Round 1 Preview Los Angeles Lakers vs Houston Rockets

 

The Los Angeles Lakers have gone through many changes in the past couple of years to now being one of the more loaded teams in the league on paper when healthy*. Now the “when healthy” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in this sentence and team. Full of stars that are known to never play a full season and that has hurt their place in the standings. Now all that doesn’t matter as they have come together at the right time to be available to play and be a force in the West. Houston on the other hand has been steady most the season built around their Star in Nikola Jokic and budding stars in Haliburton and Maxey but unfortunately injury has struck at the wrong time with Maxey not being available to play in this series. Jokic is capable of carrying a team by himself which he will need to do in this series.

 

The Head to Head Match Ups

 

PG: Tyrese Haliburton vs Cade Cunningham

 

Two young up and coming or possibly have arrived star point guards go head to head in this match up in Haliburton and Cunningham. Now while both play the same position, they play it very differently. Haliburton is a player with size that always has his head up and is looking to set up his teammates for easy shots and keeps the offense moving and uses the threat of his passing to open up opportunities for his own scoring. Cade on the other hand is a scoring force that uses his exceptional size to bully players around the basket and uses the threat of his scoring to open up passing lanes and to set up his teammates. Now if these two players just swapped teams would both teams actually get better? Who knows but it is an interesting thought experiment.

 

Position Winner: Cade Cunningham but only just.

 

SG: Alec Burks vs Amen Thompson

 

The first of the lopsided matchups in this series. Amen Thompson is one of the best athletes in the league since the day he stepped on the floor with fantastic size and is just an electric player to watch. While not entirely skilled as a scorer he uses his athletic gifts to still get himself easy buckets but it's the other side of the ball where he really shines as he is one of the better guard defenders the league has to offer. Burks on the hand is a steady veteran that can defend adequately, has some passing chops but his biggest weapon is the ability to score the ball which he has done well for Houston all season. Unfortunately I think this match up is one of the worst Burks could face with the size and athleticism on the other side.

 

 

Position Winner: Thompson to win in a beat down.

 

SF: Julian Champagnie vs Kawhi Leonard

 

Spoiler Alert: Another match up that is going to heavily lean in the Lakers direction. Julian Champagnie is a nice young player that has some growth this season as a scorer and all round player. Unfortunately he is going up against one the better players in the league over the last decade even though he is a bit older now but still one of the best two way forces in the league when he plays in the Klaw. One of the best wing defenders in league history in his prime, Leonard can still lock up the oppositions best player while still getting to his spots on offense and being able to torch the twine.

 

Position Winner: Kawhi Leonard in a landslide.

 

PF: Javonte Green vs Zion Williamson 

 

It's starting to get a bit repetitive now but another real discrepancy in the play of these two players at this position. Zion Williamson is another just physical specimen, a bowling ball of a man, modern day Charles Barkley but with an even higher level athleticism who just shines every time he is on the court. More of an offensive force than a defender he has defenders nervous every time he is heading towards the rim as they may have to make a business decision and get out of the way so they don’t end up on Zions next poster. Green is a steady vet and ex-wizard that can do a bit of everything well. A multi tool player that unfortunately will be out skilled, out muscled and out matched in this one.

 

Position Winner: Zion will be eating his Green(s).

 

C: Nikola Jokic vs Chet Holmgren

 

Finally a match up Houston can count in their favor (even if it is closer in 2k than anyone would like to admit). Jokic is the engine that will make the Rockets go and everything in regards to wins and how long this series goes will be up to him. An offensive maestro that orchestrates everything for Houston, he will need to win this match up by a large margin for the Rockets to have a chance. Chet is another young player that is a near star that can shoot and is an excellent defender in his own right. Now at the moment this two guys are in different weight classes but it will still be a battle.

 

Position Winner: Nikola Jokic

 

People off the Pine:

 

Houston have a very young bench that may have very good players with Vitt being one of the better drafters in the league but they aren't there yet. Lakers have a man mountain in Kessler off the bench plus the 3 and D athlete in Jones Jr and big in Carter Jr. Now they don’t have an amazing ball handler off the bench which is probably most important for a 6th man and may be their downfall in the future but not now.

 

Position Win: Los Angeles Lakers

 

Prediction:

 

This series unfortunately i dont think will be the closest we have in the first round. If Maxey was available this may have been a different story but unless Nikola Jokic goes nuclear, it's hard to see the Lakers breaking a sweat. Lakers in 4

 

All the best to both GMs and cant wait for this series!