NBA restart: Key Western Conference questions
How will the Lakers cope without Avery Bradley? Can the Jazz fill the void left by Bojan Bogdanovic?
Wednesday 29 July 2020 11:41, UK
What questions will the top seven Western Conference teams be seeking to answer in their eight seeding games ahead of playoffs?
The top six teams in the West - the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Jazz, Thunder and Rockets - have already guaranteed their presence in the playoffs, which commence on August 17.
The Lakers need a combination of three wins or Clippers losses to clinch the No 1 seed - assuming the Lakers do not go 0-8 at Disney while the Denver Nuggets go 8-0.
The seventh-placed Western team, the Dallas Mavericks, have all-but guaranteed their berth in the playoffs. They need only one win in their eight seeding games to wrap up the No 7 seed, although they will be aiming higher.
However, none of them have played a competitive NBA game since the league suspended play on March 11. When the season resumes at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex on July 30, all seven teams will have issues to address, ranging from playing time, reshaped rosters, absent players, health and continuity.
What will the Lakers backcourt look like?
All season-long Avery Bradley, when healthy, started in the Lakers backcourt. But the veteran guard opted out of playing in the restart. Bradley's absence was compounded when Rajon Rondo broke his thumb in one of the Lakers' first practices inside the bubble. He will be out for 6-8 weeks.
That means Bradley's 25 minutes per game are up for grabs, at least until Rondo returns. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso and new arrivals JR Smith and Dion Waiters will be asked to step up. Are they ready to consistently contribute at the required championship level?
Three-time NBA champion BJ Armstrong believes the Lakers' depleted backcourt will place extra responsibility on the shoulders of LeBron James.
"Rondo's veteran presence in the locker room and what he does to organise the team's second unit is going to be missed. They are already missing a significant piece in Bradley because of what he can do on the defensive end," he said.
"I think this is going to put an extraordinary amount of pressure on LeBron James. Now, he is going to have to organise the game, initiate the offense and, on some nights, score 30 or more points for them to win. Rondo will be missed. We all know 'playoff Rondo' - he is battle-tested and he can organise the game. [His absence] is going to hurt more than what people have been talking about."
When will we see the Clippers at full strength?
The Clippers roster is among the deepest in the NBA but throughout the regular season head coach Doc Rivers was unable to consistently field his best team. A combination of injuries, recovery and load management meant twin superstars Paul George and Kawhi Leonard played just 32 games together.
George and Leonard have played in both of the Clippers scrimmage games at Disney. However, their usual cast of role players has been absent. Starting center Ivica Zubac arrived at Orlando on Saturday and is yet to practice with the team.
Fellow starter Patrick Beverley and key reserves Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell have all left the campus at different times to tend to personal issues and must go through the quarantine protocol if and when they return.
There's no doubt, thanks to the presence of Joakim Noah, Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris, the Clippers have the depth to cope with the absence of some of their key players. But is Rivers' inability to get reps for his go-to line-ups conceding an advantage to their biggest, more settled, conference rivals?
Is the Nuggets new 'supersize' line-up viable in the playoffs?
Another team to suffer from the absence of backcourt and wing players early on in the restart is the Denver Nuggets. Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Monte Morris, Will Barton and rookie Michael Porter Jr did not play a minute in either of the team's opening two scrimmage games.
The result? A Nuggets starting line-up featuring the 7ft center Nikola Jokic at point guard with 7ft 2in rookie Bol Bol at the forward spot alongside Jerami Grant, Paul Millsap and Mason Plumlee - one of the tallest starting fives in NBA history.
Late arrivals, quarantine, injury and caution meant coach Mike Malone had little choice but to deploy his huge starting line-up and he will have his fingers crossed his conventional starting five - Murray, Harris, Barton, Millsap and Jokic - is available in time for the Nuggets first seeding game against the Miami Heat on August 1.
Murray, Morris, Barton and Porter Jr did see some game time in the Nuggets third scrimmage game on Monday against the Magic, which ended in a 114-110 defeat.
But the reps Malone has given to his 'supersize' line-up gives the coach an extra card to play in the postseason. Do not be surprised if the Nuggets utilise their huge quintet at a crucial playoff moment.
How will the Jazz fill the void left by Bojan Bogdanovic?
Bogdanovic underwent season-ending wrist surgery in May. He averaged 20.2 points per game and shot 41.4 per cent from three-point range across the 63 games he played. The Croatian star also hit a pair of famous game-winning buzzer-beaters and his ability to space the floor was appreciated by team-mates Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
The Jazz do not have an individual who can plug all the gaps left by Bogdanovic's absence. It will have to be done by committee. That means Mitchell will have to score more efficiently and Joe Ingles, Royce O'Neale and Jordan Clarkson - who proved to be an excellent source of bench scoring after being traded to Utah from Cleveland - will need to provide more scoring.
The situation also represents an opportunity for veteran guard Mike Conley to salvage what has been a disappointing first season in Utah. The former Grizzlies star struggled to adjust to his new surroundings, put up career lows in points per game and field goal percentage, and even came off the bench in a bid to settle into a role.
Not being the primary ball handler on a team for the first time in his career has contributed to Conley's struggles but with Bogdanovic out, he is likely to have the ball in his hands more. He is also an experienced playoff performer. This is a genuine chance for him to rescue what looked like being a lost year.
Will Thunder continue to defy expectations?
No team was written off more than OKC at the start of the season. After receiving an eye-popping number of future draft picks after trading away Paul George and Russell Westbrook, a season of rebuilding beckoned for the Thunder. Instead, led by Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder and breakout star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC proved they are a deserving playoff team.
Appearing on Heatcheck, Sky Sports NBA's weekly debate show, BJ Armstrong believes the Thunder enter the bubble bursting with confidence.
"They have three really terrific guards and are getting great play from that position," said the three-time NBA champion. "They are gaining confidence, they take care of the ball and they can play the game at a really high level for 48 minutes because they'll always have one, two, or in some cases, all three of those guards out there on the floor."
Will Westbrook be at 100 per cent for the Rockets?
Former MVP Westbrook arrived late in Orlando after testing positive for coronavirus and having to quarantine before travelling to Florida to join his Houston team-mates. Those health issues meant he did not get anywhere near the amount of preparation time as his team-mates did.
The good news for the Rockets is that Westbrook was ready to play in their opening scrimmage scrimmage game (a loss to the Toronto Raptors) and saw 15 minutes of action. Those minutes are likely to ramp up across the team's remaining two warm-ups games.
Before the season hiatus, the Rockets dispensed with their centers in order to space the floor to maximise Westbrook's ability to relentlessly attack the rim. He averaged 32.5 and 33.4 points per game in January and February, with a field goal percentage over 50 per cent for both months.
If fully healthy, there is no reason to think Westbrook cannot pick up where he left off. He could be poised to dominate in the bubble.
Will Luka and KP lead the Mavericks out of seventh place?
If there is one thing the teams currently occupying the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh seeds can agree on, it's that no one wants to finish the seeding games in seventh place. That outcome would mean a first-round playoff series against the powerful Clippers.
As the season resumes, the Dallas Mavericks sit in that unwanted seventh spot, but a string of seeding game wins could see them climb into the top four.
If they are to do that, much will depend on the play of their European superstars Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. Both players plied their trade in Europe prior to coming to the NBA and have played in numerous international tournaments, so will be used to spending long periods away from their families alongside their team-mates. They are better placed than most to adapt quickly to life in the Disney bubble.
Doncic and Porzingis are Dallas' top options in an offense that ranks as the league's most efficient - the Mavs average a league-leading 115.8 points per 100 possessions. That reliably-potent scoring will be key if they are to claim enough wins to climb the standing and avoid the Clippers in the first round of the playoffs.
