Everyone wanted to see this matchup. It will be tough. There is a healthy dose of respect between them, so we can enjoy the series without any shenanigans, most likely.
Agree. LeBron is the coach this series. He’s so familiar with cooking this team (yes I get his team lost but he barbecued them).
looking forward to this series more than i would have a kings series, tbh. gs is a great team with a ton of experience. i'm not as confident as most in this thread, but i think it should be a great series to watch for all fans.
I agree. Rui and Lebron are good with their mid game. Make Curry work on both ends. Take both of the first 2 games to demoralized them.
This is a tough matchup maybe more than any other series the Lakers may get. That being said this team is way better than the Kings and GS needed every bit of Steph going thru. AD will destroy that junk defense they played on Sabonis and the Kings had no rim protection. GS can certainly throw bodies at AD and Lebron in Looney, Green, Wiggins, GP and they have two great shooters surrounding them. That being said the Warriors are easier to defend than in the past - Looney and Green are not great offensive threats and definitely don't space the floor. If they try to go 4 out Lebron/AD rim attack OTOH: the Lakers have way more rim protection and rebounding then the Kings, have a lot of good chasers to keep up with shooters (Vando, Reaves, DS are all very good chase defenders) and the Warriors really don't have any great iso scorers which traditionally have given the Lakers problems. Is WIggins going to really pull a Kahwii/Tatum kind of offensive performance? Then on offense similar problems that the Kings presented to the Warriors Dlo/Reaves/DS attacking them similar to Fox/Monk but the Lakers have Lebron/AD inside. Again on paper really worrisome but the Lakers have already played a better defensive team who is more physical and can take what the Kings did and just up a notch. On paper I'd say GS in 6 but after watching these series Lakers in 6 or 7. Another way to think about this if Reaves/Dlo play up to their potential - Lakers win this going away. If Wiggins plays up to his and they don't - GS wings going away. If both play up their potential coin-flip except it's nagging me that GS had such a tough time with the Kings
Don’t get me wrong. It’s going to be a tough series. Could be a classic honestly. I like our chances though.
We got them were we want them a team that went to 7 games and they weren't all that sure about the series vs kings .... My main thing is how tired are they
Keep going back to JJJ: he really caused problems with his rim protection (Memphis has good defenders all over but he was special in terms of protecting the paint) but he was also a big problem on defense particularly when AD sat and as a lob threat. GS has no one like him either on offense or defense As great as Draymond is, he's not a rim protector and the amount of good shots the Kings choked away are shots that Reaves/Dlo/Rui feasted on against a tougher defense. The Lakers defense is really setup up to the play a GS type well with chasers all around. Yeah on defense they have guys who can counter AD but so did Memphis and the Lakers have similar archetypes of dudes in Reaves/Dlo/DS who do what Fox/Monk can do but the Lakers have AD/Lebron backing them up along with Rui who are way better then Sabonis/Barnes/Murray/Lyles. Scary at first though but liking the Lakers chances more when thinking about matchups
Second round is full of great matchups this year. Heat vs Knicks Butler is on a crazy run right now and he alone can make the series entertaining. Unfortunately he rolled his ankle pretty badly, and Randle is injured too. This could easily be a hard fought 7 game series the way both team plays. Sixers vs C Bags This would have been THE series to watch if Embiid was healthy. Hate both teams but Sixers were one of the few teams that played C Bags hard throughout the season. Might be a 5 game series if C Bags don't play around like with the Hawks. Nuggets vs Suns Jokic and Murray are balling right now like they did in the bubble, Suns don't have the defense or the chemistry to win. Suns main players are still playing big mins and scoring well but they look outclass. Lakers vs Warriors NBA is gonna milk the hell out of Lebron vs Curry matchup, at least we know Lebron isn't gonna need extra motivation for this series. I'm not as confident as some of you guys here, we match up well but Warriors always play us tough. Dray and Looney always play AD tough. We don't have the shooting to keep up if Curry, Klay or Wiggins go off. Easy 7 game series me thinks.
Also, K Love has fit in nicely with Miami- watching game 1 now. They could take down the C Bags with Jimmy in this form.
“Playin with his food” just may be the worst description of a guy dribbling in the history of the NBA. Makes me cringe every single time.
butler is an old school, tough as nails type player unlike the rest of the soft a** NBA. he'll be in there next game
Lakers Warriors is going to be a super tough. Seven games for sure. I think our defense wins out, but if Steph and Klay go nuclear there’s not much you can do but give a tip of the hat and say “well played”. This is going to be a Schroeder and Vanderbilt series IMO. We don’t win unless they fight over screens and harass Steph/Clay full court on most possessions. Luckily I do think those are the guys for the job. I worry about Austin and Dlo fighting over screens well enough to start and end games during this series.
