Getty Former Los Angeles Lakers player Shaquille O'Neal speaks after unveiling of his statue.
Shaquille O’Neal is picking the Golden State Warriors over his former team Los Angeles Lakers in the Play-in tournament and also advancing deeper in the playoffs, not because of Stephen Curry but because of their forgotten star.
“They’re going to beat the Lakers if they play against the Lakers in the play-in [tournament],” O’Neal said on “The Big Podcast with Shaq” on April 10.
O’Neal then added the Warriors would also beat either the Oklahoma City Thunder or Minnesota Timberwolves in the playoffs should they advance because of Klay Thompson.
“Klay Thompson is the factor everybody’s not really counting on,” O’Neal said. “We know what Steph’s going to do, but if I can get Klay for two or three games.
For a guy like that, all I need is two games. Right now everyone’s killing him, ‘Oh he’s coming off the bench,’ ‘you lost it.’ He’s still playing, all it takes is one of those games where his elbow is tucked in and he’s feeling it and everybody’s counting him out.”
Thompson has been on a tear since scoring 26 points in their 128-121 win over the Lakers on March 16. He’s averaging 21.1 points, 3.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds on 49/41/100 shooting split. He book ended his torrid 13-game stretch with 27 points against, guess who? The Lakers again in a 134-120 Warriors win on April 9.
Klay Thompson Confident of a Warriors Deep Playoff Run
The Warriors are stuck in the play-in tournament following the Phoenix Suns‘ 124-108 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 10.
They are currently on a three-way tie with the Lakers and Sacramento Kings with identical 45-35 records. A 2-0 finish for the Warriors coupled with a Kings loss would enable them to finish at No. 8 and avoid and win-or-go-home play-in match between the 9th and 10th seeds.
Thompson believes they can mimic the Miami Heat’s Final run last season from the play-in tournament.
“We take a lot of motivation from the [Miami] Heat last year who had to play two play-in games and made it all the way to the Finals,” Thompson told reporters after beating the Lakers on April 9. “I think we’re capable of a run like that. We obviously can’t look ahead, but whatever happens, we will be ready. We know that it can be done. There is no task too tall for us.”
Draymond Green Boldly Predicts Warriors Win Over Lakers
Draymond Green shared that belief with O’Neal that they will beat the Lakers should they face them in the play-in tournament.
“We’ve beaten the Lakers the last couple of times,” Green said on Wednesday’s “The Draymond Green Show” episode. “The Lakers are always a tough matchup, having [Anthony Davis] on the court always makes a difference. I am very confident if we played them in a play-in situation that we could win — that we will win.”
The Warriors’ 3-1 record against the Lakers this season backed up Green and O’Neal’s belief. Golden State won its last three meetings by an average of 13 points. The only Lakers’ win came during their first meeting in a 145-144 overtime squeaker.