Los Angeles Lakers: 3 advantages LA has over the Milwaukee Bucks
By Jason Reed
3. The Los Angeles Lakers have more ways to beat teams
Giannis Antetokounmpo was absolutely incredible in the NBA Finals as he truly had one of the best NBA Finals of all time. He absolutely put the Milwaukee Bucks on his back and willed the team to his first championship.
While we can’t take anything away from Giannis, there is a reason he had to play at this level for the Bucks to win the series. That is because the Bucks do not have many other ways to beat the elite teams in the league.
Sure, you might get a random Khris Middleton game but those are inconsistent. Jrue Holiday was far from the scoring presence that the Bucks were hoping for (although he was fantastic defensively) and the shooting around Giannis was not great.
That is not going to get the job done against a well-coached team like the Lakers. While Monty Williams is a great coach, Phoenix did not make the proper adjustments to stop Giannis just like they weren’t making the proper adjustments to stop Anthony Davis before he got hurt.
As we saw during the Lakers’ 2020 title run, Frank Vogel will make the adjustments and will make a team beat the Lakers a different way. The problem for Milwaukee is that they do not have another consistent way.
Meanwhile, the Lakers can bang low, can stretch the floor, can run a big lineup, can run a smaller lineup with three guards, can focus on defense, can go all offense… there are so many things that they can do to match up with just about any opponent they face.