Tomahawk Tuesday: How concerned should the Los Angeles Lakers be right now?

 

The Los Angeles Lakers are currently 5th in the Western Conference standings, 8 games back of the top seeded Utah Jazz, 7 games back of the Phoenix Suns, 6 games back of their inner city rivals Los Angeles Clippers, and 4 games back of the Denver Nuggets. The Lakers have slipped back in the standings due to LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (calf) missing extended periods of time. James has played in 41 games this season while Davis has played in 26. Fortunately for the Lakers, Davis is now back, having played three games since his return. But James' return date is still up in the air. 

To the question at hand, the Lakers should be moderately concerned right now, but there's no reason to panic. They're the defending champs and at full strength, they should be favored to come out of the Western Conference. All four of the teams ahead of them are teams that have never won an NBA championship, which means all four of those teams still have a lot to prove. 

On top of that, some of those teams ahead of them are dealing with injury issues of their own. The Jazz have had to play without Donovan Mitchell for the past 10+ days or so due to his ankle injury and the Nuggets have lost Jamal Murray for the season due to a torn ACL. The Suns' Chris Paul has had injury issues in the past and the Clippers' Paul George likewise has found ways to get hurt in the playoffs. So, everyone is dealing with injuries right now or at least has the threat of injuries hurting their seasons. 

That all said, the Lakers still find themselves in a tricky spot. If they stay at the 5 spot, they'll likely have to win the championship without home court advantage in every series they play in. Home court advantage is crucial in the NBA and to not have it puts your team at a real disadvantage. Plus, they have no shot at winning the title without James and Davis healthy. If those guys go down again come playoff time, it's game over. 

I'm confident that James will be fine in the playoffs. He's rarely shut down like this and I suspect part of this is just being overly cautious for the playoffs. But Davis has had real injury issues for his entire career, which is why I was skeptical of their title chances a year ago. So, he's definitely one to watch throughout the duration of the season. 

The bottom line is the Lakers still are the slight favorites to come out of the Western Conference in my book, but they have their work cut out for them and none of the teams ahead of them are going to back down without putting up a real fight. The Jazz, Suns, and Clippers in particular see an opening here and have to be motivated to see a wounded Lakers team currently chasing them. It'll be interesting to see how they finish the season and whether or not the Lakers will be able to gain some ground before the playoffs start. 

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Saturday Slam: Stephen Curry has solidified himself as the greatest Warrior

 

                                             (Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports) 

Not that there was much doubt about who the greatest player in Golden State Warriors history was before this week, Stephen Curry passed Wilt Chamberlain on Monday night to become the all-time leading scorer in franchise history with 53 points in a 116-107 victory over the Denver Nuggets. Becoming the all-time leading scorer in franchise history is fitting for Curry as he has led the organization to three NBA championships and been the backbone of the organization for over a decade. The only thing that stood in his way in terms of solidifying himself as the greatest Warrior of all-time was the scoring record and now he has it. 

What makes Curry so amazing is his consistency and his ability to bring it night in, night out. He's not only the greatest player in Warriors history, he's arguably the greatest shooter in NBA history period. The only other players in NBA history who I think give him any sort of run are Reggie Miller and Ray Allen and I'd still pick Curry over both of those guys for best shooter ever. 

The reason why is Curry is such a lethal shooter off the dribble. Both Miller and Allen were at their best in catch and shoot scenarios, whereas Curry is lethal both in catch and shoot and off the dribble situations. If anything, he's even more dangerous off the dribble, which just makes his shooting all the more impressive. 

As one who likes to see basketball played at its highest level, it's truly a gift to have Stephen Curry still out there doing his thing, torching opponents from deep. He literally is the human flame thrower. Some of those shots he throws up are from another planet it seems. Hopefully he'll continue to dazzle us for a very long time. 

Touching quickly on where things sit for the Warriors, they are 28-28 at the moment and rookie big man James Wiseman is done for the year due to surgery on his knee. They are 9th in the Western Conference standings which means they are right in that sweep spot to make the play in tournament for the playoffs (top six teams in each conference make the playoffs, seeds 7-10 go to a play in tournament). So, they still have a shot to make the playoffs, but the odds of them doing any damage are low. Especially with Wiseman now out as well as Klay Thompson still sidelined. 

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