Anthony Davis says Lakers would've beaten Suns in 2021 playoffs if he was healthy: 'They got away with one'

 

The gap between what the Los Angeles Lakers are and what we think they night be able to be is massive. What they are is a 29-38 team clinging to a play-in spot as the No. 9 seed. What they could be, with a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis, well, that's hard to say, but it's surely something a lot better than they are. 

Could they be good enough to upset, say, the Phoenix Suns in a potential first-round playoff series? 

We could be on our way to finding out. The Suns are a virtual lock to end up No. 1 in the West, while the Lakers, if they are able to advance out of the play-in, would almost assuredly going to be the No. 8 seed (to be No. 7, they'd have to get into the 7-8 play-in game, which will be difficult as they trail the No. 8 Clippers by an effective five games with the Clippers owning the tiebreaker).

If it does happen, the Lakers could well have Davis back in the lineup. Davis, who has been out the last four weeks with a mid-foot sprain, told reporters recently that he is "very optimistic" he'll be able to return this season, via ESPN. Would Davis be enough for the Lakers to threaten a Phoenix team that has clearly been the best team in the league this season? Or even enough to assure them of a playoff spot at all? 

"AD definitely helps, but it's not the answer to all [our] questions," LeBron James said after Sunday's blowout loss to the Suns, who have been playing without Chris Paul since the All-Star break. 

For Davis' part, he still remembers the Suns eliminating the Lakers in six games in the first round of the 2021 playoffs, and he thinks there is some unfinished business there. 

Again, it was a Davis injury that potentially derailed the Lakers, who were leading the series 2-1 when he went down in the middle of Game 4 with a groin injury. The Lakers lost that game and the next two and that was that. But Davis says the Lakers -- and the Suns -- "know" things would've been different had Davis not gotten hurt. 

"They got away with one." It's a pretty inflammatory statement that you can bet will be on the Suns' bulletin board should these two match up again. Thing is, AD might be right. Anyone who watched that series knows the Lakers looked plenty capable of winning it. In Games 2 and 3, both Lakers wins, LeBron and AD were a combined plus-46 in their minutes. 

But listen, you can't shortchange the Suns, who came within two wins of an NBA championship in 2021. Besides that, this year's Lakers are a lot different team than the 2021 version. They don't have Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or Kyle Kuzma anymore. They have Russell Westbrook, and how long can we keep holding onto the quiet belief that there's a better version of this 2021-22 team that we've somehow yet to see?

Perhaps we'll find out. Again, a Suns-Lakers first-round matchup is well within the scope of likely scenarios. Davis just might get his chance to back up his talk.