Lakers 248's Grizzlies-Los Angeles Playoff Series Mega Preview
Our Lakers 248 podcast crew of Doug McKain, Noah Camras and Noel Sanchez has been quite prolific this past week!
In addition to their recent breakdown of your Los Angeles Lakers' 108-102 play-in victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, they have just unveiled a brand-new episode ahead of LA's subsequent postseason matchup, a 2-7 first round playoff series against the higher-seeded Memphis Grizzlies.
In it, our team unpacks what they believe to be the keys to the series, identify some X-factors, and make some bold prognoses.
"They finished the year going 19-8... and now it's time to take on the Grizz," McKain notes. "Only five seven seeds in NBA history have won that first round [matchup]. Only one team, the 1987-1988 Sonics, actually won a round after winning that 7-2 matchup... So it has been a while, but this isn't your average No. 7 seed. This is a team that looks completely different after the changes, after they traded Russell Westbrook."
"You have to feel confident going into a series against a team that... is young, inexperienced and definitely has some holes... that they Lakers can take advantage of," Camras said. "At the end of the day this is a really good Grizzlies team we don't want to overlook."
"These guys love to play fast, they're No. 2 in fast break points on the year, No. 1 in points in the paint, so they like getting inside, and that could cause some trouble [for LA] considering that one of the biggest matchups in my opinion is going to be [starting Lakers center] Anthony Davis versus [All-Star Grizzlies power forward] Jaren Jackson Jr... I think it's all going to come down to I think at least stealing one of those games on the road when they're in Memphis."
"One of [Jackson's] biggest issues is fouling," McKain countered. "I mean before I finish this sentence he probably has two fouls in the first quarter! If you look at his numbers this year, per 36 minutes, his fouls [are] at 4.6. That's actually the best it's ever been, but he's played in 17 playoff games, he has only played [at least[ 30 minutes just fives times, so it's been an issue throughout his career."
"I think between [Lakers guards Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley], the communication is really going to be key" to slowing down [Grizz All-Star point guard] Ja Morant, Sanchez opined. "There's going to be a lot of pick-and-rolls, a lot of flare screens trying to get their shooters open... I'm looking at Memphis and they're the 22nd best team at three-point shooting. They only shoot 35% per game. Obviously they have [shooting guard] Desmond Bane, that's someone that you're going to need to cover, but I think you've got to collapse in on Ja."
As for everyone's actual series predictions, you'll just have to tune in to the pod to find out.
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