Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

I'm happy to play anyone in the playoffs. Heck give me Denver. It's the hardest run to the finals - imagine having to verse:

- Jokic (multi time MVP and top 5 this year) & Denver in the first round
- Wemby (DPOY and top 5 MVP this year) & Spurs in WCSF
- SGA (Current MVP and maybe double MVP) & OKC in WCF

For the finals you get Boston (Brown should be top 5 in MVP by then) and we tie them for 18.

Imagine taking out all of the top MVP candidates, the top 3 teams in the West and our eternal rivals. That would be the all time greatest run. That's probably what it takes to win a ring this year.

 

I’m going to be honest I don’t like the matchup one bit. They aren’t playing great but they have multiple guys they can throw at Luka and they are a team that can get physical with AR. Also multiple bigs with different skill sets. It would be a good series for LeBron to get going playoff time though. Ant is also just one of those guys that can turn it on whenever and it seems like that team replicates his energy.

 

Orlando going to be tough one. Paulo is a bad matchup for everyone but Lebron. They seem to have the Lakers number

 

That would be pretty sweet and amazing. However, the Kobe/Shaq Ring where we only lost one game throughout the playoffs will forever be the best Laker post season. I don’t think a team will ever accomplish this again.

 

On paper it’s surely the best, but I don’t think anything will top the euphoria I felt when the Lakers toppled the C Bags in an absolutely hellacious game 7 in 2010. Not just because of the pain and misery of 2008, but that was a truly formidable C Bags team and the outcome was never a given.

 

That game had Lakers DOOM impending the whole damn game until the very end. Will never forget. Was with entire family glued to the TV on time shift when the recording ran out with like a minute and a half left, not far behind real time, and we're all like NOOOOOOO!!! We knew when when we turned it back on we'd find out who won and took a huge collective breath and did it. Confetti was raining from the ceiling.

 

You guys are right, it wouldn’t be the greatest run, there are others like West breaking through, the 80s with Magic vs Bird, 2010 etc.

But in my opinion this year would be the hardest. Beating the top 5 MVP candidates and all better records. I think it’s about as low a percentage chance of happening you can get. But one can dream!

 

That was the greatest basketball game ever.

 

Their lack of Depth was apparent today. The starters all looked tired except for DA and they got nothing from Rui or LaRavia

 

momentum is a real thing, we don't seem to be able to lose right now

 

Lebron was absolutely screwed on that next to final play of the game. That was maddening, I was screaming!! F'ing refs!!!!

Luke!!

 

Lakers blew a bunch of FT's
AR blew of bunch of wide open 3's
Lebron couldn't hit a jumper
Luka was chucking bad shots for large chunks of the game

AND the refs screwed the Lakers; how was that obvious foul on Lebron not call - hand is part of the ball not the damn arm wtf?

AND AND they still won lol

 

Lakers played 5 vs 6 ALL night- especially when LeBron CLEARLY was fouled down low to tie it in the end.
Too bad the NBA couldn’t put that L on us tonight!
What a classic way to win at the end with Luke draining that bomb!!!

 

Crazy game and probably the worst officiating this season for us. Multiple missed calls and things going against us unjustly.

I thought Reaves carried us in that second half. Kennard had a bounce back game offensively with 13 points, 3/4 from three and the game winner. Lastly, big shoutout to the centers, Ayton with 9/12, Hayes with 8/7 and 3 blocks - both added rim protection as well as switching out onto the perimeter - quality stuff from the big men playing their roles really well.

 

^^* nice call out for both our centers …. they deserve it during this great streak!

 

Lakers win their 9th straight in a game they had no business winning. They went up 14 early, blew the lead, went down 7-8, and looked gassed. Luka was 12 for 30; some of our guys would be wide open and airball it. They looked tired, but still put in defensive effort and it kept it close. ORL beats the crap out of you underneath the basket.

This will be the Luke Kennard Game: from McMenamin's coverage of the game:
>"It feels good," said Kennard, who was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline last month. "Just being part of a new team, obviously you're building new relationships, trying to find your role, what you do.

>"But they brought me here for a reason, and that was to shoot. And it feels good. Feels good the way that everybody reacted, obviously."<

How do you leave Kennard that open with the game on the line?

Aside from Kennard's game-winning 3 with 0.7 left to win 105-104, my favorite play was when Ayton bricked a FT, Marcus was between two guys, one of who grabbed him, but he still got the rebound on the miss, dished to AR at the arc: swish for a 3. I watch Marcus play and wonder how he can continue: he takes spills that make me feel it in my knees, lower back, shins, groin...and he writhes on the court in agony, gets up and makes plays.

Luka and Lebron were 17 for 43...and we still won. Laravia can't buy a 3, even though no one's near him. We still win.

Looked like Goga Bitadze really ticked off Luka and it didn't make Luka mad-good. He got his 16th T and will probably sit in DET. I wonder what Goga said/did? Luka actually looked indignant.

Cade has a collapsed lung and won't play, but Luka will probably be out, too. Can we possibly win that one, too?

 

We lost our last 4 against the Magic for some reason, it's nice to win against that huge a** sized team although by the skin of our teeth