Lakers vs Cavaliers preview: Injury report, TV stream, how to watch

On By Littum

After dropping their first game of the season to Phoenix Sunswill the Lakers have an opportunity to bounce back against the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday. This will also be the first time LeBron and Bronny James return to their hometown together as teammates.

Start time and TV programme

WHO: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

When: 4pm PT, Oct 30

Where: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

Clock: Spectrum SportsNet

Monday’s loss to the Suns revealed a lot about this Lakers team, both good and bad. We learned that JJ Redick wasn’t lying when he said before the season that losing would drive him crazy.

We were given more reason to believe that Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves’ strong starts to the season might just continue, and that the Lakers are dangerously reliant on Anthony Davis, for better or worse.

On the other side of the coin, we saw another lead by the Lakers in the second quarter, their weakness when it comes to giving up transition points, their underwhelming bench production and arguably LeBron James’ worst game in purple and gold armor.

Still, at the expense of treating this one as a moral victory, I can argue that this was actually an encouraging loss for the Lakers all things considered. It was their third game in four nights against a Pacific Division foe they just defeated five days ago. So for Los Angeles to struggle on the road like they did was a welcome sight to see.

On top of this, the Lakers were competitive throughout the game despite James scoring just 11 points on 3-14 shooting from the field. This game had schedule loss written all over it before tipoff, but now it’s considered one that got away. Now, the only way the Lakers can make up for it is by living up to what AD reiterated after the game, which is to avoid losing two in a row.

The determination to achieve that goal will be tested early as the Lakers face a Cavaliers team that is not only off to a perfect start, but playing good basketball to start the season.

Here’s everything to know before LeBron and Bronny return to Cleveland:

Zoom in on the Cavs

The Cavs have beaten three rebuilding teams so far Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons and Washington Wizards and New York Knicks. Although they’ve been given an easy schedule to start the year, this team is already averaging the third-most points in the league (123.5) led by Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. They remain one of the most unique teams in the NBA, featuring two bigs in Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

The Lakers will be Cleveland’s toughest opponent yet—sorry, Knicks—so it will be interesting to see how these two teams adjust and game plan against each other. After calling his own defensive plan last game, Redick has the opportunity to return with a unique challenge. Let’s see how the Lakers will fare against a motivated Cavaliers team at home that ideally wants to remain undefeated.

Will the Lakers continue to be exposed?

One way the Lakers can bounce back is by doing something about the transition points they’ve given up. In the last two games, LA gave up 21 to the Suns and 31 (!) to the Sacramento Kings, which is unacceptable.

Part of this is because the Lakers have turned the ball over a lot — they’re currently sixth in the league in that — and also the fact that they’re making a greater effort to crash the glass. But something has to be done, because there’s no doubt the Cavs — who currently average the fifth-most points in transition — will try to expose it on Wednesday.

Besides the transition defense, it will also be nice to see the Lakers bench outplay the opponent’s. That responsibility falls on Max Christie, who hasn’t performed well to start the season, Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Haynes and Dalton Knecht.

These guys should be partially responsible for maintaining the bullpen that the starters are building and be the spark plugs this team badly needs.

That said, it’s one thing for Redick and the Lakers to be upset about losing the first game of this road trip, and another to actually take it out on the Cavs to come back. This game will give us an early look at the overall character of the Lakers and how serious they actually are about stacking up those wins.

Let’s see how the Lakers bounce back against the Cavaliers on Wednesday.

Notes and updates

  • Good news for the Lakers: Christian Koloko has reportedly been cleared by the NBA to return to the court. It’s unclear when exactly the big man will make his Lakers debut, but it’s encouraging to know he can now practice again.
  • For the Lakers’ injury report, a few notable names have made the list. Austin Reaves (left tight contusion) is probable, while D’Angelo Russell (lower back pain) is questionable.
  • Christian Koloko (return to competition rehab), Jarred Vanderbilt (right foot injury recovery) and Christian Wood (right knee injury recovery) remain out.
  • Jalen Hood-Schifino (G-League assignment), Maxwell Lewis (G-League assignment), Quincy Olivari (G-League two-way) and Armel Traore (G-League two-way) will all be on the South Bay Lakers assignments.
  • As for the Cavs, Craig Porter (thumb) and Max Strus (hip) are out.
  • We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglanI.