The NBA announced flexed scheduling for several nationally televised games, including two changes to the Los Angeles Lakers broadcast schedule. The NBA made six changes for the rest of the season, and L.A. gains one national TV game on March 29 and loses one on April 12.
The Lakers game against the Indiana Pacers on March 29 is now being broadcast on NBATV, replacing the Philadelphia 76ers at Cleveland Cavaliers matchup. This is due to the potential injuries in the Eastern Conference battle to Joel Embiid, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. The two Cavaliers stars could be back for this game after suffering knee and ankle injuries, respectively, but the NBA is choosing not to take any chances.
The Lakers and Pacers is a rematch of the In-Season Tournament’s inaugural championship game, when L.A. handled business in a 123-109 victory. But the Pacers and Lakers are both jockeying for positioning in their respective conferences, giving this matchup plenty of importance in the final weeks of the season.
The other flex involving the Lakers is their second to last game of the season when they take on the Memphis Grizzlies on April 12. NBATV is no longer televising this game and will instead air a meeting between two regular season powerhouses in the Milwaukee Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Grizzlies are in the midst of a lost season, with injuries to nearly all of their core rotation players. At that time in the season, they are unlikely to have anything to play for.
The New Orleans Pelicans at Orlando Magic matchup on March 21 is now on NBATV instead of the Brooklyn Nets at Bucks. The Cavaliers at Minnesota Timberwolves meeting on March 22 replaces the Pelicans at the Miami Heat. The Boston Celtics now play the Chicago Bulls on NBATV on March 23 instead of the Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs. Finally, Suns at Pelicans replaces Celtics at Charlotte Hornets on April 1.
Austin Reaves: Lakers have to be better after loss to Kings
The Lakers got off to a great start against the Sacramento Kings, leading by 19 points late in the first quarter before everything crumbled. The Kings scored the final 10 points of the first before dominating the second quarter 44-20 and never looked back. Reaves admitted to being frustrated after the loss not only individually, but for the team as a whole.
“Super frustrating. Anytime you lose, you should be frustrated,” Reaves said. “You should feel some type of way about how you played as an individual and what you can do to better help the team be successful. Like you said, we had a really good pretty much first quarter, but a really good first nine minutes. We just got to figure out how to continue that for a full 48 minutes.”
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