This is hands down the weirdest series of the NBA playoffs yet. The Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors have had the weirdest playoff series yet as both teams, despite being evenly matched, have blown each other out in back-to-back games.
Are these two teams just going to trade blowouts for the rest of the series?
The Lakers and Warriors have put on one of the weirdest NBA series yet as both teams have blown each other out by at least 25+ points in back-to-back games, making it almost impossible to determine who’s going to reign supreme in reach the Western Conference Finals in this Battle of California. But, even though I just said that it’s almost impossible to determine who’s going to win, I think there’s one factor that can make a prediction a little easier: Anthony Davis.
In the two games the Lakers have won (Game 1 and 3), Anthony Davis was absolutely instrumental in those wins as he posted an average of 27.5 PPG, 18.0 RPG, 2.0 OFF RPG, 4.0 APG, 4.0 BPG, and 49.0% FG shooting, while the Lakers as a team averaged 122 PPG, 48.5 RPG, 49.6 FG shooting, 36.2% 3-point shooting, and 33 FT attempts.
Those are absolutely monumental stats as they not only lead all Lakers (including LeBron James) in scoring and rebounding, but it also dwarfed all Golden State players in rebounding and blocking. Only Kevon Looney (13.5 RPG) had rebounding stats and Draymond Green (1.5 BPG) had even remotely similar rebounding and blocking stats in those two Lakers wins, and even saying remotely does them a tremendous service.
Simply put, Anthony Davis completely dominated the Warriors frontcourt and handed the Lakers a wide-open paint area to score numerous buckets, which is the main reason why the Lakers outscored the Warriors 100-72 in the paint in these two games. However, when Davis is not playing at his All-NBA level, the Lakers have been utterly destroyed.
Despite LeBron James’ (22 PPG, 8 RPG, 5 APG) best efforts, the Lakers haven’t been able to contend with the sheer 3-point shooting volume the Warriors have thrown at them when Anthony Davis is not playing to his best. Led by Steph Curry (23.3 PPG, 4.7 RPG) , 6.0 APG) and Klay Thompson (23.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 1.7 APG), the Warriors 3-point shooting has been lethal regardless of whether or not they’re being blown out, but especially so when they’re winning.
In the Warriors lone win of the series (Game 2), the Warriors made 21 3-point shots (an NBA record), made 21/42, and obviously shot 50%, while Steph Curry (3-5) and Klay Thompson (8-11) collectively made more 3-pointers than the entire Lakers team combined (10-34) in Game 2. Needless to say, the Warriors making 3-point shots and forcing the Lakers to leave the paint area and defend the perimeter is where their strengths lie, while it’s also the only avenue they have at beating a LA team with Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Jared Vanderbilt in the frontcourt.
Yet, for as great as the Warriors shooter are, they were woeful in Game 3 as they only made 13/44 3-pointers (29.5%) and just 36-91 FG attempts (39.6%). That’s not good enough to beat this Lakers team twice, let alone the four times required to move on to their 7th Western Conference Finals since 2015.
So, as for what makes this series so strange, it’s been almost impossible to guess who’s going to show up.
Will Anthony Davis and the Lakers be the dominating, destructive, unstoppable paint-driven team, or will they wilt and allow the Warriors to draw them away from the rim? And can the Warriors be their championship winning selves by draining countless 3-pointers, or will continue to miss shots and get destroyed in the paint?
I’ve got no idea…and that’s what makes this such a thrilling series.
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