Warriors host Lakers in NBA Cup group play as both teams deal with key absences

The Golden State Warriors open their NBA Cup group schedule Friday at Chase Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, and both rosters will look thin. According to the ESPN game preview, Golden State will be without Jimmy Butler III (knee), Kristaps Porzingis (illness) and Moses Moody (knee), and Gui Santos is day to day with a knee issue. The Lakers have listed Luka Doncic as out with a back injury. He scored 28 points when the two teams last met.

Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Pacific (10 p.m. Eastern) on Prime Video. The game counts in the regular-season standings and in in-season tournament group play, and it comes eight days after the Lakers beat Golden State 127-105 in Los Angeles on Oct. 22. ESPN lists Adou Thiero (injury management), Cameron Carr (oblique) and Ziaire Williams (foot) as out for the Lakers as well.

Losing Doncic changes the rematch. He drove the first meeting, the worst loss of Golden State's young season, and the Lakers now have to replace his scoring and playmaking on the second game of a road trip that has gone well so far. Golden State has its own gaps. Butler and Porzingis are two of its main frontcourt and perimeter options, and Moody's absence cuts into the wing rotation.

What it means for Friday

The two teams have started the season heading in opposite directions, though the Warriors have steadied lately. Golden State is 2-3 and 10th in the Western Conference. It lost its first three games: 127-105 at the Lakers, 111-108 at home to Memphis and 131-122 at Phoenix. It has won its last two, both on the road, beating Denver 134-114 and Minnesota 119-114. The Warriors scored 120 or more in three of their five games, but they gave up at least 111 in each of the first three.

The Lakers are 4-1, fourth in the West, and lead the Pacific Division by two games over Golden State. They are 2-0 away from home. Last season they went 53-29, shot 50.2 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from 3-point range. Golden State finished 37-45.

The Warriors' home record is the number to watch. They are 0-1 at Chase Center, and the Memphis loss was their only home game so far. Friday is the first of three straight home games, with the Clippers on Sunday and Phoenix on Monday, so this is a chance to build on the road wins in front of their own crowd.

The Lakers came out of the first meeting with a 22-point win, but the team Golden State faces Friday will not have Doncic. The Warriors will also be short-handed, so their depth and the scoring they found in Denver and Minnesota will decide whether they get even in the season series. The teams play four times this season, and ESPN's schedule shows two more games after Friday: a second date in San Francisco and a final one in Los Angeles.