Binigyang-diin ng Los Angeles Lakers na hindi nila kailanman mamaliitin ang Portland Trail Blazers sa oras na magharap na ang mga ito sa NBA playoffs.
Ito’y kahit na mas pinapaboran ng marami ang Lakers na magwagi sa kanilang matchup.
Ayon kay Lakers star Anthony Davis, maganda raw ang ipinakita ng Blazers noong seeding games, kaya walang duda na nakapasok ito sa playoffs.
“They were playing well,” wika ni Davis. “They’ve been playing extremely well. They did everything in their power to make the playoffs. They’re a good team. They’re hot right now. It’s definitely going to be a test for us but a good test. We’re going to be ready to go out there and compete.”
Sinabi naman ni Lakers coach Frank Vogel, pinlantsa na raw nila ang ilang mga isyu upang maitutok lamang ang kanilang atensyon sa Blazers.
“Seriousness and the level of detail attentiveness,” ani Vogel. “The communication in our film session — it’s not just the coaches presenting a plan. There’s a lot of questions, there’s a lot of ‘let’s get clear and on the same page,’ pointing out different aspects of what we’re showing. Those types of things.”
Partikular ding tututukan ng Los Angeles ang tandem nina Damian Lillard at CJ McCollum, maging ang 10-time All-Star na si Carmelo Anthony.
Sa panig naman ng Portland, bagama’t sila ang No. 8 seed, ipakikita raw nila ang kanilang buong lakas para mabuwal ang Lakers.
“[The Lakers] are the No. 1 seed for a reason,” sambit ni Lillard, “They’ve got the best player in the world on their team. But at the same time, we didn’t fight as hard as we fought in the bubble to just say, ‘All right, we’re the eighth seed, and just go out there and get beat up on.’ We feel like we have a chance in a series against anyone in this league.”
