Los Angeles Lakers: Who should the Lakers want in the first round of the playoffs?

Who should the Los Angeles Lakers want to face in the first round of the NBA playoffs?

Guys. We’re basically two weeks away from the NBA Playoffs. That’s insanity to me. It has been a super strange season filled with pandemic protocols and tragic injuries…but we made it. And we are in for a treat of a competition. Almost no seeds in either conference have been solidified and a lot of playoff hopes hinge on those seedings.

Enter: The Los Angeles Lakers. They won the title last season in the bubble rather easily but have had a rough go of it this season. Out of the 65 games they have played so far this season, LeBron James has only played in 43 (Anthony Davis just 30). Despite that, Frank Vogel has rolled out an elite defense and kept them competitive.

The West, as per usual, did not care. The standings have been a mess but it is pretty clear that the Lakers will not be obtaining a top 4 seed. And yeah, seeding does not really matter when you have LeBron James. But…it does in the long run. Do you really want to beat three higher seeds en route to the Finals? That can take a toll, something that the Lakers’ stars cannot really tolerate considering their health this season.

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The Lakers are tied with the Dallas Mavericks for fifth in the West, with the Lakers slotted at sixth. The best they could do is earn the fifth seed outright, as they would have to win-out and the fourth-place team would have to lose-out just to TIE in the standings.

Should the Los Angeles Lakers try to target a specific playoff opponent?

Should the Lakers be targeting a specific seed or matchup then? They’re closer to seventh than they are fourth, but you could not possibly willingly add games to that team’s fatigue at this stage.

If the playoffs started today, the Lakers would be playing the third-seeded Nuggets. The Nuggets have lost their dark-horse title appeal after the loss of Jamal Murray to a torn ACL but they have done nothing but improve their playoff position since. Nikola Jokic (soon to be MVP) has somehow turned it up another notch and Michael Porter Jr. has picked up a lot of the offensive slack left by Murray. Even newcomer Austin Rivers has dropped 20-point games, showing a decent backcourt rotation even without their star.

However, the Nuggets are tied with the Clippers in the standings right now. There is a decent chance that they end up with that seed considering both teams’ health and schedules. And while it seems that Clippers fans (all seven of you) have been saying this for years…this is truly not the same Clippers.

I don’t even mean compared to years past, I mean compared to LAST year. You know, when they flamed out in the second round? Gave up a 3-1 lead? Big oof energy there, but they have made significant strides. Serge Ibaka is the perfect non-star center to have in a conference that holds Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Deandre Ayton, and more. I am not saying he can lock those dudes up, but he can make them work for it and stretch the floor on the other side.

Nicolas Batum is another newcomer, another wing who is good on defense and can make plays. Still kind of annoyed they got him so easily off the buyout market before the season started. Oh, and don’t forget Rondo. Every year we say that Rondo is finally washed and every year he shows up in the playoffs. You know what’s worse than playoff Rondo? Playoff Rondo who specifically wants to beat your team. Should the Lakers be afraid of Rondo? Absolutely not, but if there is a series that he is going all out for, you can bet it would be against the team he helped win a title for last season before being replaced. I guess they have some guys named Paul George and Kawhi Leonard too.

As in-flux as the seedings are, these are realistically the only two teams I could see the Lakers facing in the first round. Whether they move up to fifth or stay in sixth, those are the two teams that would be in 3-4. Yes, they could slip to seventh and enter the play-in tournament, I just don’t think the NBA could let that happen (not that there would be overt tampering but…I just do not think we’ll see LBJ in a play-in lol). They’re a game up on the Blazers right now, but anything could happen. In that case, the Lakers would absolutely love to see the Jazz as opposed to the Suns.

Who should the Lakers want to see between the Nuggets and the Clippers? The answer is pretty obviously the Nuggets.

Okay Nuggets fans, please do not hate me. I am writing this in Denver right now and am a big fan. Jokic is 100 percent the MVP this season and MPJ has looked like an absolute star in the making. I just don’t see them beating the Lakers for two reasons:

The loss of Murray
No wing defense

One of the Lakers’ biggest struggles both this year and last was with speedy, trigger-happy guards. Damian Lillard in particular exposed this in the first round last season. Murray would have been instrumental in any win the Nuggets pulled out because of this. And now that’s just…gone. But even more important than that is the lack of wing defense.

MPJ isn’t as much of a sieve anymore but he is by no means an average defender yet. Have you guys seen Paul Milsap try to guard LeBron? For that matter, they do not really have the personnel for Davis either. Both teams looked a little different when they met in the WCF last season, but I believe the outcome would be the same. Lakers in five or six depending on the health of their stars.

We’re at that point of the season where LeBron’s team starts tailing off, losing playoff position, and LBJ is a little banged up. LeBron is out right now with a sore ankle and may sit until the playoffs. Don’t let that subdue you or he’ll capitalize. We see it every year, and yet people still say they’re done. Just check out the Game of Zones ‘New King of the East’ bit to see what I mean.

You know the last time LeBron lost in the playoffs before the finals? It was the 2009-10 season. Over a decade ago. Maybe we see that Finals streak broken this year with the new wave of heavy hitters in the West, but I am not betting against that man in the first round until I see anything different.