On Tuesday morning, the NBA world was buzzing about the Los Angeles Lakers’ spectacular and surprising win over the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena the night before.
Some supporters believe Monday’s triumph, combined with recent victories over the Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks, and Boston Celtics, demonstrates that the Lakers, despite their rough season, have the potential to be championship contenders.
Stephen A. Smith, on the other hand, is skeptical for a simple reason: the Lakers have yet to upset the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
“How am I supposed to consider you a serious threat when the reigning defending NBA champions continuously abuse you?” Smith said this on Tuesday’s broadcast of “First Take.”
.@stephenasmith doesn't consider the Lakers a legitimate threat in the West 👀
"How am I supposed to consider you a serious threat when the reigning defending NBA champions continuously abuse you?" pic.twitter.com/mVDThg7jFv
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 5, 2024
It is true that the Lakers have a difficult time defeating the Nuggets and have not done so in a long time.
As Smith pointed out, beating the Nuggets should be used to evaluate a team’s strength.
If a team can beat the reigning champions, they have a chance to win the title.
But if they can’t figure out Nikola Jokic and his crew, they’ll have little chance of winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
The problem for the Lakers is that they frequently play close games versus the Nuggets.
They appear to be competitive for the majority of the game before losing it in the fourth quarter.
If they could just find out how to prevent it, they might be able to beat Denver.
Whatever the cause, the Lakers are unable to overcome this significant challenge.
The Nuggets may not be the best team in the West right now, but Smith and many other observers believe they are still the team to beat.
The Lakers cannot do that, thus do they have a chance of winning the Western Conference Finals?
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