Luka Doncic skipping Wednesday’s game against the Clippers tells us everything we need to know about Friday’s match-up vs the Golden State Warriors. Luka made sure he was fresh for Round 2 of the highly anticipated battle with Yaxel Lendeborg. Yes, not Stephen Curry, but the 24 year old rookie who made headlines in the first meeting between the two sides trash talking the Lakers star. Luka didn’t take it too kindly, finishing with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in a dominant Lakers win. In the 3 wins since Doncic has dropped 23, 52 and 41 points, the scary part is he’s just warming up.
Speaking of warming up, it took the Warriors three games to get things going. After starting the season 0-3 SU, they’ve now alleviated the pressure a bit with back-to-back wins over the Nuggets and Timberwolves on the road. Stephen Curry stole the show in Minneapolis with a 44 point game, becoming the oldest point guard in NBA history with a 40+ point performance. It’s worth noting that the Warriors did catch a break by playing a Timberwolves team without Anthony Edwards, they simply didn’t have enough time to adjust on the fly and the veteran Warriors took full advantage. Playing the Lakers will be far more difficult, Golden State is still looking for that elusive first home win of the new season.
This is all about Luka and his willingness to go the distance. He’ll be fully rested here, you just know the Warriors and Lendeborg will push him and his Lakers to the limit here. Scoring wise I give the edge to LA; they are far more equipped on almost every position and are ready to go blow for blow with the injury depleted Warriors. I’ll take LA to remain unbeaten on the road.
Lakers vs Warriors Predictions: Lakers -1.5 is available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.
