Shannon Sharpe is somewhat surprisingly going with the Golden State Warriors over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5.
Game 5 takes place Wednesday night at Chase Center with the Warriors 3-1 down in their Western Conference semifinal series against the Lakers.
The defending champions have a big mountain to climb now as they not only have to come back from 3-1 down — something very few teams have done in NBA history — but have to do it against a LeBron James team as well.
Given the situation, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Lakers end the series in Game 5 itself. An additional incentive is that it would give them extra rest over their potential Western Conference final opponents in the Denver Nuggets or the Phoenix Suns.
That said, Sharpe believes the series will continue beyond tonight.
“The Lakers do not handle prosperity well,” Sharpe said on Undisputed. “I saw this in Game 5 when they went to Memphis and they was like, ‘We do have Game 6 at home so we'll give a little effort. We're not going to exert that much energy. We'll take it home on Friday.' The question I have for the Lakers is are you coming into Game 5 with a Game 7 mentality?
“… I do believe the Lakers will close it out in 6, but I just don’t see them beating the Warriors on the road.”
"I believe the Lakers will close it out in 6, but I don’t see them beating the Warriors on the road.”
Shannon Sharpe makes his call, Lakers in 6 🗣
(via @undisputed)pic.twitter.com/NQcQgB4Thq
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 10, 2023
All in all, a Warriors win wouldn't be too surprising as they will be desperate to prolong the series and are a very good home team.
It's still surprising to see Sharpe pick against the Lakers though given how big a James fan he is as well as the fact that they've already beaten the Warriors on the road in Game 1.
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