Lakers fans, don’t shoot the messenger, but one NBA coach is claiming that the Lakers will be no match for the Grizzlies in their upcoming first round playoffs series.
“The Grizzlies have too much firepower for the Lakers,” the coach said, per The Athletic. “Ja Morant, I don’t know if there’s anyone on that Lakers team that can guard him. He’s unguardable. And this is their time. This is what they’ve been waiting for all year long, the Grizzlies. … (The Lakers will win a game) only because of Anthony Davis. The Grizzlies are going to have a hard time, without Steven Adams, guarding Anthony Davis. We’ll see which Anthony Davis shows up, too.”
In the same story, an unknown scout opposes the coach’s view and says that the Lakers are their favorite to win the series.
“You might even give the Lakers the edge there, especially if they take one in Memphis,” the scout said. “… I think missing [Brandon] Clarke and Adams is big for Memphis even though Jaren Jackson Jr. did lead the league in shot-blocking and Tillman’s been more than adequate as a starter. When push comes to shove, I’m going to pick LeBron James.”
An anonymous executive also raised the point about Morant’s end-of-season fiasco and whether that would still be affecting the team in any way.
The Lakers went OT in a somewhat ugly play-in with the Timberwolves earlier this week to advance to the playoffs and face Memphis, who will have had a full week’s rest before tip off on Sunday.
During the regular season, LA went 2-1 against the Grizz. Their most recent match-up was in March where Morant recorded 39 points (28 of those came in the third quarter) and added 10 assists and 10 rebounds to beat the Lakers 121-109.
The playoffs are a whole different beast though, so we will have to wait until Sunday’s game in LA to see what happens.