Portland is the best opponent for us to go far in the playoffs , we need to focus and play with intensity in the 1st round . I wouldn't feel confident facing Houston after an easy 1st round matchup . Also playoffs are supposed to be fun , we all got bored enough since March ...
I know this isn’t adding to the conversation, but I never pay attention to the paper champion moniker. Whoever makes it to the 8th seed deserves to be there. That said, the Spurs or Grizz.
And now they’re about to go 8-0. Damn what a fun team. And the Pelicans quit and lost to Sacramento. Again.
Portland is going to keep the 8 spot. There is no way Dame will let them lose against the Nets. It’ll be interesting to see who their opponent ends up being at the 9 spot though. I would have thought Memphis would have no chance but with Giannis headbuttting Mo, Bucks with nothing to play for and Memphis with everything on the line, they might just sneak back in. Also even though the Suns are red hot with 7 wins, Dallas is still chasing the 7 spot and they will be tough to beat. Spurs could make it if those two lose and they win on Thursday. Very entertaining.
spurs are 1 better in loss colum than mem/por....i hope they win out....i know folks here like to use the rhetoric of "if you camt beat por, you don't deserve it" but sometimes theres really bad matchups, Nurkic is back and is capable of spreading the floor as is Collins and we know our Cs cant defend shooters and we def know our team cant defend Pg to save their lives let alone one of Dames lvl
if portland had nurkic all year, they'd have been a 4/5 seed instead of an 8. and lillard. bad luck if we get them. i think we beat them, but still...it will be way tougher than a 1st round for a 1 seed would be. i will be glad that we don't play in portland, though. i'm annoyed that the home court the lakers fought for all year was reduced to nothing, but in this case, i'll take neutral court. we can't win there for some reason.
I’m a wiener and wanted the easiest route for our team. Portland vs Memphis certainly doesn’t qualify as that.
The one positive for us is Lillard might be running on fumes at that point and McCollum is sadly kind of broken right now. Still, I'd rather face any of the other teams instead of them.
McCollum has fractured his lower back. Also, the Blazers have no wing players to put on Bron. No one. Except if someone thinks Melo can do a good job.
Any team going for the 8th spot in this bubble will be tired. The difference is that the Blazers and Dame carry themselves as if they deserve to be there and so every game is like a playoff one. The younger teams have been grinding as well, but to me the intensity in the Blazers games have been higher. It can burn them out, or prepare them for the first round. Lillard alone is one of the worst matchups for the Lakers to draw in the first round. But Davis and has a history of destroying the Blazers too. It's a two way street.
