Coming into this contest off of a pair of respectable losses against playoff contenders, the fresh-faced San Antonio Spurs will be looking to take advantage of some early slippage from LeBron James and his cadre of aging Lakers.
To call this Los Angeles squad ‘old’ is hardly a point of exaggeration as far as the NBA is concerned, with the Lakers standing atop the league in average age, a full two years older the nearest squad.
But it’s been hard to tell if Los Angeles’s early struggles have been the result of age, difficulty acclimating to significant roster turnover, or just plain old dysfunction, but all three were on display in their first two contests, and they narrowly escaped their last game against the dynamic and youthful Memphis Grizzlies with a win.