Lakers concerns and 3 other notable takeaways from NBA’s bubble restart

NBA fans are thrilled that the season has resumed. Here’s a look at what worries us about the Lakers and other notable takeaways from the restart.

The NBA season was placed on hiatus back in mid-March due to the coronavirus pandemic. At that point, it was not certain if the season would resume at some point.

Fortunately for basketball fans, the NBA and its players reached an agreement that allowed play to resume at the end of July. Going into the bubble, as was the case when the season started, the Los Angeles Lakers, LA Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks were the prohibitive favorites as title contenders.

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Prior to the pandemic, the Milwaukee Bucks had the best record in the league for the second straight season. The Lakers were the second-best team in the NBA with a record of 49-14. Additionally, the Lakers clinched their first postseason berth since the 2012-13 campaign. And the Clippers were the second-best team in the Western Conference.

Given the fact that the teams have been without competitive basketball for nearly five months, it would have been reasonable to wonder how they would perform following such a lengthy layoff. Would the title contenders continue to play at a high level? Would the teams who were outside of the final playoff spot in both conferences make a late push to for the No. 8 seed? Could we still see a first-round matchup between LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers going up against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans?

With those sentiments in mind, here’s a look at some of the early takeaways from the NBA bubble restart.