On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will host Giannis Antetokounmpo and the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks at the Staples Center. It will be a battle between the team with the best record in the NBA and the squad sitting atop the Western Conference.

Along with this matchup being a potential NBA Finals preview, it will showcase arguably the two best candidates for NBA MVP this season. LeBron James continues going strong in his 17th season in the league while leading the Lakers to the top spot in the West alongside Anthony Davis. Giannis, however, has taken his game to another level once again this season. The Bucks forward has his team on pace to win 70 games in the regular season.

Ahead of this epic matchup between NBA heavyweights, LeBron talked about the challenge of containing the Bucks superstar after practice on Thursday, via Spectrum SportsNet.

“Big-time challenge,” LeBron said on the challenge of containing Giannis. “His ability to get the ball off the glass, push, facilitate. Put pressure on your defense, but I think what a lot of people are misunderstanding about how great Giannis is, is how they put that team together. They put that team together around him that fits his attributes perfectly.

“It allows him to get space because they keep so many shooters out on the floor at the same time it allows him to get downhill because you have to stop him at the point of attack and you also have to get out to sharpshooters, so they did a great job of constructing that team putting the pieces around him like I said, that best fits his game perfectly.”

After tipoff at Staples on Friday, all eyes will be on LeBron and Giannis with both players looking to impose their will and prove they are this season's NBA MVP. All the pressure will be on the Lakers during this showdown of the league's elite as they failed to live up to expectations in the last meeting between these two teams.

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The Lakers were unable to get the best of Giannis and company back on Dec. 19 and will try to avenge that loss. As if taking on the top team in the league isn't tough enough challenge for Los Angeles, LeBron's squad will go head-to-head with Kawhi Leonard's L.A. Clippers on Sunday afternoon in what could be a potential Western Conference Finals preview.

It will be arguably the toughest two-game stretch of the season for the Lakers as they try to prove they are in the same elite category with the Bucks and Clippers with the playoffs right around the corner.