Both the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers are at their best in the open floor, but it's not like either team is the Sacramento Kings. They're more opportunistic transition attackers than relentless ones, running most off forced turnovers and improper floor balance from the opposition.

As long as Golden State and Los Angeles can avoid a mutual penchant for giveaways, one of the most highly anticipated second-round series ever is poised to come down to the halfcourt. Few players in league history manipulate defenses like Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Draymond Green and Anthony Davis wreck offensive game-plans all by themselves.

Here are two major questions the Warriors must answer to beat the Lakers in a rough-and-tumble Western Conference Semifinals.

How will the Dubs guard LeBron James and Anthony Davis?

The Warriors will no doubt open with their traditional starting five in the second round, and not just because that group—completely unsurprising given its dominance during the regular season—is the one that ultimately shoved them over the top of the Sacramento Kings. The Lakers are one of the biggest teams in basketball, looming larger on both ends than their imposing on-paper length and sheer size suggests. Steve Kerr won't start small against Los Angeles unless his team falls behind in this series, forced to climb out of a hole largely due to inefficient half-court offense.

But the main reason Golden State will tipoff with Draymond Green and Kevon Looney up front is simple: Defensive matchups and flexibility. Expect Andrew Wiggins to be James' primary defender, with Looney opening on Davis—leaving Green free to roam off Jarred Vanderbilt.

Green is the best help defender in basketball, more familiar with the laser passes James sprays to teammates across the floor than anyone in the league outside of Andre Iguodala. His impact as a rover guarding Vanderbilt away from the ball—or not guarding him, more accurately—will be key to ensuring Golden State's stingy halfcourt defense holds up versus the Lakers.

It would be foolish of the Dubs to station Green on Vanderbilt exclusively with James and Davis on the floor, though. They'll likely switch any action involving those three players, daring James to go at Looney off the bounce and goading Davis into scoring over Wiggins down low—the type of size mismatch he routinely failed to exploit as Los Angeles dispatched of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Davis shot just 27.3% on post-ups in the first round, per NBA.com/stats. Klay Thompson will surely get his chances fighting Davis on the block, too, and could even be an auto switch onto James at times.

LeBron's right foot injury is clearly affecting his stationary burst and chipping further away at his off-the-dribble-wiggle. He'll certainly prey on Curry and Jordan Poole in pick-and-roll, coaxing two defenders to the ball or challenging the Warriors to outright switch if he's picking apart the defense with the pass.

But James isolating from the perimeter isn't the threat it was when he was fully healthy early this season, let alone the last time Golden State met him in the playoffs five years ago. Particularly with Vanderbilt on the floor, allowing the Dubs to load harder to the ball, he could struggle hunting mismatches in ball-screen situations if his jumper stays streaky.

Vanderbilt's playing time is a major swing factor for the Lakers and Warriors. With Davis playing at his all-time peak on that end and James fully locked-in as a helper at the nail and back-line, Los Angeles might be stout enough defensively to give more minutes to Rui Hachimura—on a heater shooting the ball—and Troy Brown Jr. to open up its offense for James and Davis, or commit further to small-ball by extending Malik Beasley's role.

It's under that extra offensive pressure Golden State's defense will really be tested. The Dubs have the personnel and stylistic flexibility to give the Lakers' offense major problems when the game slows down. Look for Green to check D'Angelo Russell some, too, neutering his dangerous pick-and-roll partnership with Davis by switching with Looney—or maybe even JaMychal Green. Jonathan Kuminga could also get a chance versus Los Angeles.

James and Davis are awesome, but neither is anywhere near the peak of his offensive powers. Maybe the former can summon it on occasion with a fifth Larry O'Brien Trophy coming into clearer view, or Davis finds his touch on jumpers for a game or two. Either way, Golden State is poised to make life very difficult on James and company offensively—especially if the Dubs can keep the Lakers off the glass.

Can the Warriors score against the Lakers' set defense?

Golden State trudged its way to a 96.7 first-shot offensive rating in the halfcourt against Sacramento, per Cleaning the Glass, a hair above league-average for the postseason. Mike Brown's team acquitted itself better defensively than anticipated in the first round, but the Warriors' relative struggles to produce efficient offense versus the Kings doesn't spark much optimism they'll be any better scoring on the Lakers.

A fully engaged Davis has been a mobile mountain in the playoffs. He contested a whopping 8.7 shots at the rim per game against Memphis, allowing just 46.2% shooting from that hallowed ground—ridiculous numbers. Jaren Jackson Jr. was a deserving Defensive Player of the Year, but there's no question who impacted that series more between he and Davis defensively.

Darvin Ham had Davis in a deep drop facing the Warriors during the regular season, mostly nullifying their maze of post splits, backdoor cuts and slipped off-ball screens. Golden State opted for a similar strategy in the first round, keeping the Kings in the mid-range and mitigating Domantas Sabonis' rippling influence as a passer.

Can Los Angeles count on Curry, Thompson and Jordan Poole clanking off-dribble three like Sacramento's guards did when Looney was stationed in the paint, though?

The Dubs shot just 31.0% on pull-up triples in the first round, per NBA.com/stats, over six points worse than their top-three mark from the regular season. They're due for positive regression to the mean there, and it could come easier given construction of Los Angeles' starting five.

Vanderbilt is a great defender, but at 6'8 isn't best-suited chasing Curry and Thompson around picks. Austin Reaves is always game, though lacks the length to really bother Golden State's best shooters after fighting around ball screens, wide pin-downs and dribble hand-offs. Russell is meat for the Warriors defending those actions.

Dennis Schroder and Brown are most equipped to manage solid contests with Davis sticking toward the rim. The former, in particular, could play an outsized role in the second round as Curry's designated “stopper,” especially if the hot-and-cold Russell isn't knocking down shots on the other end.

Davis isn't the only defender who will pack the paint for Los Angeles. James paid no mind to Draymond, Looney, Kuminga and Green from beyond the arc when these teams met earlier this season, treating them pretty much exactly like the Warriors did Vanderbilt.

James isn't quite Draymond, but he's a premier free safety in his own right even at 38 years old. Whenever the Dubs are playing anyone but Wiggins at de facto power forward, space to operate behind the initial point of attack will be very hard to come by with the active arms of James, Vanderbilt and Hachimura in wait.

The Lakers' defensive fast ball is similar to Golden State's, too. If Curry, Thompson and Poole are draining jumpers off the bounce, Los Angeles could resort to switching across five positions, tasking Davis and James with sliding their feet beyond the arc. That's not an ideal utilization of either player at this point in their careers. Davis was absolutely flying around the floor to keep Desmond Bane from going off from deep in Los Angeles' Game 6 blowout of the Grizzlies, though, and James can still get down in a stance and hound the ball when it's really needed.

Jump-shooting is bound to decide the Warriors' offensive effectiveness against the Lakers more than anything else. If they can't score efficiently in the halfcourt, the Dubs will be tempted to downsize, risking Los Angeles' physical edge overwhelming them on the other side of the ball.

Keep your fingers crossed Curry and company have it going from the outside against Los Angeles. Otherwise, the Dubs may struggle to find enough offense and defense in different lineup combinations to deal with the Lakers' size, physicality and athleticism under the playoff microscope.