3 Takeaways from Lakers-Warriors

It’s time for more overreactions!

In one of the best games of the year, the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors by a final score of 103-100 as LeBron James hit the final dagger to win it.

Now, the Lakers lock up their spot as the No. 7 seed and will face the No. 2 Phoenix Suns starting this Sunday at 3:30 while the Warriors will pivot to Friday night as they host the Memphis Grizzlies to determine the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Now that formalities are out of the way, let’s get to some of my takeaways from this contest.

Let me just get this out of the way. For the last decade, LeBron has been one of the most dominant athletes. That CANNOT be debated. BUT, there was (and still is) legitimate cause for concern about this Lakers squad.

The King missed 26 of the last 30 games of the regular season (more than Joel Embiid) and the rust showed through the first half of this game. First, the King started the game with an ugly shooting performance, making only one of his first seven attempts, which is about as shaky as an infant sitting on Santa Claus’ lap for the first time.

Nevertheless, LeBron then converted five of his next ten shots, including the game-winner, but he’s still not completely healthy.

With Anthony Davis shouldering most of the offensive load and supporting characters like Kentavius Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso hitting critical 3’s, the Lakers just need James to hit shots down the stretch to get them over the top and if last night was any indication, James showed he still has the Mamba Mentality.

The Steph Curry show will be coming to an end Friday night

This is probably an unpopular opinion but who gives a flying f**k? I’M GOING ALL IN. This isn’t to take away from Steph Curry’s incredible season. No one else could’ve gotten this Warriors squad into the play-in team, but I’m not sold on this supporting cast.

I don’t know what happened before this game, but all of a sudden, Juan Toscano-Anderson looked like Harrison Barnes and Jordan Poole was Klay Thompson reincarnated. It made absolutely zero sense.

Steph is going to be Steph in this next game, but Draymond Green only contributed two points last night. TWO. He can say that bloggers like me don’t mean sh*t and our opinions don’t matter, but guess what? I already know my opinion doesn’t mean sh*t and the highest level of basketball I’ve played is high school CYO basketball, so joke’s on you!

Anyway, the point is that this supporting cast needs to step up offensively and Memphis is not to be underestimated. Memphis’ defense limited DeMar DeRozan and Djounte Murray to a combined 9-38 from the field, which isn’t Steph Curry-caliber talent, but the perimeter toughness is there.

Even this past Sunday when these two teams faced off, Memphis was within striking distance for pretty much the whole game up until Dillon Brooks fouled out, which triggered a 21-10 run in favor of the Warriors the rest of the game.

Furthermore, Jonas Valancunas will give this Warriors club serious problems (yes, I’m serious.) The Warriors simply do not have the height or length to really limit the Grizzlies big man’s impact which will slow down the pace of the game and limit Curry’s offensive opportunities.

Andrew Wiggins has finally come into his own.

This was the most critical season of Andrew Wiggins’ career. His tenure in Minnesota was filled with empty stats, no winning, and continuous mental tests from former teammate Jimmy Butler that formed a mess of a start for a career.

This year, Wiggins has quietly established himself as a quality player. He doesn’t have to be a superstar (kind of like Toni Kukoc), but Wiggins posted a career-best field goal percentage from downtown (38%) and field goal percentage (47%).

In the most critical game of the year, Wiggins stepped up, scoring 21 points on 10-18 shooting and has improved dramatically on the defensive side of the ball.

For years, Wiggins has been notorious for being one of those rare athletes with all the tools but never took advantage of them. This year and in this game specifically, Wiggins displayed his value as a 3-and-D defender that can be a reliable third scorer once Klay Thompson returns.