Finals preview
If truth be told, it was pegged this way from early in the season when both teams got off to fantastic starts, but with over 60 games now played for the Bucks and Lakers, there’s little arguing over the bigger picture significance of Friday’s game.
It’s true that everything doesn’t always go according to plan, but if the script is followed when the postseason gets underway, the Bucks and Lakers will almost certainly find themselves on a Finals collision course.
There’s no disputing that the Bucks have been the East’s best team to this point in the season, while even with the Clippers surging now in the West, it’s still the Lakers who would widely be nominated as the favorite from that conference.
Of course, the playoffs are a different beast altogether, but considering these two teams will only have seen each other twice all season long, both of the regular season meetings take on an added significance.
They may well watch each other closely from afar, but this will be the last chance for the Bucks and Lakers to get an up and close and personal look at each other before a potential seven-game series with the Larry O’Brien trophy on the line.
As regular season games go, they don’t get much more enticing than this one.