The Los Angeles Lakers are coming into a big season in 2013-14 and with players like Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash dealing with injuries, the team will have to balance their bench and on Friday they will play their final preseason game on the schedule against the Utah Jazz as the Honda Center and the game will start up at 10:00 PM and will be live on NBA.com streaming league pass.
The Lakers have high expectations and while the west is filled with great teams, players like Bryant, Pau Gasol and Steve Nash must step up and after losing Dwight Howard they now will have to go up against him and the Houston Rockets. The Lakers made it into the playoffs last season and were matched up with the San Antonio Spurs as the seventh seed and they were swept out of the postseason in four games and had to watch as their opponents made it to the finals. The biggest question heading into the season is the health of Bryant, who suffered an Achilles injury last season and that of course is something tough to come back from and there is a chance that he could miss the season opener next week.
Check here for the Lakers and Jazz stream coverage from NBA.com and the preseason.
The Lakers are 3-4 this preseason and they had a trip to China to deal with, while the Jazz are just 1-6 on the preseason and this is the second time the teams are playing in a row for Los Angeles, who won 108-94 on Tuesday. The team is coming back having the sixth ranked offense in points per game with over 102 points and the team has the 22nd ranked defense with 101 points allowed and that might suffer with Howard leaving for Houston. The team was ranked in the top five in rebounds per game and Gasol will need to keep things up heading into the season.
The Lakers opened the preseason with a win over the Golden State Warriors and then after playing two games against the Nuggets that they lost and then won one, the team played against the Sacramento Kings in Las Vegas. The team lost three straight games including that one, including the two in China against the Warriors and then they returned home to play the Jazz. The team now it playing the Jazz again at 10:00 pm and that game will be at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Bryant is the key player for the Lakers obviously and the first two games of the season will be in-state, as they open against the Clippers at the Staples Center and then the team hits the road to play the Golden State Warriors for the fourth time in a couple weeks. The team then will play against the Spurs and Hawks at home and then the team is on the road for three games, including the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans.