Repeating as NBA champions is not nearly as difficult as it is in the other major sports leagues. So when we see that the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the 2020 title, are the favorites to win again, we have less skepticism than we had for the Kansas City Chiefs to repeat as Super Bowl champions, and less skepticism than we have for the Los Angeles Dodgers to make it two straight World Series titles. After all, Golden State won three titles in four years, and the Miami Heat won in 2012 and 2013. The Lakers also repeated in 2009 and 2010. In the 2010s and the 2020s, if you had LeBron James on your team, you were pretty much going to make it to the NBA Finals. With Anthony Davis as a co-star and a solid supporting cast, the Lakers have a terrific chance at repeating….so can they pull it off?
Take a look at our NBA betting thoughts.
NBA News: Can the Lakers Win the 2021 NBA Title?
The biggest question that the Lakers will have to answer is what will happen with Anthony Davis. He had missed two games with Achilles tendon soreness last week, but then when he played against Denver on Sunday, he strained his calf and will not play again until the end of the All-Star break, early in March.
The last star of AD’s caliber to blow out an Achilles tendon was Kevin Durant, who came back too early from his calf injury to take part in the postseason during his last season as a Golden State Warrior. He made it to the Finals, when he tore his Achilles. The Warriors spent a season in the nether regions of the NBA standings and are just now working their way back into the bottom tier of contenders.
The Lakers didn’t get much time off after winning the 2020 championship in the “bubble.” They brought in Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell to diversify their offense, but they did not sacrifice anything on the defensive end. LeBron James once again looks like an MVP, which is why the Lakers won 21 of their first 28 games. He is putting up 25.5 points, 8.0 boards and 8.0 assists per game, shooting 49.8 percent. The hope was that AD would shoulder the load in the regular season, while James prepared himself for the postseason. However, the opposite may be true.
While AD is out, the Lakers have some depth. Kyle Kuzma will get the bulk of the minutes in AD’s absence, and his three-point shooting (35.9 percent so far) will give the Lakers better spacing on the floor than they get with AD out there. That will give Schroder and James more driving lanes to the hoop. Harrell scored 18.6 points per game a year ago, when he won Sixth Man of the Year with the Clippers, but now he only scores 13.2 per game because he simply does not get as much floor time. That should change with AD on the shelf.
So, the Lakers have a very solid shot to get to the postseason. But there is a difference between qualifying for the playoffs and hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy. AD was a beast in the postseason a year ago, putting up 27.7 points, 9.7 boards, 3.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.4 blocks per contest. He could play the 5 and run with smaller teams, or he could play the 4 and turn the tables on bigger lineups. That versatility would be necessary in matchups with such West powers as Utah, the Clippers and Denver this year. So for now, the Lakers are the favorites, but if AD’s absence lengthens — or if he struggles in his return — it will be wise to consider other teams in your futures wagering.
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