The Los Angeles Lakers have lost some of their most important playoff advantages.
The Los Angeles Lakers were steamrolling to the NBA Playoffs and started to make their case as the favorites to win the title. The Lakers beat the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Clippers on back-to-back nights, cementing themselves as legitimate to the naysayers.
Then the world stopped. The COVID-19 pandemic hit and the NBA season went on hiatus. Here we are, four months later, and we are just over a week from meaningful basketball finally returning.
The Los Angeles Lakers, and the entire league, for that manner, are isolated in what is being dubbed as the “Orlando bubble”. Players are staying at one of three Disney World resort hotels and are utilizing an isolated environment to finish the season (hopefully) without any internal COVID-19 outbreaks.
Sports fans are thrilled to see sports back and Laker fans especially are thrilled as the Lakers get a chance to finish what they started. Unfortunately, the path to championship number 17 has gotten much tougher.
It has gotten tougher for every team because of the long layoff and the situation surrounding the league’s restart, but it has gotten even tougher for the Lakers, who have lost two of their three big advantages that they had over teams such as the Clippers and Bucks.
The advantages that the Los Angeles Lakers have lost:
Back in March, there were three primary advantages that the Los Angeles Lakers had for the expected “normal” NBA Playoffs:
- Star power
- Home-court advantage
- Chemistry
The Los Angeles Lakers still have the star power advantage as LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still the most talented duo in the league. It is the home-court advantage and chemistry that have taken a hit.
And as much as some fans might want to pretend like it will not play a factor, these are the very same things that were being touted as reasons why the Lakers would win the NBA Title. They absolutely do matter, you cannot have it both ways.
The Lakers being the first seed in the Western Conference is absolutely meaningless now with all games being played at a neutral site with no fans. No traveling and no fan support. There was speculation that the NBA was thinking about giving home teams an advantage, but it won’t matter in this respect.
The Lakers have the best and most passionate fans in basketball, period. They absolutely have a massive home-court advantage, particularly against the Los Angeles Clippers. The Clippers were going to have to play all road games in the Western Conference Finals.
That advantage no longer exists.
Chemistry is another question mark. Now, there is no doubt that the team still gels together and has great chemistry off the court, the chemistry we are discussing is on the court. Not only did these guys go months without playing together, but they are looking at a completely different team in the Orlando bubble.
Markieff Morris, Dion Waiters and J.R. Smith now have roles on this team. Alex Caruso has a bigger role and Quinn Cook might be asked to play playoff minutes. While I do not think Rajon Rondo‘s absence impacts the title hopes, Avery Bradley‘s does.
And even once Rondo comes back, there are still new faces that have to be integrated into the rotation.
I bring this up because a big thing that was used as a Lakers’ advantage was how often the team shared the court together compared to the Clippers, who had little time in comparison on the court together with all of their guys.
The Clippers absolutely lost their load management advantage, but now are arguably on the same playing field as the Lakers in terms of on-court chemistry. These things matter.
Will it solely determine the playoff results? Absolutely not. The Los Angeles Lakers are absolutely still a solid pick to win the NBA Title in the Orlando bubble.
The road has simply gotten harder.