Here we go. The Golden State Warriors took down the Los Angeles Lakers twice in the preseason, but that doesn’t matter. The Big Three made their debut against the Warriors in a 111-99 loss on Tuesday, a game that Steph Curry and Draymond Green didn’t play in. We can’t forget about Klay Thompson, who is expected to play again at either the end of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.
With Thompson back in the lineup, Golden State is obviously going to be better than it has been in the past couple of seasons. Curry is one of the top three-point shooters in the history of the game. Not to mention, Curry and Thompson together are one of the toughest backcourts in the league. It would be a completely untrue statement to say that the Warriors have no chance at making the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Lakers don’t need to spend too much time worrying about the Warriors.
Golden State isn’t going to be a true threat to Los Angeles’ hopes of winning the crown in the Western Conference. It doesn’t feel right to count LeBron James out, ever. Especially a year after he and the Lakers had a first-round exit in the playoffs. He’s going to be out with a vengeance and even at 36-years-old, LeBron’s game hasn’t slowed down.
The Warriors did pose a threat to the Lakers last year in the play-in series, but ultimately Los Angeles walked away with the win. The Lakers added a lot of new pieces in the offseason and their roster is completely different than it was last year.
Los Angeles is going to start Russell Westbrook at point guard, Anthony Davis at center and LeBron James at power forward. The remaining two spots are likely to go to Wayne Ellington, who is dealing with a groin injury, and Kent Bazemore. The Lakers have already been dealt a few tough blows due to injuries, but that’s sadly part of the game. Just like Golden State has had to navigate the past two seasons without one of the Splash Brothers.
The Warriors are younger than the Lakers, yes. Jordan Poole has done well in the preseason, yes. Golden State’s Big Three have more experience playing together than Los Angeles’ Big Three, yes.
I’m not going to say that the Lakers are absolutely going to dominate the Western Conference because that’s a big stretch. You could go down a list of all of the teams in the conference and make a solid case for why each one could win the regular-season title. The competition in the NBA is stacked, to say the least.
Los Angeles’ veteran presence could be what helps the team to navigate deeper into the postseason than the Warriors. I’m not entirely convinced that “young legs” matter when it comes to LeBron James. People try to put limits on what he can and can’t do, yet somehow he continues to break barriers.
The Lakers still have things that need to be fixed if they hope to be successful in the regular season, but luckily 82 games makes for a long year. The chemistry should come as the players log more minutes together on the court. The defense from the preseason needs to drastically improve and the amount of turnovers needs to decline.
The main thing that’s going to be in the way of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Western Conference title is themselves. Honestly. There’s a lot that could go wrong, but there’s a whole lot more that could go right.