There was no LeBron James or Austin Reaves for the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night when they played their first preseason game, and many other regulars only played the first half. They lost to the Golden State Warriors.

On Monday night, the Lakers play again. They will host the Brooklyn Nets at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for their second of six warmup games.

These Lakers are more like a full team now that James and Reaves are both playing for the first time. Since they only have a few practice games left, this should give the guys a chance to get to know each other and avoid having a bad start to the season like they did last year.

James and Reaves are back, and players like Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell, and Max Christie want to build on their strong play in the first game of the season.

With 15 points and five rebounds in just 13 minutes, Davis led the way for L.A. Russell also had 15 points and five assists in 16 minutes. When it came to Summer League, Christie picked up where he left off. He scored 15 points in 25 minutes and kept making his case for a spot in Darvin Ham’s rotation.

Watch how Ham changes his lineups in this game now that they’re almost fully healthy. However, Cam Reddish (right ankle pain) and Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel pain) are not playing because they are not feeling well. According to the Lakers, they are only day-to-day.

But since two wings are out, Rui Hachimura, Taurean Prince, and Christie should likely play a lot against a Nets team that is also strong on the wings. In this game, Ham has decided to start Prince instead of Prince, who came off the bench in the first game.

Since this is the Nets’ first preseason game, head coach Jacque Vaughn hasn’t decided how to set up his starting group or rotation yet. However, Spencer Dinwiddie and Mikal Bridges are a tough pair to deal with in the backcourt. As long as Ben Simmons can get back to his old self, Brooklyn could be one of the surprises in 2023–24.