The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James take on Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets in round one of the NBA Playoffs! Two legends clash for the fourth time in the postseason. Durant has two series wins, while James has one, with all of them being in the finals.
The Lakers are in an unfortunate situation. They have lost two of their best players, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, indefinitely as of April 14th. That means James will need a vintage performance to pull off the upset.
Los Angeles right now is +550 to win the series. That essentially means they are sizable underdogs and understandably so. Asking a 41-year-old to carry a team to the second round by himself is something that we’ve never seen in NBA history.
If anyone could do it, though, it would be James. Time and time again, he has defyed the father time. In his 23rd season, the four-time MVP averaged 21 points, six rebounds, and seven assists in the regular season. No one has ever played this long, and he is still thriving.
The Lakers played five games without Doncic and Reaves. James, who played in four them averaged 25.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 11 rebounds per game. He can still get it done as the number one option. The question is, how long can he sustain this level of play for?
If Los Angeles find sa way to win this series, this might go down as one of James’ greatest achievements, given the circumstances.
The Rockets had a roller coaster of a season. After winning 52 games last year and being the two seed, expectations were high when the team acquired Durant via trade. Those expectations were certainly not met in the regular season.
Around two months ago, it was revealed that Durant was heavily using his burner account once again. This time, he allegedly used it not to speak lowly of teammates Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith. Durant was later asked about it and responded by wanting to focus on the team and season.
There’s no concrete evidence of Durant’s behavior, but his response leads me to believe he may be guilty, since there was no denial. Due to those events, Houston has had its peaks and valleys, and the valleys have been bad.
This took place in February. When looking at the Rockets’ performance month by month, the record indicated mediocrity in February and March. Over those two months, they had a combined record of 16-12.
Houston, however, rebounded well in April, going 6-1 and seeming to move past the drama. A lot of those victories came against tankers such as the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, and Milwaukee Bucks. The first couple of games of this playoff series will tell us a lot about where this team is at right now.
The regular season may have been disappointing, but the Rockets can write their wrongs when it matters. Durant also desperately needs a deep playoff run, as it has been even years since he’s made it past round two.
It’s a shame that this series didn’t get a healthy Los Angeles squad. A series that may have gone six or seven looks like it will end in five.
That, of course, hinges on the performance of arguably the greatest of all time. If James can turn back the clock, we might get some drama this series.
The Rockets have shown all year that they are a bit inconsistent. Can the short-handed Lakers take advantage of that?
This, nevertheless, is a postseason battle between two legends in James and Durant. Enjoy this as much as you can because it might be the last one.
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