The Los Angeles Lakers have now matched up against the Golden State Warriors to play the conference semifinal series. After defeating Memphis Grizzlies, who lacked some of their important players, the Warriors are a massive upgrade. However, looking at the way LA played in game 1, it looked like they stood ready for the challenge. They laid the groundwork of the series with a win on the road in the chase center. But the Warriors also had a response ready so that they do not end up with two straight home games in the series.
The Lakers would not want to take the former champions lightly, as they hold the capacity to change the game at any moment. LA has been solid in their defense with their tall and strong team. It would be a challenge for any team in the NBA to penetrate their line of defense. But the Warriors are a good shooting team which could annoy the purple and gold, who lack long range. They also hold an ace up their sleeve Stephen Curry who can change the game from the long range. Even Anthony Davis is aware of the three-pointer king and is on the lookout for him.
The Lakers Should Be Ware Of Stephen Curry
In a recent interview, Anthony Davis announced that “As long as he’s on the other side, it’s not over.” And this fear could be about when the 29-year-old last faced Steph Curry. The two-star players of their respective teams had clashed before in the playoffs, where Curry gave Davis the run for his money. When Anthony was in Orleans, he was up by 20 min, but Steph completely changed the game. Therefore, Anthony is not resting until they finally nail the coffin in the Golden State Warrior situation.
The Lakers know how cautious they will have to be, and they have laid out some plans to keep Curry quiet. However, they have managed to put him in an uncomfortable situation that does not allows him an all-time outing. The team uses two defenders, Jarred Vanderbilt, and Dennis Schroder, to mark him down when they have the ball. This has given Ham’s side a little relief from him, but it fails to shut him down completely.
They need to be sure about the tactics. Otherwise, Curry has the capacity even to score an all-out 50 points. And he has displayed that in the last game of the playoffs against the Sacramento Kings.
Anthony Davis Needed More Than Ever
The only player that the Lakers will want to shut down is Stephen Curry. However, there is another player in their own team who can shut down in a running game producing poor performance. Yes, Anthony Davis has been an inconsistent presence in the team. He has the ability to produce 30 point performance one day and collapses to 12 points the next day.
Therefore, Ham will need his abilities to dominate both ends of the court regularly in the semifinal series. Otherwise, the pattern of plagues and valleys will take the whole team down. And the Lakers would not want this faith after coming so far.
