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Poll: Milwaukee Bucks Vs. Atlanta Hawks

June 23rd, 2021 at 1:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The two Eastern Conference teams left standing this season, the Bucks and Hawks, took very different paths to the conference semifinals.

Milwaukee, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and All-Star Khris Middleton, has made the playoffs for five straight seasons, making it as far as the Eastern Finals in 2019, but never quite getting over the hump. This represents the club’s best chance to break through and compete for a title for the first time in decades.

Atlanta, meanwhile, last made the Eastern Finals back in 2015, when current Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer was at the helm. That 60-win squad was slowly torn down over the next year or two as the Hawks entered a rebuilding process that saw the team win just 24, 29, and 20 games in the three seasons from 2017/18 to ’19/20.

Even with ascendant young players like Trae Young and John Collins leading the way, and several veteran free agents added to the roster in the 2020 offseason, this season’s Hawks appeared lottery-bound, getting off to a 14-20 start. However, since Nate McMillan replaced Lloyd Pierce as Atlanta’s head coach, this has looked like a different team. The Hawks finished the regular season by winning 27 of their last 38 games and have now made an unexpectedly deep postseason run, upsetting the Knicks and Sixers in the first two rounds.

The Bucks are built to win now, having traded several future draft picks last fall in a blockbuster deal for Jrue Holiday. They’ll enter the Eastern Finals as big favorites to win the series (they’re listed as -460 on BetOnline.ag). And after knocking off the Nets – who had been considered the championship frontrunners – anything short of an appearance in the NBA Finals will be considered a disappointmentin Milwaukee.

The Hawks’ season, on the other hand, is already a huge success, and that won’t change even if the team is swept by the Bucks. That doesn’t mean Atlanta will go down quietly though — this group showed during the second half of the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs that it’s for real, and has the luxury of entering the Eastern Finals with the pressure relatively off. The Hawks are essentially playing with house money and shouldn’t have to carry the weight of a looming roster or coaching staff shakeup should they fall short of the NBA Finals.

With Game 1 set to tip off in a matter of hours, we want to get your thoughts on the Eastern Conference Finals. Do you expect the Bucks or Hawks to advance to the NBA Finals? How many games do you think it will take for a team to get to four wins? Do you expect the Eastern winner to ultimately take home the championship?

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Poll: Utah Jazz Vs. Los Angeles Clippers

June 8th, 2021 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Whichever team wins the second-round series between the Jazz and Clippers, which gets underway on Tuesday night, is viewed as the betting favorite to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals. But even just winning one more round would represent a major step forward for these two franchises.

The Jazz are in the postseason for a fifth consecutive year, but they haven’t advanced past the Western Conference Semifinals since the 2006/07 season, and haven’t appeared in the NBA Finals since being defeated by Michael Jordan‘s Bulls in back-to-back years in 1997 and 1998.

The Clippers have a far more extensive track record of playoff disappointments. Since the franchise moved to Los Angeles in 1984, the Clippers have made it beyond the first round only five times and have never made it past the second round. If they can win this series, the Clippers will be in the Western Finals for the first time ever.

Of course, while advancing to the Western Finals will be huge for the team that makes it through, losing this series would represent a major disappointment for the team that falls short.

The Jazz had the NBA’s best regular season record in 2020/21 and are nearly at full strength entering the second round (Mike Conley is listed as questionable for Game 1 with a mild right hamstring strain). The Clippers went all-in two summers ago to land Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, with aspirations of winning the first title in franchise history. Neither team entered the postseason expecting to only win one series.

The Jazz will enter the series as slight favorites, per BetOnline.ag, but as John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, it’s not the most comfortable matchup for Utah. The Clippers don’t rely on getting to the rim to score, which will nullify the impact of star rim protector Rudy Gobert to some extent. And the Jazz’s options for guarding Leonard and George are limited beyond Royce O’Neale and Bojan Bogdanovic.

Still, Gobert is capable of punishing smaller Clippers lineups, and the Jazz have the offensive firepower necessary to take advantage of switches, as Hollinger writes. Additionally, the Clips had to push their key players much harder to get out of the first round. Leonard and George played big minutes in elimination games on Friday and Sunday, while Conley, Donovan Mitchell (who returned from an ankle sprain in round one), and the rest of the Jazz got a few days of much-needed rest.

This series seems like a strong candidate to be a seven-gamer. But we want to know what you think. Which team are you picking to advance to the Western Conference Finals, the Jazz or the Clippers? How many games do you expect the series to last?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your predictions!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Poll: Denver Nuggets Vs. Phoenix Suns

June 7th, 2021 at 3:07pm CST by Eli Cohen

After fighting through various levels of adversity in the first round, the Suns and Nuggets are set to face off tonight in Game One of their second-round series.

The Nuggets were considered strong challengers to come out of the Western Conference throughout the season, and especially following the trade for versatile defensive forward Aaron Gordon, but those hopes were dealt a crushing blow when Jamal Murray tore his ACL in April. Murray led the team in scoring, assists, and three-pointers made during Denver’s run to the Western Finals in last year’s Bubble playoffs, and without him, the Nuggets’ odds to win the NBA championship have dropped to the lowest of any team left in the playoffs.

The Suns arrival to the Western Conference Semifinals, meanwhile, has been more unexpected. While their 8-0 run at Walt Disney World last summer hinted that they were ready to start competing at a higher level, this is still the team’s first playoff appearance in 11 years. The last time Phoenix hosted a second round playoff game, their team was geared around the high-octane attack of Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire.

Now, the game plan involves surrounding star shooting guard Devin Booker with smart, physical defenders who can space the floor around him, such as Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Jae Crowder, and former Nugget Torrey Craig, as well as the two-man game of pick-and-roll maestro Chris Paul and up-and-coming third-year center Deandre Ayton.

How Ayton holds up defensively against MVP frontrunner Nikola Jokic will be crucial to defining how Phoenix fares in this series. Ayton defended Jokic remarkably well for such a young player during the regular season, but Jokic is almost impossible to stop when he gets rolling, and the Suns have no true backup center to throw at him should Ayton get in foul trouble.

On the other end, injuries forced the Nuggets to start Facundo Campazzo and Austin Rivers during the first round, which presents issues against a player of Booker’s caliber. If the Nuggets keep the same starting lineup, that could mean major minutes with Gordon as the primary defender on Booker, as he was against Damian Lillard in round one.

However, if Will Barton is able to return for Game One, as head coach Michael Malone hinted he might, that would give Denver a tall, athletic wing to throw at Booker.

One other key factor for the Nuggets will be the play of Michael Porter Jr. Porter was the team’s second highest scorer in the first round, and if the Nuggets want to get back to the Western Conference Finals, they’re going to need him to take on an even bigger scoring role against the Suns, who have more defenders to try on the prolific-scoring second year forward than the Trail Blazers did.

We want to know what you think. Are you picking the Suns or the Nuggets to advance to the Western Conference Finals? How many games do you think the series will go?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Poll: Brooklyn Nets Vs. Milwaukee Bucks

June 4th, 2021 at 12:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Three of the NBA’s four second-round matchups are set, and while the Sixers/Hawks and Suns/Nuggets series should be entertaining and competitive, the showdown between the Nets and the Bucks in the East looks like the clear headliner of round two at this point.

The Nets are the favorites to take home this year’s championship now that Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving – who have combined for 27 All-Star nods, seven scoring titles, and two MVP awards over the years – are all healthy. No other NBA team can match Brooklyn’s offensive firepower, and the club made quick work of the Celtics in round one, dispatching Boston in five games.

Milwaukee, however, was one of the only teams that looked more impressive than Brooklyn since the postseason began — the Bucks’ win over Miami was the lone sweep of the first round, and it showed why this year’s squad may be more dangerous than the one that led the NBA in regular season wins in 2018/19 and ’19/20. With Jrue Holiday and P.J. Tucker now in the mix, the Bucks have a versatile, switchable defense to complement All-Stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

As John Hollinger of The Athletic writes, this series looks like an NBA Finals-caliber matchup. In fact, Hollinger predicts that whichever team wins this series will go on to win the championship, and I’m inclined to agree with him.

The Nets are the favorites, but the Bucks are one of the only teams in the NBA that could realistically hope to slow down Brooklyn’s superstar trio, according to Hollinger, who points out that the Bucks could assign Holiday to Irving, Middleton to Harden, and either Giannis or Tucker to Durant.

On the other side of the ball, the Nets’ have no obvious primary defender for Antetokounmpo if Jeff Green remains sidelined, Hollinger argues, since Giannis is too quick for most of Brooklyn’s bigs, but would likely to be able to overpower Durant.

Still, the Nets will have some advantages of their own. It remains to be seen whether Bucks center Brook Lopez will be able to hang with Brooklyn’s offensive attack, and if Lopez is forced off the floor, Milwaukee will have fewer options for smaller lineups with wing Donte DiVincenzo sidelined. While role players like Bryn Forbes and Bobby Portis provide offensive punch, the Nets would likely pick on them on defense.

Health will play a big part in this series — with DiVincenzo out for the postseason and Green potentially able to return for some or all of round two, the Nets seemingly have the injury advantage, but it’s worth noting that Irving, Harden, and Durant all missed time during the regular season due to health problems. If one of them turns an ankle or tweaks a hamstring against Milwaukee, it would quickly change the outlook of the series.

We want to know what you think. Are you picking the Nets or the Bucks to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals? How many games do you think the series will go?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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Poll Results: Hoops Rumors’ 2021 All-NBA Teams

June 3rd, 2021 at 8:09am CST by Luke Adams

The competition for the league’s 15 All-NBA spots was fiercer than ever in 2020/21, with tens of millions of dollars up for grabs for certain players based on the voting results. Since the NBA has already started to announce its end-of-season award winners, we wanted to give you an opportunity to vote on the All-NBA rosters for 2020/21 before they’re officially revealed.

Last Wednesday, we opened voting for the All-NBA First Team. We moved on to the Second Team last Friday, then opened the polls for the Third Team on Monday. The results of all those polls are in, so let’s check them out.

2021 All-NBA First Team

2021 All-NBA Second Team

2021 All-NBA Third Team

Your top vote-getters in the final round of polling who didn’t quite earn spots on the Third Team: Nets guard James Harden, Nets forward Kevin Durant, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, and Pacers center Domantas Sabonis.

I think these All-NBA teams turned out pretty well, though mine would look a little different. I felt that Jimmy Butler, rather than Adebayo, was the most valuable Heat player this season, so I’d move Embiid to the Second Team and Gobert to the Third Team to open up a guard/forward spot for Butler.

I also might consider Doncic a forward to create room for Lillard on the First Team. Doncic isn’t really a forward, but I think he has a better case for the position than Embiid, and I’m not sure there’s another worthy First Team forward besides Antetokounmpo.

Additionally, even though all three Nets stars missed significant time, it seems wrong to have no Brooklyn players on the All-NBA teams this season, since the club had the league’s fourth-best regular season record and is the favorite to win a title. Durant missed over half the season and Harden played just 44 of 72 games — throw in Harden’s questionable behavior in Houston at the start of the season, and Kyrie Irving actually might have the strongest case of the three.

Irving was spectacular this season, with 26.9 PPG and 6.0 APG on an eye-popping .506/.402/.922 shooting line. Still, even he only played three-quarters of the season (54 games). Do his contributions outweigh Booker’s 25.6 PPG and 4.3 APG on .484/.340/.867 shooting in 67 games? I think the answer for me might be yes, but Booker is a fine Third Team choice.

It will be interesting to see which way the official voters go. Deciding on which positions to assign certain players could play a major role in the final results, since they’ll have a ripple effect on subsequent selections.

What do you think? Do you disagree strongly with any of these choices? Do you expect major discrepancies when the official All-NBA teams are announced? Let us know in the comment section!

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Poll: 2021 All-NBA Third Team

May 31st, 2021 at 1:22pm CST by Luke Adams

The competition for the league’s 15 All-NBA spots was fiercer than ever in 2020/21, with tens of millions of dollars up for grabs for certain players based on the voting results. Since the NBA has already started to announce its end-of-season award winners, we want to give you an opportunity to vote on the All-NBA rosters for 2020/21 before they’re officially revealed.

We started last Wednesday with the First Team before moving onto the Second Team on Friday. We’ve closed those polls and now we’re wrapping things up by focusing on the Third Team.

Here are the voting results so far:

2021 All-NBA First Team

2021 All-NBA Second Team

Lillard is a lock for the Second Team if he doesn’t make the First Team, and Beal is absolutely a worthy second guard. The forward spot is a little trickier, though I think Randle deserves this spot. A healthy James would’ve been a strong contender for a First Team spot, but since he played just 45 of 72 regular season games, it won’t surprise me if he ends up on the Third Team in the actual vote.

As for the center spot, it’ll be interesting to see how voters handle the NBA’s generous dual positional eligibility for Embiid and Jokic. If they both make the First Team (one as a center, one as a forward), Gobert has a clear path to a Second Team spot. If not, Gobert will be bumped to the Third Team.

On that note, before we move on to the Third Team polls, don’t forget that several players qualify at multiple positions on the NBA’s official ballot. We won’t share that full list of notable multi-position players again here, but you can check it out in our Second Team post.

Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to select two players apiece in both the guard and forward polls. We’ll leave the polls open for a couple days before sharing and breaking down the results later this week.

Vote for your All-NBA Third Team below, then take to the comment section to explain your picks!

Guards

(choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team guards.

Forwards

(choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team forwards.

Center

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Third Team center.

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Poll: 2021 All-NBA Second Team

May 28th, 2021 at 8:51am CST by Luke Adams

The competition for the league’s 15 All-NBA spots was fiercer than ever in 2020/21, with tens of millions of dollars up for grabs for certain players based on the voting results. Since the NBA has already started to announce its end-of-season award winners, we want to give you an opportunity to vote on the All-NBA rosters for 2020/21 before they’re officially revealed.

We started on Wednesday with the First Team before moving onto the Second Team today. We’ll vote on the Third Team early next week.

Here are the voting results so far:

2021 All-NBA First Team

I certainly have no qualms with these picks, and wouldn’t be surprised if these players end up in the top five of MVP voting for 2020/21.

Is it a little ridiculous to view Embiid as a forward? Absolutely! But, as we outlined in our First Team poll, the NBA was pretty lax with several positional designations on this year’s official ballot, perhaps to ensure that an outcome like this is possible — Jokic and Embiid were two of the five most impactful players in the NBA this season, but one would end up on the Second Team if both are only eligible at center.

Should the NBA just do away with positional designations altogether and let voters pick the 15 best players? Probably! But for now, we’re sticking to the league’s positional designations, with some help from Howard Beck of SI.com (Twitter links). As a reminder, here are the most notable multi-position eligible players who didn’t make the First Team:

Players eligible at both center and forward:

Players eligible at both forward and guard:

A couple more notes before we move onto the Second Team polls:

  1. If there’s a player you believe deserves All-NBA consideration who isn’t named below, be sure to mention him in the comment section — if I agree, I’ll make sure he’s included in our Third Team poll.
  2. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to select two players apiece in both the guard and forward polls.

Vote for your All-NBA Second Team below, then take to the comment section to explain your picks!

Guards

(choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Second Team guards.

Forwards

(choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Second Team forwards.

Center

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA Second Team center.

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Poll: 2021 All-NBA First Team

May 26th, 2021 at 8:16am CST by Luke Adams

The competition for the league’s 15 All-NBA spots was fiercer than ever in 2020/21, with tens of millions of dollars up for grabs for certain players based on the voting results. Since the NBA has already started to announce its end-of-season award winners, we want to give you an opportunity to vote on the All-NBA rosters for 2020/21 before they’re officially revealed.

We’re starting today with the First Team before moving onto the Second Team on Friday and the Third Team early next week.

Because we want to essentially put you in the position of the media members who had All-NBA votes, we’re going to make certain players eligible at multiple positions, as they were on the official ballots. Here, via Howard Beck of SI.com (Twitter links), are the most notable multi-position eligible players:

Players eligible at both center and forward:

Players eligible at both forward and guard:

Frankly, I find some of these classifications a little ridiculous — if the NBA is going to play this fast and loose with positional designations, why not just remove them altogether and let voters pick the 15 best players?

I don’t think it makes any sense to vote, say, Booker as a forward or Leonard as a guard. And Basketball-Reference’s data suggests Embiid has never played a single minute at forward in his entire NBA career.

Of course, making Embiid and Jokic eligible at two positions allows voters to put those two MVP finalists on the First Team. Beware if you decide to go that route though — placing Jokic and Embiid on the First Team may result in a fourth center making the Third Team over a more deserving guard or forward.

A couple more notes before we move onto the polls:

  1. If there’s a player you believe deserves All-NBA consideration who isn’t named below, be sure to mention him in the comment section — if I agree, I’ll make sure he’s included in our Second and Third Team polls.
  2. Be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to select two players apiece in both the guard and forward polls.

Vote for your All-NBA First Team below, then take to the comment section to explain your picks!

Guards

(choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA First Team guards.

Forwards

(choose two)

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA First Team forwards.

Center

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on the All-NBA First Team center.

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Poll: Play-In Winners For No. 8 Seeds

May 20th, 2021 at 2:04pm CST by Luke Adams

While some games in the NBA’s play-in tournament have been a little more exciting than others, the end result of all four has been the same so far: the higher seed has advanced.

That means we’ve got a pair of No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchups on tap, with the final playoff spot in each conference on the line, starting on Thursday night with the Eastern Conference….

Indiana Pacers (9) at Washington Wizards (8)

Given the way the last month of their respective seasons played out, the red-hot Wizards looked like a safe bet to earn a playoff spot, while the inconsistent, injury-plagued Pacers seemed to be a candidate for an early exit. But Washington couldn’t knock off Boston on Tuesday, and a shorthanded Indiana squad dominated Charlotte, setting up an elimination game between the two teams for Thursday.

Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook fueled the Wizards’ 17-6 finish to the season, but neither player looked quite like himself on Tuesday. Beal, still bothered by a hamstring injury, scored 22 points on 10-of-25 shooting, a subpar night by his lofty standards. Westbrook was worse — after averaging a monster line of 23.0 PPG, 14.0 APG, and 13.5 RPG in Washington’s final 23 games, he shot just 6-of-18 on Tuesday and had nearly as many turnovers (4) as assists (5).

To advance on Thursday, the Wizards will need more from their two backcourt stars and from $80MM man Davis Bertans, who missed all seven of his 3-point attempts on Tuesday and was a game-worst minus-23.

As for the Pacers, even without key players like Caris LeVert, Myles Turner, and T.J. Warren available, they put up 144 points in their win over Charlotte. But the Hornets had backed into the play-in tournament, losing 15 of their last 21 games of the regular season, and were dealing with injury absences of their own, including standout forward Gordon Hayward. Indiana will face a more difficult challenge on Thursday and will no longer benefit from home-court advantage.

What do you think? Will the Wizards or Pacers win on Thursday and clinch the East’s No. 8 seed?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Memphis Grizzlies (9) at Golden State Warriors (8)

The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies on the last day of the regular season to earn the No. 8 seed in the play-in tournament. On Friday, just five days later, they’ll be looking to repeat that result to clinch the No. 8 seed for the playoffs.

Although the Warriors couldn’t pick up a win on Wednesday, their performance against the defending-champion Lakers showed why they’ll enter Friday’s game as the favorites. The Dubs held the Lakers to 40.7% shooting and led for most of the night, but a miracle LeBron James three-pointer broke a tie in the game’s final minute.

Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, who combined for 58 of Golden State’s 100 points on Wednesday, may need a little more help on Friday, but the fact that Los Angeles couldn’t slow down Curry (37 points on 12-of-23 shooting) even with so much defensive attention on him is an encouraging sign for the Warriors.

The Grizzlies shouldn’t be ruled out, however. While the final score in Wednesday’s 100-96 win over San Antonio was close, Memphis dominated the minutes that Ja Morant (+20) and Jonas Valanciunas (+26) played and figure to lean heavily on that duo again on Friday.

The Grizzlies’ chances of hanging with Golden State and pulling off the upset hinge not only on Valanciunas’ ability to punish the Warriors inside like he did the Spurs (23 points, 23 rebounds), but on Memphis’ ability to play good defense while the veteran center is on the court. In Sunday’s loss, Valanciunas racked up 29 points and 16 boards, but the Grizzlies posted an awful 127.0 defensive rating during his 36 minutes.

What do you think? Will the Warriors or Grizzlies win on Friday and lock up the No. 8 seed in the West?

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Poll: Western Conference Play-In Games

May 18th, 2021 at 10:47am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we asked for your predictions for the first two Eastern Conference play-in games, and you’ll have until tonight to place your votes on those two contests. In the meantime though, we want to give you plenty of time to make your predictions for Wednesday’s play-in games too, so we’re shifting our focus to the Western Conference today.

Here are the two Western play-in games scheduled for Wednesday:

San Antonio Spurs (10) at Memphis Grizzlies (9)

The Spurs are in the midst of an interesting transition period, having parted ways with longtime standout LaMarcus Aldridge this season as youngsters like Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, and Lonnie Walker took on larger roles. DeMar DeRozan remained the team’s offensive engine, but he’s in a contract year and may be playing his final games as a Spur.

The Spurs are missing starting guard Derrick White and backed their way into a play-in spot, having lost 10 of their last 12 games. However, a team led by Gregg Popovich shouldn’t be ruled out, even if San Antonio will enter this game as an underdog.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, exceeded expectations this season despite playing without Jaren Jackson Jr. for most of the year. Ja Morant, the team’s top scorer, has led the way, but Memphis is getting impressive contributions from the likes of Jonas Valanciunas, Kyle Anderson, Dillon Brooks, and Desmond Bane, among others.

The Grizzlies were also on a five-game winning streak before losing its regular season finale to Golden State and might have a little more momentum than the Spurs entering the play-in. This is a young team, but it’s a relatively healthy one and has shown over the last two years that it can compete in big games.

The winner of this game will advance and play on Friday for the No. 8 seed, while the loser will be eliminated from postseason contention.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on Grizzlies/Spurs.

Golden State Warriors (8) at Los Angeles Lakers (7)

By far the most compelling matchup of any of the first play-in games, this battle for the No. 7 seed will pit LeBron James and Anthony Davis against Stephen Curry and Draymond Green for the right to face the Suns in round one.

On paper, the defending-champion Lakers look like the obvious pick here, with James and Davis back in the lineup and the team on a five-game winning streak entering the play-in tournament. The Lakers will have home-court advantage and will be motivated to take care of business on Wednesday in order to get some rest before the first round begins. Betting sites, including BetOnline.ag, list them as the biggest favorite of the four play-in hosts.

But James and Davis only recently returned from lengthy injury absences and neither superstar has looked 100% healthy as of late. If James tweaks his ankle again or Davis’ back acts up, the Lakers’ margin of error will shrink significantly, opening the door for the Warriors to pull off the upset.

Even a healthy Lakers team could be in trouble if Curry catches fire. The NBA’s leading scorer has been playing some of the best basketball over the last two months, averaging an eye-popping 37.1 points on .493/.436/.896 shooting in 22 games since early April, despite being the focal point of every opposing defense. Preventing Curry from heating up beyond the arc will be crucial if the Lakers want to secure a win.

While the winner of this game locks up the No. 7 seed in the West, the loser will host the Grizzlies/Spurs winner on Friday for the right to earn the No. 8 seed.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote on Lakers/Warriors.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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