Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers Game 2: Injury Updates, Lineup and Match Predictions

Los Angeles Lakers fans waited for six years to see their color in the playoffs. Now, they’re finally playing round 1 as the #1 seed in the conference. But the fans still have a cause for worry. First, the team had a terrible Bubble restart. Then, the men in golden and purple lost the post-season opener.

In Portland Trail Blazers, the Lakers are facing a decent challenge ahead of the conference semi-finals. Earlier, people thought the Lakers were playing lower than their potential to stay fit ahead of the playoffs, but that excuse is long gone.

Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trail Blazers injury updates

For the Lakers, LeBron James is ‘probable’ for game 2, as he has a sore groin, although fans believe he may still turn up. Anthony Davis is another name on the ‘probable’ list, as he has a sore knee.

But there is some good news for the Lakers in the offing. Rajon Rondo is cleared from his thumb injury. Though his inclusion in the playing team is questionable, he was seen practicing.

For the Blazers, forward Zach Collins might miss the entire week’s play because of his ankle injury. Next up, they might also miss forward Nassir Little, who had reported dehydration earlier in the week. He will be re-examined, following which the management will make a decision.

Who wins? The match prediction:

In a surprising turn of events, both Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks lost their respective first games as #1 seeds. But problems for Lakers are seemingly more troubling than for the Bucks.

Lakers will stick to LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Danny Green, JaVale McGee, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as their starting five. Now, the problem here is that The Akron Hammer as a point guard without Rondo or Avery Bradley is still an issue. McGee is good at rebounds, but their offense is failing to convert it into points. 

The Trail Blazers have a weak defense, but it will take some over-the-board improvement on the Lakers’ offense distribution to make use of this weakness. The fact that the Lakers keep missing the wide-open opportunities is further dampening their chances. Now, KCP, Danny Green, and Kyle Kuzma will have to pull some jumpers too to get them going. Or else, the trio of Damian Lillard, Jusuf Nurkic, and Carmelo Anthony can eat them again. 

Still, we feel the Lakers will make a comeback from this game, making it 1-1 as they play on August 20 at 9:00 PM ET at the NBA Playoffs 2020.