The Portland Trail Blazers (15-21) will host fellow struggling team Los Angeles Lakers (13-25) at the Moda Center on Jan. 5, Thursday in a 2016-2017 NBA regular season encounter.
Start Time and Streaming Info
The game starts at 10:30 p.m. ET. It can be viewed live online thru the NBA League Pass.
Preview
The Lakers have lost 15 of their last 17 games to drop to the 12th spot in the Western Conference table after being in the eighth spot during the first month of the season.
Los Angeles was able to snap a three-game losing slide after pulling off a 116-102 victory over contending team Memphis Grizzles at their home court of Staples Center on Tuesday night, as per ESPN.
Four starters scored in double figures for head coach Luke Walton's squad, led by Nick Young with 20 points and two assists, followed by Julius Randle, who had a triple-double with 19 points, 14 boards, and 11 assists.
D'Angelo Russell contributed 18 points, four rebounds, and six assists while Timofey Mozgov had 14 points and five boards.
Jordan Clarkson and Lou Williams scored double-digits as well coming off the bench with 16 and 14 points respectively. Clarkson also had seven rebounds and three assists.
Luol Deng is currently out with tendinitis in his right arm.
Meanwhile, the Blazers are also reeling, losing 12 of their last 15 matches, to settle in the ninth spot in the West standings, one game behind eighth-place team Sacramento Kings.
Portland dropped a 125-117 decision to the Golden State Warriors in their most recent game on Wednesday at the Oracle Arena, SF Gate reported.
All five starters off head coach Terry Stotts produced twin digits in scoring and was led by 35 points from CJ McCollum. McCollum also had nine rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.
Allen Crabbe, who was filling-in for the injured Damian Lillard, netted 18 points while Mason Plumlee, Al-Farouq Aminu, and Mo Harkless fired 16, 12, and 10 points respectively. Plumlee also grabbed 10 boards.
Lillard is still unavailable in this game versus the Lakers with an ankle injury.
Prediction
Both teams are not playing at top form right now with the Lakers having a 5-15 away record and the Blazers 9-7 at home so far this season. Portland is the slight favorite to win this match even without Lillard.
