The Los Angeles Lakers starting forwards vs. the Portland Trail Blazers starting forwards
Carmelo Anthony and Zach Collins are slotted in to fill the Trail Blazers forward positions (I laughed as I wrote that). LeBron James vs. Carmelo Anthony might be the biggest mismatch of the first round.
Carmelo is a notoriously lousy defender, who at the age of 36-year-old doesn’t even go 50 percent on the less glamorous side of the ball. If Portland’s head coach, Terry Stotts, does start Anthony, there are only two possible outcomes. LBJ will destroy Carmelo in one-on-one situations, or the Trail Blazers will send help, and LeBron will pick them apart with his passing ability.
Zach Collins is back from injury and ready to start at the power forward position in Orlando. Zach Collins is a nice player. He has career averages of 5.7 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 0.7 BPG, but he’s, umm, a nice player. Zach Collins, at 6’11” has spent most of his career playing the backup center position.
Collins is at his best when he can stay in the lane and hunt for blocks. However, he doesn’t have the foot speed to stay in front of the ultra-athletic Anthony Davis on the perimeter. The best defenders in the league have trouble slowing down AD, and it’s insulting to insinuate that Zach Collins of all people will be able to bother “The Brow.”
RELATED: Why the Orlando bubble might benefit Kyle Kuzma
The Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers are two of the best defensive squads in the league. Right before the NBA shut down, the Lakers played both teams and won because the Bucks and the Clippers had no answer for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The Lakers spread the floor against the Bucks and let LeBron James go one-on-one against the expected Defensive Player of the Year, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
LeBron dominated the matchup, and the Bucks couldn’t send help because they didn’t want LeBron to hit the open man with his pinpoint passing ability, and at the same time, they also didn’t want to give AD a chance to maneuver in space.
LeBron James used the same formula against Kawhi Leonard, the premier defensive wing in the NBA when the Lakers last faced the Clippers. Like the Bucks game, The Clippers had no answer for LeBron James or Anthony Davis at the end of the contest, and the Lakers ended up winning comfortably.
The Portland Trail Blazers have no answer for LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Damian Lillard is a great player, but Alex Caruso and Danny Green are fully capable of slowing him down. Plus, if Portland does start Zach Collins at power forward alongside Jusuf Nurkic, it will ruin the Blazers’ spacing. That “twin towers” lineup will allow Anthony Davis to roam on defense and shut off Lillard from driving to the rim.