Game One of the Western Conference First Round series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers tips off tonight. Here’s the injury report and how to watch.
First it was Magic and Kareem, then it was Shaq and Kobe. Now, the championship pursuit to an NBA title for the Portland Trail Blazers goes through yet another Los Angeles Lakers superstar power couple: LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
There’s been some question as to just how much the Blazers will have in the tank for this series. The chase for No. 8 left them with little time to afford their players any rest; in the NBA restart, four Blazers rank among the top six in total minutes played, with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum pacing the league.
Just three days after officially locking up the No. 8 seed in the Play-In tournament, the Blazers will have to set their sights to the top-seeded Lakers. It represents a daunting task. Teams with LeBron James on them have gone 52-10 in first round games, and are a perfect 13-0 in series, dating back to 2006.
But, one could argue that James has never in his life faced a No. 8 seed, or a first round team with this amount of talent. There are cracks in the Lakers’ armor, even for a top-seeded team. And if there’s a player capable of attacking it, NBA Bubble Most Valuable Player Damian Lillard might just be the guy.
For the Blazers, striking right away will be imperative. Of the five eight-seed upsets, three of them came on the backs of Game One victories. And after the news of Rajon Rondo’s potential return later in the series, the Trail Blazers will want every advantage they can get before the Lakers have their full deck of players.
Here are a few details to take note of for the game.
Regular season series (LAL won 2-1):
— Dec. 6th, 2019 — Lakers, 136; Trail Blazers, 113
— Dec. 28th, 2019 — Lakers, 128; Trail Blazers, 120
— Jan. 31st, 2020 — Trail Blazers, 127; Lakers, 119
How to follow the action:
— Date: Tuesday, August 18th
— Time: 6:00 pm PT
— How to watch: TNT, NBC Sports Northwest, or fuboTV
— How to listen: NBA League Pass, Rip City Radio 620 AM
Injury report, per CBS Sports:
— (POR) — Zach Collins, ankle (expected to be out until at least Aug. 20)
— (POR) — Nassir Little, illness (expected to be out until at least Aug. 20)
— (LAL) — Rajon Rondo, thumb (expected to be out until at least Aug. 28)
Projected starting lineups, Portland Trail Blazers:
— Damian Lillard (G), CJ McCollum (G), Carmelo Anthony (F), Wenyen Gabriel (F), Jusuf Nurkić
Projected starting lineups, Los Angeles Lakers:
— LeBron James (G), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (G), Danny Green (F) Anthony Davis (F), JaVale McGee (C)