The Golden State Warriors’ victory over the Grizzlies in the Play-In Tournament secured the seventh seed. Although many people showered the team with praise for their resilient effort, NBA analyst Nick Wright congratulated the Lakers instead, iterating that the Lakers advancing to the Western Conference Finals is now a foregone conclusion.
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The Western Conference is a bloodbath. Many teams could make a potential NBA Finals run. The addition of Jimmy Butler has made the Warriors one of the most dangerous. Due to Golden State’s immense experience advantage over the Rockets, the Warriors are the favorites to prevail.
Sportsbooks such as Bet365 have the Warriors at -190 favorites to defeat the Rockets in the first round. Not only does Wright believe the Rockets will thwart Golden State’s championship hopes, he believes it clears the lane for the Lakers.
The Fox Sports analyst took to X following the Warriors Play-In game against the Grizzlies. He wanted to be the first person to formally congratulate the Lakers on a Western Conference Finals appearance.
“After watching this Warriors performance the past week, I’d like to be the first person to congratulate the Los Angeles Lakers on beating the Houston Rockets to advance to the Western Conference Finals,” Wright said.
Wright has faith that the youthful Rockets will put an end to the Warriors’ season. After all, Houston isn’t a team to take lightly. They rose as the second seed quite convincingly en route to a 52-30 record. Their core of Alperen Sengun, Jalen Green and Amen Thompson has wreaked havoc on the league.
However, Wright doesn’t view either team as a threat to the Lakers. The NBA analyst has been extremely high on the Purple and Gold throughout this season.
Wright believes the Lakers will make the NBA Finals
Once the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic, Wright became a firm believer in LA as title contenders. That belief was amplified by Doncic’s performance alongside LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
Wright’s opinion reached new levels following the Lakers’ convincing 126-99 victory over the league-best Thunder. The offensive possibilities are endless with the Slovenian star.
“This was a great reminder of what having Luka on your team creates offensively,” Wright said.
Wright believes Luka is essential to the Lakers’ hopes of winning a championship. Doncic has established himself as a dominant playoff performer, even leading the Mavericks to the Finals last season. The Lakers will need that version of Doncic in this playoff run.
