Lakers vs. Spurs Game Preview: Hello Gasol our old friend

The Los Angeles Lakers enjoyed a slow start to their week, getting Monday and Tuesday off before embarking on a journey to San Antonio to face the Spurs. They’ve had some time to lick their wounds after a tough back-to-back over the weekend, but a game against the Spurs might set them back.

San Antonio has its own wounds to deal with, with Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and Dejounte Murray all out Wednesday evening. Even with that trio missing, the Lakers are in for a long night dealing with Most Valuable Player candidate Kawhi Leonard.

If it’s not the claws of Kawhi the Lakers falter to, it could be the frontcourt scoring prowess of LaMarcus Aldridge. The Lakers have struggled dealing with offensively-apt big men all season — who are we kidding, it’s not just bigs — and Aldridge continues being an excellent scorer even with his role being scaled back in San Antonio.

If not Aldridge, perhaps our old friend Pau Gasol will help with the tanking efforts. He’s scored in double-digits in each of the last six games, providing some help on offense off of Gregg Popovich’s bench.

It’s a big night for the Lakers, who are now one loss behind the Suns for the second-worst record in the league. The win over Memphis on Sunday left Lakers fans reeling, but the tank war isn’t over just yet.

There are five Lakers games left to determine their lottery odds, and the Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans are next on deck. All home games in STAPLES Center.

Things are about to get very interesting, so enjoy this game with three “tough” ones ahead.

Time: 5:30 p.m PT

TV: Spectrum SportsNet