Lakers Rumors & News Recap: Lakers Lose Game One, But There is Promise

The first game, although ending in a loss to the Warriors, wasn’t all for not. For one, the roster was less than stacked. Despite some hopeful accounts, Dwight Howard was ruled unable to play last night, and starting in his place was rookie Robert Sacre, who was the team’s only draft pick in last summer’s NBA Draft. Although Sacre did well, it’s understandable to assume that with Howard, last night’s game would have ended differently.

Mike Brown also took a different approach in terms of playing time. One of the better parts to pre-season games is the ability to play around with the roster and see where each player would fit. Brown implemented a 20 minute limit for starters, and attempted to get all 19 players on the current roster into the game at some point.

In the end, the Warriors defeated the Lakers 110-83. However, fans and the organization got to learn some valuable things about the team, see areas in which they can improve, as well as congratulate themselves on what they did right.

Fan favorite Dwight Howard is still appreciative, no matter what last night’s outcome was. The big man didn’t play, but will hopefully do so soon. Despite all the ups and downs he has underwent to get to L.A., Dwight still believes that coming to the Lakers was “one of the best things that has happened in my [his] life.”

A few fans, including myself, were frustrated over watching the Lakers first game last night against the Warriors on TV. For now, ONLY Time Warner Cable subscribers can see the games, which has posed a problem to Lakers fans at home and elsewhere. Good news; at least one other pay-TV provider has struck a deal with TWC to bring Lakers games (along with LA Galaxy and LA Sparks games) back into Southern California homes. Bright House Networks (the sixth largest cable company in the U.S.) has become the first other provider to strike a deal with TWC and will carry both the SportsNet channel as well as the the Spanish language channel with original programming–Deportes.

Elizabeth Benson concludes her series on Lakers competition this year by analyzing the last team in the East she finds to be a threat; the Philadelphia 76ers. Although they may not come to mind as the Lakers number one competition priority, they do have a new player Lakers fans all know too well. Andrew Bynum now starts in Philly, and is more than hungry to play against L.A. Make sure you also read the first two pieces in her series, on the Miami Heat and the Celtics.

Thanks to Lakers Nation’s generous friends over at 2K Sports, we’re very pleased to announce that we will be giving two lucky fans the opportunity to win a brand new copy of NBA 2K13, the best basketball video game on the planet. To see how you can win your copy, click here for details.

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