Preseason

lalnkioski

EL SEGUNDO — The Los Angeles Lakers today announced the
  team’s preseason schedule for the 2019-20 season.

The Lakers will open the preseason on October 5 as guests of the Golden State
  Warriors in the first-ever game held at the Chase Center in San Francisco. Los
  Angeles will then head to China for the 13th edition of the NBA China Games,
  with two contests versus the Brooklyn Nets in Shanghai and Shenzhen. The games
  will mark the team’s second trip to China following their visit in 2013, when
  they played two preseason games in Beijing and Shanghai. The Lakers will round
  out the preseason with two home games against the Warriors before closing the
  preseason with an October 18 matchup in San Francisco.

The complete 2019-20 Los Angeles Lakers preseason schedule is below (all times
  pacific):

Ticket information for the games at STAPLES Center.

lakers-announce-2019-20-preseason-schedule-presented-by-delta-air-lines

Lakers Announce 2019–20 Preseason Schedule Presented by Delta Air Lines

Joey Ramirez

Here is what you need to know before the Lakers face the Phoenix Suns in a preseason exhibition in Anaheim.

1)
After a quiet majority of preseason, Brandon Ingram made himself heard in the Lakers’ last game against Golden State on Wednesday. The second-overall pick played a bit of point forward, found his groove and hit shots from all across the floor. He contributed a bit of everything with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

2)
With this being the last game of preseason, it’s also the final opportunity for the Lakers’ end-of-bench players to make their case for the regular-season roster. Only 15 players can be suited up when the season tips off on Wednesday, which means that two will have to be cut before then.

3)
One Laker who has used the preseason to his full advantage has been Nick Young. Coming off a career-worst season, Young has been the team’s best shooter and one of its top defenders so far. He has averaged 13.2 points in exhibitions and has hit 54.3 percent from 3-point range.

4)D’Angelo Russell’s good friend, Devin Booker, has been tearing it up in the preseason, leading the league in scoring with 21.5 points per game. Booker missed Phoenix’s last game due to an ailing ankle, but thus far has proven why NBA general managers have chosen him as the player most likely to have a breakout season this year.

5)
The Lakers are closing out preseason in familiar territory, as they return to Anaheim for the second time this year. The purple and gold have history with this city, including when Shaquille O’Neal and co. went 2-1 against the Clippers during a series of Anaheim regular-season tilts in the late 1990s.

Tip-off: 7 p.m. PT
TV: Spectrum SportsNet and Spectrum Deportes
Radio: 710 ESPN and 1330 KWKW

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5 Things to Know: Lakers vs. Suns (10/21/16)

Before he was the young face of the Lakers franchise or even an All-American at UCLA, Lonzo Ball was a kid who loved hoops in Chino Hills.

Born in Anaheim, Ball was raised in the Inland Empire and began playing basketball at age 2. Destined to star for local Chino Hills High, Ball took over the starting point guard spot on day one.

It only got better from there, as Ball and his two younger brothers turned their local high school into a national phenomenon.

In particular, Lonzo’s senior season in 2015-16 became something of a rockstar tour, as hundreds of fans regularly packed the gyms they played in during their 35-0 run to the California state title.

Lonzo was the alpha of this team and, essentially, high school hoops as a whole. He finished the year averaging a triple-double — about 24 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists — and earned a heap of national honors, including Naismith Prep Player of the Year.

Three days before Ball’s 11th birthday, the Lakers made their first trip to the Inland Empire.

On Oct. 24, 2008, Citizens Business Bank Arena held its first-ever event. It was only an exhibition, but 10,316 people packed Ontario’s brand-new stadium, and the Lakers did their part, defeating Oklahoma City, 105-94.

That preseason finale led into a regular season run that saw the Lakers go on to win the 2009 NBA title. Since then, they have returned to Ontario for at least one preseason game every year — other than the lockout-shortened 2011 season.

The Lakers have treated Inland Empire residents to plenty of preseason memories, winning their first three games in Ontario on their way to a 7-3 overall record.

Prior to Ball’s arrival as the 2017 second-overall draft pick, the Lakers carried two Inland Empire natives on their roster over the years.

The first was 12-year veteran Sean Rooks, who played on the purple and gold from 1996-99.

The Fontana native led Fontana High to its first league title in over 40 years during in 1987 and had his No. 51 jersey retired by the Steelers in 2015 — just one year before his unexpected death at 46.

A seldom-used center, Rooks averaged 3.4 points and 2.4 rebounds during his three years with the Lakers, though he did leave his mark off the floor.

"We are shocked and terribly saddened by the news of the death of Sean Rooks,” 
Lakers President/Governor and co-owner Jeanie Buss said in a statement on June 7, 2016. “During his time with the Lakers he was a true professional and was a favorite among teammates, coaches and staff. Sean was a friendly guy that everyone loved having around. On behalf of the entire Lakers organization, I'd like to send our condolences as well as thoughts and prayers to his family.”

Three years after Rooks’ final season with the Lakers, another Inland Empire-born player came to Los Angeles.

After knocking the Lakers out of the playoffs twice during his nine-year stay with Utah, Bryon Russell joined L.A. for the 2003-04 season alongside former Jazz teammate Karl Malone.

Russell — who was born in San Bernardino and helped push SB High to the 1989 CIF-Southern Section championship — averaged 4.0 points in 13.1 minutes in his lone season with the Lakers, who lost in the NBA Finals to Detroit.

While the Lakers went 12 years before acquiring another player from the I.E., they maintained their connection to the region with two annual visits during the preseason.

Along with the annual game or two in Ontario, the Lakers have recently made it a tradition to have a shootaround once at Pechanga Recreation Center in Temecula before one of their exhibitions.

the-lakers-history-with-the-inland-empire

The Lakers' History With the Inland Empire

ANAHEIM — Despite a brutal 136-97 loss to Golden State, the final score was far from the Lakers’ biggest worry by the end of the night.

First Team All-Rookie guard Jordan Clarkson left the game in the second quarter with a right shoulder sprain, putting his availability for Wednesday’s season opener in jeopardy.

“It’s pretty frustrating because that kid has done so well for us in the preseason,” head coach Byron Scott said. “He plays so hard. And obviously, even with this, he still has a very bright future. But it puts a damper on the way we want to start the season. It might be without him next Wednesday, so we just have to wait and see.”

The team will have a clearer picture of Clarkson’s situation after he undergoes an MRI on Friday.

“It was just a real sharp pain,” Clarkson said. “My arm just felt numb for a second, and then I came to the bench and Coach got me right out.”

Golden State of Mind
Defending champion Golden State blitzed LA with a flurry of shooting. While Lou Williams led the Lakers with 19 points, three Warriors finished with at least 23 — Stephen Curry (24), Klay Thompson (24) and Harrison Barnes (23). The trio combined to shoot 27-of-38 (71.1 percent), as the reigning MVP, Curry, added a game-best 10 assists.

While the Lakers’ 41.3 percent clip (33-of-80) could have been enough to compete, their defense was practically nonexistent. Golden State shot 54.7 percent (52-of-95), including 51.6 percent on 3’s. The Warriors’ 16 triples doubled LA’s total, while their 57 rebounds dwarfed the Lakers’ 34.

“We had an opportunity tonight to show if we’ve grown as a team, and I told them we fell flat on our face,” Scott said. “The second message was that I was very disappointed in the way we reacted as a team. When we started getting down, guys seemed to go their own separate ways and we weren’t together as a group. That was very disheartening for me.”

Two of LA’s preseason standouts also struggled, as Julius Randle went just 4-of-10 (nine points), while collecting six turnovers and five fouls. Backup point guard Marcelo Huertas shot 3-of-7 (six points) and had four assists outweighed by seven turnovers.

Brown’s Homecoming
Fountain Valley native Anthony Brown returned to Orange County and put on a show for his friends in attendance. The Ocean View High alum put together his best offensive performance of the preseason, hitting 5-of-6, including all three 3-point attempts, to finish with 14 points.

“It felt good to hit some shots,” Brown said. “As a shooter, some nights you’re not gonna hit a shot and some nights you’re gonna make everything.”

Notes
Kobe Bryant did not travel with the team due to a lower-leg contusion, but Scott has “no doubt in my mind” that he will be back for the opener against Minnesota. … Roy Hibbert grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds. … Ryan Kelly finished with 13 points (4-of-6) and six rebounds. He also had a dunk right before the first quarter ended that was reminiscent of his game-winning jam on Monday. … The Lakers ended the preseason 3-5, though their win over the Warriors on Oct. 17 was not completed due to unsafe floor conditions. … A crowd of 16,222 filed into Honda Center for the preseason finale.

Click here for more Gameday coverage presented by Delta.

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Clarkson Injured in Loss to Warriors

Mike Trudell

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Running Diary: Lakers vs. Warriors (10/22/15)

LOS ANGELES — Moments after committing a crucial mental mistake, Ryan Kelly flew through the STAPLES Center air to lift his team to victory.

With 7.8 seconds left, Kelly tried to inbound the ball to D’Angelo Russell, but instead found the waiting arms of Portland’s Phil Pressey, who whipped the ball over to Pat Connaughton for the game-tying 3-pointer.

After a Lakers timeout, Kelly caught the ensuing inbounds pass and gave a brief fake handoff to Jabari Brown. Kelly’s man, Omari Johnson, bit on the false transfer, leaving Kelly to attack the unoccupied paint. Noah Vonleh scrambled over to challenge Kelly at the rim, but the third-year Laker simply rose above him and hammered a one-handed slam dunk with 2.0 seconds remaining.

“It wasn’t exactly how (Byron Scott) drew it up, but I just read it a little bit, and I knew they were going to switch,” Kelly said. “(I) attacked the basket. And at that point in a game, you’ve got to either finish over the top or have the defender make a great play.”

Vonleh’s responding 20-foot buzzer-beater was off the mark, as the Lakers pulled out a 104-102 victory.

Prior to Kelly’s liftoff, a last-minute collapse by the purple and gold had both teams thinking overtime. The Lakers led by five with 17.5 seconds left but allowed Chris Kaman to convert a Vonleh miss into an offensive rebound and layup, then Kelly’s errant pass led to Connaughton’s 27-foot triple.

“The big thing for me was I had made the mistake on the out-of-bounds play,” Kelly said. “I should’ve called a timeout, and we shouldn’t have been in that situation in the first place. So I wanted to make up for it and make the play that made a difference.”

Seesaw battle
Neither team could establish dominance in a game that featured eight lead changes and six ties.

Per usual, Damian Lillard was nigh uncoverable against the Lakers as he poured in 20 points and six assists in 24 minutes, while Maurice Harkless added 15 points of his own to lead Portland’s 50-34 scoring advantage in the paint.

Nonetheless, the Lakers answered by hitting 44.7 percent from the field, led by 17 points on a 6-of-9 night from Jordan Clarkson, who relished the opportunity to duel Lillard.

“At the end of the day, it’s a personal battle,” said Clarkson, who added four rebounds and three assists. “If he’s going at me, you know I’m gonna attack him as well. And then on the defensive end I’m gonna try to stop him from what he likes to do.”

Russell struggled through the first quarter, but the second-overall pick stepped up down the stretch, as he poured in eight points (3-of-3) in the final five minutes to bump his scoring total to 12 for the night.

It was an odd mix in the passing department as Russell went without an assist, while power forward Julius Randle collected four on a night when he finished with two points and zero baskets. Backup point guard Marcelo Huertas impressed for the second-straight contest, pitching in eight points to match his game-high eight assists.

“I was just trying to make appropriate plays,” Randle said. “The ball was a little stagnant, so I was just trying to hit open guys, rebound and score when I had the chance.”

Holmes Dislocates Shoulder
A gritty hustle play turned into an unfortunate stroke of luck for forward Jonathan Holmes, who dislocated his right shoulder after playing just one minute Monday.

Holmes, who had played 15 minutes in the previous seven preseason games combined, created a steal and then dove for the loose ball, which led to a basket for LA. But in doing so, he landed awkwardly on his right arm. Nonetheless, he kept the play alive by pushing the ball forward with that arm.

Davis Returns to STAPLES
Blazers big man Ed Davis played his first game in Los Angeles since leading the Lakers in blocks (1.2) during his lone year with the team last season.

The five-year pro finished with five points in 16 minutes.

“He’s a guy who just knows his niche in the league,” Portland head coach Terry Stotts said. “He knows what he does well. He has a presence defensively. He has a knack around the basket offensively. I think he finds ways to complement his teammates.”

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Lakers Top Blazers on Kelly's Game-Winning Dunk

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Running Diary: Lakers vs. Trail Blazers

SAN DIEGO — The Lakers kept splashing shots against Golden State, and the hardwood itself reflected that.

But it wasn’t LA’s 46.0 percent shooting that caused slippery patches to arise on the court, but instead it was the hockey ice that laid underneath at Valley View Casino Center. Due to the unsafe conditions, the game was called with 2:16 left in the third quarter, giving the Lakers an 85-70 victory.

“The officials said they weren’t comfortable with the slippage of players,” head coach Byron Scott said. “They said there was a possibility of players getting hurt. (Warriors coach) Luke (Walton) and I both talked. … I told him I don’t mind calling this game.”

Several players slipped throughout the game, and play was stopped in the second quarter in an attempt to dry the floor. Point guard Marcelo Huertas said that the court had been in subpar shape even before the game tipped off.

“Ever since the first time I went out (on the court) to shoot around,” Huertas said. “Every time you tried to change for direction or spin, it was really, really slippery.”

Young Guns Take Off
With both of their preseason leading scorers — Kobe Bryant (lower-leg contusion) and Lou Williams (sore groin) — sitting out of Saturday’s tilt, the Lakers looked to their youth to provide some offense, and a pair of them delivered.

Jordan Clarkson finished the game with a team-best 17 points on a 7-of-9 clip, while also brining down five rebounds. The First Team All-Rookie selection held his own against reigning MVP Stephen Curry, who put on his own show with 19 points (7-of-13), including five 3-pointers and four assists.

But Julius Randle was an even bigger issue for the Warriors, as he refused to back down against Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Draymond Green. Randle was a force down low, finishing with 14 points in just 12 minutes by hitting 4-of-8 from the field and 6-of-7 at the foul line.

“Julius doesn’t have any fear,” Scott said. “And I think he knew from the get-go that Draymond is one of the best defenders in this league, especially against perimeter guys. And he took that challenge.

“He went at him right away. Draymond — I don’t think he took (Randle) lightly — but I think after a few minutes he knew this kid isn’t bad.”

The Marcelo and Swaggy Show
Huertas had missed all five of the Lakers’ prior preseason games with a hamstring strain, but he showed little issue in leading the second unit during the entire second quarter. Huertas racked up six assists in a dozen minutes, adding four points as well.

“You need that,” Nick Young said. “You don’t have to work so hard, especially with a court like that today. I didn’t want to have to dribble and do all that extra stuff.”

Half of Huertas’ assists went to Young, who pitched in 10 points of his own by hitting three triples, including one four-point play.

Afterward, he had some advice for his new teammate.

“If he wants some assists, come my way,” Young said. “That’s what I was telling him: Come to the money.”

Larry Springer
Rookie Larry Nance, Jr. nearly sprung out of the building in the third quarter, getting his elbow up to rim level before dropping the hammer on a challenging Festus Ezeli.

“We saw him driving, and I was like, ‘OK, he’s gonna dunk,’” Huertas said. “But then I saw he’s against a huge guy. I was like, ‘No, maybe he’s gonna lay it up.’ But the guy just didn’t stop going up and up and up. All of a sudden it was one of the most amazing dunks I’ve seen in my life.”

Notes
Prior to pregame introductions, the Lakers took a moment to acknowledge former Laker Lamar Odom, who is currently in a Nevada hospital. … Former Laker Luke Walton is currently serving as Golden State’s interim head coach while Steve Kerr recovers from offseason back surgery. … Golden State was without three of its starters: Klay Thompson (personal reasons), Harrison Barnes (knee) and Andrew Bogut (broken nose). … A sellout crowd of 14,100 attended the abbreviated contest.