The Los Angeles Lakers would easily beat the Portland Trail Blazers in a seven-game playoff series.
Early in June, Damian Lillard told a Vanity Fair reporter that he thought his Portland Trail Blazers could beat the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game playoff series. That’s fine. What else was he going to say?
A few days ago, Charles Barkley sent a “shockwave” through Laker Nation by backing up Lillard’s comments. He said,
"“If the Portland Trail Blazers get in the playoffs, they will beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.”"
The Blazers enter the restart of the season with a 29-37 record, 3.5 games behind the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
The Lakers, led by LeBron James and Anthony Davis, two MVP candidates, have a 49-14 record.
Despite the Lakers’ distinct talent advantage and the 20-win gap between the Purple and Gold and the Trail Blazers, some people have run with the idea that Portland could beat LeBron James and company in the playoffs.
Perhaps the Trail Blazers victory over the Lakers during their last meeting convinced them that Portland could beat Los Angeles. Portland only won by eight points despite Damian Lillard dropping 48 points on a shell-shocked Lakers squad playing its first game after Kobe Bryant, died.
Maybe some people think that Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins’ return from injury will give Portland the push they need to overcome Los Angeles. Both players need significant time to round into form after missing close to a year of action, respectively. Even after both men get back up to speed, neither has come close to making an All-Star squad or the All-Defensive team.
Up next, we’ll examine the Los Angeles Lakers and the Portland Trail Blazers and then debunk the theory that Damian Lillard and company will beat the Purple and Gold in the playoffs.