NBA: Lakers are the team to beat now
All season long, the Los Angeles Lakers (49-13) have dealt with criticism from fans and media alike because they kept losing against other contending teams. Coming into the week, the Lakers were a combined 2-6 against the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto Raptors, Boston Celtics, and Houston Rockets. People were starting to question whether this team could beat the best come playoff time. But in a three-day span, the Lakers took down the Bucks, who own the league’s best record, and then the Clippers, who are projected to be the Lakers’ toughest competition to get to the Finals. In the first game against Milwaukee on Friday night, the Lakers trailed 22-19 after the first quarter before coming back to win 113-103.
LeBron James guarded Giannis Antetokounmpo for most of the night after Anthony Davis picked up a couple of early fouls and he dominated. While Giannis did end up with 32 points, he shot just 47.6% from the field and scored seven points on 25% shooting when being guarded by LeBron. LeBron, on the other hand, finished with a game-high 37 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists. He also shot 57.1% from the floor. Davis pitched in 30 points and nine rebounds, while Kyle Kuzma added 11 points off the bench. It was one of the Lakers’ best performances of the year and then they eclipsed that just two days later. On Sunday afternoon, the Lakers battled back from a halftime deficit to win 112-103. Davis totaled a team-high 31 points while LeBron wasn’t too far behind.
He finished with 28 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. It was a total team effort, though, as guys like Avery Bradley (24 points), Kuzma (10 rebounds), and Rajon Rondo (seven assists) helped out a ton. After being questioned for the better half of the season, it seems the Lakers are starting to prove just how great they can be. Their next three games are against the Brooklyn Nets, Rockets, and Denver Nuggets, who are all protected playoff teams right now. If the Lakers can win all three of those matchups, they’ll go into Utah on Monday, March 16 with an impressive 52-13 record as they look to close in on the Bucks for the best record in the NBA. With a little less than two months left in the regular season, the Lakers have officially become favorites to win it all.
Photo Credit: Heavy.
