For the Los Angeles Lakers, the second half of the NBA 2020-21 season begins tonight, and their starting lineup will look a little different than it has been lately.
Lakers starters tonight against Indiana:
Damian Jones
Markieff Morris
LeBron James
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Dennis Schr̦derРJovan Buha (@jovanbuha) 13 March 2021
Starting center Marc Gasol will miss tonight’s game against the Indiana Pacers due to the league’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols. For the same reason, he missed the last two games before the All-Star break.
The superstar big man, Anthony Davis, is obviously still out with a calf injury and Achilles tendon.
Instead of Gasol, Damian Jones will start at center. He has just been signed for a second ten-day contract by the Lakers, and he will have another opportunity to sell the team to keep him for the rest of the season.
Consequently, LA can be hard pressed to contain the big men of the Pacers Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner. Sabonis scored 20.8 points, 11.1 rebounds and 6.0 assists for the season and was named to the All-Star team for the second consecutive season.
After tonight, the Purple and Gold will have two full days off before heading to Northern California to face Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.