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The Western Conference play-in tournament will feature a marquee showdown between the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. Get your popcorn ready.
Golden State is riding high thanks to the spectacular play of scoring champion Stephen Curry. Los Angeles, meanwhile, is back at full strength but also faces the daunting prospect of being a defending champion now having to fight just to advance to the standard playoff bracket. Needless to say, there is plenty of theater in store for Wednesday night.
Both stars have been highly complimentary of the opponent, with LeBron James even suggesting Curry is the MVP of the league this season. The Lakers might seem to have the advantage with both James and Anthony Davis back on the floor. However, the Warriors might have an upset in store as they hope to wrestle the No. 7 seed away from L.A.
Here are three reasons the Dubs will beat the Lakers on Wednesday night.
3. Warriors are red-hot
First and foremost, the Warriors have been playing some of their best basketball of the season as of late.
Golden State closed the regular season with six straight wins, going 8-1 over the course of its final nine games. Head coach Steve Kerr's team isn't just attaining meaningless victories either.
Let's take a look at some of the teams the Warriors beat during the six-game win streak: oh, look at that, they beat the top two seeds in the West on back-to-back nights.
Golden State took down the Utah Jazz 119-116 on May 11. Yes, the Jazz were without Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell, but it's still a notable win especially because the Warriors put up numbers against an elite defensive team and got 20 points from Jordan Poole.
Whereas the Jazz were not fully healthy, the Suns were at full strength. No matter for the Warriors, who outscored Phoenix 30-18 in the final period to get another colossal win. This was on a night when Curry shot 7-for-21 from the field!
Indeed, Golden State is starting to get contributions from everybody. Poole had 20 more in the win over the Suns. Andrew Wiggins had 38 points. Kent Bazemore chipped in with 17 of his own.
The Warriors averaged over 120 points per game during the win streak, and they did it with a combination of Curry brilliance as well as a more balanced team scoring attack. That's absolutely vital for Golden State against a stout Lakers defense.
2. Golden State can defend, too!
We just mentioned the Lakers' terrific team defense. Los Angeles finished the regular season ranked first in the NBA in defensive rating and second in scoring defense.
The Lakers are sure to throw multiple defenders at Curry and make other players beat them. Meanwhile, Davis swallows everything around the rim and should make things difficult for the Warriors whenever they penetrate.
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Perhaps L.A. will have the advantage if it becomes more of a defensive game. Or, maybe not.
Golden State ranked fifth in defensive rating during the regular season. The likes of Wiggins, Bazemore and Juan Toscano-Anderson have really bought in more on that end of the floor. Curry himself showed a more dogged effort guarding Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant on Sunday. Of course, Draymond Green can do it all defensively.
The Warriors can switch and usually find a way to avoid poor defensive matchups. It's going to be a total team effort to try and handle James and Davis, especially in terms of keeping them off the offensive glass.
However, the Dubs have the defensive acumen to make things tough on L.A. Maybe it will even be enough to let either James and Davis get theirs and focus on locking up the other.
1. Does L.A. have cohesiveness?
I honestly think the biggest reason the Warriors have the advantage is the lack of reps the Lakers had with both James and Davis on the floor at the end of the season.
That sounds incredibly foolish, right? After all, LeBron and AD are two of the very best players in the game and have tremendous synergy. Indeed, both guys dominated in a win over the Indiana Pacers and helped the Lakers glide past the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.
However, reintegrating James and Davis also means head coach Frank Vogel has to best figure out how to work his lineups. How will he handle the brigade of bigs? Does he play small to match the Warriors, or go for the size advantage around James and Davis? What would the latter do for spacing?
It might not sound like much, but those are complicating factors in a pivotal game, whereas the Warriors are pretty set with their 8-man rotation. There's also the fact LeBron's ankle issue perked up a bit at the end of Sunday's win. It appears to be a non-issue, but he has alluded to the injury being something he has to manage. That's worth watching.
At their best, the Lakers are one of the top teams in the NBA, let alone the Western Conference. Still, it's hard to know whether L.A. will be at its best given so little time for the roster to gel.
