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Continuing their East Coast road trip on Saturday, the short-handed LA Lakers will travel to 'The Big Apple' to face the Brooklyn Nets.
Fresh off a tough 6-point loss to the Miami Heat, the LA Lakers could have a tough outing without their superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis. However, the franchise will hope that the latter is back on the floor when the team return to the Staples Center on Thursday.
It could be another long night on Saturday for the LA Lakers against the league's best offense. Even though the Brooklyn Nets could be without James Harden for a few weeks, Kevin Durant returned to the floor on Wednesday after missing 23 games.
The forward put up 17 points and went 5/5 from the field and 5/5 from the line in 19 minutes.
LA Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets Prediction
It's difficult to look past the rampant Brooklyn Nets in this game. Even though they haven't had their three stars fit and on the floor together for some time, they still hold the best record in the East. That's because they added the likes of Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge from the buyout market to their ranks; the Brooklyn Nets now have the most frightening offense in the league.
Meanwhile, the LA Lakers may have to play their most stifling defense yet to keep the floodgates closed against the Brooklyn Nets' offense. With LeBron James sidelined, the LA Lakers have gone 4-6 but have had the third-best defensive efficiency in the league during this period.
Also Read: What is LeBron James’s current contract?
However, the LA Lakers have struggled considerably in offense in LeBron James' absence, ranking bottom for points per game in this period. Dennis Schroder has done his best to lead the LA Lakers' offensive, averaging 16 points per matchup. However, without an out-and-out scorer who can get 20+ points a night, the LA Lakers' offensive struggles could continue against the Brooklyn Nets.
On that note, let's have a look at a hypothetical combined starting five of the LA Lakers and the Brooklyn Nets.
LA Lakers vs Brooklyn Nets - Combined 5
Point Guard - Kyrie Irving | Shooting Guard - Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | Small Forward - Joe Harris | Power Forward - Kevin Durant | Center- Andre Drummond.
Leading the offense in our hypothetical combined starting five would be point god Kyrie Irving.
With both James Harden and Kevin Durant struggling with injuries, Irving has had to lead the Brooklyn Nets in the past four games. In this period, Irving ranks fourth for assists, with nine per game, and ranks in the top ten for points with 25.8.
Irving has been on fire all season, averaging career-high points and field-goal accuracy. He would be joined in our combined 5 by another of the Brooklyn Nets sharpshooters, Kevin Durant.
The 6' 10" forward was eased back into the Brooklyn Nets lineup in a 19-minute run-out on Wednesday night. That was enough time for him to grab 17 points and seven boards; he could well feature from the start against the LA Lakers.
Despite his prolonged absence, Durant looked like he hadn't taken a day off and could be the LA Lakers' primary focus in defense.
Meanwhile, in the LA Lakers' lineup, Frank Vogel could look to use Andre Drummond as the dominant force down low against the Brooklyn Nets. Along with the Nuggets trading for Aaron Gordon, the LA Lakers getting Drummond in the buyout market could be two of the best midseason pick-ups this year.
After returning from a 3-game absence due to a foot injury, Drummond put up 15 points and 12 boards against the Miami Heat.
He should be the LA Lakers' go-to option at the five for the rest of the season. Drummond is a serial rebounder who can help the franchise's rim defense. He scores more than both of the LA Lakers' current options at center, Gasol and Harrell, and offers greater size than Harrell, who could be better utilised at the forward position.
Completing our hypothetical combined lineup, we have two perimeter shooters in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Joe Harris.
KCP scored a season-high 28 points on Thursday and is averaging 10.4 per night in his last ten games on 8.5 field-goal attempts. During this period, the 28-year-old is shooting the 3-ball better than most of the LA Lakers players apart from Caruso, doing so with 42.6% accuracy.
Joe Harris has already proven this season that he can be as effective for the Brooklyn Nets on fewer field-goal attempts. The Brooklyn Nets sniper is one to watch out for from beyond the arc.
He is shooting the ball at a career-high rate from the field and also from downtown, which is higher than his league-leading 47.4% from the three in 2019. Harris is having arguably his best year in offense, with a rating of 129, and is often left open with teams doubling the Brooklyn Nets' superstars.
Guess the Lakers players!
