While neither the Brooklyn Nets nor Los Angeles Lakers reached the NBA Finals, Brooklyn Nets guard Spencer Dinwiddie believes if the teams had done so, the Nets would have swept the series.
Nets in 4 https://t.co/hmP8eRk0Fr
— Spencer Dinwiddie (@SDinwiddie_25) July 15, 2021
Each team ended up being eliminated by this year’s finals. The Nets were eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, while the Lakers were knocked out by the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference quarterfinals.
Both the Nets and Lakers came up short because of key injuries, including Dinwiddie, who missed virtually the entire season.
While Dinwiddie may have been healthy enough to return for the finals, the Nets still had to deal with injuries to both Kyrie Irving and James Harden during the postseason.
In the case of the Lakers, the team seemed to be in a position in February to reach the finals for the second year in a row after capturing the 2020 NBA title.
The Lakers’ goal of repeating as champions sustained a pair of painful blows due to injuries to the team’s centerpieces, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Obviously, hypothetical situations are easy to imagine, but it’s doubtful that the Lakers would have ended up on the wrong side of a finals sweep.
James has been a part of 10 NBA Finals, so he has plenty of experience in this area. Meanwhile, Davis played a key role during last year’s playoff surge that culminated with the franchise’s first title in a decade.
