When: November 6, 2015; 7:30 PM EST
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network
Radio: WFAN
Two of the four remaining winless NBA teams meet tonight in Brooklyn as Kobe Bryant Julius Randle and the Lakers (0-4) take on the Nets (0-5) in a game featuring two bad basketball teams who each need wins desperately. Also, as an added point of intrigue, of the 10 projected starters for this matchup, three are rookies as Los Angeles has D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State), Julius Randle (Kentucky) and Brooklyn has Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (Arizona), who makes his first NBA start tonight.
ESPNNewYork’s Ohm Youngmisuk wrote a great article for today on Kobe and how, back in 1996, he was almost drafted by the Nets in a hypothetical that would have resulted in a radically different league than the one of the present. Now, in 2015, he’s on his last legs and is, sadly, a shadow of the dominant force he used to be.
The Lakers are a team filled with youth — mainly in the exciting Russell and Randle, as well as Jordan Clarkson — and are coached by Byron Scott, who was of course the New Jersey Nets head coach during the back-to-back NBA Finals appearances of the early 2000s. One of those losses came to Kobe’s Lakers, who began their run through the league with that title.
Like the Nets, Los Angeles has obviously gotten off to a rough start this season, with losses to the Timberwolves, Kings, Mavericks and Nuggets, the last of which was back on Tuesday at home. If the Lakers aren’t able to win tonight, like the Nets, the month of November has the potential to be a very forgettable month for the once-dynastic organization which has faded along with Kobe’s depleting skill set.
Brooklyn, coming off a disappointing second half performance in a 101-87 loss to the Hawks in Atlanta on Wednesday, is in the midst of a brutal stretch of early season games, so this one is about as much of a must-win as a game on November 6th could possibly be. A loss tonight would drop the Nets to 0-6, with a tough road trip coming up.
Probable lineups
LAL- D’Angelo Russell (PG), Jordan Clarkson (SG), Kobe Bryant (SF), Julius Randle (PF), Roy Hibbert (C)
BKN- Jarrett Jack (PG), Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (SG), Joe Johnson (SF), Thaddeus Young (PF), Brook Lopez (C)
Final thoughts
If the Nets aren’t able to win this game, then this team’s problems are much worse than previously though. Starting Hollis-Jefferson — who is the only Net with a decent plus/minus so far — is a nice move but if Joe and Jarrett continue their offensive inefficiency, it won’t matter.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
