Timberwolves-Lakers
Kobe Bryant is expected to play in the season opener despite leg
soreness as the Los Angeles Lakers begin the campaign on Wednesday with a
home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 37-year-old Bryant
practiced on Tuesday and is ready to start a campaign that could end up
being his final NBA season.
The Lakers and Timberwolves were the two worst teams in the Western Conference and both landed promising young prospects in the draft - Minnesota taking center Karl-Anthony Towns with the No. 1 overall pick and Los Angeles selecting guard D'Angelo Russell with the second pick. The Timberwolves will be playing with heavy hearts due to the death of coach Flip Saunders, who died Sunday at age of 60 due to cancer complications. "You can see we’re hurting," Towns told reporters. "We lost our point guard. We lost the person who runs this whole machine. I know when we found out, it was a hard moment for all of us, a moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget." Sam Mitchell is serving as interim coach as Minnesota attempts to make positive strides after winning fewer than 30 games in six of the past eight seasons.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN North (Minnesota), TWC SportsNet (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (2014-15: 16-66): Minnesota is developing a young group revolving around Towns, reigning Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins and superb point guard Ricky Rubio in hopes of ending a playoff drought that extends back to the 2003-04 campaign. The veteran trio of forwards Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince and shooting guard Kevin Martin make for a nice blend as Saunders was building the Timberwolves with both the short term and long term in mind. Wiggins will see a lot of playing time at shooting guard this season after being primarily a small forward last season, when he averaged 16.9 points while starting all 82 games.
ABOUT THE LAKERS (2014-15: 21-61): Bryant's minutes will be watched closely after he was limited to just 41 games over the past two seasons due to various injuries. Los Angeles is high on second-year forward Julius Randle, who broke his right leg in last year's season opener, and added center Roy Hibbert and Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams in the offseason. Second-year guard Jordan Clarkson was a surprise hit as a rookie but is questionable for the opener after recently injuring his right shoulder.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Lakers went 3-1 against the Timberwolves last season and have won 14 of their past 16 home games in the series.
2. Minnesota C Nikola Pekovic (Achilles' tendon) remains sidelined from the injury suffered in April.
3. Los Angeles SF Metta World Peace made the 15-man roster when the club made G Jabari Brown the final cut.