All Lakers Predictions For LeBron-Less Warriors Matchup

Can LA pull off the upset?

Tonight, your 30-26 Los Angeles Lakers are slated to square off against the 27-26 Golden State Warriors, on the road at the Chase Center at 7 p.m.

With All-Star LA forward LeBron James on the shelf due to an ankle injury, Golden State has emerged as the clear favorite to win at home. 

We're here to tackle some of your burning questions ahead of the contest.

Will the Lakers steal the road win?

According to sports book aggregator The Action Network, Los Angeles is a +5.5 point underdog. The Warriors are actually pretty mediocre at home (14-14 thus far), and have a major size disadvantage against the long, lengthy Lakers. Even without some key frontcourt pieces (James, Christian Wood, Jarred Vanderbilt, probably Cam Reddish), Los Angeles still has starters Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura to its credit, plus center Jaxson Hayes. Golden State, however, is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the NBA, tied with the Indiana Pacers for the fourth-best conversion rate (38.1%) in the land, and fourth in total attempts as well with 39.8 triple tries a night. LA, however, is the single least-frequent three point shooting team in the league, although its triple percentage (37%) is fairly middle-of-the-road.

How will LA defend Jonathan Kuminga?

The Warriors' third-year combo forward has finally figured things out during 2023-24. He's been red-hot of late, averaging 21.5 points on .570/.367/.781 shooting splits, six rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.7 blocks a night. across his past 15 contests. A 6'8" super athlete, Kuminga would obviously have been the perfect Jarred Vanderbilt cover. With Vanderbilt, Cam Reddish and LeBron James all out, look for a combination of Taurean Prince (who presumably will be elevated into a starting role) to handle him in the perimeter and Rui Hachimura to cover him in the post. At least, that should be the move.

Which Laker will Draymond Green try to fight first?

Now that his buddy and fellow elite Klutch client LeBron James is down for the count, one wonders how much it will take to get a rise out of the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year and four-time All-Star. My money is on Green avoiding a major confrontation with the much taller, much heavier Davis, and instead picking on a Rui Hachimura type, in the hopes of goading him into some punitive ref whistles.