i nbasimsleague.com - Game of the Week
UTAH 23
MIN 24
LAC 88
GS 103
GS 77
TOR 108
POR 102
OKC 116
UTAH 111
SAC 92
PHO 115
UTAH 119
NO 113
UTAH 116
BOS 122
SA 131
TOR 99
MIA 105
DAL 86
MIN 107
HOU 100
IND 107
DET 108
POR 99
DEN 97
MEM 102
BOS 112
NO 119
CHI 101
DEN 95
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Apr 16 11:02 am


Washington (50 - 27)

Expert Pick
0% >< 0%


LA (48 - 26)

Finals preview?

Facing off in week 19 the two juggernauts of their respective conferences face off in a potential finals preview. 

The Lakers started the season slowly, fresh off a trade for 3 injured players in Kawhi Leonard and Chet Holmgren as well as another trade bringing in always injured Zion Williamson. The season looked like it could be a fight to make the play in out west. However, the Lakers were able to stay afloat through a career season from newly PG eligible franchise player Cade Cunningham had them hovering around .500 until the cavalry arrived. Since the Lakers have become a healthy unit, they've gone on a massive tear winning 30 of their last 34 games. Going into this matchup they are without a majority of their roster but still have Cade and Chet to try and keep the win train going against a Wizards team that has recently found their mojo again despite missing their front court. 



The Wizards had the opposite start to the season as the Lakers; fully healthy they went 20-1 through the first quarter of the year before a 2k update seemingly brought them back to the pack. They fell apart for a while in the middle of the season where they went 14-17 with multiple weeks of either missing LeBron, Capela or Jrue at times. Now for the rest of the season they will be missing their front court pairing of Capela and Williams. But signs are pointing to the Wizards having found a bit of mojo where they've won 5 of their last 6 with a very vulnerable side without their dominant big men. 



The season matchups:
Lakers 124 at Washington 112
Having only matched up once this season against a healthy Wizards uniform the Lakers handled them pretty comfortably. Washington will seek solace in the fact this loss was in the middle of their hard downturn in the middle of the season where they struggled for form.

Key matchups:
Jrue Holiday vs Cade Cunningham 
This will be a really fun one as Jrue matches Cades size and is one of the most elite defenders in the NSL. Cade has been an unstoppable offensive force usually relying on his size against smaller guards. In their last matchup Cade was held to only 15 points though was efficient with 50/50/100 shooting splits. Jrue was quieter than his average also only scoring 12 points on a really inefficient night. I think with the recent uptick in defense I've seen out of Jrue being put on and stopping MVP front runner Giannis he should handle Cade rather comfortably on the drive. Cades chance to win this matchup will be in off ball movement and hitting the 3s when given the opportunity.

Derrick Jones Jr vs LeBron James
Can only see this being the matchup LA runs with to try and slow down the King. LeBron has hit a new level to finish the season crashing the glass as well as looking for more lanes to the rim and looks as dangerous as ever. Derrick Jones Jr has not been the defensive maestro LA had hoped when recruiting him this off-season but with no Kawhi available he's going to have to put up a season best performance to slow LeBron to a point they can win. 

Wizards Star

Jrue Holiday

Jrue Holiday will have Cade to contend with, he will need to not only keep him quiet but pitch in also on the offensive end to keep the Lakers defense honest and to bail Washington out when LA loads up in the paint against a driving LeBron. Jrue has really stepped it up defensively getting the big assignments, recently being put to MVP frontrunner Giannis and was able to really impact that game to come away with a win there. If he keeps Cade to under 20 points Washington should win.

 
PPG 15.5
RPG 3.9
APG 4.6
SPG 1.1
BPG 0.4
FPG 2.1
TPG 1.4

 
PPG 14.1
RPG 11.5
APG 1.2
SPG 1.4
BPG 2.7
FPG 1.7
TPG 0.7

Lakers Star

Chet Holmgren

Chet gets the nod as the biggest factor to swing this game, he gets a nice matchup on the other side as Washington is down to their 3rd string and a 2-way big man. If Chet can dominate the glass with the big size advantage he will have over Bryant it will go a long way for this compromised Lakers outfit. If Chet can finish this game 20/15 and stuff the stat sheet defensively LA stand a really good chance to win this game.


X-Factor
Board control and rim protection. The Lakers have both Wendell Carter Jr and Chet Holmgren available for this one whereas Washington will go in with Thomas Bryant and 2-way Jesse Edwards. A clear size advantage that LA will need to take advantage of if they are to hold up against the dominant scoring punch that Washington hold.

Injury Report
Injured Players:
Kawhi Leonard (Knee/Personal/Injury Management/Foot) - 44 NBA Games missed this season
Zion Williamson (Hamstring/Illness/Personal/Back) - 40 NBA Games missed this season
Walker Kessler (Hip/Rest/Shoulder/Thumb/Illness/Head) - 20 NBA Games missed this season
Amen Thompson (Calf/Shoulder/Ankle/Rest) - 13 NBA Games missed this season
Toumani Camara (Foot/Illness/Calf/Ankle) - 4 NBA Games missed this season

Returning Players:
Jae Crowder (returning from Back) - 4 NBA Games missed this season
Cameron Payne (returning from Hamstring/Elbow/Ankle) - 8 NBA Games missed this season
Derrick Jones Jr. (returning from Hamstring/Groin) - 5 NBA Games missed this season
Wendell Carter Jr (returning from Knee/Hip) - 14 NBA Games missed this season
Cade Cunningham (returning from Hip/Back/Ankle/Calf) - 11 NBA Games missed this season
Chet Holmgren (returning from Hip/Rest/Ankle/Leg/Back) - 49 NBA Games missed this season

Injured Players:
Robert Williams (Hamstring/Injury Management/Rest/Concussion/Ankle/Illness/Hand/Knee) - 52 NBA Games missed this season
Daniel Theis (Neck/Thumb) - 5 NBA Games missed this season
Clint Capela (Knee/Back/Personal/Undisclosed/Hand) - 25 NBA Games missed this season

Returning Players:
Jamison Battle (returning from Ankle/Nose) - 4 NBA Games missed this season
Vince Williams Jr. (returning from Leg/Ankle/Knee/Foot/Illness) - 55 NBA Games missed this season
Davion Mitchell (returning from Shoulder/Illness/Foot/Quad) - 5 NBA Games missed this season
Talen Horton-Tucker (returning from Knee/Leg) - 4 NBA Games missed this season
Torrey Craig (returning from Illness/Achilles/Leg/Ankle) - 21 NBA Games missed this season
Vlatko Cancar (returning from Ankle/Knee) - 54 NBA Games missed this season
Devin Booker (returning from Groin/Back) - 6 NBA Games missed this season
Jrue Holiday (returning from Knee/Shoulder/Rest/Finger) - 19 NBA Games missed this season
Lebron James (returning from Foot/Ankle/Groin) - 8 NBA Games missed this season


Prediction
This one is 50/50, Lakers hold the size and the advantage on the glass but Washington have Jrue to lockdown Cades scoring prowess and when you have LeBron you're a chance in every game you play. 

If I'm forced to give a prediction, I'll go with Washington by 6, their big 3 have been putting up great performances the last 2 weeks that I expect LA to have no answer for.

  Comments (2) 
Joshua
04/15 05:20 am		Thanks for the write up. Nailed my worry with the lakers big combination. Will be interesting to see how this one turns out
JustinG
04/15 01:57 am		Nice write up. I agree with the prediction. I think WAS gets us here.