The Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors square off in Game 2 of the Western Conference semi-finals on Thursday night at the Chase Center. Los Angeles escaped with a victory in Game 1 and can put this series on its head with a win in Game 2.
The Warriors fell into a 0-2 rut against the Sacramento Kings in round one of the NBA Playoffs but the circumstances there were different. Sacramento was the home team so the Warriors had the luxury of going back home for two games to even up the series.
If the Warriors lose both of their games at home to start the series there is no guarantee that they will even get a chance to come back to San Francisco for a Game 5. If they do, it could be with a 3-1 deficit after two games in LA.
Simply put: Game 2 is a massive game for both teams with all of the pressure on Golden State. Here are the likely lineups that Darvin Ham and Steve Kerr will throw out.
Projected Lakers lineup vs Warriors for Game 2:
- D’Angelo Russell
- Austin Reaves
- Jarred Vanderbilt
- LeBron James
- Anthony Davis
This is the starting lineup that Ham has been rolling with throughout the playoffs and there is no indication that it is going to change any time soon. For the most part, this group of players have been thriving next to each other and there is no reason to change things up.
One narrative to watch as Game 2 goes along is how Ham handles Anthony Davis’ minutes. We could see someone like Mo Bamba get a small number of minutes just to get Davis some rest after he played 44 minutes in Game 1 of the series.
Projected Warriors lineup vs Lakers for Game 2:
- Stephen Curry
- Klay Thompson
- Andrew Wiggins
- Draymond Green
- Kevon Looney
This is the starting lineup for the Warriors and while they might need to make adjustments, they don’t really have the bodies to make the right adjustments against the Lakers. Golden State had no answer for Anthony Davis and doesn’t really have any big bodies to throw at him.
It will also be interesting to see how Kerr handles Jordan Poole. Poole had a solid game in Game 1 but arguably settled for a long three in the most important position and bricked it. Poole hasn’t been the most consistent player this postseason.