All Lakers Expert Predictions For LA-Portland Rematch

Can they improve above .500 again?

Tonight, your Los Angeles Lakers leave the sun-soaked beaches of Los Angeles for the drizzly gloom of the Pacific Northwest, where they'll face off against the tanking Portland Trail Blazers, still without several key players.

Here are our expert predictions for all (okay, some) of your burning questions.

Who will be Portland's high scorer tonight?

Alex: Starting power forward Jerami Grant (22.5 points) and shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe (18.7 points) are the Trail Blazers' leading scorers. Grant's 23 points paced Portland on Sunday in its 116-110 loss to Los Angeles, while Sharpe was right there with 19 points. Center Deandre Ayton and rapidly-promoted point guard Skylar Mays have also submitted big nights recently. I'm not going to overthink this too much, though. Sharpe will enjoy the standout night this time, as I think Grant will be more encumbered by Taurean Prince outside and be met by Anthony Davis at the rim when he drives into the paint.

Noel: Jerami Grant will definitely be Portland's high scorer tonight. He has had previous success against the Lakers in the past and with Shaedon Sharpe also bound to draw attention from the defense at all times, I see at least 20 points in the mix for Grant with Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson sidelined.

Will LA win the first quarter tonight? 

Noel: If there is a game for LA to get back on track in terms of first quarter scoring, it should be this one. Portland has been solid on defense this season, ranking number 9 in the league thus far in defensive rating but with Robert Williams III out, I hope LA will take advantage off the bat.

Alex: This has been a consistent issue for the club, even after head coach Darvin Ham demoted Austin Reaves to the bench to stagger his minutes and those of starting point guard D'Angelo Russell. The Lakers have a -82 first quarter point differential through their first 12 games. There has been a bit of inconsistency in LA's lineups due to injury constraints, yes, but that doesn't quite explain these early holes. I think adding a bit more perimeter defense when Gabe Vincent recovers could be in order. Anyway, against the Trail Blazers last weekend, the Lakers actually did outscore them slightly at Crypto.com Arena, 31-28. I think a relocation to Portland will help the Trail Blazers get off to a better start, and actually win the quarter.

The Lakers are 7.5-point favorites tonight. Will they cover or at least win?

Alex: They only won by six points on Sunday, at home. They dominated a really depleted Memphis Grizzlies team Tuesday, but got run off the floor for three-and-a-half quarters against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday (to be fair, this was an old Lakers team playing on the second night of a back-to-back). It's hard to exactly predict how they'll handle Friday. I'd like to think that they'll learn from their prior encounter and hold onto a bigger lead later into the game, so yes let's say they cover.

Noel: I predict LA will cover and take home the win!

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