On a recent episode of ALL THE SMOKE, NBA legend, Gary Payton joined and mentioned how he believes the Los Angeles Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks will meet in the NBA Finals if the season is allowed to continue.
The Milwaukee Bucks have been flat out dominating in the Eastern Conference while holding the best record in the league (53-12). They also have the front-runner for NBA MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo.
On this side of the country, the Clippers (44-20) trail the Lakers (49-14) for the best in the west but Peyton doesn’t think the Lakers can stop them.
“And over here in the West Coast… the Lakers are the truth but I still think that that team over there with the Clippers they got too much off the bench and they got too much going.”
The Lakers will be no easy task to overcome, but the Clippers have played as a much better team. Their top four players of Kawhi Leonard (26.9 PPG), Paulo George (21 PPG), Lou Williams (18.7 PPG), and Montrezl Harrell (18.6 PPG) have been the much better offensive team with a good supporting cast off the bench. The Lakers have a significant drop in scoring after Anthony Davis (26.7) and LeBron James (25.7).
The Lakers have turned their team around to become one of the better defensive teams in the league but the Clippers have two of the best wing defenders in Leornard and George as well as Patrick Beverley who is considered the peskiest defender in the NBA with his energy.
We’ll have to see how it all plays out if this season is allowed to continue.
