Lakers vs. Warriors Preview and Game Thread: Day of the trade deadline

The Lakers and Warriors will go head-to-head hours after the trade deadline officially expires as L.A. looks to extend their winning streak.

After an impressive Grammy road trip where they won five of their six games, the Lakers are back home on Thursday. They will host the Golden State Warriors, who they’ve already beaten twice this season, in their first game of a four-game homestand.

Start time and TV schedule

Who: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors

When: 7 PST, Feb 6.

Where: Crypto.com Arena

Watch: TNT

This year’s NBA trade deadline has been one of the most controversial and eventful we’ve ever witnessed. Both the Lakers and Warriors happen to be heavily involved in all that’s gone down over the last few days. That’s why, suffice it to say, Thursday’s meeting between these two will not be like the typical Lakers-Warriors game we’ve grown accustomed to.

For one, Golden State — who will be on the second night of a back-to-back — just traded for Jimmy Butler, which means he, Andrew Wiggins, Kyle Anderson and Dennis Schròder won't be seen wearing the Warriors jersey tomorrow. The same goes for the Lakers, who won't have Luka Dončić.

The crazy part about all of this is that the trade deadline will only expire six hours before this game, which means there’s a possibility that more players won’t suit up for both sides. The Lakers just acquired Mark Williams while the Warriors are looking to add more depth. There’s also a possibility that both teams won’t do anything on Thursday. So, right now, everything remains uncertain for both sides.

That said, this is where one of LeBron James’ favorite quotes, “Keep the main thing the main thing” should apply. The Lakers need to take advantage of a discombobulated Warriors team that will not only be incomplete but is also struggling to play high-level basketball. What I mean by that is, even if they’ve won six of their last 10 before Wednesday’s game, they’re not really playing with the momentum, energy and force like the purple and gold have over the last two weeks.

As always, this game will focus on LeBron and Steph, but it would be nice if the Lakers’ role players made it about themselves, too, as they have done over the last few games.

In their last matchup, the Warriors were led by Wiggins’ 20 points and Brandin Podziemski’s 17. The Lakers did a good job of limiting Curry to just 13 points, and non in the second half, on 4-17 shooting.

Granted, Max Christie had a lot to do with that. Perhaps it’ll be ideal if Jarred Vanderbilt and Dorian Finney-Smith take the Curry assignment. What matters is that the Lakers don’t allow the Dubs to get hot from the perimeter because that’s the only way they can beat L.A., given the talent disparity between both teams.

Expect the Warriors to be better defensively with Draymond Green, who didn’t play last game due to a left calf strain. They will most likely increase Buddy Hield, Quinten Post, Gui Santos and Kevon Looney’s minutes if none are traded before the deadline.

At the expense of jinxing this one, I’d like to think that the Lakers are currently more talented than the Warriors and are in a really good groove. That should translate in this one and help them beat their Pacific Division nemesis at home.

Hopefully, Los Angeles extends their winning streak to four games and remains undefeated against the Dubs this season. Let’s see if they can do that on Thursday, just right after the trade deadline.

Notes and Updates

• For the Lakers’ injury report, LeBron James (left foot injury management) and Gabe Vincent (left knee contusion) are probable.
• Luka Dončić (left calf strain), Maxi Kleber (right foot fracture) and Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) are out.
• The Warriors will not release an injury report until only hours before the game but Trayce Jackson-Davis (right knee soreness), Jonathan Kuminga (right ankle sprain) and Moses Moody (bilateral low back sprain) didn’t play against the Jazz.
• We will be live on Playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglani.