All Lakers Expert Predictions For Possible Trap In-Season Tournament Game Against Desperate Grizzlies

Tonight, some iteration of your banged-up Los Angeles Lakers will be doing battle against an even more banged-up shell of the Memphis Grizzlies, a club that had won 50+ games in each of the last two seasons.

With Ja Morant shelved for the 2023-24 season's first 25 games, the Grizz are currently off to a miserable start, having gone just 2-8 to this point in the year.

It sounds like the Lakers will quite possibly be without the services of All-NBA forward LeBron James, the source of the club's offense, in addition to Jarred Vanderbilt, Gabe Vincent and Jalen Hood-Schifino, all of whom have already been ruled out. Anthony Davis is more likely to suit up, though he too is reportedly still dealing with hip and adductor spasms.

With all that said, we thought it was time to answer your burning question ahead of the bout.

On which frontcourt player will Darvin Ham station Anthony Davis?

The Grizzlies are so shorthanded that in-season signing Bismack Biyombo has been pressed into starting center service for four his five games with the club. Xavier Tillman remains day-to-day as of this writing, so let's assume that Biyombo gets the nod tonight and Tillman continues to sit. Overrated 2023 Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr.'s limitations against serious interior size were exposed both by the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs last spring, and then again while playing alongside LA shooting guard Austin Reaves in this summer's FIBA World Cup competition. He's still, by far, the most important Memphis big man who'll be available tonight, and given how frequently he's away from the basket, I wonder if Davis will just hang out near the basket on defense (probably where Biyombo will roam on offense anyway) while some combination of Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes, and maybe even Taurean Prince sticks with JJJ.

Biyombo, by the way, is playing well with Memphis. He's averaging nine points on 65.4% shooting from the floor, 9.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and one block.

Assuming LeBron James sits, which playmaker will need to step up?

I usually advocate for Austin Reaves and Gabe Vincent getting more touches, but with Vincent out and Reaves pulling a Ginobili off the bench, I'm curious to see if D'Angelo Russell can continue the kind of deft passing game that made him so lethal against another West bottom-feeder, the Portland Trail Blazers, in Sunday's 116-110 win.

Los Angeles is a five-point favorite tonight. Can it cover the spread?

After we saw Portland almost flat-out beat LA without LeBron James -- and after the Grizzlies beat the star-studded Clippers -- on Sunday, I think anything is possible this evening. I'm going to bet against the Lakers covering the spread, but I do think they should pull off the W, even if the final margin is a little close for comfort.

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