Lakers News: Pundit Pumped For Late-Season Rematch Against 2023 Playoff Nemesis

Your revamped and revitalized Los Angeles Lakers finished their 2022-23 season strong, having gone 19-8 after team vice president of basketball operations/general manager Rob Pelinka made a series of season-saving trades leading up to the February 9th deadline.

LA ultimately escaped a second straight lottery season, finishing with the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference (43-39), before the club ran roughshod through the West and landed in the Conference Finals. Los Angeles was subsequently swept by an incredible Denver Nuggets squad that went on to easily dispatch the Miami Heat en route to its first NBA championship. Nothing to sneeze at really.

This year, the Lakers are hoping that some improvements they've made over the summer can positively impact their regular season record a bit, and they can escape the play-in tournament bracket and hopefully snag homecourt advantage for a round or two in the 2024 playoffs.

Brian Martin of NBA.com believes that the Lakers' March 27th, 2024 road rematch against their first round opponent, the Memphis Grizzlies (whom they upset in the first round of the playoffs), could be one of the most exciting League Pass bouts of the impending 2023-24 regular season.

"This is a rematch of last season’s first-round series that saw the No. 7 seed Lakers take out the No. 2 seed Grizzlies in six games as the Lakers began their run to the [Conference Finals]," Martin writes. "While this rematch will not feature the entertaining Dillon Brooks vs. LeBron James storyline as Brooks is now in Houston, this game will feature Ja Morant as he will be clear of his 25-game suspension to open the season."

Small forward Brooks began the series with an unwarranted chatty confidence, spewing trash talk in the press about his individual matchup, defending Lakers All-Star small forward LeBron James. James promptly ran Brooks off the floor, as the 6'7" swingman totally lost his shooting stroke and saw his defensive efficacy drying up. This year, the retooled Grizzlies have replaced Brooks' fiery perimeter D with that of ex-Celtics combo guard, Marcus Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year. It seems likely, however, that someone else will have to defend James.

The battle tips off at 5 p.m. PT.

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