Paul Pierce Foresees LeBron James’ ‘Nightmare’ Play-in Matchup Against Kings’ ‘Kobe Bryant’

Are the wheels beginning to fall off for the Los Angeles Lakers? They have succumbed to two consecutive losses. These losses could have a detrimental impact on their postseason hopes, considering they have dropped to the 10th spot in the Western Conference standings with only two regular-season games remaining. With the playoffs right around the corner, this is less than ideal preparation for LeBron James & Co. and Paul Pierce seems to agree.

The Lakers’ current standing suggests they might face either the Golden State Warriors or the Sacramento Kings in the first round of the Play-In tournament. This, according to Celtics icon Paul Pierce, is a “nightmare” scenario for the Lakers, considering that they have struggled against both the Kings and the Warriors recently. However, Pierce stated that the Lakers would prefer to face the Kings rather than the Warriors in a recent episode of the Undisputed.

He said, “On one side, the Kings have won against the Lakers 8 out of 9. But on the other side, do I really want a one-game situation where I have to face four Hall of Famers? I don’t want those issues. There’s nothing intimidating about the Sacramento Kings.” Except maybe for one player.

Although the Kings may not boast the star power of the Warriors, they have managed to outperform the Lakers in recent seasons. In fact, the Kings have got the better of the Lakers 8 out of their last 10 matchups. Moreover, the Kings’ point guard, De’Aaron Fox has consistently leveled up his game when the Kings face the Lakers, averaging 30.8 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 10 games against his 26.7 points average for the season.

Undisputed host Skip Bayless pointed this out. He said, “De’Aaron Fox turns into Kobe Bryant against the Lakers. I’ve seen anything like it before because it feels like the Lakers don’t have an answer for him.” At the moment, it looks like the Lakers are caught between a rock and a hard place. But can the Lakers overcome this challenge?

Can the Los Angeles Lakers make a deep playoff run?

The Los Angeles Lakers have significantly underperformed this season. Even the most die-hard Lakers fans would agree with that assessment. Despite starting the season in a promising manner by winning the inaugural In-Season tournament, the Lakers’ form and performance began to decline as the season progressed. Their mid-season slump has meant that they currently languish in the 10th spot of the Western Conference standings, 45-35.

However, the Los Angeles Lakers’ form of late has been impressive, winning 9 out of their last 12 games. But they have too over-reliant on the form and performances of LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Despite being 39 years old, LeBron leads the Lakers in points (25.5 ppg) and assists (8.2 apg) per game. Furthermore, the Lakers have struggled with bench scoring throughout the 2023-24 season. In fact, they have the lowest number of points scored from the bench in the league, with 2,291 points.

If the Los Angeles Lakers aspire to make a deep playoff run, their role players like Austin Reaves, Taurean Prince, Spencer Dinwiddie and Rui Hachimura would have to seriously step up. Otherwise, a deep postseason run looks extremely unlikely.

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