{"id":936375,"date":"2026-10-22T02:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936375\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T02:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T02:18:08","slug":"ziaire-williams-and-matisse-thybulle-are-final-two-lakers-starters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/936375\/","title":{"rendered":"Ziaire Williams and Matisse Thybulle are final two Lakers starters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matisse Thybulle<\/a> and Ziaire Williams<\/a> are the final pieces to the Lakers<\/a>\u2019 much-anticipated starting lineup.<\/p>\n

The free-agent acquisitions will join guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and center Walker Kessler in the Lakers\u2019 first starting lineup of the new season Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com<\/a> Arena. Lakers coach JJ Redick previously said he already knew three of the starting spots, marking down the team\u2019s star backcourt and the center they traded four first-round picks to get, but left the other spots open for competition during training camp.<\/p>\n

Williams emerged as a winner of the competitive preseason. He started both of the preseason games he played in, giving the Lakers the type of versatile defender they coveted to cover up for Doncic\u2019s and Reaves\u2019 defensive deficiencies. The 6-foot-9 forward who signed a veteran minimum contract showed willingness to pick up opposing ball-handlers full court. He also made all five of his preseason three-point attempts.<\/p>\n

Thybulle, a 6-foot-5 wing, is a maestro guarding off the ball. The rangy defensive specialist had 1.3 steals per game during the preseason. He flummoxed his teammates during training camp practices by jumping into passing lanes.<\/p>\n

Quentin Grimes was considered a strong option to start after he signed a four-year, $60-million contract this offseason. Grimes started the first four games of the preseason, averaging 12 points and 2.6 assists while 51.3% shooting in 25.1 minutes per game.<\/p>\n

The Lakers are without guard Collin Sexton, who is out because of a right soleus strain. Sexton, who missed all five preseason games, was a full participant in practice Monday and did not suffer a setback, Redick said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollaborative decision with performance, everyone involved,\u201d Redick said of the decision for Sexton to sit out Wednesday after previously participating in a full practice. \u201cI always say this with soft-tissue injuries, the athlete has to have confidence and full confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rookie Cameron Carr is out and day-to-day because of a right oblique strain. Forward Adou Thiero is sidelined with a left knee effusion. After struggling with chronic knee injuries during his rookie season, Thiero will be \u201cshut down for a couple of days,\u201d Redick said, then be considered day-to-day while he ramps up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams are the final pieces to the Lakers\u2019 much-anticipated starting lineup. The free-agent acquisitions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936376,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[503085,64,30097,63,503082,503081,22616,503080,218448,590,45410,16102,118505,503084,503083,85,91365,1236,32216],"class_list":["post-936375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-60-million-contract","tag-au","tag-austin-reaves","tag-australia","tag-collaborative-decision","tag-competitive-preseason","tag-confidence","tag-lakers-starter","tag-matisse-thybulle","tag-nba","tag-preseason-game","tag-quentin-grimes","tag-redick","tag-right-soleus-strain","tag-sexton","tag-sports","tag-spot","tag-training-camp","tag-ziaire-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}