Why the Lakers will absolutely conquer the Warriors in the NBA Playoffs

By Jason Reed | May 1, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 18: LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers is guarded by Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on October 18, 2022 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images) – Anthony Davis Lakers /

2. The Lakers’ size is going to be a problem for the Warriors

There are not many teams that are built like the Lakers are. The two best players on the team both have size as LeBron James and Anthony Davis can dominate mismatches and can get to the cup against just about anyone.

In round one, the Lakers actually played one of the few teams that could handle their size because of Jaren Jackson. Even without Steven Adams, the presence of Jackson near the rim made a big difference in how the Lake Show had to operate.

As good of a defender as Draymond Green is (and don’t get us wrong, he is great), he does not have the same size as Jackson and naturally is not going to be able to do the same things that Jackson did near the cup.

LA’s tendency to use its size and get to the rim naturally sends the team to the free-throw line more often than other teams. This is going to play directly into what the Lakers want to do as the team ranked first in the entire league in free throws attempted per game. This is an area where the Warriors struggled, as they allowed the sixth-most free throws.

There are a few other teams in the league that have a big as their best player, such as the Denver Nuggets, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks. Golden State was 2-5 against those three teams this season. If you add their head-to-head with the Lakers, the Warriors were 3-8 against said teams.

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