Wednesday night’s game at the Staples Center between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors won’t see those two teams at the height of their basketballing powers. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are still working back to full fitness after extended periods away due to injury, and Klay Thompson, who hasn’t played a minute since tearing his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals, won’t be back until next season.
Still, it figures to be the most interesting match-up of the NBA’s new “play-in” tournament, and probably the entire season so far. The new format is unlike the seven-game series that define the rest of the NBA playoffs, and could change everything going forward in the postseason.
How we got here? With this year’s regular season shortened by 10 games due to COVID-19, the league decided to host a four-team play-in tournament contest by the teams that finished 7th through 10th in each conference. The winner of the Warriors (no. 8) and Lakers (no. 7) game “earns” a first-round playoff berth against the second-seed Phoenix Suns. The loser faces the winner of the Memphis Grizzlies (no. 9) play-in against the San Antonio Spurs (no. 10). The winner of that one-off then goes on to play the no. 1 seed Utah Jazz in a regular playoff series
While the miniature round-robin tournament is new, having (for example) a no. 8 that’s played a couple extra games face off against a no. 1 doesn’t seem like it would make for a series worth looking forward to in the following weeks (although eight-seeds have surprised before … oh, my poor, forgotten Seattle SuperSonics). But this isn’t your normal year. Forgetting the impact of COVID, there are plenty of reasons to highlight this week’s Warriors-Lakers game (and side note, both teams come in with five- to six-game winning streaks).
Consider:
- Perennial MVP choice/candidate LeBron James is already buttering up his Wednesday opponents, lavishing praise on league scoring leader Stephen Curry. “I mean, just look at what he’s done this year,” James told ESPN after Sunday’s games. “I don’t know anything else if you’re looking for an MVP. If Steph is not on Golden State’s team, what are we looking at?” (Probably another 15-50 type of season like 2020, if you ask us.)
- James isn’t a fan of the entire tournament idea at all. “Whoever came up with that shit needs to be fired,” he said a few weeks back after a loss to the Raptors. And back in 2018, he called the idea “wack” and suggested, “You’ve got to earn your spot to be in the postseason.”
- Not making this all about James — although he is the league’s marquee player — but we’re not even sure how healthy he is. He missed 27 games this season due to ankle issues, and seemed to reaggravate his injury on Sunday. “It was a tweak,” James said. “I’ll be fine.”
- The Warriors, now two seasons removed from Kevin Durant and also missing Klay Thompson (due to injury), have plummeted from the NBA’s best team to the Steph Curry show. But wow, what a show that is. At 33, he just became the oldest player since Michael Jordan to secure the scoring title. And as Sunday’s final regular season game proved (46 points with nine three-pointers), he’s easily the most fun player to watch in the league.
- Nobody in the NBA has been at full health all season. But if James truly is fine, the Lakers will finally be close to showcasing the all-star line-up they envisioned at the beginning of this season. Which means some teams in these play-in games are a lot better than their record indicates … but they only have a brief window to prove it.
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