NBA Matchups: January 30

It’s a B2B fest and yesterday was a busy day for me, so I didn’t go too nuts in this edition. If today is anything like yesterday, we’re in for a lot of Q tags to add to the ones we already have this morning. Get ready for another wild slate today.

LAL @ WAS | TOR @ ORL | SAC @ BOS | POR @ NYK | MEM @ NOP | CLE @ PHX | LAC @ DEN | BKN @ UTA | DET @ GSW

Los Angeles Lakers at Washington Wizards (back end)

Team Totals: Lakers 119.5, Wizards 110

Injury Report: Luka Doncic (Q, ankle), Austin Reaves (Q, calf), Wizards on B2B

Lakers projected starters: Luka Doncic, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, LeBron James, Deandre Ayton (Note: Expect Austin Reaves off the bench)

Wizards projected starters: Bub Carrington, Will Riley, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr

Redick quotes: Said they got outplayed and out-coached, said they had poor physicality against the Cavs, said they were not connected with their man on defense, said the sub patterns got messed up because of the Luka tweak on the CLE floor, said LeBron had an emotional game and there was a human element to LeBron’s play, said the CLE floor “is absolutely a safety hazard.”

Keefe quotes: Said they were trying to find some smaller combos against the Blazers, said they played great defense and kept the Blazers from running, said Sarr has a more consistent motor and he’s “growing,” said the margins are so thin and they played great defense late vs. POR.

Stats and Notes: 

*The Lakers have a major Deandre Ayton problem. I’m a blog boy, and I can see that teams have a target on him with his inability to defend guards who can shoot over the top of PNR coverage. The Lakers have been better with their transition defense, but the Wizards should test that with some decent pace. For the Wizards on defense, it’s the same story with horrible transition and paint defense. This should be a really fun game environment, and I’d expect the Wizards to hang around if they have Alex Sarr.

*Luka Doncic hurt himself on the edge of the floor in Cleveland on Wednesday, and there’s a chance that he will get a lot of Bilal Coulibaly, but Bilal could just sit out the B2B. Last year in his lone game against Bilal, he only managed a 21/10/10 line in 32.5 minutes. If Austin Reaves is in there, I wouldn’t be too excited about it.

*Austin Reaves will have a cap on him, and he may come off the bench. He’s not in play as it stands right now. The Lakers have been cautious with his calf and have put him through several steps. Still, with this being an aggravation, I’d be shocked if they let him go even if Luka is out.

*LeBron James gets Kyshawn George in an OK spot. His frontcourt touches have cratered in the last five games, and his usage has come down because it’s been such a Luka-centric offense. It’s the Wizards and not a B2B, so he’s still in play, especially if Bilal can limit Luka. If Luka and Reaves are out, he would get Bilal, which may not matter because of LeBron’s style of scoring.

*Deandre Ayton gets an excellent matchup, and it would get even better should Alex Sarr not be able to play.

*Kyshawn George gets an excellent matchup here. He’s clearly this team’s best creator to get his team shots, and the minutes have been way up there now that he’s ramped up all the way. He will likely see a good bit of Jake LaRavia or LeBron, which is a spot to attack. Plus, he’s first on the team in drives and should be able to generate some interior stuff against a struggling Ayton.

*Tre Johnson is finally free with 32+ minutes in three straight, and I wouldn’t expect the Wizards to limit him much on the B2B. He is almost always off the ball with a whopping 89.3% of his buckets coming off an assist in his last five games. There may not be enough ceiling for him because he’s so scoring-dependent. The bad news is that he rolled his ankle when Ryan Rollins put his foot in Tre’s landing area, so I don’t think he’ll play today.

*Alex Sarr is sick, but this matchup would be fantastic for him against Deandre Ayton. It’s been brutal for Ayton, while Sarr has been playing excellent ball with a lack of depth behind him.

*Bub Carrington hasn’t played great, but he will be in line for massive minutes with Khris Middleton out. He likely won’t see any good defenders, and he’s been the lead handler on the team lately (even off the bench).

Great matchups: Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, LeBron James

Good matchups: Tre Johnson, Bub Carrington, Jake LaRavia

Bad matchups: Luka Doncic (if Bilal plays)

Toronto Raptors at Orlando Magic