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The LA Lakers' impressive 116-104 win against the OKC Thunder on Monday night paints an interesting picture of the team's championship hopes this season. During a segment on ESPN's "First Take," Stephen A. Smith did not mince words as he discussed his lack of faith in the Lakers' chances to come out of the Western Conference when stacked up against other elite teams.
While the team has accumulated some impressive wins this season, especially against the LA Clippers, Smith remains unimpressed with it all. He acknowledged, however, that the Lakers are not to be taken lightly as they are capable of winning a couple of games in the postseason. He said:
"How am I supposed to consider you a serious threat when the reigning defending NBA champions continuously abuses you at every turn?" Smith asked. "I just look at the Lakers, and I find myself saying, 'I'm like yo, they can ball. I get it. They can't beat the Denver Nuggets. That's their kryptonite. To me, that's the measuring stick.'"
This season, the Denver Nuggets swept the season series against the purple and gold unit with a 3-0 series score. Despite some close moments during their matchups, the Nuggets always found a way to string together timely and crucial plays to pull off a victory.
Despite some impressive showings here and there, if LA wants to come out of the Western Conference to reach the 2024 NBA Finals, they will eventually have to run into the reigning defending champions. A postseason matchup against Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic will require an almost perfect game from the Lakers, for any chance to pull off an upset series win.
What are the LA Lakers' championship odds this 2023-24 season?
As of now, the Lakers are in ninth place (34-29 record) in the Western Conference standings and have won seven out of their last 10 games. Stacking up against other elite teams in the league with championship aspirations, what are the team's championship odds this season?
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, they have the 13th best chance of winning the NBA title with +4000 odds to prove the doubters wrong. Leading the championship odds remain in the Boston Celtics (+210) favor. Additionally, the Denver Nuggets (+420) are in second place and the LA Clippers (+500) are in third place.
Looking over the championship odds this season, five teams from the Western Conference are part of the top 10 rankings. If they want to secure a ticket to the 2024 NBA Finals at a shot at the championship, they will have to go through a gauntlet of intimidating teams in their conference before that happens.
Despite LeBron James and Anthony Davis being a duo capable of going head-to-head with most tandems in the NBA, the rest of the team will have to step up as well for them to even have a chance.
