D720 2020-2021 Finals Preview

[Nino Brown]

2020-2021 Nba Finals Preview!

First off I’d like to say congratulations to both the Chicago Bulls, and Los Angeles Lakers on incredible seasons; and having the opportunity to play for the ultimate goal in basketball, which is to win an NBA Championship. To take a look into how these teams got here, we’ll start with the Chicago Bulls who finished second to last years Champion 76ers, winning 58 games on the back of their sharp shooting big 3(Paul George, Dbook, and KAT). It should be no surprise that the Bulls had the second best offense in the regular season. In the playoffs they’ve defeated the Wizards, Hawks, 76ers.

In the Western Conference, the Lakers also finished the season as a second seed to a surprise performance from in town rival Los Angeles Clippers. While the Bulls are primarily an offensive dynamo, the Lakers were top 5 in offense, and the number 1 defensive team led by defensive anchors Kawhi Leonard and Brook Lopez. A couple of seasons ago they came up 1 buzzer beater short of a finals appearance so they’ll relish the opportunity to take home a ring against a young Bulls team. Their playoff run consisted of beating a promising NOP team that will be healthy next year, a great OKC team led by Giannis that underperformed, and a surprising Clippers team.

Matchup Preview:
While the Bulls primarily like to shoot the 3, and get it done from the perimeter, the Lakers are a much more mid range, and layup based team. Both are deadly in how they get it done, as they placed top 5 in offense in the regular season. Some key matchups to look for are Russ vs the Bulls guards. Russ should be able to get in the paint at will as the Bulls defensive backcourt isn’t necessarily a strong point. The bulls are an average to below average defensive team, and I have to wonder if their offense will be enough considering they’re playing the best defensive team in the league. Paul George vs Kawhi Leonard will also be another great matchup, but I figure they will cancel each out. KAT vs Brook should also be a nice battle. If KAT struggles, I think the Bulls will struggle. In the regular season the Bulls had trouble stopping the Lakers bread and butter due
to their lack of interior presence while the Lakers did a good job of running the Bulls of their spots.

Lakers Keys to victory: 
Keep the Bulls off the perimeter 
Attack the paint 
Russ us matchup proof in this finals, he has to dominate

Bulls keys to victory:
Neutralize Kawhi
Lakers can’t dominate the paint 
KAT has to show up on both ends of the floor 


Prediction:
While the Bulls are dynamic offensively, they play right into the Lakers strengths on both ends of the floor. I think they’ll be a little more inefficient than normal with their shooting, and I don’t see how they stop the Lakers midrange, and pnr game at all with the lack of a true interior stalwart. Lakers 4-2 with Kawhi winning finals mvp.

[billy]

What a great writeup Nino Brown! thanks so much for being a part of the league