Portland Trail Blazers visit Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in the early hours of Wednesday morning, UK time, with the unbeaten Blazers trying to contain Luka Doncic after his 52-point night against Utah.

Portland arrive at 2-0 and sixth in the Western Conference, while the 3-0 Lakers sit second in the conference standings and play again at the Clippers the following night, local time.

What is the form like for the Trail Blazers and Lakers?

Portland opened with a 124-83 home win over Phoenix and followed it with a 128-120 victory at Sacramento, so their defensive numbers owe plenty to a Suns side held to 35.7% shooting.

The Kings finished the preseason without a win, so the Blazers have yet to face an offence like Los Angeles, and their two wins have come by an average of 24.5 points even though Sacramento stayed within eight.

The Lakers have beaten Golden State, the Clippers and Utah, the last of those 132-123 on Sunday, and have scored at least 125 points in all three games.

The numbers favour Portland on the glass and in the passing game, since the Blazers collect 50.5 rebounds a game against 37.0 for the Lakers.

Los Angeles answer with efficiency, shooting 54.5% from the field and 42.1% from three, which explains why their attack looks sturdier than their defence, and they also reach the line more often, with 30.0 free-throw attempts a game against 24.0 for Portland.

Portland's threes come through volume more than accuracy, as 47.5 attempts a game have returned 34.7%, so a cold night from deep would leave them short of the Lakers' output.

The Lakers also turn the ball over more than the visitors, which matters against a team winning the rebounding battle by this margin.

Pace should not decide the style of play either, since Portland average 101.5 possessions a game and Los Angeles 102.0, so neither side is likely to be dragged into a tempo it dislikes.

Trail Blazers vs. Lakers team news and rotations

Shaedon Sharpe is out for Portland with a torn meniscus suffered in August, so Ja Morant and Damian Lillard are projected to start in the backcourt, with Deni Avdija and Toumani Camara at forward and Donovan Clingan at centre.

Chris Youngblood (ankle) and Branden Carlson (concussion) carry game-time designations, although neither features in Portland's projected starting five, so the rotation should hold if both sit.

Adou Thiero (knee) and Cameron Carr (oblique) are listed out for Los Angeles, which leaves Doncic, Austin Reaves, Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle and Walker Kessler as the projected starters.

With the Clippers waiting in the NBA schedule the following night, Los Angeles may manage minutes late if the result is settled, while Portland have had three days to recover from the trip to Sacramento.

The matchups that could decide Trail Blazers vs. Lakers

Toumani Camara is expected to take the first assignment on Doncic, with Sidy Cissoko, Lillard, Morant, Scoot Henderson and Deni Avdija also likely to share the job, so the Blazers' plan depends on varying the looks Doncic sees rather than trusting a single stopper, while Camara's own three-point shooting makes him a threat the Lakers must track at the other end.

At the other end, Lillard is shooting 40.0% from three and Reaves 50.0%, so whichever guard finds more space could swing the game, particularly if the paint stays crowded by Clingan and Kessler.

Best Trail Blazers vs. Lakers player props

Head-to-head record for Trail Blazers vs. Lakers

Portland won two of the three meetings from last season, 122-108 at Crypto.com Arena on 27 October and 132-116 at home on 17 January, while Los Angeles took the 123-115 game in Portland on 3 November.

Two of the three games were decided by 14 points or more and the most recent was a 16-point Blazers win, which gives Portland a recent edge in this fixture, although a sample from a different season says little about two teams barely into new campaigns.

Portland hosted two of the three meetings, so the sample holds only one game in Los Angeles, and the Blazers won that one as well.

Trail Blazers vs. Lakers tips and prediction

The Lakers have outscored opponents by 15.0 points a game at home, which holds up better than their defensive numbers suggest, even allowing for Portland's rest advantage, and the total leans over because Portland's rating is built largely on the Phoenix game while Los Angeles conceded 117 and 123 points in their last two outings.

We expect Los Angeles to edge it as Doncic's volume and the Lakers' home shooting outweigh Portland's rest, with the visitors' three-point attempts keeping the margin below a double-digit gap, and the Lakers' turnovers are the clearest route to an upset, since each extra Portland possession from the glass raises the visitors' ceiling.