SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio Spurs will begin a three-game homestand Wednesday evening when they host the defending NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers.
This is the first of a back-to-back against LA. The two teams will play again Friday night here in the AT&T Center. The Spurs will play the Lakers again on Jan. 7 in LA, so that will be three games in just over a week.
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“It’s a challenge,” Demar DeRozan said, “any competitor would want to face that challenge. You’ve got to want to embrace that, you’ve got to be ready for it.”
LeBron James is listed as questionable with an ankle sprain. He scored 29 Monday night in the Lakers’ loss to the Portland Trailblazers 115-107.
The Spurs come into tonight’s game with a 2-1 record, actually ahead of the Lakers in the West since LA is now 2-2. The Spurs are in the 6th spot and LA is in the 8th spot.
This will be the first real test against the young Spurs facing off against the defending champs. With or without James, the Spurs will still be able to gauge where they stand this early in the season.
There is also some special incentive for DeRozan since he is from the LA area.
“Always fun playing against your home team, where you’re from, a lot of your friends and family are going to watching,” DeRozan said.
And then of course it is the Lakers, DeRozan said.
“It’s always fun just playing against a team like that, especially the defending champs. Can’t do nothing but get up for those types of games,” he said.
So far, DeRozan in leading the Spurs averaging 21 points a game. He is also averaging 9 assists a game, while the team is averaging 30 assists so far in the first three games.
“Just trying to keep the ball moving, me just going out there being aggressive, reading defenses, trying to get my teammates easy shots” DeRozan said. “We have been playing well off each other.”
The Spurs will have to take on the Lakers without the help of the fans. The organization announced Monday due to an increase in COVID-19 numbers, their plan for hosting fans will be put on hold for now and the players understand that move.
“Health and safety is the most important thing,” DeRozan said.
Spurs will once again be without Derrick White.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.