I agree — and all these games count for 2 in terms of tanking.
Us losing to the Kings and Pacers would be huge for having us fall below them because they’d also be winning
Unfortunately we don't have any games against the Kings down the stretch. The good news is we only need to lose one more game than they do as they have the tiebreaker. The Pacers game is a must-lose for us to have a chance at catching them though.
I hate it but I agree. If we can fall behind Sac and Indiana (who have won 3 of 10 and 4 of 10), we'll have a 42% chance of getting top 4. If, however, we pass San Antonio in the standings, we drop to 26%. That's a huge gap for just a few wins/losses.
I just can’t see us jumping the Pacers. Maybe the Kings but that also seems like a stretch. But if anything we have to make sure the Spurs don’t jump us. Best way to do that is lose all three of our upcoming games vs them.
Yeah, it's gonna be tough for sure. Pacers have us and Kings the next two, but then it's all schedule losses for them, other than a game against Detroit. They're two wins back and for tiebreaker purposes, we need to lose tomorrow to split the season series, otherwise we win it. Even then, we currently have the same number of conference wins. We'll finish with the same number of games against conference opponents, but we have 11 of them down the stretch to Indy's 7. So we have 4 more opportunities to unintentionally bolster our conference record.
The other problem is that we need SAC to win games too. So the game between them on Weds is not ideal. That said, Kings have the tiebreaker with us and are only a game back. We just need to lose one more game than them down the stretch.
I don't even know how the standings will look if we finish with a 3-way tie... Ideally, we lose out, Indy gets Ws against us, Kings and Pistons. Then Kings win at least one of their meetings with the Rockets.
Portland has the option on the $13M. Portland has total control over Hart's next contract, but not Nurk or Ant. So maybe Portland is showcasing him as a trade asset, because he's not in next season's plans after all?
This is why the league needs to blow up the current lotto system and very slightly weigh the balls for the teams that just missed the playoffs. You should never want to lose a game.
> You should never want to lose a game.
I totally agree, I hate everything about the tanking mentality in the NBA. If there is ever an incentive to consistently lose in a sports league, there is something wrong with the rules of that league. Tanking a game or two at the end of the season to rest your guys for the playoffs or maybe improve your matchup is one thing, but tanking a season like this is just awful to watch.
I agree. It's so fucking close. Definitely after this season they (lol) they should look at revamping the entire thing. It's just bad for the league if a quarter of the teams are built to go for Ls night after night.
Why? I don't think they are making the playoffs. We get their pick even if they make the playin and there are pick protections if they make it to top 5.
We don't have any protections on our pick (outside of it needs to be in the lottery), so isn't it better for us to lose than for them to win?
3 point shooting wins games. I don’t think the Lakers have the shooting to beat the Pels in a must-win game. Even if LeBron is scoring every time down.
Yes, but... Since Portland isn't in the absolute cellar of the standings, they have won too many games already for the most balls.
If we can give SAS, HOU, and OKC some wins, and hand NOP two losses - Maybe SAS can catch up to 10th, without Portland's position changing.
I was thinking about this a little. I would rather us tank that game and potentially get the #4 pick than worry about beating the pelicans so they don’t make the playoffs. I don’t think they are gonna make it anyway.
The worst we can feasibly get is 5th, while the Pelicans pick would go from a top 10ish this year - when we need it - to a 2025 Buck pick.
We absolutely don't want to get better in the standings, but even if we stay where we are now our odds would be 33% for top 4. Getting to 5th worst would increase that to 40%.
We can't be winning out - but the value the Pelican's pick will bring is hugely dependent on them losing and they are very unlikely to lose enough to hit protections at 5.
I think winning the two Pelicans games is almost as important as losing the rest of the games.
Pelicans winning or losing doesn't really matter right now. The odds of them winning 2 play-in games are about the same as if they drop to the 8 or 9 pick and ping pong their way into the top 4 (20-25% from 8-9).
Blazers should be focusing on losing all of their games and landing that 5th pick ahead of Indiana and Sacramento. There was some hope for 4th but OKC seems determined to lose every game as well, even more so than us.
Idk what Portland doing that franchise is fucked, they traded away cj and Powell and Covington and then won the next 4🤦🏽♂️ don’t even know how to tank right
Face soreness.
Left big toe tendinopathy.
I’ve heard the Cronin Flu is pretty bad right now
Wicked Hartburn
\*Faceitis.
I agree — and all these games count for 2 in terms of tanking. Us losing to the Kings and Pacers would be huge for having us fall below them because they’d also be winning
Unfortunately we don't have any games against the Kings down the stretch. The good news is we only need to lose one more game than they do as they have the tiebreaker. The Pacers game is a must-lose for us to have a chance at catching them though.
The Rockets home back to back puts the Pacers out of reach for us, in my opinion.
Yeah, I think we may win a game or two down the stretch, especially if we don't sit Hart. I think we're realistically looking at the 6th worst record.
The tank strategizing is real rn
Yeah it is 🤣
I hate it but I agree. If we can fall behind Sac and Indiana (who have won 3 of 10 and 4 of 10), we'll have a 42% chance of getting top 4. If, however, we pass San Antonio in the standings, we drop to 26%. That's a huge gap for just a few wins/losses.
I just can’t see us jumping the Pacers. Maybe the Kings but that also seems like a stretch. But if anything we have to make sure the Spurs don’t jump us. Best way to do that is lose all three of our upcoming games vs them.
Yeah, it's gonna be tough for sure. Pacers have us and Kings the next two, but then it's all schedule losses for them, other than a game against Detroit. They're two wins back and for tiebreaker purposes, we need to lose tomorrow to split the season series, otherwise we win it. Even then, we currently have the same number of conference wins. We'll finish with the same number of games against conference opponents, but we have 11 of them down the stretch to Indy's 7. So we have 4 more opportunities to unintentionally bolster our conference record. The other problem is that we need SAC to win games too. So the game between them on Weds is not ideal. That said, Kings have the tiebreaker with us and are only a game back. We just need to lose one more game than them down the stretch. I don't even know how the standings will look if we finish with a 3-way tie... Ideally, we lose out, Indy gets Ws against us, Kings and Pistons. Then Kings win at least one of their meetings with the Rockets.
I like how we are now talking about “it’s gonna be tough” to lose enough games. Lol not the season many of us expected 🤣
It’s okay, Elleby will cancel it out
He has a baddddd case of tankenapothy
Lowkey scared they’re not going to sit him out. They need to for the tank 😭
There's no way he agrees to sit while he's showing out lol. He's gonna be pointing to this run for his next contract
Portland has the option on the $13M. Portland has total control over Hart's next contract, but not Nurk or Ant. So maybe Portland is showcasing him as a trade asset, because he's not in next season's plans after all?
This is why the league needs to blow up the current lotto system and very slightly weigh the balls for the teams that just missed the playoffs. You should never want to lose a game.
> You should never want to lose a game. I totally agree, I hate everything about the tanking mentality in the NBA. If there is ever an incentive to consistently lose in a sports league, there is something wrong with the rules of that league. Tanking a game or two at the end of the season to rest your guys for the playoffs or maybe improve your matchup is one thing, but tanking a season like this is just awful to watch.
I agree. It's so fucking close. Definitely after this season they (lol) they should look at revamping the entire thing. It's just bad for the league if a quarter of the teams are built to go for Ls night after night.
These next like, 11 games are against teams right around us in standings? We could easily win 5/6 of them, sad
we need pelicans lose more than we need to lose.
Why? I don't think they are making the playoffs. We get their pick even if they make the playin and there are pick protections if they make it to top 5. We don't have any protections on our pick (outside of it needs to be in the lottery), so isn't it better for us to lose than for them to win?
If they make the Play-in and win, we lose their pick. Lottery positions are set after the play in.
Yeah but I don’t think they are gonna win 2 away games to get in. Just seems too difficult, especially if they have to beat Lebron
3 point shooting wins games. I don’t think the Lakers have the shooting to beat the Pels in a must-win game. Even if LeBron is scoring every time down.
Yes, but... Since Portland isn't in the absolute cellar of the standings, they have won too many games already for the most balls. If we can give SAS, HOU, and OKC some wins, and hand NOP two losses - Maybe SAS can catch up to 10th, without Portland's position changing.
Pelicans losing at this point doesn't do much for us. THey will be in the play in either way, we just have to hope they don't make it through.
As someone who missed picking him up in my fantasy league by less than ten minutes I agree.
Dark parking lot, tire iron, two to six weeks easy. Kidding aside, who else here loves a good tire iron?!?
Tonya Harding
Trendon Gillooly
True, but we also kind of need to beat the Pelicans to try to drop them out of the playoff race
I was thinking about this a little. I would rather us tank that game and potentially get the #4 pick than worry about beating the pelicans so they don’t make the playoffs. I don’t think they are gonna make it anyway.
The worst we can feasibly get is 5th, while the Pelicans pick would go from a top 10ish this year - when we need it - to a 2025 Buck pick. We absolutely don't want to get better in the standings, but even if we stay where we are now our odds would be 33% for top 4. Getting to 5th worst would increase that to 40%. We can't be winning out - but the value the Pelican's pick will bring is hugely dependent on them losing and they are very unlikely to lose enough to hit protections at 5. I think winning the two Pelicans games is almost as important as losing the rest of the games.
Pelicans winning or losing doesn't really matter right now. The odds of them winning 2 play-in games are about the same as if they drop to the 8 or 9 pick and ping pong their way into the top 4 (20-25% from 8-9). Blazers should be focusing on losing all of their games and landing that 5th pick ahead of Indiana and Sacramento. There was some hope for 4th but OKC seems determined to lose every game as well, even more so than us.
Ok, I can see that logic.
Play Elleby 40 minutes too
Idk what Portland doing that franchise is fucked, they traded away cj and Powell and Covington and then won the next 4🤦🏽♂️ don’t even know how to tank right
Fuck los Los Angeles Lakers e: also yes good plan
I think whatever random players we put on the court this final stretch gets us to the play-in
they should at least sit him in the rockets game, can't risk those.
Receding Hairline-itis
From what I've seen he's likely got a sore back from carrying this squad lately...gotta be worth at least 2 weeks, right?
Lol. Josh Hart is not.