (out)
Los Angeles Lakers expected roster
- D’Angelo Russell
- Gabe Vincent
- Jarred Vanderbilt
- Taurean Prince
- Anthony Davis
Golden State Warriors injury report
- Draymond Green (out)
- Cory Joseph (questionable)
- Rodney McGruder (questionable)
Golden State Warriors expected roster
- Stephen Curry
- Chris Paul
- Klay Thompson
- Andrew Wiggins
- Kevon Looney
As we can tell, both sides will be missing key players for their preseason opener. Both LeBron, who is entering Year 21, and Austin Reaves, who played for Team USA at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, are expected to sit out and rest.
Similarly, Draymond Green is also listed out due to an ankle injury that he presumably incurred at training camp. Now, let us take a look at the expert predictions for this game.
The Warriors are slightly favored over the Lakers tonight
Since important players from both sides are not expected to play in this game, it is quite hard to form an expert prediction regarding the outcome of this preseason matchup. However, we have GSW winning this game merely due to the fact that they were eliminated by the Lakers last season and will want to get one back at their opponents.
The Lakers will be missing two of their best scorers in LeBron and Reaves. Not having them on the court should impact Los Angeles more than not having Draymond will impact the Warriors. Nonetheless, we expect this to be a close match between two potential contenders in the Western Conference.
