LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have won eight of 10. The Brooklyn Nets have won four straight. The teams meet tonight in El Lay. That alone is exciting news for NBA fans.
But what’s not nearly is exciting is Anthony Davis is out for the Lakers, at least for several more weeks. And Kevin Durant, who has missed each of the previous two games for the Nets, isn’t expected to return.
Still, James offers star power for the Lakers. And James Harden and Kyrie Irving do the same for the Nets. That right there offers at least three big reasons to watch.
“It’s always exciting for me to go against some of the best guys in the game, and they got three of them,” James said via video Tuesday night after the Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“Definitely would love to be full when you’re playing against a team like that and see, like, at that point in the season, how you match up, how you match up against some of the best teams in the league. And obviously we won’t be full on Thursday. But, other than that, yeah, I love going out there and just being out on the floor with some of the best to play this game.”
The Lakers are defending champs and clearly in the running for a repeat. The Nets are getting it together with their new Big Three.
Durant leads the Nets at 29 points per game. Irving is second at 28.3 and Harden is third at 24.3 — and leads the NBA at 11.8 assists. But that doesn’t necessarily make them the team with the most firepower in recent history, James said when asked.
“Um, have we forgot about KD, Steph [Curry] and Klay [Thompson] already?” James asked, referring to the former Golden State Warriors trio. “I mean, there you go. There you go right there.”
Either way, this won’t be the ultimate test for either team. But it is still a game with stars and a game both teams will use as a measuring stick of sorts — even minus a couple of superstars.
“Whether it’s the Lakers or any other team, that doesn’t get us excited because we’re still working on ourselves, if that makes sense,” Harden told reporters. “So, obviously, we understand that caliber of team we’re playing. But then, the whole situation is we are working on ourselves.”
