LA Lakers vs Phoenix Suns predicted starting lineups and depth charts for Oct. 17 | 2024 NBA Preseason

The NBA has a packed schedule for Thursday with seven games on hand, including the clash between the LA Lakers and Phoenix Suns. It's the second Lakers-Suns matchup of the preseason, with Phoenix winning the first one in California.

The two teams first met in the preseason on Oct. 6, with the Suns earning a 118-114 win. Both teams' starters only played in the first half, which was dominated by the Lakers. However, the Suns bench corp staged a comeback to get the deserved victory.

Phoenix enters the final game of its preseason with a 3-1 record as its lone loss was against the Detroit Pistons. On the other hand, the Lakers are 1-3 and have one more game left after Thursday's contest. Their only win was against the Milwaukee Bucks.

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LA Lakers vs Phoenix Suns injury reports

The Lakers have four players currently listed on their injury report, as per ESPN. Armel Traore, Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood and Christian Kaloko are all tagged as out and won't be suiting up on Thursday night. LeBron James (rest) and Rui Hachimura (calf) were late additions.

Traore is dealing with a swollen hand, while Vanderbilt is still recovering from offseason surgeries on both of his feet. Kaloko has an unspecified illness and Wood has been ruled out until at least Nov. 4 after undergoing knee surgery last month.

Meanwhile, the Suns have six players on their injury report although only one is listed as out. Tyus Jones, Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal were rested in their previous game, so they are expected to play against the Lakers.

Josh Okogie and Grayson Allen are considered day-to-day, but the former was absent from practice and the latter hasn't done any basketball work since suffering an Achilles injury. Jusuf Nurkic is still listed as out, but could make his return, as reported by Turner Sports' Chris Haynes.

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LA Lakers vs Phoenix Suns starting lineups and depth charts

Lakers

G - D'Angelo Russell | G - Austin Reaves | F - Max Christie | F - Cam Reddish | C - Anthony Davis

Point Guard	Shooting Guard	Small Forward	Power Forward	Center
D'Angelo Russell	Austin Reaves	Rui Hachimura	LeBron James	Anthony Davis
Gabe Vincent	Max Christie	Dalton Knecht	Jarred Vanderbilt	Jaxson Hayes
Jordan Goodwin	Cam Reddish	Maxwell Lewis	Christian Wood	Collin Castleton
Quincy Olivari	Jalen Hood-Schifino	Armal Traore		Christian Kaloko
	Bronny James			Kylor Kelly

Suns

G - Tyus Jones | G - Devin Booker | F - Bradley Beal | F - Kevin Durant | C - Mason Plumlee

Point Guard	Shooting Guard	Small Forward	Power Forward	Center
Tyus Jones	Devin Booker	Bradley Beal	Kevin Durant	Jusuf Nurkic
Monte Morris	Grayson Allen	Ryan Dunn	Royce O'Neal	Mason Plumlee
Collin Gillespie	Josh Okogie	Jalen Bridges	Osho Ighodaro	Bol Bol
TyTy Washington Jr.	Damion Lee			Frank Kaminsky
Paul Watson

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LA Lakers vs Phoenix Suns game details

The LA Lakers-Phoenix Suns preseason game is scheduled for 10 p.m. EDT tipoff. It will be televised on NBA TV and streamed live on the NBA League Pass, which is a paid subscription.

As mentioned above, the Lakers have one more game after tonight's clash against Phoenix. They will visit the Golden State Warriors on Friday before opening their season at home on Oct. 22 versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Phoenix will have six days of rest after this contest, facing the LA Clippers on Oct. 23 in the newly-opened Intuit Dome.