NBA playoffs on Sky Sports: Los Angeles Lakers take on short-staffed Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat face star-studded Milwaukee Bucks defence | NBA News

The Los Angeles Lakers take to the court first, facing the Memphis Grizzlies, who will be without key defensive personnel, followed by a match-up between the Milwaukee Bucks, and the Miami Heat. Which of these teams will kick-start the first round of the playoffs with a win?

Lakers vs Grizzlies: can James and David exploit a short-staffed defence?

All eyes will be on LeBron James, and how his team fares against Ja Morant and the rest of the Memphis cohort.

The fact these two sides have never met in the postseason before makes it all the more intriguing. Can the Lakers beat the second-ranked team in the West? Will their frontcourt presence be powerful enough to defy the Grizzlies’ defensive setup?

When fit, the answer is an emphatic ‘yes’. Since the trade deadline, the Lakers have fortified their roster by bringing in Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura, as well as sharing the attacking duties so that James isn’t left to bear the brunt of the work. The fruits of their labour? A record of 19-8 since February.

Austin Reaves has contributed to that with his silky ball-handling and adept three-point shooting – a department the Lakers have serially underperformed in this season.

Combine all these factors with Memphis’ undermanned defence and you get the chance to kick-start a seven-game series with a convincing win to kick the critics to the curb.

The Grizzlies won’t take it lying down. They have Defensive Player of the Year contender Jaren Jackson Jr. leading the charge, with the crafty duo of Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks as backup.

Yet, while many players won’t want to dance in the paint with Jackson Jr., there are reasons to believe it might be a good idea to stir things up. The 23-year-old has a history of fouling and it’ll be all too tempting to do so when locking knees and elbows with James.

As for the rest of the Grizzlies’ defence, there isn’t one. Former reserve Kyle Anderson now plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams are injured. It all falls on JJJ to act as the glue, while Xavier Tillman and David Roddy will need to put up a respectable shift in his absence.

It’s worth mentioning that when the Wolves tried out this technique on Tuesday and took Karl Anthony-Towns off the floor, in the 12 minutes Minnesota were forced to play without him, the Lakers outscored them by 26 points.

That’ll be the precedent on which the Lakers must operate. They don’t possess a roster with line-up flexibility, or the ability to rest players in early games. The starting five you’ll see in game one will be the starting five in game seven.

Any chance they get to build a scoring margin will be vital, keeping their players healthy will be just as key.

They don’t have alternatives lying around on their bench. Fortunately for Darvin Ham, as it stands, neither do their opponents, which just about tips it in James’ favour.

Bucks vs Heat: will the best defence in the league halt Miami in their tracks?

The Bucks sit top of the Eastern Conference as the first team to have claimed a playoff berth, with the best offence and defence in the league, led by the man leading the MVP conversations – all of which points towards a deep playoff run.

This weekend’s opposition, on the other hand, couldn’t be further apart in both form and circumstance. Indeed, the Heat have done just enough all season to stay afloat, barely straying from .500, and relying on clutch players in clutch moments to secure their seeding.

So, what happens when the most average side in the league comes up against the franchise expecting to headline the NBA finals?

Firstly, you can expect a lot of scoring. It might feel like the Heat’s devotion to their league position invokes a sense of calmness and stability, but their performances have been anything but.

Their preferred method of winning has been via wreaking havoc in the closing minutes of games. Only the Dallas Mavericks played more games where the score was within five points in the final five minutes of the regular season, outscoring opponents by nearly 15 points per 100 possessions in clutch moments.

Jimmy Butler has been the man orchestrating the madness. ‘Fourth quarter Butler’ has delivered for his team often; that much was apparent on Tuesday when he dropped 13 of his 31 points in the final 12 minutes against the Atlanta Hawks, including a gargantuan three-pointer with minutes to go.

Pair that with a very physical backcourt presence of Kyle Lowry, Gabe Vincent, and Tyler Herro, and there’s enough power in the paint to do a lot of damage.

Unfortunately, they’ll be matching up against the team who have proved to be impenetrable and even on their bad days somehow get by.

Former DPOTY Marcus Smart leads that front, but there are plenty of other capable players also suiting up, chiefly Khris Middleton, who was pivotal to the Bucks’ post-season charge last year.

There are some concerns regarding the health of his right knee, which could mean reduced minutes. But alongside Smart, there’ll be very little space and time for the Herro and Butler to work their magic.

And if all else fails, there’s a Greek chap going by the name of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who can help sort things out. Our projections? A victory for the Bucks.

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