I agree with this prediction. -AL

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Kurtenbach: Why Steph Curry’s Warriors will beat LeBron James’ Lakers in
6 games
Warriors Playoffs 2023: The Kings went blow-for-blow with the Warriors.
I don't think the Lakers can
>Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (6) defends against Golden
State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) during the second half of an NBA
basketball game in Los Angeles, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (AP
Photo/Ashley Landis)
By DIETER KURTENBACH | dkurtenbach@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News
Group
PUBLISHED: May 1, 2023 at 2:50 p.m. | UPDATED: May 1, 2023 at 5:38 p.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/05/01/kurtenbach-why-steph-currys-warriors-will-beat-the-lebron-james-lakers-in-6-games/

Well, hello, old friend.

It’s funny to see you over here, in the Western Conference playoffs.

Anyway, a yellow jersey suits you well, LeBron. What do you say, first
to four wins again?

I don’t think it should take the Warriors more than six games to get there.

Coming off the Warriors’ seven-game first-round classic with the Kings,
this confidence level in Golden State might seem misplaced.

But that’s a credit to the Kings, who were built to give the Warriors
fits — probably because they were built in the mold of the Warriors.
Yes, the Kings knew every move the Warriors would make and made
excellent adjustments throughout the series. It wasn’t until the second
half of Game 7 that the Warriors’ biggest advantage — experience — shone
through.

The Lakers do not present the same kind of challenges to the Warriors.
And while Golden State will need outstanding play from the team’s new
triumvirate — Andrew Wiggins, Kevon Looney, and the immortal Steph Curry
— there’s a reason the Dubs are strong favorites to win the series with
Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Let’s go through them, shall we?

1. Let the Lakers shoot
>Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) scored a career-high 35
points in Sunday's win over the Magic. (Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP)

The Lakers started the season as a historically bad shooting team, but
we’re not anchored to what we saw in October. No, the Lakers are a brand
new team since the trade deadline, adding some legitimately solid pieces
to the mix around LeBron and Anthony Davis. Those additions are why the
Lakers are in the playoffs and playing the Warriors.

Yes, in this case, new is better. But let’s not get carried away by what
these guys can do.

The Lakers have played seven postseason games, including one nasty
play-in game win. In those seven games, the Lakers have an effective
field goal percentage of 51.5, which would have been the NBA’s worst in
the regular season.

No, the Warriors weren’t much better against the Kings, but they were
also playing a different style than they’re used to playing in that
series. The Lakers didn’t have to make any significant adjustments from
the regular season, yet they shot 31 percent from beyond the arc against
Memphis.

And while LeBron shooting 19 percent from beyond the arc (on 41
attempts) hurt the average, the Lakers’ others still shoot 33.5 percent
from 3. Not exactly an elite clip.

Meanwhile, will Klay Thompson (35 percent from 3) stay cold? What about
Andrew Wiggins (27 percent) or Jordan Poole (25 percent)? Those are two
high-volume 40 percent 3-point shooters and a 39 percent shooter in last
year’s playoffs, and they’re lying dormant.

The Kings did a great job making those guys work until their shots came
up short. Not everyone can be Steph Curry.

But only one needs to get going to shift the series in the Warriors’ favor.

And it’s more likely that will happen, because the Lakers want to play
it slow. The Warriors will get to set the pace in this series.

If the NBA is really just a 3-point shooting contest these days, the
Warriors will make easy work of the Lakers.

2. The Anthony Davis conundrum
>Golden State Warriors' Kevon Looney guards Los Angeles Lakers' Anthony
Davis in the fourth quarter, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, at Chase Center in
San Francisco, Calif. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

If Lakers center Anthony Davis wants to win this series for the Lakers,
he might be able to do it.

As great as Kevon Looney has been in the postseason and as brilliant as
Draymond Green is as a defender, some big men are unguardable for the
Warriors, and Davis — when fully engaged — is one of them.

But no one should trust Davis either to be the Lakers’ alpha in this
series or to stay healthy for the duration of it.

The Lakers’ tall man (the title of big man only comes when he plays big,
which is rarely) already has a hip injury that hampered him in the last
round— the latest in a never-ending string of injuries throughout his
career. He also had games in the Lakers’ series against the Grizzlies
where he decided he wasn’t interested in spending much time in the
paint, even though Memphis was down two of its three top interior
defenders and the one that remained — Jaren Jackson Jr. — is notorious
for picking up fouls.

If Davis shoots jumpers or 3-pointers, the Warriors will win this
series. He’s a woeful shooter.

If Davis decides to put a team on his back for the first time in his
11-year career and win a real playoff series with old-school low-post
play, the Warriors have a big problem.

But I wouldn’t bet on the latter happening four times out of seven games
— especially with the Warriors playing four of those games at home.

3. The LeBron Factor
>Lakers star LeBron James continues to impress with what he is still
capable of at 38 years old, but he has been logging heavy minutes and
carrying a considerable load with Anthony Davis sidelined. Are the
Lakers pushing the four-time league MVP too hard? (Photo by Jared C.
Tilton/Getty Images)

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In Game 7 win, Warriors prove they have what it takes to make a deep run
Steph Curry built the Warriors dynasty. He refused to let it end in
Game 7.

No, this series is going to come down to LeBron James. And while the
NBA’s all-time leading scorer is doing impressive things in his 20th NBA
season, he is unquestionably a lesser version of himself.

But LeBron will likely have to do it all for this Lakers team as they
take on stiffer competition.

At this point in his career, he should be the facilitator, the
gap-filler, and the change-of-pace option to Davis. He is a player that
now only has spurts of unstoppable play and rations them throughout a
series.

He had to tap into the quota against Memphis often. That panned out, but
it took a whole lot out of him, too. There were games in that series
where James refused to drive for long periods, moving the ball around
the perimeter and standing or taking ill-advised 3-pointers (he was
8-for-41 in the series) instead. Those were wasted possessions that
Golden State will punish.

But LeBron is in a pickle here: Davis can’t be trusted to pull his
weight, and he now has to play a game every other day against a Warriors
team that can throw three, perhaps four different bigger-wing bodies at
him (Green, Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, and Moses Moody).

That won’t just be physically exhausting; it will be mentally
exhausting, too.

James will have his moments, if not entire games. He’s too great to
write off. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he came out and claimed Game
1 — it’s the most rested he’ll be for the series.

But in the end, LeBron will feel like he’s back in Cleveland, circa 2017
and 2018 — he won’t have enough around him to take down the Dubs night
after night.

--
Dieter Kurtenbach | Sports Columnist
Sports columnist Dieter Kurtenbach analyzes the amazing and roasts the
absurd in the world of sports for the Bay Area News Group. He was
previously a national sports columnist for Fox Sports and a staff writer
at the South Florida Sun Sentinel. He can also be heard on KNBR
(104.5-FM, 680-AM). He graduated from the University of Missouri in
Columbia, Mo., with a BA degree in journalism.