The Lavery Ledger - Volume 2 (NBA Edition)
Greetings Gang,
Remember how Mike D'Antoni's career ended with the Lakers? If you don't, its because it was very forgettable. Nothing seemed to go right for the Lakers. The Buss family (Lakers Owners), thought reuniting D'Antoni with Steve Nash would transform their Lakers into the run-and-gun Suns teams that were so successful in the mid 2000's. However, Steve Nash (or any one player) can't win games without teammates who buy into the system. The latter is what happened in L.A., as Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant not only disagreed with the system, but publicly did not get along with one another. It was a mismatch from the start, confirmed by Mike D'Antoni recently calling his Lakers coaching days as being "turbulent times".
With that, expect D'Antoni to run up the score against the Lakers. Just this pre-season, when squaring off against another former employer (The New York Knicks), D'Antoni kept in his best players in well after the game was decided, resulting in a 130-103 victory. I expect the same tenacity tonight. Outside of the Golden State stars and Russell Westbrook, James Harden may be the most exciting and versatile player in the league. With exceptional ball skills, combined with a superior shooting ability and willingness to draw fouls, Harden is a nightmare matchup at the point position. When your shortest player on the floor is 6' 5", the opposing defense is at an immediate disadvantage.
On the other side, the Lakers are coming off a season in which they finished with the NBA's second worst record. This result ended the Byron Scott era, and this season's kickoff will mark the beginning of the Luke Walton regime. Luke is most well known for leading the Warrior's to a remarkable 39-4 start to the 2015-2016 season before Steve Kerr's return to the sidelines. Having said that, the Lakers aren't the Warriors, and there will be growing pains for both the Lakers team and Luke over the next few years. The Lakers are talented, however, they are especially Swaggy P (YOUNG, as in Nick Young). The Lakers will eventually put together a formidable team, with a core of Brandon Ingram, D'Angelo Russell, and Julius Randle at the helm, but they wont be a match for the seasoned and experienced Rockets tonight.
Bet the farm on the Rockets -6.5, and as Drake once said, "Thank Me Later".
