“Damian Lillard, Blazers are going to kill Anthony Davis and co”: Charles Barkley predicts grim outcome for Lakers without LeBron James today

Charles Barkley firmly believes the Portland TrailBlazers are going to beat the Lakers tomorrow night; says they will ‘kill’ the Lakers. 

Charles Barkley is perhaps the only member of mainstream media who consistently buys more and more Portland TrailBlazers stock as time goes on. He gave Damian Lillard’s squad two of his patented “GUAR-AN-TEES” going into both the 2019 and 2020 Playoffs, claiming they would win the West. 

This didn’t work out all too well as the Blazers got swept by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals in 2019 and lost four straight after winning Game 1 against the Lakers in the first round last year to get booted from the Bubble Playoffs. Chuck didn’t stop here however as he went a step further and tripled down on the Blazers before the start of the 2020-21 season, saying they would win the West after a successful offseason. 

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Now, with both the Blazers and the Lakers facing off tomorrow night in perhaps the most important game of the season, Charles Barkley predicts the former will demolish the purple and gold. 

Charles Barkley says the Blazers are going to ‘kill’ the Lakers tomorrow night. 

Chuck claims that the Blazers, who’ve won 5 of their last 6 games, will continue to keep it rolling against the struggling Lakers as claims the Trailblazers are, “going to kill these dudes.”

The reason as to why Barkley is so emphatic with this prediction is due to the nature of Frank Vogel’s roster at the moment. LeBron James has been ruled out due to right ankle soreness, Dennis Schroder is set to miss 10-14 days due to health and safety protocols, and Talen Horton Tucker will also be sidelined for the game against the Blazers.

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To make matters even worse for the defending champs, Anthony Davis not only rolled his ankle in last night’s contest against the Clippers but also had intense back spasms, causing him to exit the game and not return. Though AD did say he could suit up tomorrow night, the Blazers are completely healthy and severely outmatch the Lakers in terms of guard-play. 

Why is tomorrow’s game between the Lakers and the Blazers one of the most important games of the season? 

The outcome of tomorrow’s bout between the two middling Western Conferences teams will give the victor a significant boost in the standings. With both boasting identical records, they each have a chance to push the other team into a play-in spot. 

The Blazers and the Lakers are both vying for the 6th seed at the moment as it not only guarantees a Playoff berth, but also leads them closer to a potential first round series against a depleted Denver Nuggets team. 

Another advantage is that in the event of a tie between the two teams at the end of the regular season, the team which won the season series would be given the higher seed.