The Los Angeles Lakers are in New Orleans on Tuesday evening to begin a treacherous road trip that had Lakers coach Luke Walton scratching his head.
"It is a challenge," Walton said on Sunday night when asked about the trip. "We're going from the South to the North, to the North, back to the South. It makes zero sense."
LA plays in New Orleans on Tuesday night before flying up to Illinois for a Wednesday night showdown against Dwyane Wade and the Chicago Bulls. Then, Friday night features a quick trip to Canada to face DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors before Saturday night's Tennessee tango with Marc Gasol and the Memphis Grizzlies.
That's two back-to-backs in five nights, which amounts to four games in five nights in four different cities. Including the flight out of LA on Monday afternoon and the flight back to LA on Saturday night, the Lakers are scheduled to fly about 6,700 miles in six days. That adds up to roughly 500 miles more than the distance from Los Angeles to Beijing, China.
Also, LA doesn't exactly get a break following the bumpy plane rides. After four games in five nights in four different cities, the Lakers get home late Saturday night and host the Utah Jazz on Monday night before heading to Houston for a quick Wednesday night contest in the Lone Star State. Following that odd one-game road trip on a Wednesday, the Lakers go back home and play the Phoenix Suns on Friday night and the New York Knicks on a Sunday night before beginning a seven-game cross country road trip that starts in Sacramento and stretches as far east as Brooklyn and as far south as Miami.
Over the next 25 days, the Lakers play 15 games in 12 different cities, not counting LA.
"It's tough," Walton said about the geographic challenges of the upcoming trip. "We'll keep an eye on minutes because of the travel and the minutes and the back-to-back and already being shorthanded. It's the cliché of one game at a time, and that's what we need to do."
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The Lakers begin this daunting stretch in New Orleans at 5 p.m. Pacific Time.
Randle went through full shootaround, but Lakers will reevaluate him closer to tip — Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) November 29, 2016
Notes: Julius Randle, who celebrates has 22nd birthday on Tuesday, is questionable to take part on Tuesday night due to a hip pointer injury, though the forward is expected back at some point during the upcoming road trip. D'Angelo Russell remains sidelined with a sore left knee that received a PRP injection. LA starts the road trip with a .500 record of 9-9.
