[ad_1]
Before Klay Thompson’s Achilles injury in November, Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers fans dreamed of the potential for a real rivalry between the two teams at the height of their powers.
Klay, Steph Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green against defending NBA champions LeBron James and Anthony Davis, fighting for the top seed in the West seemed like a perfect scenario.
Thompson’s injury changed that way of thinking. Instead of the Warriors returning to the top of the Western Conference standings, they will likely fight for the bottom four.
This set up another scenario, where a No.1 or 2 Lakers would face the No.7 or 8 Warriors in the first round of the NBA playoffs (assuming the Warriors survive the play-in round).
Now that option could be off the table with LeBron sustaining a sprained high right ankle on Saturday in the Lakers’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported, citing a source, that LeBron was indefinitely absent.
The fallout from LeBron’s injury – combined with the uncertainty surrounding Davis’ foot injury – could change the landscape of the Western Conference standings.
The Lakers (28-14) currently sit third in the West, a tiebreaker behind the Phoenix Suns (27-13) for the second seed, 2.5 games behind the Utah Jazz (30-11 ) for the seed and two games ahead of the Los Angeles Clippers (26-16) in fourth seed. The Denver Nuggets (25-16), who lost to the Lakers in the West Bubble final last season, are half a game away from the Clippers.
It’s conceivable, with LeBron and AD both running out of time, the Lakers could slip behind the Clippers and Nuggets in the standings and enter the playoffs as a fourth or fifth seed.
As for the Warriors, they entered Saturday’s game in Memphis with a 22-20 record, good for the ninth seed in the West. Seeds # 7-10 will take part in a play-in tournament to see who wins Seeds # 7 and 8.
With the Lakers potentially falling to the fourth or fifth seed and the Warriors having received a ticket to the seventh or eighth seed, it now looks like the two teams meeting in the first round of the playoffs are out of the game. table.
RELATED: The Loss of the ‘Embarrassing’ Warriors to the Lakers Who They Are
Of course, a number of things could explode this scenario, including more injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic. And LeBron and AD could return in time to save one of the West’s top two seeds.
But for now, it looks like the Warriors and Lakers are no longer on a collision course to face each other in the playoffs.
Maybe they can meet in the second round? Wishful thinking.
Download and subscribe to the Dubs Talk podcast
[ad_2]
Source link