Los Angeles Lakers: Most intriguing back-to-back set

The 2017-18 NBA team schedules were released last week, so here’s a look at the Los Angeles Lakers’ most interesting back-to-back set.

The NBA released schedules in full for the upcoming season last week and teams learned which games will be played when. Some minor changes include starting the season in mid-October, which prevents teams from playing on back-to-back nights as frequently. Along with attempting to limit back-to-back game sets, no NBA team will play in four games in five nights for the first time in league history.

The idea with prolonging days between games is to ensure teams have every incentive to avoid resting players on the road or national televised matchups. This will help keep players fresh throughout the season while providing fans the best product on the court.

Some organizations will still opt to rest players as we get deeper into the season, but the league should be applauded for continuing to give the fans what they want. The Los Angeles Lakers played 16 of these back-to-back sets last season and will see that number fall to 13 for the upcoming campaign. It may not seem like a major difference, but the extra days throughout the season will add up as we reach the end of the 82-game slate.

I’ve examined the schedule and one set of games on consecutive nights stood out above the rest. There were plenty of good options to choose from, including opening night’s tussle with the new-look Clippers followed by a quick trip to Phoenix.

But Nov. 8’s game in Portland preluding a visit from an old friend in Brooklyn on Nov. 9 takes the prize for back-to-back duo to look forward to the most.

Game 1 at Portland

The marquee matchup of these two games is the Brooklyn’s stop in L.A., but the Trail Blazers have been one of my favorite teams to watch in recent years and seem to be overlooked when picking Western Conference playoff teams. They finished the season strong after the pickup of Jusuf Nurkic, who filled a massive hole as an offensive force from the middle.

The main appeal to this game is the high-scoring offense led by Damian Lillard. Dame as emerged as one of the top scorers in the league with the ability to create his own shot at will. He gets his shot off from anywhere via pull-up, off-the dribble or step-back, and has heat-check capabilities that rival some of the best players in the NBA.

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His backcourt mate in C.J. McCollum is not one to shy away from himself. McCollum may have the shiftiest set of moves in the NBA and has turned into a great bucket-getter to form one of the best 1-2 scoring punches over the last two seasons.

The main knock on these guards is their lack of defensive abilities. Both are undersized and it’s nearly impossible to hide both of them on defense in the postseason. But this is the regular season, and a Lonzo Ball-Dame matchup is as good as one could ask for.

Their contradicting styles will be on display in a game featuring two of the worst defenses in the league last season. The Lakers figure to improve offensively making for a high-scoring affair between these teams who enjoy an open pace.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope taking turns on Dame and McCollum will be a tough defensive assignment for KCP, but it will be interesting to see who Luke Walton slides Ball onto late in this game.

The big men also offer an entertaining battle in the post with the previously mentioned Nurkic going head-to-head with Brook Lopez. This game will be up-tempo and showcases some of the best guard play in the league.

Game 2 vs. Brooklyn

Ever since the Lakers traded D’Angelo Russell to the Brooklyn Nets, their visit to the Staples Center became a game of interest to NBA fans.

These teams have been two of the worst over the last three seasons, so this all falls on another guard duel with Lonzo facing Russell, L.A.’s No. 2 pick from 2015. Despite Russell saying all the right things in the media about the NBA being a business, you know he’ll want to show up big in this one.

Los Angeles Lakers

But D’Angelo isn’t the only player facing a former team in this game. Brooklyn’s Jeremy Lin (2014-15) and Timofey Mozgov (2016-17) each spent a lone season in the purple and gold, amassing a combined total of 47 games between their seasons. L.A.’s Brook Lopez spent nine seasons with the Nets (2008-17) and withstood some difficult years himself. Lopez appeared in two postseasons with Brooklyn.

Russell’s situation is much different than theirs, though. None of those players were selected with the pressure of carrying the team after a legend retired and proceeded to have their rookie seasons stunted because of said legend (no love lost, Mamba).

He showed flashes throughout his first two seasons, even showing maturity by moving off-ball to the 2. But it didn’t matter in the end. The Lakers were set on Lonzo Ball and the 2018 free agency class, leaving Russell’s potential and Mozgov’s horrific contract as the causalities.

Because of all these circumstances, I suspect we will see an extra-aggressive Russell in this game, especially when guarded by Lonzo. D’Angelo will get his points on Lonzo or whoever defends him, but defense isn’t his strength at either. So expect Lonzo to stay within himself, and look to be attack D’Angelo as well. These two talented, young guards now have the keys to their own franchises and go head-to-head for the first of many times.

Final Thoughts

The back-to-back I chose doesn’t feature two of the better teams in the league, but they interest me plenty. I think Portland will sneak up on teams and should be in the race for a 6-8 seed, while Brooklyn could find itself in a postseason battle with plenty of roster upgrades, such as former Blazer Allen Crabbe.

Next: Top 5 free agency destinations for LeBron James in 2018

Russell’s return is the big aspect of this choice, though. He will embrace proving Lakers’ management wrong despite them making the right decision, and I always enjoy seeing how certain players bounce back from adversity.