Warriors-Lakers series preview: It’s LeBron vs. Steph for the fifth time
For the first time in 32 years, the Golden State Warriors will take on
the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs — and set up another showdown
between LeBron James and the Warriors.
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 18: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) dribbles against Los Angeles Lakers’ Lebron James (6) in the
first quarter at the Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday,
Oct. 18, 2022. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 30, 2023 at 3:34 p.m. | UPDATED: April 30, 2023 at 4:00
p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/04/30/warriors-lakers-series-preview-its-lebron-vs-steph-for-the-fifth-time/

It’s the Bay versus LA, LeBron versus Steph and so, so much more.

For the first time in 32 years, the Golden State Warriors will take on
the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA playoffs, starting on Tuesday night at
Chase Center.

Thanks to Stephen Curry setting an NBA Game 7 record with 50 points, the
Warriors beat the Kings 120-100 to win their first-round series on
Sunday afternoon. That sets up the matchup with the Lakers, who clinched
their second-round spot by eviscerating the Grizzlies 125-85 in Game 6
on Friday night.

It sets up the fifth postseason series between the Warriors and their
dynastic trio of Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green and LeBron
James, who was their main foil with the Cleveland Cavaliers and now is a
Lakers star.

In the previous four, which all occurred in the NBA Finals from
2015-2018, the Warriors won three times and the Cavs won once. After
2018, James went to the Lakers, and both teams have won one NBA title
since (Lakers in 2020, Warriors last year), but have not faced off in
the playoffs.

Both the defending champion Warriors and the Lakers underachieved for
most of the season, but each team got hot down the stretch of the
regular season and carried that into the playoffs.

For the Lakers, James and fellow superstar Anthony Davis have stepped up
in the playoffs. James averaged 22.2 points and 11.2 rebounds per game
in the first round, and Davis added 20.8 points and 13.7 rebounds.

Los Angeles was also getting key contributions from some unlikely
places, as former two-way player Austin Reeves averaged 16.7 points per
game and two midseason trade pick ups were also in double-digit points
per game — Rui Hachimura at 14.5 and former Warrior D’Angelo Russell at
16.7.

The one area that could be key in the series is the Warriors’ propensity
for fouling, as they committed the third-most fouls per game in the NBA
regular season. The Lakers averaged more than 26 free-throw attempts per
game in the regular season, most in the NBA.

Conversely, the Warriors also had the fewest called fouls on their
opponents and the fewest free throws attempts per game in the NBA. The
Lakers had the fewest fouls called on them and their opponents averaged
the fewest free throws per game of any team in the NBA.

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While there’s no recent playoff history between these two teams, they
did meet in the NBA’s play-in tournament in 2021, which the Lakers won
103-100 despite Curry scoring 37 points on 6-of-9 shooting from 3-point
range. That Warriors team, which was still missing Klay Thompson, would
lose in the next play-in game to the Grizzlies and miss the playoffs.

It’ll be the first postseason matchup between the Lakers and Warriors
since 1991, in the “Run TMC” era for Golden State. The Lakers won that
series 4-1 and would advance to the NBA Finals before losing to Michael
Jordan’s Bulls.

As two of the longest-running franchises in professional basketball, the
Warriors and Lakers have met seven times in the NBA playoffs. The
Warriors have won one of the seven matchups, sweeping the 1967 matchup.

In a funny quirk, the Warriors have never played a postseason game
against the Lakers in San Francisco, even in the years when they were
called the San Francisco Warriors. In the three consecutive years of
playoff showdowns between 1967-1969, the Warriors split their playoff
games between the Oakland Coliseum’s arena and the Cow Palace in Daly
City, just a few yards outside of the San Francisco city limits.

It’ll be a quick turnaround for the Warriors, and the series will go at
an every-other-day pace for the entirely. But even if the Warriors are a
bit tired, they surely would rather play while tired than not be playing
at all.

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Alex Simon | Sports Digital Strategist/Editor
Alex Simon is a sports digital strategist and editor for Bay Area News
Group. He’s been in journalism for years as an editor, reporter and
adjunct professor. Alex is a 2017 graduate of Elon University with a BA
in journalism and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State University with a MA
in journalism. He enjoys weekend adventures and loves In-N-Out Burger a
bit too much.Alex Simon is a sports digital strategist and editor for
Bay Area News Group. He’s been in journalism for years as an editor,
reporter and adjunct professor. Alex is a 2017 graduate of Elon
University with a BA in journalism and a 2019 graduate of Arizona State
University with a MA in journalism. He enjoys weekend adventures and
loves In-N-Out Burger a bit too much.