James and the Lakers face Portland for the second time this season having gone head-to-head on the four-time MVP’s debut on opening night.
The 33-year-old’s 26-point, 12-rebound, six-assist performance was in vain that night as the Trail Blazers won 128-119.
This clash is also at the Blazers’ Moda Center as Portland look to build on their 6-2 start, sitting pretty in third in the Western Conference.
The Lakers, by contrast, have made a losing start to the season with the pressure on team coach Luke Walton after winning just three of their first eight games.
Walton has been admonished by Lakers president and legend Magic Johnson for their start, although James helped to earn a clutch 114-113 win over the Dallas Mavericks last time out.
Recent reports have indicated that Walton’s long-term future is uncertain heated meeting with head of basketball operations Johnson but James is focused solely on matters out on the floor.
“It doesn’t bother me at all because I don’t pay attention to it, I don’t listen to it,” he said.
“It actually never even gets to me really, so it’s not a big deal for us. We need to figure out how we can string together some great games or even good games and bring our win total from where it is now.
“Because that’s the business we’re in. That’s the only thing we want to do. We want to be as good a team as we can be and win ball-games.”
“We’re still in the real early stages. But we are much more of a unit today than we were two weeks ago. So I think we’ll be even better two weeks from now, and two weeks from then.
“I think every game, every road trip, every film session, every day that we’re together is going to continue to get us more and more familiar with one another.
“You just have to learn each other and know what to expect out of one another, how to challenge each other.”
Walton will hope to begin turning things around against Damian Lillard and co. tonight (2am UK start) – although the Blazers are in fine form and their offense has proven one of the best in the league.
Given the Lakers’ defensive struggles, the Blazers are strong favourites to make it 17 wins in a row over their opponents.
And if they do that, it will ensure they tie the longest winning streak against a single team in their history having won 17 straight against another Los Angeles franchise, the LA Clippers, between 1986 and 1989.
Portland Trail Blazers vs Los Angeles Lakers LIVE stream
Sky Sports have the right to broadcast games from the NBA in the UK.
However, they will not be showing the clash between the Blazers and the Lakers.
Fans are able to stream the match through Bet365, provided they have money in their account ti activate the video player.
Otherwise, UK residents can also purchase an NBA League Pass for year-round access.
There are numerous packages the NBA League Pass offers with the premium account offering coverage from every team, every game and exclusive features for an annual fee of £214.99.
The next one down covers every team and every game for an annual fee of £184.99 while if you wanted to stick to just one team then it will cost £99.99 for the season or a day pass will cost £4.99.