To beat the Houston Rockets and improbably advance to the second round, the Los Angeles Lakers will be looking toward LeBron James to do some serious heavy lifting. That will be an exhausting task for the oldest player in the NBA. Luckily for him, a competitive advantage has already arrived.
James has openly advertised his willingness to bring whatever the Lakers need. It’s an admirable commitment that will get just a little bit easier with the extra rest in between the early games of their first-round series.
The full schedule for the Lakers versus Rockets series has been released. Everyone already knew that Game 1 was set for Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT. The contests are comfortably spaced out from there.
The Lakers will get a two-day break before playing Game 2 on April 21. They get another opportunity for ample rest with Game 3 being scheduled for April 24. They will even get one more extended break between matchups going from Game 4 on April 26 to a Game 5 (if necessary) on April 29.
Somewhere in Los Angeles, there is a 41-year-old first option who should be letting out a sinister smile at the idea of getting extra rest after all the mileage that has been put on his body throughout the years.
Added rest should allow LeBron James to bring his best for the Lakers
Regardless of what the schedule looked like, James was always going to put his best foot forward and try to extend this season in absence of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. Adam Silver was kind enough to look at his aging G.O.A.T. and tell him, “Let’s see what you’ve got old man.”
That is not an official quote, but that sure is what the situation looks like.
Even without Doncic and Reaves, there is still a great story to tell in this series regarding the head-to-head matchup between two of the biggest stars of their generation in James and Kevin Durant. Mr. Silver and the schedule-makers are opening the door for as many installments of that as NBA fans can get.
“He’s 41. So, yeah, any extra time off is good,” JJ Redick told reporters of James and the possible benefits of the playoff schedule.
Perhaps the added rest will not quite equate to seeing 2018 LeBron emerge. However, it should guarantee the best version of what playoff hoops can look like at this stage of James’ career.
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