No.1) Los Angeles Clippers
Nobody should be surprised that the Clippers present the biggest problem for the Lakers. The one team that NBA executives, analysts, and sportsbooks have outperformed the Lakers this season is the Los Angeles Clippers.
There are a few reasons why the Clippers will make LA natives think twice about their NBA team choice. For starters, the Clippers had a great regular season without Paul George and Kawhi Leonard on their roster. Even though both superstars will likely get some days off, the Clippers should be expected to finish the season as the number one seed in the Western Conference.
Additionally, the Clippers are well-coached and have maybe the only better player in the NBA than LeBron James in Kawhi Leonard, and maybe the only duo in the NBA better than LBJ and AD in PG13 and the Klaw. The Clippers are deep, too. Lou Williams will allow another bench player to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award over his dead body, and one of the only guys that might threaten that is Montrezl Harrell.
Come playoff time, Kawhi Leonard will do whatever he can defensively to shut LeBron James down. LeBron’s legs aren’t as young as Leonard’s are, so James may indeed get shut down by the Klaw. “Playoff P” is only a thing in Paul George’s head, which he’s shown the NBA world on numerous occasions.
The lack of height from the Clippers is where the Lakers will need to capitalize. In order for the Lakers to surpass the Clippers, Anthony Davis will need to play at his highest level and DeMarcus Cousins may need to as well. The matchup of Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James will be the most interesting, but it’s the other pieces from both teams that will decide who the last team standing in the West will be, come June 2020.