3 reasons to believe the Lakers are for real after comeback win over the Suns
Is it too early to believe in a Lakers Redick-aissance?
The NBA season is a grind, with ebbs and flows that can cause even the best teams to question themselves. It’s rare that a team can pull off what the Boston Celtics did last year when they dominated pretty much nonstop from Opening Night until they were handed the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
For most teams, or at least those that aren’t engaged in some form of tanking, there are winning streaks and fallow periods throughout the year, with the lesson being not to get too high or too low based on just a few games.
It’s easy to say that, but it’s another thing to begin the season with two wins against contending teams. That’s what the Los Angeles Lakers have done, first by handling the defending Western Conference runner-up Minnesota Timberwolves on Opening Night, then by coming back from 22 points down to overcome Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns.
Lakers fans are justifiably excited after such a promising start. While conventional wisdom would say that it’s extremely unlikely that a 47-win team could suddenly become a championship contender just one year later (especially when he roster is almost exactly the same), there are reasons to believe that the Lakers might be able to keep this up.
Anthony Davis is taking no prisoners
At 6-foot-10, Anthony Davis is literally and figuratively the biggest reason to believe that the Lakers are set to join the Western Conference elite. After enjoying the healthiest season of his career and winning a gold medal with Team USA at the Paris Olympics, AD is playing like a man on a mission through the season’s first two games.
