The Lakers finally won a preseason game, beating the Warriors on Sunday. Now, they have Luka Dončić available for the first time this preseason as they head to Phoenix to play the Suns on the first night of a back-to-back on Tuesday.
Start time and TV schedule
Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Phoenix Suns
Where: Mortgage Matchup Center
Watch: Spectrum Sportsnet
Some people say preseason doesn’t matter, but if it does, this game would be it. Head coach JJ Redick hasn’t had a chance to throw out anything near his regular season lineup, but with Luka ready to play, this is essentially a dress rehearsal for his team.
Sure, he doesn’t have LeBron James, but with him dealing with sciatica that will keep him out for at least another 2-3 weeks, the same will be true for the start of the season.
The only other potential injury issue left is Austin Reaves. He exited the Warriors game early, but said he was fine. If he’s truly okay, then he’ll play on Tuesday with Luka.
Regardless, we’ll see a lot more of what Redick wants to do with his lineups and rotations during the first three quarters of this game.
How good will Luka look in his preseason debut? Will he be the Luka who dominated EuroBasket with Slovenia, or is there some rust he’ll have to work off?
Marcus Smart is also set to make his Lakers debut, which will give fans their first look at the guard who could have a case for the starting lineup.
After three fairly meaningless preseason games, Tuesday’s could be the first one to have some really emphasis behind it.