Luke Walton had to make some big changes due to the fight that broke out on Saturday night between his Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets. The fight saw the NBA suspend both Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo for four and three games respectively.

As a result, Walton found his Lakers without their starting point guard and forward and needed to figure out how to make it without them for a very tough game tonight against the San Antonio Spurs.

Who is starting in place of Rondo?

Replacing Rajon Rondo in the starting five was relatively easy since Luke Walton could just plug Lonzo Ball back into the starting lineup at point guard.

Ball was the starting point guard last season after the Los Angeles Lakers made him their first-round draft pick.

While Ball has a very loud cheerleader in his father LaVar Ball, the Lakers made the smart decision of starting veteran Rajon Rondo at point guard and bringing the young Ball off the bench. In his rookie season, Ball shot a very low 36-percent field goal percentage.

Through the first two games of the 2018-19 NBA season, Lonzo Ball is averaging 23 minutes a game (11 down from last season) and his field goal percentage has risen to 41-percent. His assist average has dropped from 7.2 a game to 2.5 a game in the lesser playing time.

The game with the San Antonio Spurs will give Lonzo Ball a chance to try to make his case playing alongside LeBron James.

Who is starting in place of Ingram?

The choice of who will start in place of Brandon Ingram was also an easy one. Kyle Kuzma, another big draft pick from last season, will step up and take on that role for the Los Angeles Lakers.

In his rookie season, Kuzma started 37 games and averaged 16.1 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. While he is playing from the bench this season, Kuzma is still averaging 27 minutes a game with 13 points and 3.5 rebounds a game.

Him stepping in for Brandon Ingram (28 minutes, 13.6 points, 4 rebounds) won't be a big change.

However, what will hurt is that the Los Angeles Lakers won't have Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram to both play and will need to get some serious production from Michael Beasley.

The Lakers starting five

With Lonzo Ball as the starting point guard and Kyle Kuzma as the starting power forward, the other three starters for the Los Angeles Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs tonight are LeBron James at small forward, JaVale McGee at center and Josh Hart at shooting guard.

The Los Angeles Lakers (0-2) take on the San Antonio Spurs (1-1) at home with a tipoff time of 10:30 p.m. EST.
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