This exactly. More lessons and more experience by beating Lakers in round one and then facing OkC in round 2.
You contradicted your self a bit. You said you sharpen the blade by taking real swings at actual contenders. OKC is the much stronger contender, the by far favorite compared to the Nuggets so a second round series against them would sharpen our blades more than a first round Nuggets series, correct? Also, the additional Lakers first round series would give the youngsters more reps in the playoffs and provide the team more of an opportunity and sample size to evaluate which of them step up in the playoffs. Seems like the more favorable scenario. And Lakers didn’t “spank us”. They barely beat us needing a miracle shooting performance from Lebron.
There is truth that the Spurs may want to take out the Nuggets this last game in order to possibly face the Lakers in the 2nd round, but the Lakers may be without LeBron against the Jazz so it could be a mute point. Jazz are at 22 wins, tied with the Kings, and may also not want to win their game so even without LeBron Lakers could still win. Very interesting strategy for the final game of the season as these games could go either way. Idealy, Rockets have a 75% chance of facing the Lakers as they would have to win and Nuggets lose. It's like flipping a coin and just needing to avoid an exact scenario of Heads coming up first and Tails 2nd. The odds are in our favor of a Lakers matchup so I'll go with that for now.
Has the spread on the Lakers vs Jazz changed... looking at the spreads it seems like Rockets vs Nuggets.
btw, I just tested this theory and unfortunately hit HEADS on first flip then TAILS on the first go round so what do I know about percentages
Yeah, i'm right there alongside you. Have been a diehard fan for the past 22 years. But during the Tilman era my interest has slowly been chipped away, and I can tell I'm on the verge of just saying forget it and finding something else to occupy my time. I didn't even bother seeing them when they made their one trip to DC this season. That's how diminished my interest in this organisation is now. Knowing that family will forever own the Rockets in my lifetime, is just a depressing thought.
I wanted to face the Lakers as I see it as a win/win scenario for us. But I don't think we match up that badly against the Nuggets. Two of our three losses to them this season were extremely close, and yeah we got blown out last time we faced them, but we also spanked them once this season with Jokic and Murray both healthy. Denver is obviously the favorite in such a series due to their playoff experience and having Joker instead of KD as their best player. But we'd have a puncher's chance IMO. Anyway, it's not guaranteed either way yet, let's see how these last games play out
I thought the league wanted LeBron vs KD but it will be Jokic vs Sengun. Everything is being set up lol.
LeBron and KD are old news at this point. The league has moved on. Same with Curry and Harden. Hell- in two years the league may have moved on from Jokic.
Excuses smh. How long will one be able to hang around in that thought until the accountability for what the results are matters more...
Jazz cannot afford to win. They have managed to get back into a tie (and lose the tiebreaker) against the Kings to secure 4th spot in the draft odds. While they can't improve their top 4 pick odds (4 or 5 are the same), they haven't tanked so hard all year just to meaninglessly give up a draft spot on the last game of the year. Need a Nuggets win - maybe the Spurs will rest players?
