The King Vs CP3

With the Los Angeles Lakers winning a nail biter against the Golden State Warriors last night 103-100, they will face the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs. This will be the first time ever that LeBron James and Chris Paul play each other in the playoffs.

The Suns sit at 51-21, as the second seed in the west, while the Lakers are 42-30 with the seventh seed. With that being said, the Lakers have had many obstacles with some of their key players being injured during the season. It looks like the Lakers have all of their key guys in the line-up, but their chemistry is a little off. It will be interesting to see how the Lakers fare against a smaller line-up in this series.

This year, Phoenix made improvements from last season by getting Chris Paul and building around him and Devin Booker. With Paul’s ability to run the floor and breakdown defenders was what the Suns needed. Adding Paul spaced the floor more so that young stars like Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton could step up.

The Lakers finished the NBA season with the number one ranking in defense efficiency with a 106.8, while the Suns landed at 110.4 with their rating. The only thing that could slow the Suns down would be their smaller line-up, which could cause a major concern in the series.

According to former NBA player Kendrick Perkins,"The Lakers might set records in the paint during this series” (Via Zoom media conference) The Lakers' bigs consists of Anthony Davis, Montrezl Harrell, Marc Gasol, and new addition Andre Drummond. They are all playoff tested while the Suns are all experiencing this for the first time. This will be a big time for Ayton to step up and show he’s ready for the bright lights.

This series is going to be a battle overall. This young Suns team led by MVP candidate Chris Paul vs the reigning champ Lakers led by LeBron James. This series is must see TV.