Heading into the first-round NBA Playoff series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies, we offer three bold predictions and a series pick.
Heading into the NBA Playoffs, even though they’re just the 7th seed, you can make the argument that the Los Angeles Lakers are one of the hottest teams in the league. Since the NBA Trade Deadline, the Lakers are 18-8. Believe it or not but since the deadline, the Lakers have the best record in the Western Conference.
Perhaps what’s most surprising is the fact that the Lakers managed to accomplish that without LeBron James for the majority of those games. Now that this team is healthy, it’s hard not to view the Lakers as a dark horse threat to make a deep postseason run.
If the Lakers are going to do that though, they’re going to have to get through the 2nd-seeded Memphis Grizzlies first. And that will be easier said than done. Even though the Grizzlies have struggled a bit down the stretch, this is a team that is ready to break through in the West.
Heading into this first-round series between the Lakers and Grizzlies, we explore three bold predictions and make a series pick.
Bold prediction No. 1: Anthony Davis will get the best of DPOY candidate Jaren Jackson Jr.
Heading into this series, one of the marquee of individual matchups will feature Anthony Davis and NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate Jaren Jackson Jr. And I predict that AD will get the best of JJJ. When he’s at the top of his game, there aren’t many bigs in the league that are able to do the things that AD can do.
We’ve seen flashes of it this year during the regular season but I believe we’re going to see the playoff bubble version of AD in this series. And it will play a huge part in determining who will win this series.