Preview: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Golden State Warriors: Player props, injury report and prediction | NBA

Los Angeles Lakers meet Golden State Warriors again just over a week after their first meeting of the season, with the sides reconvening at Chase Center on Friday for the opening game of this year's NBA Cup group stage and a fresh needle to go with it after a heated Luka Doncic-Yaxel Lendeborg flashpoint in the opener.

The Lakers won that first meeting 127-105 at home on October 21, a result that followed Lendeborg and Doncic trading words and physical plays throughout, and the Warriors rookie has made plain since that he has not forgotten it. Doncic's own availability for the rematch is genuinely unresolved, with the Lakers star nursing back tightness that kept him out of their most recent outing.

How do Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors compare ahead of this NBA Cup rematch?

Form Guide

Los Angeles Lakers

4-1 · 4th West

Last 5 (2026-27 regular season)

W W W L W

123.2 PPG

113.6 Opp PPG

126.7 Off. rating

117.6 Def. rating

Golden State Warriors

2-3 · 10th West

Last 5 (2026-27 regular season)

L L L W W

117.6 PPG

119.4 Opp PPG

115.7 Off. rating

118.0 Def. rating

Los Angeles arrive fourth in the Western Conference at 4-1, their only blemish a 136-129 loss to Portland on October 27, while Golden State sit 10th at 2-3 but have won their last two in a row, outlasting Denver and Minnesota on the road.

That two-game uptick matters because it has come without several key pieces, and it is the clearest sign yet that Golden State can still generate offence even while shorthanded.

Los Angeles, by contrast, have barely needed their best player to keep winning, since their most recent victory at the Clippers came with Doncic held out entirely as a precaution.

Austin Reaves and Walker Kessler carried that win, and the pair will likely be asked to do so again if Doncic is held out a second straight game.

The numbers above explain why the Lakers are still favourites even with their star guard in doubt, since their net rating advantage runs across nearly every category rather than one or two isolated stats.

Los Angeles hold the edge in scoring, defence, playmaking and ball security, and their three-point shooting is more than two percentage points better too.

Golden State's clearest route back into parity is pace and turnover forcing, areas where a shorthanded frontcourt can still disrupt a game even without matching the Lakers shot for shot.

Anyone checking the NBA schedule for the rest of the week will see both sides have a quick turnaround either side of this one, which only sharpens the case for Los Angeles managing Doncic's workload carefully.

Team news and rotations for Lakers vs. Warriors

Doncic's situation is the one that could decide the game. He sat out Wednesday's win over the Clippers as a precaution after waking up with back tightness, with head coach JJ Redick calling it "tightness for Luka, soreness for Ziaire" and saying the staff were "just being overly cautious" given a congested run of fixtures.

Asked directly whether Doncic and Williams would be ready for Golden State, Redick would only say "that's the hope", which is some way short of a guarantee with less than two days between the two games.

Golden State's absentee list is unchanged and considerably longer, with Porzingis, Butler and Moody all missing significant minutes up front and Santos now added to that list after sitting out the Minnesota game.

That has forced Steve Kerr to lean heavily on Brandin Podziemski, Draymond Green and the rookie Lendeborg, and Friday's rotation looks set to repeat that same shorthanded pattern regardless of what Los Angeles decide with Doncic.

Lakers vs. Warriors: the rivalry renewed between Lendeborg and Doncic

Key Matchups

Unfinished business

Yaxel Lendeborg

GSW

VS

Luka Doncic

LAL

26 Last game PTS

9 Last game REB

9 Last game AST

41 Last game PTS

Prior meeting: Lakers 127-105 Warriors, Oct 21, 2026

Lendeborg says he has "lost all respect" for Doncic since their physical, heated exchange in the opener, and has been openly counting down to facing him again. Whether that rematch actually happens as a straight individual duel depends entirely on Doncic's back checking out in time.

Lendeborg has backed up the talk with form, following a strong opener with 26 points and nine rebounds in Golden State's win over Minnesota, and he is clearly relishing the chance to go again.

Doncic, for his part, was in the middle of a huge individual stretch before the rest day, having scored 41 points in his most recent appearance against Portland, so there is plenty for both men to prove if he is passed fit.

Lakers vs. Warriors player props to watch

Player Props to Watch

Yaxel LendeborgGSW

PointsOver 19.5

22.6 Season PPG

5/5 GP played

Lendeborg is averaging 22.6 points through his first five NBA games and dropped 26 in his most recent outing, so 19.5 sits comfortably under his season mark against a Lakers defence that has conceded 113.6 points per game.

A look back at the Lakers and Warriors' head-to-head record

Friday's game is only the second meeting of the season, with the Lakers having taken the opener comfortably despite the sideshow involving Lendeborg and Doncic.

The two franchises carry one of the league's older rivalries, dating back to the sides' earliest years in their current cities, and the Lakers hold a significant edge in their handful of playoff meetings down the decades.

None of that history has much bearing on personnel now, since the Lakers have rebuilt their roster around Doncic following LeBron James's departure this past offseason, a shift any reader catching up on how the NBA season and standings actually work will recognise has reshaped the conference picture before a single Cup game had been played.

Our Lakers vs. Warriors prediction

Golden State's recent two-game run offers genuine encouragement, but it has largely come against sides without the sheer offensive firepower the Lakers can call upon even with doubts over Doncic.

Expect a tight opening stretch while Lendeborg and whoever starts for Los Angeles size each other up, before the Lakers' superior depth and shooting pull it away in the second half.