It's opening night in the NBA regular season, and the Golden State Warriors are hosting the Los Angeles Lakers on TNT. Last season the Warriors won three of the four head-to-head meetings outright, but the teams split the games against the spread.
After finishing 33-49 last season, Frank Vogel was fired as the head coach of the Lakers and replaced with Darvin Ham. According to DraftKings, the Lakers' over/under season win total is set at 45.5, which is the eighth highest amongst Western Conference teams.
The roster has seen quite a bit of turnover from last season. Los Angeles added veteran guards Patrick Beverly and Dennis Schroder to the roster to provide veteran depth in the backcourt. Wing players Lonnie Walker IV, Juan Toscano-Anderson, and center Damian Jones were among the other notable signings. Some of the more prominent names from last season who are no longer with the team are Carmelo Anthony, Avery Bradley, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Dwight Howard.
Role players aside, the Lakers' big three is the focus going into the season. At 37 years old, Lebron James is just 1,326 points away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record. James averaged 30.3 ppg, 8.2 rebs, and 6.2 assists last season but did miss 26 games. Los Angeles will also need Anthony Davis to be on the court more. Davis missed 42 games last season and averaged 23.2 ppg and 7.7 rebounds but shot a horrendous 18.6% from three-point range.
When will Russ and the Lakers figure it out?@KendrickPerkins: “The month of Neveruary…” ?? pic.twitter.com/a1l5RfPP8P
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 17, 2022
Russell Westbrook's role under the new regime is another hot topic of discussion. Westbrook's body language looked off at times during the preseason, and there have been reports that he may even come off the bench to begin the season. Westbrook only missed four games last season and averaged 18.5 ppg, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.1 assists. He also finished fifth in the NBA with 3.8 turnovers per game, and shot just 29.8% on threes.
Heading into the season opener, the Lakers have Troy Brown Jr. and Dennis Schroder on the injury report to miss this game. James, Westbrook, Davis, and Walker IV are all listed as probable.
Click here to bet on player over/unders VS THE HOUSE to 21x your bet OR play in PICK 'EM contests against other people! Get a 1st deposit match up to $50 1st w/ promocode WandW!