Game Debrief: What Went Right And What Went Wrong?

i think denver has a gear we haven't seen, but i agree that it's okc/SA then everyone else. that said, i also agree with fish that winning in the playoffs is different, and SA has nobody who knows how (well, i guess kornet and barnes, but their top guys are new to it). detroit is in that boat, too, which is why it looks like boston has a very good shot to come out of the east again (ick).

i'm once again envious of the eastern conference, though, as we'd have a shot of getting out of there and playing a banged up team from the west. unless you're a top-2 seed in the west, you have to play three really good teams to get to the finals. in the east, you may only play two.

anyway, this is the game debrief:

great game from lebron, best in a long time. made up for a rough one from reaves.

took a long time, but it seems like everyone has realized that if you defend and have luka, you have a chance in any game.

smart and ayton both did a lot of good things.

houston's lack of guard play is probably going to be its downfall. they have to hope fvv can come back strong from a torn acl at age 32, else they'll have to make a trade for a guard for next year.

people who play with durant seem to lose their joy.

 

SAS scares the s*** out of me - Wemby completely changes your game plan on defense and they have Fox/Castle/Vassell/Harper along with Johnson/Champagne etc. Just so much athleticism and shooting on top of that.

 

…. that’s where Lou Dort comes in next year .. he can just dive into Wemby’s planted knee at the right time and take him out for the entire season.

 

I think you're probably right. Add DET in there, too?

 

Correctamundo!

 

JJ decides to play Luka, Bron, AR, and Ayton 24 hours later in MIA, which, as I saw the lineup before the game, thought was a mistake: take the loss, let our guys rest up a bit after 7 straight wins against good teams.

That's why I was never a good coach.

Lakers start out flat, lose the 1st Q 42-29, and I was saying, "Told ya so." You would expect us to cough up 42 in the 1st Q: we'ze damn tired. Get set for an ugly loss, and what a waste: you could have sat Luka and the other starters. JJ, yer a doofus. Let's hope no one gets seriously injured while we get blown out in MIA. Maybe Bam will go for 50...

Kinda surprising: we won the 2nd, 30-23 and go into halftime down only 6. I thought it was going to be 20. How bad will the 3rd be? Our guys are gassed.

Aaand the 3rd starts on a sort of trick play in which AR inbounds a loooong pass to Lebron for layup. Aaaand then Luka became lava, Lakers outscore MIA 75-61 in the 2nd half, with Luka getting 39 of the 75. He had 21 at halftime and I thought He's still shooting pretty well; he'll get the usual 35.

Luka Doncic, ladies 'n germs: 60/7/3 with 5 steals. 9 for 17 from long. 15 of 19 from the line: a good night from charity for once for the Don. It was insane. My lawd. Getting "MVP!" chants from the home crowd in MIA.

Lebron "Father Time Can Blow Me" James: 19/15/10 in 38 mins, celebrating as Luka hits a FT with secs left for 60. Lebron missed a shot in the 4th Q, and up to then he had gone 21 of 22 from the field, extending back to the last game in HOU. I suspect Robert Parish was not playing at that high a level when he played in his 1611th NBA game.

Lakers win their 8th straight and they are dealing some heady dopamine for their fans. This jit's great, innit?

 

This had schedule loss written all over it and yet, here we are.

Another great win and the team keeps showing up for each other and us fans. Can’t ask for more than that.

 

Only saw the second half since I was mainly watching the NCAA tournament and expected a loss. Flipped over when we started coming back and it was clear Luka was on a tear. Great night to be wrong. Luka was on a mission. LeBron too. Team took on the energy of its leaders. Just another great win.

 

Durant just kills a teams chemistry. Getting caught slamming your teammates with randoms on Twitter using your burner accounts is insane.

 

Boston has team/system continuity . I wouldnt underrate this

 

yeah, same coach, top three players, and two more role players spanning several years definitely pays dividends.

losing holiday and horford is pretty huge, but i think the east is even weaker than it was before boston had those guys, so it may not lead to the playoff failures that happened before their arrival.

 

Lakers seem to be gelling at the right time

Another good win against a good team

I thought JJ was resting some of the guys?

Lakers win the 3rd and that carries them to the victory

Bad news is we only shot 76% from the FT line, left 10 pts on the floor

Could be the difference in a close game

Role players

Smart 13 pts 2 reb 4 ast 2 stl

Jake 5 pts 6 reb 1 ast 1 blk

Hayes 6 pts 5 reb 1 ast 2 blk

 

Hopefully Denver and Houston will flip. Houston first round would just be much better for this team not having to exert so much effort planning for the joker.

 

lol, i liked it last year, too.

 

i think pretty much all possibilities were the hottest team in the league last year, iirc. like, i think the other possibility was gs, who had an even better record to close the season or something.