Portland Trail Blazers forward Carmelo Anthony faces best buddy, Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James: Game 1 preview, odds, time, TV

channel,Damian Lillard has heard the chatter. He, too, believes the Portland Trail Blazers are more than up for the task of defeating the Los Angeles Lakers when the two teams collide in Game 1 of their opening-round Western Conference series Tuesday in the NBA bubble near Orlando.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers face off in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs in the bubble. We break down what to watch and how to watch on TV or live stream. The 2020 NBA Playoffs begin on Monday, August 17th after the seeding round wrapped up the regular season with each team playing eight games in the bubble in Orlando. We

started with 22 teams and now we’re down to the 16 teams that will compete for the 2020 NBA Championship. The first round of the playoffs kicks off with best-of-7 series in both the Western Conference and Eastern Conference.After defeating the Memphis Grizzlies in the play-in tournament, the Portland Trail Blazers clinched the No. 8 seed and will meet the No. 1 seed Los Angeles Lakers in the

first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs. The Lakers won the best record in the West after going 52-19. The Blazers had to go 6-2 to get a spot in the play-in tournament, only needing one win over Memphis to advance. The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Carmelo Anthony are the best of friends.Yet, last offseason when Anthony didn’t have a job, James and the Los Angeles Lakers didn’t sign him.

James said Monday that he would have loved for Anthony to have joined the Lakers but it just wasn’t in the cards. That’s unfortunate for the Lakers, who certainly could have used Anthony in some capacity this season.

Anthony signed with the Blazers in November 2019 and that move has paid off big for Portland, especially at the bubble, where the 10-time All-Star has come up clutch on numerous occasions.

“They’ve given him a role and he’s accepted his role and has flourished under it,” James said.

That role could now include guarding James when the Blazers and Lakers begin their first-round NBA playoff series Tuesday with Game 1.

Game 1: Tue, Aug 18 Portland at Los Angeles, 9 ET, TNT
Game 2: Thur, Aug 20 Portland at Los Angeles, 9 ET, ESPN
Game 3: Sat, Aug 22 Los Angeles at Portland, 8:30 ET, ABC
Game 4: Mon, Aug 24 Los Angeles at Portland, 9 ET, TNT
Game 5: Wed, Aug 26 Portland at Los Angeles, TBD, TBD Game 6: Fri, Aug 28 Los Angeles at Portland, TBD, TBD
Game 7*: Sun, Aug 30 Portland at Los Angeles, TBD, TBD

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