By Waylon Galvez
With the way the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks are performing in the NBA restart, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel coach Tim Cone said he will not be surprised if the two teams meet in the Finals.
The two teams have clinched top seeding in their respective conferences – the Lakers in the west and the Bucks in the East – with a few more games left before the start of the playoffs.
“Because of the format in the NBA I think it’s really hard to decide who’s going to win at this point,” said Cone on The Chasedown last Saturday in Cignal TV’s One PH channel.
“But you still have to favor the Lakers, when they get it all together, they’ll start playing well… and when LeBron (James) shows interest, they’ll start playing well. I think the Lakers and I think Bucks are the two favorite teams (to win),” added Cone.
Milwaukee has the league’s best record so far with a 55-15 card, while LA sports a 51-18 slate.
In the NBA restart the league calls the ‘bubble’ in Orlando, however, after a long layoff due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Bucks have won just two of five games while the Lakers won two of six so far.
Cone said that these games are beneficial for teams to get their rhythm back and prepare for the playoffs.
Although the PBA’s record holder for most titles with 22 – with two Grand Slam crowns – picked the Lakers and Bucks, he is not discounting the possibility of other teams ‘gate crashing the party’ in the Finals.
Cone also picks the defending champion Toronto Raptors, who – despite the departure of Kawhi Leonard to free agency as he signed with the LA Clippers – carry the second-best record in the East at 50-19 and 4-1 in the restart, as well as the Houston Rockets and the Clippers.
