The Whiteboard: Lakers and Warriors make statements and LaVine keeps scoring

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The Chicago Bulls aren’t quite finished yet. They made a big swing at the trade deadline, acquiring Nikola Vucevic in the hopes of locking in a playoff appearance but the move didn’t really work as expected. They’re just 10-12 since the trade but had won three-in-a-row (all by double-digits) before losing to the Nets by eight on Tuesday night.

That recent hot streak coincides with the return of Zach LaVine who went off for 41 in the loss against the Nets. He was 15-of-27 from the field and 6-of-11 from beyond the 3-point arc continuing to build on what has been a career season from a scoring volume and efficiency perspective.

The Bulls will basically need to win out in their last four games and get some serious help from the Wizards or Pacers to make their way into the play-in tournament. But it’s clear from these last few games and LaVine’s intensity level that they plan on going out swinging.

The Warriors make another huge statement

Right now, the Warriors’ hopes for a special end to their season are pinned to their ability to ride a wave of variance, to come up big when the stakes are highest. Right now, they’re a half-game in front of the Memphis Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. This would put them in line for a one-game matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers to kickoff the new play-in tournament. A win over the Lakers would lock them into the No. 7 seed and set them up for a first-round series against the Phoenix Suns. A loss against the Lakers gives them one more chance to stay alive, needing a win over either the Grizzlies or Spurs to hold onto the No. 8 seed and get a first-round series against the Utah Jazz.

With so many high-leverage, single-game scenarios coming up the Warriors have to feel good about their recent track record. On Tuesday night, they used a huge fourth-quarter rally to beat the Phoenix Suns 122-116. This was on the second night of a back-to-back, coming less than 24 hours after they beat the Utah Jazz. In the last month, they’re now 12-5 and also have a pair of wins over the Denver Nuggets (the No. 4 seed in the West) and a road win over the Philadelphia 76ers (the No. 1 seed in the East).

Perhaps the most important aspect of these two recent wins is that the Warriors have been able to eke out wins despite playing far from their ceiling. They beat the Suns and Jazz despite Steph Curry shooting a combined 4-of-24 from beyond the arc across the two games. But they’ve gotten great performances from role players like Jordan Poole and Andrew Wiggins, and they’ve scrapped their way through with moments of great defense and by crashing the offensive glass (21 offensive rebounds in the two games).

Steph Curry is always going to be an ace up the Warriors’ sleeve but confidence and rhythm for their role players is a huge asset as they look to manufacture some more magic. Right now, the Warriors are looking scary.

The Lakers role players finally showed up

Like the Warriors, the Lakers find themselves on the outer fringes of the Western Conference playoff picture and will have to win in some big single-game scenarios to try and defend their title. Going into last night’s game against the Knicks they had won just three of their last 10 games. One win came over the Orlando Magic, who are basically a G League roster right now, and the other two required monster efforts from Anthony Davis — 25 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in a win over the Nuggets and a 42-12-5-3-3 explosion against the Phoenix Suns.

Davis struggled against the Knicks, finishing with 20 points and 3 turnovers on 23 shots from the field, but the Lakers were able to pick up a win against a red-hot playoff team because the supporting cast stepped up. Davis’ teammates were 12-of-27 from beyond the 3-point arc and Kyle Kuzma, Andre Drummond and Talen Horton-Tucker combined for 52 points on 37 shot attempts.

Obviously, the Lakers’ title hopes are pinned to LeBron James and Anthony Davis being their typically dominant selves. But Los Angeles could need as many as 18 wins to get from the play-in tournament to another championship and they’ll need to the supporting cast to help prop them up in at least a few of those games, like they did against the Knicks.

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