The Golden State Warriors look to extend their unbeaten run of series wins in the Western Conference by not losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs.
Steve Kerr has never lost a playoff series outside of the Finals during his tenure as head coach of the Warriors. He wouldn’t be keen on starting now, especially against the LeBron James-led Lakers.
As Anthony Davis was quick to remind everyone, this series isn’t over until someone gets to four wins because the Warriors know exactly what it takes to execute a 3-1 comeback. The question is, can the Warriors do that against LA and pull off one of the biggest upsets in recent playoff history?
1. Stephen Curry May Be The Best Player In The World
Through the first four games of this series, it is evidently clear to everyone that Stephen Curry may be the most impactful individual player in the series. Even if he’s having cold shooting nights, as he did in Game 4, he’s going to impact the game with his playmaking on the offensive end and hustle on the defensive end. From what we have seen so far, Curry can show up every game with big performances, and not many players can match his production.
The 4-time champion and reigning Finals MVP is averaging 25.3 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 8.0 assists against the Lakers, despite LA’s suffocating defense impacting almost every player on the Warriors. Steph has also been creating shots for everyone on his team and has an incredibly heavy workload. We’ve seen the LeBron vs. Steph rivalry from the lens of LeBron having to do everything and falling short of the better team. The same may be happening with Curry now, as he has comfortably outplayed his most legendary rival so far in this series.
Many would like to call Anthony Davis the best player in this series, given his two-way ability, but his complete disappearance from games is something Curry hasn’t shown so far. Davis was a non-factor in the second half of the Lakers’ Game 4 win and their Game 2 loss. The best player in the series usually has a great chance of winning, and the Warriors will hope to win a few more games on the brilliance of Curry alone.
2. The Inconsistency Of LeBron James And Anthony Davis
The LeBron James and Anthony Davis we are seeing now aren’t even the players we saw win the 2020 Championship. Even though they are both top-10 players in the league still, they haven’t been able to show the world that they can produce at the highest level every single game in the 2023 playoffs. James is clearly coasting offensive to take care of his foot injury, empowering his teammates to leave their imprint on the series. That works well when players like Lonnie Walker IV can be thrown into a fourth quarter and lead the Lakers to a win. That’s an exception and not the rule, with the Lakers likely losing Game 4 without that cameo after James and AD were both outplayed by Golden State in the third quarter.
James is averaging 23.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists so far in the series, a far cry from what he had to average against the Warriors in those Finals losses all those years ago. Outside of shot-blocking, there’s nothing Davis has provided to the Lakers consistently, averaging 22.3 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists this series.
LeBron and Davis have struggled to be as consistent as someone like Curry, and they’ve also looked more gassed as the series has gone on. They didn’t have the energy to contribute offensively at the end of their Game 4 win and will likely struggle away from home in Game 5. Most people are already picking the Warriors to win Game 5, which increases the pressure on LA heading into Game 6. This franchise can most definitely win all remaining games in the series if both AD and LeBron don’t play like the superstars they are.
3. Home Court Advantage
As we mentioned at the end of the last point, the Warriors’ home court advantage could ultimately be the killer for the Lakers. Out of the three games remaining, Golden State will have the honor of hosting two of those games. Given the strength the franchise has shown in the Chase Center all season long, the team simply cannot be dismissed. If they can win Game 5 and steal Game 6 in Los Angeles, the momentum of this series will shift almost completely towards Golden State.
Championship-caliber teams treat their home as a fortress, which Golden State had done during the season. They have lost two home games in the playoffs so far, Game 6 against the Sacramento Kings and Game 1 against the Lakers, so their home advantage isn’t impenetrable. Even with that being said, the motivation of the reigning champions going back home for Game 5 will be very hard for a tired Lakers team to match.
Darvin Ham has been forced to play his stars for heavier minutes than what the Warriors’ stars have played to take this 3-1 lead. With the series heading back to the Bay Area, GSW will have to hope their fans can give them the energy they need to outpace the Lakers once again. If they can use their proven championship quality and win Game 6 as well in LA, this series may be over.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
