PREVIEW: Warriors (23-3) At Los Angeles Lakers (8-19) – Kobe To Sit It Out

Golden State Warriors (23-3) at Los Angeles Lakers (8-19)

Tip-off: Tuesday, December 23rd, 2014 – 7:30PM PDT

Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

TV: CSN Bay Area & NBA League Pass | Radio: KNBR 680 AM

Livetweet: @ryan_viera on @LetsGoWarriors #LetsGoWarriorsLive

Projected Starting Lineups:

Warriors

PG: Stephen Curry (23.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 7.8 APG)

SG: Klay Thompson (21.7 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 3.4 APG)

SF: Harrison Barnes (11.1 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.4 APG)

PF: Draymond Green (12.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 3.3 APG)

C: Festus Ezeli (4.1 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 0.2 APG)

Head Coach: Steve Kerr (23-3, .885)

Lakers

PG: Ronnie Price (4.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 3.4 APG)

SG: Wayne Ellington (6.4 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 0.9 APG)

SF: Wesley Johnson (8.8 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 1.6 APG)

PF: Ed Davis (7.1 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 0.9 APG)

C: Jordan Hill (12.5 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 1.4 APG)

Head Coach: Byron Scott (424-540, .440)

Last Times Out

WARRIORS PREVIOUS GAME: On Wednesday, 12/22/2014, Golden State defeated Sacramento, 128-108. Thompson led all scorers with 25 points and the Warriors bench contributed 62 points.

LAKERS PREVIOUS GAME: On Sunday, 12/21/2014, Los Angeles lost at Sacramento, 108-101.

WARRIORS-LAKERS PREVIOUS MATCHUP: On Sunday, 11/16/2014, Golden State defeated Los Angeles 138-115, as Curry tallied 30-and-15.

WARRIORS-LAKERS PREVIOUS MATCHUP AT STAPLES: On April 11th, 2014, the Warriors clinched a playoff berth by defeating the Lakers, 112-95, as Curry recorded a triple-double.

Game Notes

• “David Lee (left hamstring) responded well to his first game since Nov. 5 and is expected to play 12-15 minutes tonight vs. Los Angeles.” — Rusty Simmons, SF Chronicle

• “Lakers head coach Byron Scott said Kobe Bryant won’t play tonight vs. the Warriors. It sounds like Jordan Hill is out, as well.” — Simmons

• “Wayne Ellington will start.” — Diamond Leung, Bay Area News Group

• “Byron Scott said he would talk to Bryant about taking off one or two games or lowering his minutes” — Marc Spears in Yahoo Sports

• “Scott said he remains undecided whether Bryant will play when the Lakers (8-19) host the Golden State Warriors (22-3) on Tuesday at Staples Center.” — Mark Medina in the LA Daily News

• “Byron on Kobe playing tonight: ‘Haven’t made up my mind yet.'” — Lakers PR

• “Kobe Bryant not at shootaround today, Byron Scott says he has not decided if Kobe will play tonight” — J.A. Adande, ESPN

• “If Kobe doesn’t play tonight, Wayne Ellington will start” — Medina

• “(Jeremy) Lin has admitted struggling in the Lakers offense this season, he prefers to attack off the pick-and-roll and Scott wants more Princeton-style ball and player movement. Lin’s struggles are not new, in fact it was Price who started most of the preseason for the Lakers until he was injured and Lin was pushed into a starting role. Lin is averaging 11.9 points and 4.9 assists a game.” — Kurt Helin for ProBasketballTalk via Mike Trudell of Lakers.com

• “The latest fun moment entailed the Lakers’ forward receiving an early Christmas present on Monday. Iggy Azalea,Young’s girlfriend and hip hop artist, gave Young a blue 1962 Chevrolet Impala that waited outside the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo. The gift featured a red bow and a note that read ‘To: Swaggy P. From Iggy.'” — Medina on Inside The Lakers

• “The Lakers have dropped their last 3 and are allowing a league high 109.2 points per game.” — Tim Roye, Warriors radio announcer

• “Stephen Curry has two 30-point/10-assist games this season–both against the Lakers. He’s tallied 30 & 10 in his last three games vs. LAL” — Warriors PR

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