For all our worries about jelling at the right time, getting our groove won't be that monumental a task if we stay healthy. I like a first round vs the Suns and either of Portland/Denver next before a real tough matchup. When we faced the Suns 11 days ago it was without LBJ, they had nothing for AD: 42pts/12reb We are still playing 8 people from a title run that ended 7 months ago. 6 of those were heavy rotation players. Rondo/Howard/McGee for Schroder/Drummond/Gasol. We added Harrel to our bench. Not to mention Matthews who is good. Caruso and Kuz have grown and improved, both were great last night. We didn't even play Morris or Gasol. THT is better and he came in cold vs Houston last playoffs and was good vs their speed. A few good series are enough to get this group jelling. We have everybody right now and that, is big. We didn't even have Rondo our first series last season. When we started hitting our stride last night we looked absolutely huge compared to the dubs. That won't change vs anybody. We have 3 days off and that is huge. We have never had that much time off to practice with this group.
WORD! USE Gasol TOO instead of saving him just for certain teams and wasting that talent on the bench. We’ll be even better.
Omg does anyone know when the lakers game 3 tickets go on sale? The tickets they have now are only resale!
My prediction is Lakers in 6, having championship experience compared to a young squad like the Suns who has very little playoff experience is a huge advantage. Another thing is I don’t see them being able to matchup with our front court of LeBron, AD, and Drummond. Because of our advantage inside I think it’s gonna be pretty difficult for their backcourt to get to the rim, which means they’ll be shooting a lot of jumpers.
We take it in 5. CP3 can will them to one win. But he can't make them bigger or able to guard any of our size. This was a best case matchup for us. They had a great regular season, but this is worst case scenario for them.
We kicked their butts last game without Lebron. But they are well coached, have surprisingly good D and have the shooters to knock down threes and open looks. My guess is this goes 6 as the Lakers aren't quite the well oiled machine they were last year and the Suns are actually really good. It's a great first round matchup all around. But I think we take it. Ultimately if playoff AD shows up as well as playoff Lebron they are in trouble.
I said this in the optimism thread - back in April - a 7-2 matchup with them is the best possible scenario for us. Last year, Frank devised schemes for us to beat Portland and Houston. Dame and CJ are better than CP3 and Book. (And I think they have a better supporting cast this year with Powell and Nurk healthy). So are (were) Harden and Russ. A guard-heavy team should not beat us in a series. They have few people to guard Bron, Ad, or Trez. Wes is a better defender than Danny. Dennis is better at on-ball D than last year’s Rondo. THT is playing some minutes now. Kuz is a better defender this year. I think Kuz and KCP and Alex will really wear Book down over games. And let’s find him on some switches to make him defend Bron, Dennis and even Ad when possible.
Good post except for the line about Dennis. Steph sliced and diced him. I hope Dennis shows better guarding CP3.
Much as I’m annoyed with Schroder’s attitude and not keeping himself safe for the good of the team, I expect he will gradually work himself back into pre-absence conditioning. He’s looked to me like 20% slower out there staying in front of guys on D.
I got us in 6. I think we can get it done in 5 if we take game one. The Suns are a good team. Just can’t see them beating us 4 times.
If the Lakers play to their strengths (Phoenix has ZERO interior defense)... they should sweep this series. Unfortunately, I have zero confidence in AD playing to his strengths.
Barring injury, you better take the Lakers out here. If they drop the #2 seed in 6 games, and Lebron and AD stay healthy the rest of the way, you can say bye bye to anyone having a shot at winning the title. Lakers vs Sixers for the title. Lakers in 6.
Yes, but a balanced team can too - a team with a star wing or big with shooters. A top 12 guard, a top 12 or above average wing, and above average bigs. Think Toronto with Lowry, Siakam, and Marc/Serge, plus shooters. Or Miami with Dragic/Hero, Jimmy, and Bam. Bucks with Giannis, Middleton, Lopez, and Holiday. Philly - our worst matchup - Ben, Harris, Process, lil Curry. Denver healthy this year may have won the West - Murray, Porter, Joker with Gordon and McGee. But yes, the Clips were assembled to match up with us. Especially with Rondo - Doe, KL, PG, Zu, Ibaka, etc. Ibaka and Morris spacing forces Bron to defend his man much much more. We see him saving himself for that series.
^ So, in a nutshell: HEAT, Bucks, Sixers, Clippers, Nuggets (healthy, obviously)... that's a lot of teams with the recipe to beat us. Even if that's so, most of them would take care of each other before they get a chance to face us, so... shouldn't be a problem until later - IF we get there.
When I clear my mind, I see us destroying them in 4 games, maybe a gentleman's 5. We can dominate down low, their younger stars have never been battle tested, and we DEMOLISHED them a couple weeks ago without LeBron. Someone wanna try and talk me out of this?
