Last season, the Lakers became the first team to win the NBA's in-season tournament.

That means this year, they're the first team to try and defend that title. Of course, while the in-season tournament (now the NBA Cup) was a much bigger success than most anticipated, fans certainly remember how much the Lakers struggled following the tournament. It was miserable, in part because LA clearly used a lot of energy to try and win the thing and it took a while to recover. So with their portion of the NBA Cup opening tonight in San Antonio against a quickly improving Spurs team featuring a red hot Victor Wembenyama.

But while Friday's game will get the most attention, a very solid argument can be made that Saturday's game in New Orleans is more critical. The Lakers, currently sitting at 7-4 in an extraordinarily crowded Western Conference, can't afford to give any games away. The best teams in the conference will almost certainly dominate against sub-.500 teams. Teams that fall to the bottom of the playoff ladder wil almost certainly have given away some games they shouldn't have.

A 2-0 weekend, where the Lakers play better, establish themselves as a competent road team, and add tons of optimism would be idea.

1-1, though, is the minimum.

HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky

SEGMENT 1: It's Cup time!

SEGMENT 2: The Lakers need a strong weekend.

SEGMENT 3: Let's say the Lakers were ready and willing to make a deal, likely for a big. Is there anything out there?

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Lakers Start Their NBA Cup Title Defense vs. Spurs and Wembanyama. Should they Try to Repeat? 35:02 Share

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers

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Lakers Start Their NBA Cup Title Defense vs. Spurs and Wembanyama. Should they Try to Repeat?