Before the season began, I said that the Thunder would win the Chip. Now, I was being a bit silly and I'm still not convinced they'll win it all, but it wasn't difficult to see a MASSIVE improvement on the horizon.
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins:
That's pretty goddamned dangerous given the three point variance.
Oh, they could certainly lose to the Warriors in the following game as well but I just think it is worth the risk.
I suppose you could also make the argument that you're better off having a 40 year old LeBron face Jokic in the first round when LeBron's fresh than later on, but I'm of the opinion that the Lakers have no real chance at all if they face Jokic. Their best chance of advancing to another Finals is the Nuggets losing/getting injured before they even have to play them. [Reply]
Win the play-in and all you're doing is setting yourself up for an ass-kicking by the Nuggets. They aren't going to beat Denver. They match up so poorly against them.
Even with the offense clicking (and it really has been; Ham stopped fucking off and set the rotation that he should've had from day 1), I don't see them so much as taking 2 from Denver. Even when they play 45 good minutes against them, Denver seems to just smack them down in the last 3.
So you rest Davis, hope you win the 2nd play in, get the 8 seed and go from there. You do not want Denver in Rd1. And if you lose the 8 seed game, so be it. You weren't beating Denver anyway.
It's just the reality of it.
That said, I don't think they'll do it. NBA teams are full of guys with irrational confidence. That Lakers team is probably sitting there HOPING they get to play Denver because 'this time things will be different...'
It won't be.
What really pisses me off is that the Lakers have no business being lower than a 4 seed anyway. Ham absolutely fucked this season up. They duffed 6+ games that were there for the taking and put themselves in this situation. They have nobody to blame but themselves. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KC_Connection:
Oh, they could certainly lose to the Warriors in the following game as well but I just think it is worth the risk.
I suppose you could also make the argument that you're better off having a 40 year old LeBron face Jokic in the first round when LeBron's fresh than later on, but I'm of the opinion that the Lakers have no real chance at all if they face Jokic. Their best chance of advancing to another Finals is the Nuggets losing/getting injured before they even have to play them.
Exactly. And that early February game is when I threw my hands up.
Lakers had a lead at about the 5 minute mark. They're at home and despite that, in the next 5 minutes they gave up 14 points. hell, the game was tied at about 2 minutes and they lost by EIGHT.
The Nuggets are a cat playing with a mouse here. LA isn't going to beat them. They simply don't play good enough defense and their outside shooting is not consistent enough. If they played better defense OR if they could run and hide then I might give them a shot.
But if they have a 12 point lead at the 8 minute mark, they're probably still going to lose that lead because they're going to get cold and they're damn sure not going to get the stops to keep that lead.
Now the argument would, I guess, be that 'Playoff Davis' is a different creature and can really transform them defensively. But not with Rui, LeBron, Russell and Reaves out there as the other starting 4. That's 4 abysmal defensive players.
James is just old. It happens. Reaves has heavy feet. But man, Rui and Russell should be able to play better defense than they do. If you could get those two to even average and let James play defense in spurts, you might be onto something.
But I don't see it happening. Davis is a generational defensive player but he's just not a guy that can carry 4 lousy defenders. Nobody is. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
They're not wrong.
Win the play-in and all you're doing is setting yourself up for an ass-kicking by the Nuggets. They aren't going to beat Denver. They match up so poorly against them.
Even with the offense clicking (and it really has been; Ham stopped fucking off and set the rotation that he should've had from day 1), I don't see them so much as taking 2 from Denver. Even when they play 45 good minutes against them, Denver seems to just smack them down in the last 3.
So you rest Davis, hope you win the 2nd play in, get the 8 seed and go from there. You do not want Denver in Rd1. And if you lose the 8 seed game, so be it. You weren't beating Denver anyway.
It's just the reality of it.
That said, I don't think they'll do it. NBA teams are full of guys with irrational confidence. That Lakers team is probably sitting there HOPING they get to play Denver because 'this time things will be different...'
It won't be.
What really pisses me off is that the Lakers have no business being lower than a 4 seed anyway. Ham absolutely fucked this season up. They duffed 6+ games that were there for the taking and put themselves in this situation. They have nobody to blame but themselves.
I hope they do it. Will be more fuel for OKC to curbstomp their ass. [Reply]
Apart from josh “kiddey”, man it would be fun to see okc make a run. Like Shai a lot. With all the chuck-it-up shooters or dominating bigs, he’s kind of fresh new take for face of the league [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
I hope they do it. Will be more fuel for OKC to curbstomp their ass.
If y'all wanna get worked up over being seen as an easier out than the defending champions who happen to employ a generational big man (who should be about to win his 4th consecutive MVP) then have at it.
