The NBA opening day is here, and tonight the 2022-23 NBA season kicks off. The opening night is an exciting time to be a fan of the Golden State Warriors, as the players will be getting their rings after winning the last season’s NBA title.
On the other hand, as Anthony Davis said earlier, the Lakers want to ruin the ring ceremony for the Warriors by winning the matchup. But the Purple and Gold are yet to win a season opener since the arrival of LeBron James in the city of L.A.
The season opener is all set to begin at 10:00 PM Eastern Time (ET) in San Francisco. With that being said, let’s take a look at the expected lineups, injury reports, and what to expect from the much-anticipated game.
Los Angeles Lakers Expected Lineup And Injury Updates
The Purple and Gold will be traveling to San Francisco this Tuesday, but they will be playing the game with a depleted roster. According to the latest injury reports, Dennis Schroder, Troy Brown Jr., and Thomas Bryant are listed out.
In addition to that, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook are listed as probable for the Tuesday night game but are expected to play.
Keeping that in mind, the Lakers’ starting five is expected to feature Patrick Beverley (G), Kendrick Nunn (G), LeBron James (F), Anthony Davis (F), and Damian Jones (C).
Russell Westbrook is expected to come off the bench as part of the Lakers’ experiment of exploring the best position in which Brodie fits within the current structure of the team.
Golden State Warriors Expected Lineup And Injury Updates
The Warriors are coming off a tough past few weeks due to the fight between Draymond Green and Jordan Poole. Apart from that, the Warriors do not have a lot of injuries to deal with as of now.
According to the latest injury reports, Andre Iguodala (hip) is listed out, while Patrick Baldwin Jr. (thumb) is questionable.
The Warriors have an amazing pool of players to pick their starting five for the season opener. But their expected starting five is Stephen Curry (G), Klay Thompson (G), Andrew Wiggins (F), Draymond Green (F), and Kevon Looney (C).
Fans should expect Klay to be on minutes restrictions for the first few weeks of the season, so despite him most likely starting the game, Jordan Poole is expected to be playing the majority of minutes.
Golden State Warriors vs. Los Angeles Lakers Season Opener Prediction
On paper, the Lakers and the Warriors may look like pretty evenly matched teams, but the reality is far from that. The Lakers are coming off an abysmal 1-5 NBA preseason, whereas the Dubs have a 3-2 record.
Keeping that in mind and the Warriors obviously having better chemistry, they are the heavy favorites to win the season opener against the Lakers. The Lakers could still cause an upset, and it will be a great way to begin the new season.
The key players for the Lakers will be the incredible duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Over the last two seasons, fans haven’t seen them play a lot of games together due to injury troubles.
But the duo is at its full strength in the season opener, the Warriors may have their hands full throughout the game. We saw a teaser of it in the NBA preseason when Anthony Davis dominated the Dubs.
As for the Warriors, they have multiple players who can make or break the game. But the most important piece will be how well Stephen Curry can shoot during the early minutes of the game. If he can get off to a hot start, the Warriors are more or less guaranteed a victory because we have seen the Lakers slack off during the final minutes of the game.
