Just prior to the Lakers match-up against the Utah Jazz, the team had been on a 17-1 run post All-Star break. Three games later, the Lakers have straight losses to the Jazz, Nuggets and Warriors. Not exactly the best way to head into the last four games of the season, three of those against teams standing in the way of the Lakers’ hope at a three-peat.
Still even with the Lakers semi-breakdown, they’re still the best overall team in the West, regardless of seeding or record. They’ll want to still end the season on a favorable note, the top spot is out of the question as it now belongs to the Spurs, but still have to remain competitive to stay in the number two spot out West and possibly gain more ground on the Celtics, Heat and Bulls should they meet in the finals.
Perhaps the Lakers most recent flirtation with complacency is a direct result of the team being as ready for the playoffs to start as most fans are. Just like the regular season has been one to remember, the playoffs are poised to be quite possibly the best 8 weeks of basketball ever. Besides what the playmakers do on the court, there’s plenty of drama outside to provide for some juicy subplots.
We examine them now in ascending order.
Next: Is Pau Gasol ready for a playoff meeting with his brother?
Memphis Grizzlies
If the playoffs were to start today the Grizzlies would play the top seeded Spurs, Mark Gasol would have to contend with Tim Duncan and Pau Gasol would no doubt be rooting for his brother’s team to upset San Antonio. Unless you’re new to the playoffs or have simply not bothered to care, you know that the last 3-4 spots in the Western conference are seemingly always up for grabs. Should the Grizzlies fall in the number seven spot, they’ll have to more than likely face the Lakers in the first round.
It’s already interesting to see the Gasol brother’s battle in the post during the regular season, now imagine that matchup in the playoffs when the intensity rises a few notches and it could make for a potentially dramatic set of games. Couple that with the fact that Memphis has not one, but two decent Kobe Bryant defenders in Shane Battier and Tony Allen–now you’ve got a series.
Next: Kendrick Perkins finds himself out west in OKC, but does it spell doom for the Lakers?
Oklahoma City Thunder
All the talk before the All-Star break in Lakerland was the potential mid-season trade for Carmelo Anthony. There’s a very good chance that all that talk was just that–talk, and the Lakers weren’t ever really considering giving up their big (now) defensive-minded seven-footer for a prolific scorer in Anthony. Well, what the Lakers didn’t do, the Celtics did when they traded Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic.
Ainge opted for scoring potential in exchange for the only front court that was detrimental to the Lakers’ title hopes. In any case Oklahoma City, at least at the moment, stand as the big winners in that trade. It made a team that caused the Lakers first-round playoff grief last season that much better with Perkins causes havoc under the rim.
During that series against the Lakers, Thunder head coach Scott Brooks told his team that he didn’t expect them to beat the Lakers in four games, that it could take seven. Kudos to him for being so clever, but the fact still remains that he was one Gasol tip-in away from being right on the money with his prediction.
Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing for the Spurs to take the top spot in the western conference. The Spurs will have to eliminate OKC to get to the finals. Divine intervention perhaps?
Next: The Heat vs. three-peat
Miami Heat
Just about every talking head, NBA analyst and casual fan penned LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh making it to the finals to face the Lakers before the season started. Over the course of the 82-game grind, the Heat have fallen off, regained momentum, went on losing streaks and now look to finish the season strong heading into the playoffs. Yes, it’s been a roller-coaster ride of emotions for the Heatles and their fans, but there’s only one thing that comes to mind in regards to a potential finals matchup against the Heat and Lakers.
Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James.
Well, sort of. The reality is Wade will spend the majority of the time guarding Bryant and vice-versa, Ron Artest will have the challenge of containing James and Pau Gasol will have to come up big against Bosh for the Lakers to beat the big three, four-out-of-seven times. The time when it becomes a battle of the NBA’s most enigmatic players of this generation is in the fourth quarter, where Bryant usually puts his stamp on games and where James still has a long way to go before in his quest to be considered the best come crunch time.
As Bryant gets older and James reaches his peak, the idea of a match-up of this magnitude becomes seemingly less relevant. It would be a shame for these two competitor’s game samples to be limited to just two regular games per season.
Next: The Celtics and their aging O’Neal’s
Boston Celtics
Last season’s finals made for a few epic defensive battles against the two storied rivalries. After the Lakers closed the series with a game seven victory, hearing Kobe Bryant proclaim that he had “one more ring than Shaq,” Celtics general manager Danny Ainge set out to seek the services of Bryant’s old friend/foe.
If Ainge felt he had to rely on Bryant’s post-season revelation to fuel Shaquille O’Neal to beat his former team, he’ll now have to rely on the health of both his aging O’Neal’s to get the Celtics to another finals berth. Shaq’s been in-and-out of the lineup all year, while Jermaine O’Neal sat out most of the season and is just now barely being re-inserted into the lineup.
Should the Lakers meet the Celtics in the finals, they both still have a long playoff road ahead of them, it’ll be the third time in four years the two teams meet and the Lakers will have a shot at matching their title-totals or the Celtics could two-up the Lakers by capturing their 18th O’Brien trophy.
Although both teams are aging, the two can still provide legitimate playoff sparks. Or you know at the very least an infinite amount of “Boston Sucks,” and “Beat LA” chants.
Next: The Mavericks talk trash, but will it translate on court?
Dallas Mavericks
For nearly a decade, the Lakers and Mavericks have avoided meeting each other in the playoffs. How that’s happened remains a mystery. It appears now more than ever, that their meeting with Dallas en route to the finals is eminent.
The Lakers and Mavericks may not have history as precedent to draw conclusions, but they’ve sure made things interesting throughout the years. However, most of it has come outside the lines of the basketball court.
Prior to just about any meeting between these two powerhouses, Mavs owner Mark Cuban and Lakers head coach Phil Jackson almost always have something to say to each other through the media. Just before the Lakers’ most recent game against Dallas, it went something like this. Cuban takes a jab at Ron Artest’s game offensively, or lack thereof. Jackson responds to the tune of, “[Cuban] just sits behind the bench with his suntanned face and has to make comments like that…I know that he’s provided a great roster that’s almost as good as money can buy. But not quite.”
The Mavericks have the size to match up against the Lakers, at least in theory. They also have a guy by the name of Jason Terry who hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the Lakers after his flagrant foul on Steve Blake, resulting in Matt Barnes’ one-game suspension. After the incident, Terry was just as vocal as Cuban saying that Barnes “is a guy who is as soft as Charmin toilet paper.”
No response was given by Barnes—yet that is. It’ll be interesting to see just how a seven-game series transcribes between these two teams.
Let the playoffs begin.