Lakers-Celtics: key scenarios for possible NBA finals

The Boston Celtics organize their enemies in Los Angeles, Lakers, Saturday evening on national television.

With the two heads of series n ° 2 during their respective meeting of conferences, it is almost as if it was a good planning!

Under the seriousness, this game does not necessarily seem funny a few months ago when the Lakers were just decent, but now they get up and look like a juggernaut.

There is also a return to the spirit of the Celtics, which were entirely in good health but transported by Lakers 117-96 on January 23 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. This team, of course, always presented Anthony Davis, who is no longer there.

Lakers would like nothing more than adding one more title to match the brand of all Celtics time, but it seems to be easier than to do. The Lakers are still quite long Win everything in Betmgm with the fourth best dimensions at +1000With the Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder listed as co-favorites at +225, but would it surprise anyone to see Los Angeles and Boston compete in the final?

Let’s look at some of the key scenarios of the confrontation on Saturday evening (8:30 p.m. he, ABC).

LeBron’s great adjustment

After the acquisition of Luka Dončić – Oh yeah, it was not a fever dream, which really happened – the head coach JJ Redick found fun ways to use LeBron James, in particular as a threat outside the 6 -foot 9 inch and 250 pounds that can cut, jump and generally enter score positions with Dončić as a primary playmaker.

James, with an average of 29.4 points and 10.5 rebounds in his last eight games, sees his shots more easily than before, and his shooting of 53.8% during this period is proof of concept.

In many ways, James turned into a pre-current that he always looked physically like, without abandoning the other areas of his skills.

What about Laker Dončić?

As for Dončić, he returns to the swing of things. The 26 -year -old does not reconcile with Dallas’ surprise trade, but also on a calf injury suffered on Christmas Day.

And my boy is there.

Dončić displays an average of 30.5 points and 10.3. The eight consecutive and nine games won with Dončić in alignment and has been 12-2 since obtaining the Slovenian superstar.

The prospect of a healthy donation is even better next to James in a more traditional score role is extremely attractive for fans of the Lakers.

Austin Reaves did it, right?

Remember how the former Lakers Darvin Ham coach does fully Did you look into the creation skills of Austin Reaves? He tried with that. Flirt with him, even. But he has never really committed to react as an option by Pick-And-Roll.

Redick A, and Reaves is a year of career because of this, with an average of 18.9 points and 5.9 assists, while arriving at the line of fault and forcing the opposing defenses to adapt constantly to its actions.

The element of authorizing Dončić and more or less reveals to manage the majority of the ball management tasks – simplifying the responsibilities of James – could be an interesting secondary intrigue against the Celtics, which will be a major test for these Lakers.

The depth of the Celtics is legitimate

The Celtics are even deeper than the Mariana trenchObviously by the fact that Payton Pritchard, the sixth man of the team, has just detached himself from 43 points with 10 three against the Blazers on Wednesday.

The Boston list is undoubtedly not as high as Los Angeles, which is similar to the team rivalry in the 1980s (Boston won three titles and the Five) and in certain respects their meetings in the 2008 and 2010 finals, which the franchises divided.

But not being loaded with superstars is not a bad thing, especially as the NBA reign champions.

These Celtics have adopted depth for the end of the regular season, fully understand that when the push comes to push in the playoffs, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porziņģis, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday will have the most minutes – and rightly.

Boston, despite its appearance in its depth that last year, always manages a classification among the first five in offense (seocnd) and defense (fifth), emphasizing the shared dedication of the Celtics to play the two ends of the soil and to put the secondary rotation in places where they can succeed.

Jayson Tatum remains the real deal

The depth and dedication of Boston’s details are not an attempt to minimize Tatum, which is in the MVP periphery for a reason, with an average of 26.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game while playing a very competent defense.

The 27 -year -old, who is a coherence pillar, recently experienced some dynamite performances, displaying 46 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists in a difficult defeat against Cleveland on February 28 and more recently for 35 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes in a rout of Philadelphia.

Given the improved defense of Los Angeles recently, with Redick and his troops abandoning the plans that they actively want to abandon, there will be a need for Tatum to maintain his momentum and obtain the blows that Celtics prefer.

This means a lot of 3 Tatum points and many of it reaching the nail, decomposing the defense and swinging the ball to the shooters.

But more than the 3 -point shot – whose Celtics take 48.1 per match at the top of the League – Tatum must also be established as a slasher, because Los Angeles remains extremely thin in advance.

The brown effect Jaylen

The same goes for Brown too. Last year, the MVP of the NBA final did not play against Philadelphia on Thursday, and its status is currently on a daily basis.

If he plays, however, it is another agile wing that can take the ball in a aggressively cup, while balancing the inner score with the external shot, and, of course, there is its defensive impact.

The Celtics have a few cards in their round for this purpose. White should turn strongly on Dončić, with a small pinch of tatum and brown threw there to make good measure. Holiday and Porziņģis are listed as questionable, the great man aimed at playing on Saturday evening, but if one or the other can go, it is still another strengthening against the dynamic game leaders of the Lakers.

Boston obviously played against Dončić by winning the final of last year, so their match plan against him is probably the most polite of anyone, even if the Slovenian superstar is now found in a new uniform.

Add everything, and it should be a good one that offers many signs about how this season could get rid of.