Lakers Ready For Statement Games Against Visiting Raptors and Knicks

Back in March 2020, the Lakers gave the NBA a preview of a championship to come by dominating the Bucks and Clippers in a Friday night, Sunday afternoon double-header. They’re poised to do that again this March.

I have the same gut feeling about this coming weekend against the Raptors and Knicks as I had before the weekend back in March 2020 when Lakers faced season-defining back-to-back games against the Bucks and Clippers.
The situations are eerily similar. The Lakers are being disrespected despite playing extremely well. They have challenging games coming up Friday night and Sunday afternoon and the team is sky-high with confidence.

Since the trade deadline, Anthony Davis has been playing like an MVP and the Lakers were #1 in team defensive rating, #1 in team rebounding, #2 in team free throws, #4 in opponent free throws, and #3 in opponent 3PA.
Numbers wise, since the trade deadline, the Lakers have won 7 of last 10, 6 of last 8, 3 of last 4, and last 2 games. 3 of the last 4 wins were without James and Russell and 1 win was without James, Russell, and Davis.

Now in the #9 spot in the West standings, the Lakers have given the rest of the league a glimpse of their possible future led by two-way superstar Anthony Davis, the league’s #1 defense, and a deep and diverse roster.
The Lakers are now at the top of the ladder of losing teams and just 2 wins from .500 and grabbing the bottom rung on the ladder of winning teams. They’re playing at home and should finally get D’Angelo Russell back.

The Friday night game against the Raptors should be the easer game just like the Bucks were in March 2020. The Sunday afternoon game against the Knicks, like the Clippers’ game, will be the Lakers’ biggest challenge.
Right now, the Los Angeles Lakers are 1-point underdogs against the visiting Toronto Raptors on Friday night and will likely be even bigger underdogs against the resurgent New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon.

The Raptors lost to the Clippers last night so have now lost 2 in a row but are still 6–4 in their last 10 games and much improved after trading for Jakob Poeltl at the deadline. The Lakers should beat them by 15 points.
The Knicks will be the challenge that should bring the best out of the Lakers. They just had their 9-game winning streak broken at home by the Hornets so they still have won 9 of their last 10. Lakers by 10 over Knicks.

Get ready for a big Lakers weekend. With Russell returning and Davis playing like MVP, Lakers are going to come out and play two near perfect statement games to end the weekend at 34–34 on 4-game win streak.

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