Avery Bradley to start at point guard for Lakers in preseason opener

The battle for the starting point guard spot has been won — at least for the weekend. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel revealed Avery Bradley will start at point guard when Los Angeles visits the Golden State Warriors for their preseason opener on Saturday.

Danny Green, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and JaVale McGee will fill the four starting spots, per Vogel.

Bradley has earned praise from both Vogel and his teammates over the last week, so him being in the starting five shouldn’t be a surprise. Now, he’ll have to show how much of that hype was warranted, and he’ll have the perfect opportunity to do so against Golden State’s All-Star guard tandem, which features Stephen Curry and D’Angelo Russell, who the Lakers selected with the No. 2 overall pick in 2015.

While it’s unclear just how much Bradley will play, there will be no shortage of guard minutes for him to soak up on Saturday. According to the Lakers’ injury report, Quinn Cook will sit out against his former team with a sore left ankle.

Kyle Kuzma (stress reaction), Jared Dudley (sore quad), Talen Horton-Tucker (stress reaction) and Kostas Antetokounmpo (ankle sprain) will also be sidelined.

With no Cook, Dudley, Kuzma or Antetokounmpo, expect Vogel to experiment with a three-guard lineup featuring Rajon Rondo, Alex Caruso and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Vogel has previously said he believes Caruso can play both the 1 and the 2.

Rookies Devontae Cacok and Zach Norvell Jr. should also benefit from the Lakers being shorthanded, although they’ll likely spend their season in the G League with the South Bay Lakers regardless of what they show in the preseason.

Tip-off is at 5 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet.

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