ORLANDO, Fla. — The Lakers (3-2) are set to kick off their first multi-city road trip of the season over the weekend, with a matchup against the Orlando Magic (3-2) on Saturday at Amway Center.
From there, they’ll travel further south to play the Miami Heat on Monday before matchups against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday and the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 10. The matchup against the Suns will be the Lakers’ first in-season tournament game.
Here are three things to keep an eye on during the Lakers’ four-game swing:
BIGGER LINEUPS
An obvious caveat: the season is still very young, with Saturday’s matchup only being the Lakers’ sixth game.
But in the most competitive moments when they’re looking for any advantage, the Lakers so far have shown the tendency to lean on bigger lineups. And it’s worked each time.
The first win of the season over the Suns last week: playing the frontcourt of LeBron James, Christian Wood and Anthony Davis the entire fourth quarter – a quarter the Lakers won 28-11 to secure the victory.
The second win over the Magic on Monday: once again using the James-Wood-Davis frontcourt in crunch time, with the Lakers outsourcing Orlando 11-5 in the final 3:47 when those three shared the floor.
In the victory over the Clippers on Wednesday, it was the supersized frontcourt of Davis, Wood and Jaxson Hayes that swung the momentum in the Lakers’ favor in the third quarter before going back to the James-Wood-Davis trio to close out the victory in overtime.
Regardless of the iteration of the bigger lineup, each one has provided similar advantages: better rebounding on both ends of the court, better rim protection and more defensive playmaking.
“As a group, knowing that you have that length everywhere around the floor allows us to rebound better, allows us to switch out and make things a little more contested around the perimeter,” point guard D’Angelo Russell said. “It just gives us the opportunity to see how versatile a lot of the guys are we have on this team.”
REAVES’ SLOW START
Austin Reaves has had a slow start to his third NBA season, but how he finished the win over the Clippers could provide optimism that he is emerging from his shooting slump.
Reaves, who finished with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting (5 for 5 on free throws) to go with seven assists, seven rebounds and three steals against the Clippers, scored 13 of those points on 4-of-8 shooting in the second half and overtime. This included a pair of baskets in overtime out of the pick-and-roll that helped seal the victory.
How Reaves looked in those moments resembled the player he was for the final stretch of last season and the playoff run to the Western Conference finals.
The Lakers rewarded him with a four-year, $54 million contract during the offseason. With that comes the expectation that’ll he break out of this shooting slump, becoming more efficient and productive in his minutes – something the Lakers are confident will happen.
Reaves is averaging 11 points on 34.5% shooting (21.1% from 3-point range), 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 31.2 minutes entering the road trip.
“I haven’t played bad,” Reaves said. “I haven’t made shots, and for me, there are a million other things that you can do on the court to help your team that not the normal fan or somebody that don’t really know basketball understands,” Reaves said. “People pull up box scores and they look, ‘Oh, you went 2-for-15 or …’ It could be anybody, it’s, ‘Oh, he played (like) trash.’
“That’s partially true. As an athlete, player, you want to make shots. I hold myself to a higher standard when it comes to that. But no athlete ever went through their whole career and played [perfectly]. You have these things happen and you just got to figure out a way to get through it.”
STEPPING UP
Who will step up with the Lakers already missing key rotation players because of injuries?
Guard Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion – joint swelling) and forward Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel bursitis – inflammation) aren’t expected to be available during the trip. Forward Rui Hachimura (concussion protocol) will miss his third consecutive game on Saturday. Rookie guard Jalen Hood-Schifino hasn’t been available in any games because of a right patella contusion (bruise).
Taurean Prince (left patellar tendonitis) is listed as questionable for Saturday after sitting out against the Clippers.
Second-year guard Max Christie was in the rotation for the first time against the Clippers because of the injuries. Will Ham expand the rotation in light of the injuries? Or will the players already in the rotation be relied on even more?
LAKERS AT MAGIC
When: Saturday, 4 p.m.
Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet, 710 AM
