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

3. The Lakers are simply deeper than the Warriors

This would have sounded absolutely asinine a few months ago, especially before the NBA trade deadline. Before the deadline, the Lakers had one of the thinnest rosters in the entire league and that is why the team was struggling so much.

However, Rob Pelinka was able to completely rebuild the roster at the deadline. Combine that with certain players stepping up down the stretch and the Lakers have a legitimately deep playoff rotation that can compete with the best in the sport.

That includes the Warriors, who have not looked very deep thus far in the playoffs. Curry has been otherworldly, Klay Thompson has been consistent and Andrew Wiggins has been fine but outside of that, the rest of the supporting cast has left more to be desired.

If the Lakers can limit Curry (which is easier said than done) then the Warriors aren’t going to be as hard to beat in the playoffs. Heck, it took a 50-piece from Curry in Game 7 for the Warriors to get passed the Kings in the first place.

This is not to say that the Lakers can just stick Anthony Davis or Jarred Vanderbilt on Curry and call it a day. Curry is a generational player for a reason. But the Lakers also have generational players (something the Kings, as great as they were in the regular season, do not have).

Then it comes down to the role players and after the first round, Lakers fans should feel more comfortable with their role players. Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell can all take over a quarter or a half, win the Lakers the game and tilt the balance of the series entirely.

Do the Warriors have many options to do that? Unless Jordan Poole suddenly turns it around, no, they don’t.