The playoff matchup between the LeBron James-led Lakers and Stephen Curry-led Warriors should be a thriller. James has great respect for what Curry, who scored 50 points on Sunday to close out the Kings, has accomplished, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes.
“[Curry] puts in the work,” James said. “And when you put in the work, nine times out of 10 you’re going to see the results. And he’s done that throughout his whole, entire career. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Steph and everything he’s been able to accomplish, not only on the floor but also off the floor, too. It’s just great to have people like that in this league to set an example for the generation to come.”
James says that Curry presents an imposing defensive challenge for the entire team.
“You’ve seen some of the shots, the routine shots, that Steph was making in Game 7 that everybody was going crazy after,” James said. “That’s just Steph. When you’re that great, you make tough shots like that. So, we’ve got to be locked in and not hurt ourselves.”
We have more on the Lakers:
- The team comes into the second round in relatively good health. James (right foot soreness) and Anthony Davis (right foot stress injury) are listed as probable for Game 1 on Tuesday, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Mohamed Bamba (left ankle soreness) is listed as questionable.
- D’Angelo Russell, who will be a free agent after the season, poured in 31 points when the Lakers knocked out the second-seeded Grizzlies in Game 6. Performances like that could enhance Russell’s chances of re-signing with the team, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes. The Lakers are reportedly not interested in signing Kyrie Irving and reuniting him with James.
- Thanks to the changes made in-season, the new-look Lakers have all the pieces in place to win the championship, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer opines. The club now has shot creators who can provide a spark and take pressure off of James and Davis.
Only about 7 or 8 teams have open cap, only about 5 of those could afford a 30 mill contract-
I don’t see any of them gong after Dlo, thus the market should dictate Lakers cut him off at 25 AAV (3/75)
With the new Cba coming into effect shaving off a couple mill AAV from your own guys is going to be big bizness (most of the business tbh (unfortunately) ) . Sometimes the team will be strong armed and 100% have to bend, but when there’s an opportunity to shave, front office needs to get in their and fight for whatever they can, that’s just where we are at today market wise
Jeanie needs to play hardball as best she can w Reaves Rui Dlo but she cant let any of them slip away
Slivers turning free agency into more of a back-room episode of the “Apprentice “
Lebron, lil bro, Curry is gunna have more rings than you AND be known as #1 all-time when he retires – “puts in the work” nah bro, what Curry does isn’t mere “doing work”, its transcendent once in a lifetime talent. Bron lowkey dissed Curry in there despite the quote saying Curry is great. He still posits like he’s way in front of him.
Thing is, Curry is going to catch him. All Lebrons records are going to fall to Steph. Just wait…
Hey we are just happy to be here.
Curry is 17,000 or so points behind LeBron, so I seriously doubt all his records fall. IF Steph continues to average 29 a game, and Lebron plays a minimum of 2 more seasons, Curry would have to play another decade. I can’t see it.
Curry will rather have more championships than all time points scored record.
Took Warriors 7 to beat a team with zero experience. Good luck with LeBron and AD
Exactly amk. This is not going to be a cakewalk. They won’t be able to take any games off like the last series. Seriously what happened in game 6? Inexcusable and thank goodness Curry bailed them out in game 7. This has to be Jordan Poole time or my goodness what a flop of a contract for the next 4 years.
If the Lakers play D like they did in game 6 it’s over. That’s a big if though.
I think the Kings played pretty good defense on the Warriors and that’s why it went seven games. They have some pretty good strong Defenders over there and you’ll notice they picked them up full pressure, three quarter court on many plays. Sabonis is not great as an interior Defender but the Warriors don’t really have interior offensive players to worry about so that was no big deal. So I don’t think the Lakers defense will be something the Warriors will be shocked by.
Good point about the interior offense of the Warriors since we all know the majority of their offense is on the perimeter. I do see AD, Rui, etc protecting the rim from Steph’s wacky layups way better than the Kings. Should be a good matchup as the teams are fairly different.
Yes I forgot about that. Steph Curry definitely mixes up his game and has a lot of interior layups. But that option definitely goes away with Anthony Davis patrolling the paint with his shot blocking !! Does that mean more passes and dunks for Looney? Going to be a great series.
I’m curious to see if AD can bring his A game every night. A few vs MEM def looks like he took a few off. And everytime he falls to the floor, you take a big breath.
All in all, really excited about the series so hopefully it goes 7.
Denver looks really good though … and probably will be well rested vs LA or GS.
Warriors in 7.
Warriors only won the series because of rebounding