The Los Angeles Lakers are set to begin their first round match-up against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night, and LeBron James says he isn’t taking the competition lightly.
“[Portland’s] not your typical eight seed,” James said to reporters on Monday, via Taylor Rooks of Turner Sports.
Portland had to fight tooth and nail to get into the playoffs after starting the season slow.
But due to the league’s suspension of play, the Blazers were able to get their players healthy at the perfect time.
I asked Lebron for a scouting report on the Blazers and he delivered. pic.twitter.com/dm8XcCRCQ3
— Taylor Rooks (@TaylorRooks) August 17, 2020
The return of big-men Jusuf Nurkic and Zach Collins has had a tremendous impact on Portland’s ability to attack the offensive glass.
“I believe Nurkic and Zach coming back from injury has helped them out a lot as well. They move extremely well, offensively they’re one of the best scoring teams in the Bubble — sorry, not one of them they ARE the best scoring team in the seeding games — so you have to get stops and you have to get multiple stops,” James continued on to say.
But if the Blazers are going to beat the Lakers, they’re going to need guards Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum playing at the peak of their abilities.
“They have a two-headed monster in Dame and C.J. It starts and ends with those guys,” LeBron said.
The Lakers are going to need LeBron to heat up after a cold start to bubble-play.