Lakers vs Warriors Preview: Injury Report, TV Stream, Watch

The Lakers will wrap up their preseason with a game against Golden State, where they face the Warriors for the second night in a row. The purple and gold are looking to finish their preseason with a good two-game winning streak.

Start time and TV program

WHO: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors

When: 7:30 p.m. PT, October 18

Where: Chase Center

Regard: Spectrum SportsNet

The Lakers played their best half of the preseason in Thursday's win over the Suns: Anthony Davis had four three-pointers in the first quarter alone, Austin Reaves aggressively created his own shot and found his rhythm, the team's overall defense was mostly present and the energy was up compared to the first four games.

This game was supposedly considered a dress rehearsal, but it's still difficult to fully assess the team without LeBron James and Rui Hachimura. James reportedly won't play for the remainder of the preseason, so the four-time champion will have a week off before the first game of the regular season.

With James likely out again on Friday, this is the perfect opportunity for the Lakers to see how they survive without him, which, to be fair, they did well last season. LA had a 6-5 record when James sat out, and based on their performance against the Suns on Wednesday, it appears they are prepared to go through games without him again.

Speaking of getting through the games, the ideal scenario after Friday's game against the Warriors is for everyone to stay healthy. That alone should be a priority. Then it will be nice to see players like D'Angelo Russell, Reaves and Cam Reddish continue to build their rhythm.

Maybe JJ Redick will put an emphasis on transition defense before Friday's game, because boy, did the Lakers take a painful beating (22-13) against the Suns after being outscored 21-0 in the first half. Rebounding should also continue to be a focus, as the Lakers lost to the Warriors last time in this final (55-50), especially when the starters were there.

The guys from the G League will most likely play in this game because it makes no sense for AD, who played 33 minutes on Thursday, to play heavy minutes again. The same goes for the rest of the starters.

So Thursday's Laker hero Dalton Knecht and a lot of Jalen Hood-Schifino, Bronny James, Maxwell Lewis, Quincy Olivari and Co. will most likely be involved in this matter.

Let's see if they can give the Lakers at least one more win by Friday before the regular season officially begins.

Notes and updates

• As mentioned above, LeBron (old) will most likely not play in this game, as will Jarred Vanderbilt (foot surgery), Christian Wood (knee surgery) and Christian Koloko (not cleared per NBA protocols).
• Fun fact: After his heroic performance against the Suns, Dalton Knecht ranks second in 3-pointers made this preseason.
• We'll be live on playback for this game, so be sure to join us!

You can follow Nicole on Twitter at @nicoleganglanI.