Pierce Lights Up Court As Lakers' Season Crashes (Clip Show)
Former Celtics star Paul Pierce feels the Lakers won't do much, if anything, come playoff time.
The Los Angeles Lakers are one of the NBA's hottest teams right now. They have won six games in a row and nine of their last 10 contests, and this hot streak has allowed them to rise from sixth place to third place in the Western Conference with a 43-25 record. But doubts persist about how far they will go in the playoffs.
They still haven't proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're legitimate championship contenders, and a number of people feel the team will exit in the first round of the postseason. The team has displayed weaknesses defensively, lacks bench scoring and isn't particularly speedy or athletic. Former Boston Celtics star Paul Pierce made a recent appearance on the "No Fouls Given" podcast , where he boldly claimed that L.
A. will not make it past the first round of the playoffs (h/t Sports Illustrated ). “Like, if they have to play [Minnesota] Timberwolves, ]Denver] Nuggets, [Houston] Rockets,” Pierce said.
“I don’t think they can beat any of these three teams. I don’t think they will make it out of the first round. ” Obviously, there will be no such thing as an easy playoff matchup for the Lakers, given the fact that they will not finish higher than third in the West.