Western Conference semi-finals vs. the Utah Jazz
- (Match up will be winner of Oklahoma City Thunder/Utah Jazz)
One of the biggest surprises of this NBA season was the success of the Oklahoma City Thunder after trading away their two stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George in the off-season. Resurgent veteran Chris Paul and upstart young gun Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have made for an impressive two-point guard combo that has been good enough for the fifth seed in the West.
Even though there seems to be turmoil in the Utah Jazz locker room between their two co-stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, it is hard picturing them losing to the Thunder in seven game series. The Jazz’s more recent playoff experience as a team and superior star power is why the prediction was made to put the Jazz in the second round against the Lakers over OKC.
Utah was one of the teams that were thought could be one of the Lakers’ biggest competitors coming into the season but has slightly failed to live up to their lofty preseason expectations.
The Mike Conley addition has added less offensive firepower to the team than expected, and with the coronavirus fiasco that upended the season causing friction between their stars, this would not be a bad time for the Lakers to face them in a second-round scenario.
The Lakers did not get to finish their regular season series against the Jazz, but in the two games they did play against them they handled them fairly easy. They played them the second game of the season at home and they won by a comfortable nine-point margin, and in early December they dismantled the Jazz, beating them by a whopping 25 points, 121 to 96 on the Jazz’s home floor.
Home court advantage could play a major role in this series, because the Utah Jazz have one of the loudest crowds in the league. Yet, if the games are played without fans or in neutral quarantined sites, then that advantage would go right out the window.
If the series is played traditionally with the fans, they might be hesitant to go to a packed stadium. But judging by the crowds on beaches lately, there will probably be plenty of Los Angeles and Utah fans ready to root for their teams in person again. If fans do attend games, this series could get pushed to six or seven games because Utah is that solid at home, only losing 10 games there all season.
Once again, the Lakers disadvantage in this series would be guard play, with both Conley and Mitchell being better than any guard on the Lakers roster. But with LeBron and company able to counteract that pair for the Lakers on the outside, this matchup will likely come down to who wins the battle down low between the two-star big men Rudy Gobert and Anthony Davis.
When they played in December, Davis ate up Gobert on both ends of the court going 9 of 11 from the field, dropping 26 points, and tallying 3 blocks. Gobert on the other hand had 13 points on a respectable 6 of 8 from the field, but he did not have a single block and was a minus eight in the +/- category.
If Davis was able to dominate the paint the series, like he did in the game all the way back in December, then the Lakers have a great chance to win this series. Utah’s depth will likely allow them to win a couple of games, but the series prediction is the Lakers in 6 games.