No, I'm saying the Clippers are a lot better than the Lakers, and it's not because of "effort". I also misread the schedule and thought the Laker game was the 2nd of the back-to-back (turns out that is the 2nd GS game), so there you are correct and that's not an excuse. So, yeah, the Clippers will wax the Lake "show" on Friday.
No doubt. And in a perfect world, the better team always wins. But this ain't no perfect world. On the contrary, the Lakers are probably the most talented but also laziest team in the NBA right now. This is very typical for this veteran team, and doesn't seem to have changed much with the additions of Howard and Nash. We've all seen this before. They half-ass it in the regular season with this expectation that they can just "flip a switch" in the playoffs and it all comes together for them. It hasn't worked in years. I know you did. It's cool. Both teams will be rested. Should be a hell of game. Agree to disagree. I think it's one of the few games the Lazyakers become tryhards for. A statement game for them, and a question of who runs L.A.
This is a huge misconception with the Lakers. It started due to the 2000/01 squad that almost ran the table in the playoffs after a mediocre regular season. People said they "flipped the switch". But that's not what happened at all. The fact is that they were injured all year long that year and only got healthy at the end. They blitzed into the playoffs winning (I think) 8 straight and just cruising from there. But they would have been just as dominant as the previous year's team (which won 67 and had two 16+ win streaks) had they been healthy. It was not a question of motivation. This year's Laker team just isn't that good. Individually, they have some good pieces but they don't fit together for the system they are running. And even individually the pieces are overrated, because, outside of Howard, all of the important players are old. D'Antoni (and Brown before him) has his guys playing near 40mpg every game and that may be why they look lazy and slow, but that's not effort-- it's just that you can't expect someone to go all out playing those kinds of minutes. The Clippers look like they are trying harder than other teams because they go 10 deep and no one is playing over 33mpg, so anyone in the game can go full bore. Certainly the Lakers can win because any team can beat any other on a given night, but they probably won't and they certainly won't be favored. There is a mystique with the Lakers that they can just win the games they try (same kind of mystique that says Kobe always hits the big shots). Fact doesn't back that up though. As a Clipper fan, I'm much more concerned about tommorow's game @Denver and both of the back-to-backs @GS. I'm pretty sure the streak will be over by the time they play the Lakers.
So you fundamentally disagree with the notion that the Lakers are playing below their potential right now? This is the team they are, says you? .500 in the Western Conference? Why would you think that, particularly since the Lakers have been addled by the same thing you brought up with the 2001 squad: injuries. In this case, they've had to deal with significant injuries to 3 of their 4 best players. You don't think that has something to do with their middling regular season record, the fact that they've played something like 5 games together without health issues, and with Dwight Howard basically not being himself at all yet this season as he slowly recovers from back surgery? No? Depth or no, I'd love to see the Clippers compete at a high level without Chris Paul and Blake Griffin available. You see what I'm getting at? Take the best two or three players off of any team and they look pretty ordinary. Are you sure you're being objective and not just a self-described "Clippers fan?"
The Lakers are better than .500, but I went on record saying I didn't think they were that good in an earlier thread before the season (but after Howard+Nash). I don't think Kobe+Nash is a great fit since Kobe isn't really an off-ball player, and Gasol+Dwight has some flaws as well. Moreover, they are trying to win games with this uptempo offense that seems illogical considering that shooting isn't their forte and most of their players are old and slow. That's the kind of games the athletic contending teams like the Thunder, Clippers, and Heat want to pay. It's not like 2001, because the two superstars of that team were young and athletic and could handle major minutes. If D'Antoni keeps riding Kobe, Gasol, and Nash for near 40mpg every game, they are going to get worn down and have more injuries as the season goes on, and if not, they are going to be dead tired by the time the playoffs comes around.
I'd like the playoffs right about now, but if we go one a slide where it becomes hard the logical thing to do is tank.
Nuggets are really missing Ty Lawson tonight. It's a miracle they are ahead at the half. Their offense is completely out of kilter and without flow. Clippers aren't playing well either. Kenneth Faried is seriously kicking Blake Griffin in the rump so far. Whichever team settles down has a chance to blow it open. Without Lawson, I can't see the Nuggets winning the 2nd half unless Gallo or Brewer goes off from long range.
DeAndre Jordan has continued to abuse the Denver frontcourt, but there is so much extracurricular stuff going on between Griffin and Faried right now. Something is going to give between those two, and it's unclear if the Clippers will be ahead on the scoreboard when it does.
As much as I don't like the Clippers and want to see them lose, I'd prefer if it wasn't to a team below us in the standings that has had a brutal schedule and is looking to make a run. It looks like it's going that way though, so I'll take the good with the bad I guess. Going to have to keep winning here in January and tighten up our defense if we want to stay ahead of the Nuggets.
Denver havt it all in. On the other side , LAC cannot run the floor and been forced to hit difficult shot in every 24s
