It’s a quarter of the way in the 2018-19 NBA season and the Los Angeles Lakers are above .500 in the standings with a 12-9 record. Though that’s not exactly a promising record, the first quarter of last night’s game showed exactly what could make the Lakers a dark horse candidate to upset the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs.

The Lakers won against the Indiana Pacers 104-96 only because LeBron James took over in the final minutes of the game. Had they sustained the energy and the speed with which they played in the first 12 minutes of action, L.A. would have beaten the Pacers with a bigger margin and without James bailing out the team once again.

Consistency is one of the Lakers’ biggest issues but as soon as they get their act together, they could presumably take down any team in the postseason. There’s plenty of time for the team to gel and more games to be played for the young guns to develop their game. Josh Hart, Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma and Brandon Ingram are learning how to play with a superstar who, in his 16th season, is still arguably the best player in the game.

LeBron James, Lakers, Luke Walton

In the playoffs, any team can be beaten by a seemingly inferior team if the matchups don’t favor the team with the higher seeding. An example of that can be found in the 2018 NBA Playoffs. The third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers were expected to demolish the sixth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans. Instead, it was the Pelicans that looked unstoppable, dominating the Blazers with a surprising 4-0 sweep. The same could happen if the Warriors face the Lakers in the playoffs.

Could the youthful L.A. club hang with the highly-experienced Bay Area squad? Here are five reasons why the Lakers can compete with the Warriors in a seven-game playoff series:

5. Faster Pace, Younger Legs

lakers

At a time when the pace slows down, the Lakers can ramp it up because they have youth on their side. L.A. can go 10 players deep with a run-and-gun offense that would make Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni proud. They can throw fresh bodies at the Warriors that can sprint at every opportunity. The goal is not just to tire the other team but to also get easy buckets in transition.

When Los Angeles plays fast without turning the ball over, they are a dangerous bunch. As with the Pacers game when they led 38-15 after the first quarter, the Lakers are devastating when they are active, rotate the basketball and move well without the ball. If they can sustain this style of play over an entire playoff series, they can beat any team in the league including the Warriors.

The Lakers have eight players that have three years or less experience in the league. Though that would be an issue in terms of the team’s maturity, they aren’t as beat up during the season as the Warriors are if the games are going to be fast-paced throughout the series. As of today, the Tinseltown Boys have an astounding nine players that are averaging 20 minutes or more per game. If they keep up this balance in minutes distribution, they will be less banged up than their opponents and the chances for injury during the most critical part of the season will be less.

Lakers, LeBron James

4. Individual Defense

Yes, the Lakers defense is not as good as it should be. It’s not bad but it’s a bit mediocre with a defense that’s only 11th in the league so far.

In terms of their individual matchups with the Warriors, the Lakers may have an edge over other teams when it comes to matching up with the sharp-shooting duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Lakers have veteran point guard Rajon Rondo along with Ball and Hart who can take turns guarding Stephen Curry. Hart can also help out in guarding Klay Thompson who will also be guarded by both Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Lance Stephenson.

That’s a lot of bodies to throw at the Splash Brothers who will be hounded throughout the series by players who will gang up on them and be as physical with them as can be allowed in the playoffs.

Then there’s Kevin Durant who will be guarded by James, Kuzma and Ingram. Chief among these defenders on Durant will be Ingram whose length and athleticism will be key in containing the nine-time All-Star. Kuzma will take turns with Ingram but if these two can’t get the job, James will have to keep the Warriors forward from scoring at will.

For DeMarcus Cousins, Javale McGee and Tyson Chandler will be tag team partners in trying to put the clamps on the All-Star center who signed in the summer with the Warriors for a one-year deal and a chance to win a championship. The Lakers centers are focused on defense but are also capable of putting the ball in the hole when given the chance.

Lonzo Ball, Lakers

3. Internal Turmoil

Since Durant signed a two-year deal with Golden State last summer with the second year as an option, speculations have abounded regarding his future destination in 2019 when he is expected to opt out. Tensions have built up within the team with Draymond Green being the first to verbalize what he thinks of Durant’s plans.

Though the issues have supposedly been smoothed over, there’s no telling how much of an effect the friction between the two players will have on the court. But as many others have pointed out, the cutting remarks from Green are not one that Durant will easily forget. It is possible that this is just the beginning of a season-long issue of uncertainty that the team has with one of their core players.

Durant, Green and Cousins are three of the most emotional players in the league and they are all playing for the same team. Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls had the mercurial Dennis Rodman but he was just one guy. The Warriors have three players who are quite sensitive and all of them are part of the starting lineup, or at least will be once Cousins returns. If they have any unresolved and lingering issues from the regular season, these could all explode in their faces in the ultra-charged atmosphere of the playoffs.

James and the Lakers could take advantage of the Warriors’ volatility especially with a disruptor like “Make ‘Em Dance” Lance on their side. If the usually chill LeBron can lose his cool every now and then with Stephenson’s antics in the postseason, imagine what he can do to Green, Durant and Cousins? And then there’s also Rondo who has been known to get under the skin of more than a few players during the course of his career.

LeBron James, Lakers
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2. Warriors Injuries

After about a month and a half of basketball, the Warriors appear to be as vulnerable as they had ever been these past few years. Rather than dominate the league as they have been wont to do, they are losing games that they would normally win easily.

Curry’s absence is the main culprit in Golden State’s rocky start. When he’s on the floor, the defense against them is spread out. Without him, teams can clog the lane and double-team more than usual. You might say that Curry will recover from this soon and that it’s a long way from the playoffs. However, the two-time MVP has missed a number of games the past year (31 last season) including key games in the postseason. Should these nagging injuries catch up to Curry at the wrong time, the Lakers will be ready to pounce on him.

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Ditto for the rest of the Warriors key players. You’ve got Cousins who won’t be playing ‘til late December or early January as he recovers from an Achilles injury. Who knows how well he will be by then and if he can mesh with the team in time? There’s Green who is currently on the injured list and also missed more than a few games last season. Same with Durant and Thompson who are now the ones taking charge of the Warriors while Curry and Green are out with injuries.

The number of games and minutes that these Warriors have played during the course of their championship runs is taking its toll on their bodies and they are breaking down just as they are trying to capture that elusive third straight championship.

The Lakers are going for the kill if they see any inkling that their opponents are far from 100 percent entering their playoff series.

Luke Walton, Lonzo Ball, Lakers

1. LeBron James

More than any other reason to believe that the Warriors can be upset by the Lakers, the presence of the four-time MVP is the biggest determining factor that will decide this series.

Last season, James carried a Cleveland Cavaliers team that no one gave the chance of advancing beyond the second round, all the way to the Finals. Though the Cavs eventually fell to the Dubs via a four-game sweep, it can be argued that James simply lost heart after Cleveland gave away Game 1 on a boneheaded play from teammate J.R. Smith and a little help from the referees during the final few minutes of the first game.

Now playing for a younger, more athletic team with a higher ceiling, James will have a better chance against these Warriors than he did last season.

No one in the league can take over a series quite like the Akron native who is looking to add to his ring collection while playing in the West Coast for the next four years. His playoff heroics last season were the stuff of legend. He averaged a league-leading 34.0 points to go along with 9.1 rebounds, 9.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.0 blocks per contest. He also shot 53.9 percent from the field, an astounding percentage in the postseason when even the best players in the league struggle to put the ball in the hole. If that performance is a preview of what he will do to any team this postseason, then the West will have to be wary including Golden State.

Should the Lakers win a series against the Warriors in the postseason, it will be one of the biggest upsets in recent memory. The tipping point in the series will be James who will be as determined as ever to stop the Warriors from winning a third straight championship at his expense.