Giannis Antetokounmpo calls Jazz “the best team in the West”, a valid statement until the Lakers start playing 48 minutes

Giannis Antetokounmpo saw and was defeated by both leading candidates of the Western Conference. His Milwaukee Bucks hosted defending champions Los Angeles Lakers last month and lost a close contest by 113-106, but compared to current Western Conference No. 1 seed, the current MVP was not particularly impressed. He has faced Utah Jazz twice and has been strangled on both occasions. Jazz built a 20-point lead in both games and came out with double-digit wins in each. This led Antetokounmpo to a simple conclusion. According to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard, Giannis called Jazz “the best team in the West”.

“It looks like fun. Like when I watch them play, it looks like fun, it looks easy,” said Antetokounmpo. “It sounds simple. Sure, they look like us last year, and man, when you’re at that point and are playing with that confidence, it’s hard to beat you for sure.”

He chose a suitable night to crown Utah. About 700 miles away, the Lakers did not have a particularly easy night, at least not in the beginning. While Jazz ran the Bucks at Vivint Arena, the Lakers went through an awful first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies, which they lagged behind 22-2. This was not a new phenomenon for the Lakers. Their approach lately has been to test the limits of their talent, creating larger deficits to be overcome with each passing night.

To be fair, the Lakers overcame these deficits. They have now won seven consecutive games, but have been beaten by 41 points in the last five quarters. Five of the seven opponents they faced during the streak are currently out of the top eight in their respective conferences, and the Pistons and Thunder, with a combined record of 17-34, managed to lead them into overtime in three consecutive games.

It is a far cry from the absolute dominance of the current Utah wave. Jazz has won 17 of its last 18 games, but only two of those wins have been decided by single digits. None of them reached a single possession, and their only loss was against a Denver team that hit more than 64 percent on 3 points. Jazz is crushing everyone who plays.

It’s a consistency that the Lakers know well. They have played 27 games this season. At this point, a season ago, they were 24-3 with a net rating of plus-9 almost identical to Utah’s current plus-8.8 mark. This year’s group is not particularly far off. At 21-6, they are only half the game behind Jazz. They are behind them by less than a point in the net rating. But the facility that Giannis described is currently lacking. Jazz is enjoying his outbursts. The Lakers are struggling to clean up their own mess.

This is not exactly uncommon among the title champions. Nine of the past 14 NBA champions saw their winning percentage drop the following season, and three others had the same total winnings. Defending a championship is more difficult than winning. LeBron James’ teams are known to nap during parts of the regular seasons, and many other older contenders do the same. There is little doubt that the Lakers can kick things off when they need them. This winning streak is proof of that.

But the similarities between Jazz and last season’s Lakers are striking. Mastering the regular season is not necessarily a prerequisite for success in the postseason, but there are undeniable benefits of developing the right kind of habits early in the season. The 2019-20 Lakers never had to turn a switch. They played championship basketball from opening night until the postseason, and it helped them navigate the unprecedented circumstances that the Orlando bubble presented.

The 2021 postseason will not be as crowded, and the Lakers still have championships experience to support that Jazz does not. But the urge to dismiss Utah based on the lack of that experience – and the superstar talent that tends to generate it – ignores the journey that most champions take to find it. Not all regular season juggernauts are built for the playoffs, but most teams that win in the playoffs build the foundations established in the regular season.

The 2019-20 Lakers did that. Jazz 2020-21 is doing that now. This does not mean that they will be better than the Lakers when it matters. The post-season story’s emphasis on the power of the stars suggests that it probably won’t. But Giannis has played with both teams in their current state. It is not yet known where they will stay when needed, but until the Lakers regain the consistency that helped make them champions last season, Antetokounmpo is right. Jazz is playing basketball better now. They are playing the best basketball in the West.