The Lakers have suddenly found themselves in the crosshairs of a strategic quandary, as unintendedly, Popovich of the Spurs caught San Antonio blazing a trail of defeating the Denver Nuggets. This absence helped the Lakers take over the first seed in the Western Conference, which means that the Lakers will most likely face a tough first-round opponent, the Nuggets.
As the top 8 teams in the west have already clinched their playoff berths, if the Lakers win against the New Orleans Pelicans in the Western Conference play-in game, they would come up against the defending champions, the Denver Nuggets, in the first round. Yet, the recent Lakers’ experience against the Nuggets is the team’s downfall, as they face a streak of eight-game defeats.
Others argue that just having the fear of a loss to the Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs could lead to taking no risks and thus not having to meet the Nuggets at all. By doing so, the Lakers will be confronted by the winner of the match between the Sacramento Kings and. In their head-to-head matchup, the next challenge awaits a handful of games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, followed by a potential matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round, a team they have a winning record against this season.
Anyway, unconsciousness of purpose is surrounded by the emergence of representing issues. Preliminarily, it is of utmost importance for us to seize a playoff spot since every championship background depends on the playoff spot. If the Lakers were to lose the first game there, they would be thrown into a second play-off match, which would be decided by a low-budget version of the Best of 5 series. They could face the Kings or Warriors, both of whom have had a difficult time when they have played against Los Angeles teams in the last few seasons.
The other promoters of the theory state that the nuggets in the early round can be avoided only to win the championship. Consequently, the Lakers can go into the match-up with the Nuggets more healthy by addressing the health issues early, thus preventing players like LeBron James and Anthony Davis from experiencing fatigue and strain. On top of that, the outstanding warriors preferred to take on challenges; instead of shunning them, they tried to dispel the notion of being cowards and indulge themselves in demeaning behaviour.
On the other hand, among all the strong reasons to take the Nuggets on fresh, seemingly the Lakers’ failure to get rid of them is the most central. It is through the back pages of playoff history that the Lakers must take this step to compete for the championship against all opposition. Hence, it can be said that the Nuggets are to be the reason that could help the Lakers organization make those needed to progress.
However, the Lakers have so far not responded to a huge market as they have no title to the season so far. Rather than waiting for seasons to collect the data, decisions made by the coaching staff, as well as roster composition, have been a subject of criticism, serving as a framework for further evolution. These difficulties might be overcome by the teams as they put in work and create an equitable team that has a bigger chance of beating hard teams, just like the Nuggets.
Sportsmanship in this situation would require a noble act of deliberately losing to stop the Denver Nuggets from mounting an impressive comeback. However, this is a palliative or stop-gap measure that would not address the most important matters hindering the Lakers’ quest to win the championship. Besides facing the Nuggets for an early match, it also gives the Lakers a secure ground for changes to be introduced that determine the Laker’s quest for success in the long run.
Comments