Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers can make a statement against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks
After a loss to the Dallas Mavericks early last season, Anthony Davis outlined an unwritten rule for the Los Angeles Lakers whenever they would lose a game:
"“We don’t want to lose two in a row. Ever,” said Lakers forward Anthony Davis. “So there’s definitely gonna be a bounce back game. We want to make sure that we correct everything that we did poorly tonight.”"
The Lakers must echo AD’s rallying cry across the country to the (indoor) frozen tundra in Milwaukee, where the low will be 14 degrees Fahrenheit. The walk to the Fiserv Forum might be cold, but the game will be one of the hottest games in the regular season to date.
So hot in fact, it may just be a preview for the NBA Finals. Everyone talks about the Lakers taking on the Brooklyn Nets as a fait accompli.
Not so fast.
Why tonight’s Lakers vs Bucks game may be an NBA Finals preview:
The Milwaukee Bucks may prove to be better than the Brooklyn Nets come playoff time, even though the Nets won their last meeting.
Milwaukee is much bigger and deeper than Brooklyn after the James Harden trade depleted the Nets’ depth. Not to mention Milwaukee’s core has remained intact for several seasons now, whereas this is Brooklyn’s first year together as presently constructed.
Related: Why the Los Angeles Lakers would handle the Brooklyn Nets with ease
Furthermore, Jrue Holiday compliments Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton perfectly as a tertiary star. Holiday is the league’s most underrated player by a wide margin. NBA stars such as Damian Lillard and Kevin Durant both said Holiday was the league’s best defender; Holiday has also averaged a shade under 20 points per game over the past three seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans.
Whereas Rasheed Wallace, the most honest man in NBA history, said Kyrie Irving and James Harden will not be able to play together. Wallace did not have to mention Irving’s or Kevin Durant’s less-than-stellar injury history over these past two seasons, nor did he talk about James Harden’s past playoff shortcomings or his conditioning issues.
He just had to say that the ball don’t lie.