After playing eight of the last nine games at home, the Los Angeles Lakers are embarking on the first road trip of the year.
The Lakers will head east to play five teams in the Eastern Conference: Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers.
After losing two of the last three home games by a combined 42 points — to the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves — head coach Frank Vogel expressed optimism for the team spending time away from home.
“We welcome the road trip. It’ll be good for us,” Vogel said after the loss to Chicago. “We’ve been struggling a little bit, up and down. We’re fighting for consistency and change of environment should be good for us.”
At the moment, only the Knicks are in a playoff spot. The Bucks, defending champions, have started slowly at 6-8. The Pacers and Pistons are right below Milwaukee, so the Lakers are in a decent position to pick up some wins.
However, L.A. hasn’t always fared well against lesser opposition, so it’ll be interesting to see how the team performs. LeBron James still doesn’t have a return date.
