And Lebron made a ridiculous shot to maybe clinch the game. Fantastic basketball all around.
This Lakers-Warriors play-in has lived up to the hype. Steph Curry has so many tools in his toolbox.
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
And Lebron made a ridiculous shot to maybe clinch the game. Fantastic basketball all around.
Just be you. You is enough. - K, 4/5/10, 0:13.8 to play, 60-59 Duke.
You're all jealous hypocrites. - Titus on Laettner
You see those guys? Animals. They're animals. - SIU Coach Chris Lowery, on Duke
That was stunning.
There were three very mediocre play in games and then there was Lakers-Warriors. That was high level basketball with big players making big plays on offense and, critically, defense. Really entertaining basketball.
totally awesome game...bron said he was seeing 3 rims when he "shot for the middle one"...
"One POSSIBLE future. From your point of view... I don't know tech stuff.".... Kyle Reese
It was a highly entertaining game for sure.
The announcers said that these games don't count as regular season games and they also don't count as playoff games in terms of stats, etc. So what if a guy or a team does something that is record-setting in some category? It won't count as a record in the books? How/why? I don't understand why these aren't considered playoff games.
So is anyone here crazy enough to pick AGAINST the Lakers to at least make it to the NBA Championship? Not me, that's for sure. As long as they are healthy they are winning the West, and probably winning the whole thing again. And this is coming from someone who does not root for the Lakers (especially when they don't have a Dukie on the roster).
I mean, are you offering the West field against the Lakers? Cause I will take that bet. In other words, I don't think the Lakers are better than a 50% pick to make the finals. The West is really tough because none of us are ready to pick Utah, Phoenix, or Denver as potential NBA champs due to them not having one of the high-profile stars of the league on their roster (Joker is getting close) but those are the teams with the best record and, thanks to home court advantage, they have a really great chance to make the NBA finals.
I would probably put the odds like this:
Utah - 20% (really depends on how healthy Donovan Mitchell can get)
Phoenix - 10% (dunno why, but I am really not a believer)
Denver - 13%
LA Clippers - 10%
Dallas - 8%
Portland - 5%
LA Lakers - 25%
Golden St - 7%
Memphis - 2%
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Hate to pile on but...
Lebron had his worst statistical season (PER) since his rookie year (he's still amazing)
AD had his worst statistical season (PER) since his rookie year (he looked off his year)
Kyle Kuzma has a negative box plus/minus for the season
Dennis Schroder has a PER of 13.8 (a far cry from his 16.7 PER last year)
Andre Drummond's PER with the Lakers is the worst of his career
So, yeah...Lakers not exactly the juggernaut despite tons of talent.
Pelicans gotta be excited about those future picks!
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Schroeder, Markieff Morris, Caruso, Drummond, Wes Matthews, and Harrell are all free agents this summer (Harrell has a $9.7 mil player option, but I think he will opt to become a free agent rather than playing for less than $10 mil). Lebron and AD are under contract until the end of the 2023 and 2024 seasons. I'm not sure how much longer Lebron wants to play. Is he hoping to play on the same team with Bronny in 2024-25 (which is likely to be the season Bronny is eligible for the NBA after graduating from high school in 2023)? Regardless, he is aging and it does feel a bit like this may be the last championship season from him.
The picks the Pels own are:
2021 - first rounder
2023 - pick swap so Nawlins can flip first round picks if they are better than the Lakers
2024 - Pelicans can take the Lakers first rounder or opt to put this off by a year and take the Lakers pick in 2025 instead
Don't forget that Nawlins also got Ingram, Lonzo, and Hart out of the AD deal.
-Jason "if New Orleans gets a little better and the Lakers get a little worse, these picks could really help the Pels reach the highest level of the NBA" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
I might be subconsciously reverting to my jinxing ways. I really don’t want to see the Lakers win the title this year, but I do fear them more than any other team in the West. Take that explanation for my previous post what it’s worth.
Having said that, I think your odds are about right across the board - with the possible exception of the Clippers. I would push them up to at least 15%, and shave a few points off of Dallas, Denver, and Golden State.
Isn't it just a statement about health? With Lebron in the lineup, they have a winning percentage that would be #3 instead of #7 and arguably the single best defense in the NBA.
That said, it doesn't look like their stars are fully healthy to me, so I agree with you for that reason. I'll take Clippers-Nets in the Finals.
FWIW, there have been 37 NBA 16-team playoffs, and thus (between East and West) 74 conference champions since 1984. Here's the breakdown on what seeds have won their conference:
#1: 40 (54.1%)
#2: 21 (28.4%)
#3: 7 (9.5%)
#4: 3 (4.1%)
#5: 1 (1.4%)
#6: 1 (1.4%)
#7: 0 (0.0%)
#8: 1 (1.4%)
So, I realize the NBA is changing and that this was a weird year, and blah, blah, blah. But I suspect your odds are probably off.
FWIW, the "real" odds (Vegas) are something like:
Utah - 20%
Phoenix - 9%
Denver - 6%
LA Clippers - 23%
Dallas - 5%
Portland - 4%
LA Lakers - 30%
Golden St - 2%
Memphis - 1%
So, JE was not too far off outside of underrating the Clippers and overrating the Warriors.