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Post by mistwell on Apr 15, 2024 10:39:51 GMT -8
I am pretty surprised just how much faith so many of you have in a bad Lakers team.
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Post by gilp5 on Apr 15, 2024 10:55:13 GMT -8
I am pretty surprised just how much faith so many of you have in a bad Lakers team. Are they worse than the Laker team last year? They just destroyed New Orleans. Do you think they will lose to New Orleans on Tuesday?
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Post by v-ice on Apr 15, 2024 11:53:40 GMT -8
I am pretty surprised just how much faith so many of you have in a bad Lakers team. Just have that weird feeling they will go on a roll.
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Post by dane on Apr 15, 2024 13:14:54 GMT -8
The fact that LBJ can play 40+ minutes gives them more than a puncher's chance!
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Post by mistwell on Apr 15, 2024 13:26:04 GMT -8
I am pretty surprised just how much faith so many of you have in a bad Lakers team. Are they worse than the Laker team last year? They just destroyed New Orleans. Do you think they will lose to New Orleans on Tuesday? You mean the Lakers who got swept by the Nuggets last season, and who were beat by the Nuggets every time they played them this season, who would be facing the Nuggets in the first round? They've lost to the Nuggets nine times now. Please, tell me the logic in those picking Lakers over Nuggets in the first round. Because their own fans are not as confident as some on this Clippers board. My lack of faith in them is not getting past the Pelicans. That's the play-in. My lack of faith in them is getting past the first round.
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Post by gilp5 on Apr 15, 2024 13:31:52 GMT -8
Are they worse than the Laker team last year? They just destroyed New Orleans. Do you think they will lose to New Orleans on Tuesday? You mean the Lakers who got swept by the Nuggets last season, and who were beat by the Nuggets every time they played them this season, who would be facing the Nuggets in the first round? They've lost to the Nuggets nine times now. Please, tell me the logic in those picking Lakers over Nuggets in the first round. Because their own fans are not as confident as some on this Clippers board. My lack of faith in them is not getting past the Pelicans. That's the play-in. My lack of faith in them is getting past the first round. I don't think they beat the Nuggets. I think they beat the Pelicans. But with their luck, they lose to the Pelicans and then beat GSW, then beat OKC in the first round.
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Post by corkscrew on Apr 15, 2024 13:56:29 GMT -8
You mean the Lakers who got swept by the Nuggets last season, and who were beat by the Nuggets every time they played them this season, who would be facing the Nuggets in the first round? They've lost to the Nuggets nine times now. Please, tell me the logic in those picking Lakers over Nuggets in the first round. Because their own fans are not as confident as some on this Clippers board. My lack of faith in them is not getting past the Pelicans. That's the play-in. My lack of faith in them is getting past the first round. I don't think they beat the Nuggets. I think they beat the Pelicans. But with their luck, they lose to the Pelicans and then beat GSW, then beat OKC in the first round. I don’t think they get past OKC either.
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Post by gilp5 on Apr 15, 2024 14:13:13 GMT -8
I don't think they beat the Nuggets. I think they beat the Pelicans. But with their luck, they lose to the Pelicans and then beat GSW, then beat OKC in the first round. I don’t think they get past OKC either. You seem to have a lot of faith in OKC. I think they are this year's 2023 Memphis - a nice regular season team but incredibly weak playoff team.
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Post by corkscrew on Apr 15, 2024 15:15:48 GMT -8
I don’t think they get past OKC either. You seem to have a lot of faith in OKC. I think they are this year's 2023 Memphis - a nice regular season team but incredibly weak playoff team. ... Or Sacramento for that matter. I hear you, but I think this is different. I think they are well constructed, extremely talented and they play the right way. The essential thing they have going against them is their youth, in terms of playoff experience.
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Post by nuraman00 on Apr 16, 2024 0:41:35 GMT -8
OKC making the conference finals is pretty bold. I could see both OKC and Minnesota losing in the first round. Not to me. I said early in the season that young teams that have missed the playoffs the year before, have gotten to the conference finals in their first year.
I haven't seen first year teams get much farther than that.
Older teams in their first year have gotten to the NBA Finals, or beyond.
I consider the 2021 Suns an older team, since Booker was in his 5th year, Crowder in his 8th, and Chris Paul in his 15th. That's 3 starters who were at least on their 2nd contract.
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Post by nuraman00 on Apr 16, 2024 0:53:03 GMT -8
Where's the template spreadsheet? You let us participate last year.
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Post by nuraman00 on Apr 16, 2024 1:37:56 GMT -8
Eastern Conference Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers
Miami went 3-1 in the regular season, but both teams were missing players in several games.
Miami is having an even better defensive season than last year.
Miami's best chance to win is if fouls aren't called. Can't put Embiid and Maxey on the foul line.
Miami is 24 - 17 on the road. They struggled at home more.
Philadelphia is 11 - 23 in winner take all games, including losing 5 in a row.
Miami is 8 - 8 in winner take all games. Ok I guess this isn't a winner take all game, but just providing some reference points.
I'm struggling with this one. Individually, I trust Maxey more than Jimmy Butler. As a team, I trust Miami, their defense, and their history in playoffs type games, more than Philadelphia. And their road record.
I think I will go with Miami, because I think there will be one more surprising result out of the first four games, and this is the one.
No, nevermind. There will be a later chance to make a less obvious pick.
Pick: Philadelphia 76ers
Atlanta Hawks at Chicago Bulls
Hawks are small, don't defend, and struggle with rebounding. Vucevic could score 21+.
Pick: Chicago Bulls
Western Conference L.A. Lakers at New Orleans Pelicans
Pelicans won't play as bad as they did a few days ago. Even in the playoffs, teams sometimes lose by 30 one game, then win the next, on the same court.
My one reluctance is that I think I pick the Pelicans a lot the past few years, and they don't win. I guess I will pick them again, partly because McCollum has been playing pretty well.
Jose Alvarado will need to make an impact for the Pelicans. Like a 2 steal game.
Pick: New Orleans Pelicans
Golden State Warriors at Sacramento Kings
If the Kings get a lead, they'll blow it. If they don't get a lead, I doubt they get it to within 6, once they're down by 12 or 13. It's rare to see 3 good quarters from the Kings.
Sacramento is 6 - 12 in winner take all games, including 3 - 3 at home, going back to the Rochester days. The Rochester era actually includes 2 home wins. And the Cincinnati era has the other win.
Pick: Golden State Warriors
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Post by nuraman00 on Apr 16, 2024 2:14:59 GMT -8
I don’t think they get past OKC either. You seem to have a lot of faith in OKC. I think they are this year's 2023 Memphis - a nice regular season team but incredibly weak playoff team. What about the 2022 Memphis team?
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Post by nuraman00 on Apr 16, 2024 2:45:07 GMT -8
You seem to have a lot of faith in OKC. I think they are this year's 2023 Memphis - a nice regular season team but incredibly weak playoff team. ... Or Sacramento for that matter. I hear you, but I think this is different. I think they are well constructed, extremely talented and they play the right way. The essential thing they have going against them is their youth, in terms of playoff experience. The youth is not as much of a detriment, as is the fact that they only have one All-Star.
There have been enough young teams that won a playoffs series in their first appearance. But it's much harder to find an example of a young team that did a lot more, with only one All-Star.
Hall of famers like Paul Pierce, Dwayne Wade, Tim Duncan, Dirk Nowitzki all won at least their first playoffs series, as did Steph Curry, Chris Paul, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Damian Lillard.
Then players who could make the hall of fame, if they have a long enough career, like Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, also won their first playoffs series.
The Utah Jazz with Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams and Mehmet Okur got the the Western Conference Finals in their first playoffs. That Jazz team had two All-stars, with Williams not making one until a few years later.
Other than having one All-Star, the biggest flaw I see in OKC is that they are 29th in defensive rebounding. If they get matched up against a tall team, they could struggle.
I expect someone like Jalen Williams or Josh Giddey to play well in the playoffs, once the defenses start focusing on Gilgeous-Alexander more. I think they will be fine on offense.
But watch for the sequences when the opposing team gets multiple chance opportunities with their rebounding. That could hurt OKC.
Holmgren has also been struggling for a while. He's the one I could see playing worse in the playoffs, whereas Giddey and Jalen Williams might play better.
I did not think Dwayne Wade or Damian Lillard were on track for the hall of fame in their first playoffs. But they were the best player on the young team that won their first playoffs series.
And in hindsight, it's easier to see where some of their playoffs success started.
Pierce and Chris Paul did look to be on track for the hall of fame, to me, in their first playoffs.
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Post by nuraman00 on Apr 16, 2024 2:58:30 GMT -8
I'm not sure how to evaluate 2014 Portland, if Lillard was the only starter on a rookie contract. Everyone else was on their 2nd contract or beyond.
That was Aldridge's 8th season in the league, and Robin Lopez' 6th season. So they probably weren't one of the younger teams to win a series, in playoffs history.
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