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The Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks are fighting for the top overall spot in the league, now both tied at 24-4 after losses to the Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks, respectively. But are they making a mistake by chasing regular-season glory and straying from their ultimate goal?
If it feels like we've seen this movie play out before, we have.
Only three years ago, the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors chased the ultimate glory, surpassing the 1996 Chicago Bulls' regular-season record of 72 wins and 10 losses with a grand finale that went right to the wire — earning the record with a win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Warriors would go on to scuffle through the Western Conference Finals after blazing through the first two rounds, losing two games in a row for the first time that season as the Oklahoma City Thunder put them on the brink of elimination. The Dubs trailed 3-1 in the series before an epic comeback to reach the NBA Finals took all the gas out of their lungs.
Golden State arrived in the NBA Finals tired and out of that magic, having exhausted their best players' legs to keep their season alive, ultimately losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers after being up 3-1 in the series following the loss of Draymond Green to an untimely one-game suspension.
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The Lakers have been determined to put out their best product after several losing seasons, drunk with their recent success. LeBron James is determined to be the antithesis of neighbor Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers, becoming the poster child of anti-load management and playing hefty minutes despite being in his 17th year in the league.
The Bucks were expected to have learned their lesson after Giannis Antetokounmpo emptied the bag of tricks during a 62-win regular season in 2018-19, leaving him little surprises for the postseason. He became predictable against a savvy Toronto Raptors team that turned a 2-0 Eastern Conference Finals lead on its head, winning the last four games with sound defense and some scorching shooting of the basketball.
At a combined 48-8, Thursday's clash of titans represents a collision course that many envision as a preview of the 2020 NBA Finals, but only as long as they manage to be smart about the way they go about this season.
It's very unlikely that either the Bucks or the Lakers can challenge for the all-time record of 73 wins and nine losses set by the Warriors three years ago, but on the flip side, it's very likely that these two teams could wind up meeting again in the postseason if they manage their best players with caution.
While there isn't a need to “load manage” a la Leonard, the Lakers will need to flex their muscle and make James buy into lesser minutes down the stretch, giving his soon-t0-be 35-year-old body a chance to recover from the strain of the regular season. The Bucks can't necessarily afford the same luxury with The Greek Freak as their only talisman, but they can surely give him a few nights off in the second half of the season, since they're already enjoying a comfortable lead over their Eastern Conference competition.
History is a tool to not repeat the same mistakes from the past, and if a legendary 2015-16 Warriors team taught these two juggernauts anything, it's that championships are earned in the postseason, not during the first 82 games of a long campaign.
