Nobody outside of the most loyal fans of the Los Angeles Lakers could have thought that the Purple and Gold will be playing at least until the middle of May following their dreadful start to the 2022-23 season, but here we are. The Lakers have emerged as one of the best teams in the association ever since they made some savvy acquisitions at the trade deadline, and knowing how wide open the title race is, it's not out of the realm of possibility for a LeBron James-led team to win it all.

But standing in front of the Lakers in their quest to win their franchise's 18th championship are the Golden State Warriors, a team that has gotten the best of James plenty of times in the past. The Warriors, specifically Stephen Curry, appear to be hitting their stride at exactly the right time after scuffling throughout the 2022-23 season en route to an unconvincing title defense effort.

But now, the Dubs appear ready to defend their championship with all their might, and facing LeBron James in the playoffs seems to always bring out the best out of them.

As a result, many are favoring the Warriors entering the series. The presence of Stephen Curry as the best overall player in the entire series gives the Warriors a huge advantage, especially with LeBron James not yet performing to the best of his postseason ability. He is currently averaging the lowest number of points in a single playoff run, and he's shooting a horrid 19.5 percent from deep after six games against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round.

However, the Lakers have definitely become more than just the LeBron James and Anthony Davis show, so counting them out seems especially daft.

With that said, here are three bold predictions for how the Lakers' Western Conference semifinals series against the Warriors would turn out.

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3. Anthony Davis renders Kevon Looney close to unplayable in this series

Kevon Looney was simply amazing for the Warriors in their first-round matchup against the Sacramento Kings. The Warriors gave Looney the task of matching up against All-Star center Domantas Sabonis, and Looney ended up giving Sabonis hell. Looney stifled Sabonis' scoring output and he made the NBA's leading rebounder look like a weakling on the glass.

However, Lakers star Anthony Davis presents the Warriors with an entirely different kind of conundrum which could force head coach Steve Kerr into some tough rotation choices.

Davis has torched Kevon Looney and company in the past, including a 39-point explosion in the Lakers' win over the Dubs on March 6. During that game, Looney played only 20 minutes, paling in comparison to the 30.1 he averaged during the Kings series.

Kerr is never hesitant in reconfiguring his rotations and matchups, so Looney could end up playing a smaller role if he struggles to contain Davis.

Another factor that could render Kevon Looney unplayable is Anthony Davis' defense. During the Lakers' six-game triumph over the Grizzlies, Davis stood tall as such an imposing figure in protecting the rim, averaging 4.3 blocks and altering plenty of other shots, preventing the team that averaged the most points in the paint during the regular season to feast.

If Looney ends up cramping the Warriors' spacing, Kerr may have no choice but to go small with Draymond Green at the five to grease the wheels on offense. At that point, the Lakers will have to capitalize by crashing the glass with reckless abandon, like LeBron James did against Memphis. These little things could end up swinging the momentum in favor of the Purple and Gold.

2. Austin Reaves continues to earn his dough

From being an undrafted bench player to being one of the most important members of the Lakers' supporting cast, Austin Reaves has come a long way. Not only is he a battler on both ends of the floor, he has also become one of the savviest playmakers and craftiest scorers on the Lakers roster.

With Andrew Wiggins sure to take the LeBron James matchup and either Draymond Green or Kevon Looney on Anthony Davis, Reaves should end up playing a huge role in helping the Lakers claim the series as the underdogs.

It will either be Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson who defends Reaves; while Thompson is still a tough on-ball defender to get past, Reaves should definitely be aggressive if ever Curry is the one who matches up with him. Reaves' ability to draw fouls could also put some of the Warriors' most valuable players in foul trouble, and this iteration of the Warriors doesn't particularly have the best depth.

This has all the makings of a huge Austin Reaves series, and given how well he has played in the calendar year of 2023 thus far, there's not much reason to expect a steep drop-off from the impressive sophomore guard.

1. LeBron James averages 27-7-7, Lakers in 7

LeBron James had his fair share of struggles against the Grizzlies, but make no mistake, The King can turn it up at a moment's notice. Some of the best playoff games of his career have come against the Warriors — his masterful three-game stretch in the 2016 NBA Finals, the classic 51-point performance in Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, and his latest postseason heroics against the Dubs, an unlikely three-pointer to give the Lakers a three-point lead they would not relinquish during the 2021 play-in tournament.

Expect James to be back to playing at his best against a team that he's all too familiar with as he leads the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals.