THE Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors, two of the greatest National Basketball Association (NBA) champions in history, renew their fabled fierce moments on Thursday (tomorrow).
Like you, I can’t wait.
So, let’s first give way to Eastern Conference action on Wednesday (today), featuring the start of the novel play-in matches to select the last two teams advancing to the postseason.
The No. 9 Indiana Pacers battle Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Hornets at 6:30 a.m., followed by the match between the No. 7 Boston Celtics and the No. 8 Washington Wizards at 9 a.m.
The winner in the Boston-Washington encounter will clinch No. 7 spot while the loser is given another chance by meeting the winner between Indiana and Charlotte.
The final contest gives the winner the final slot to complete the eight-team roster for the season’s Eastern Conference playoffs.
That will be xeroxed in the Western Conference, with defending champion Los Angeles squaring off with arch-rival Golden State on Thursday (tomorrow) at 10 a.m., with the winner clinching No. 7 in the eight-team playoffs.
The loser battles the winner in the Memphis-San Antonio tussle at 7:30 a.m. for the right to salvage eighth spot to the Western playoffs.
The Lakers missed pocketing No. 6 for an outright advance after tying with the Portland Trail Blazers at 42-30. Portland won the tiebreak by virtue of its 2-1 margin over LA in the regular season.
LA likewise enjoys a 2-1 advantage over Golden State in the regular season, with its twin victories recording a combined winning margin of 57 points—even without Laker star Anthony Davis in both games.
But the Warriors’ lone win came with the Lakers in full force, scoring a 115-113 win from 14 points down in the fourth quarter.
Four of five pundits picked the Lakers to beat the Warriors, with Brooklyn star Kyle Irving choosing LA.
LeBron James left the game after he tweaked his ankle again in the Lakers’ win over the Pelicans on Monday. But he said he’ll be “fine” for the play-in against Golden State.
James will renew his rivalry with Warrior Steph Curry, who secured his second scoring champion highlighted by that 62-point explosion against Portland in just his sixth game, besides setting an NBA record of seven straight games with at least 10 three-pointers in a single season.
Can Curry be stopped by Dennis Schroder or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, or even Alex Caruso maybe?
Curry, 33, averages 32 points a game, capping his season with a 46-point blast that sent Memphis to No. 9.
Curry said his faceoff with James “will be a different scenario…always, you expect greatness when playing against James.”
Phoenix awaits the winner in the Lakers-Warriors clash in the playoffs first round.
I go with Irving: Lakers.
THAT’S IT The Philippine Basketball Association’s (PBA) Dodge Draft Rule has put to a bind Thirdy Ravena, who just re-signed his contract with Japan. I think the law covering Thirdy’s situation, which mandates a college player to join the PBA draft within two years after graduation, is a democratic perfidy derailing one’s freedom of choice.