#7 Los Angeles Lakers: 42-30
The defending NBA champions have one of the better rosters in the league on paper, but injuries have plagued their chances of doing anything special during the regular season. LeBron James missed over a month with a high ankle sprain that is still bothering him and Anthony Davis missed nearly two months with a calf injury.
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Not to mention, other key Lakers’ players in Dennis Schroder and Kyle Kuzma have been in and out of the rotation due to injuries and health protocols. Now, at full strength, we will finally be able to see what the defending champions look like as they face a tough task ahead of them in their hopes to win back-to-back titles.
Their journey starts with a tough matchup at home against the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night. Los Angeles beat the Warriors 2 of the 3 times they met during the regular season and controlled the boards in all three of these games, but with Stephen Curry playing like the best player in the league right now, this will not be an easy game for the Lakers, especially if both LeBron and AD are not 100% healthy.
Overall, the Los Angeles Lakers have winning a championship on their minds once again and find themselves as one of the favorites to win this year’s championship, even though they will have to fight for their playoff spot in this year’s NBA play-in tournament.
If the Lakers can stay healthy, which seems like a very questionable “if” at this time, they will likely be the favorites in any series they play in, but both LeBron and AD still look banged up. If both of these guys are not at 100%, then it is hard to see the Lakers being able to defend their title, especially with all of the talent and firepower on some of the other teams in the Western Conference.
