No.5 Dallas Mavericks vs. No.4 Utah Jazz
The Mavericks facing the Jazz in the first round would be the Lakers’ dream scenario.
The Clippers get stuck with either the Rockets or the Nuggets and the Lakers would easily be the favorites against Dallas and Utah. In the six games that the Lake Show has matched up against both teams, they’ve gone 5-1 with that one loss coming to the Mavericks all the way back on Dec.1 to give them their third loss of the season and snap a 10-game win streak.
Against the Jazz, the Lakers have managed to hold their opponents to under 100 points in each of the their two matchups so far and it would hopefully be more of the same come playoff time.
This Western Conference seeding would give the Lakers the closest thing they’ll get to a red carpet straight to the NBA Finals.
James and the Lake Show would only have to face the young, inexperienced Grizzlies and one of the Mavericks or Jazz, both of which don’t pose much of a threat, before eventually running into presumably the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals.
By that time, the Clips would’ve already had a gritty first-round series with the Thunder and a very, very competitive battle with either the Rockets or Nuggets and would be entering their toughest challenge yet against a well-rested and highly motivated Lakers squad ready to dominate.