Man does it look like both of those teams are trying to position themselves to play Phoenix in the first round and avoid San Antonio. DD
Lakers will finish at 6 because they have a very easy schedule ahead. Phil and Kobe will not allow the team to tank the games. I'm not even sure the Nuggets will be in the playoff considered they are playing so inconsistently recently. Plus, Nuggets are facing a much tougher schedule with more games to play in the same period. I think the Clippers and the Warriors may have a chance to steal the 7th position. My magic number is 41 for a western conference team to clinch the playoffs.
Yup, this really sounds like a team that is tanking on purpose: http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-lakerep29mar29,1,510446.story?track=rss&ctrack=1&cset=true Loss to Grizzlies upsets Jackson Coach says team lost its intensity after winning streak. By Steve Springer, Times Staff Writer March 29, 2007 The Lakers were hoping to have Wednesday off. But after the team blew a 15-point lead and lost, 88-86, to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday night at Staples Center, it was announced practice would be held Wednesday morning at the team's El Segundo training facility. As it turned out, the players didn't have to exert themselves physically. Didn't even have to pick up a basketball. All they had to do was stand. And listen to their coach, Phil Jackson, tell them what he thought of their performance in losing to the Grizzles, a team with the worst record (18-54) in the NBA. "I let them know it wasn't OK with me," Jackson said. "That's not the way we act [as far as] being a Laker, being a team headed for the playoffs. That's what the other teams that are out of the playoffs are doing. We are in a playoff drive and we have to step up our competitive level every night if we are going to meet the demands that are needed in a playoff. "My problem is that when we get a few wins, we become lackadaisical. We haven't kept the same intensity. We will lose games, particularly to teams that have been under .500. "We just can't take a night off as a basketball team and expect to win any games at this point…. I told [the players] that, by the nature of the game they played, I was disappointed. They should take themselves away from the game for a day and come back [Thursday] ready to play." Center Kwame Brown, who sat out Tuesday's game because of pain in his left ankle, is day to day, according to Jackson. Brown missed 27 games after he severely sprained his ankle in a New Year's Eve game, but, said Jackson, the pain Brown experienced Tuesday was of a different nature. "He tried to get it loose," Jackson said. "He had it retaped three times before the game, but he just didn't feel right about it. He couldn't make any turns. It was unstable." Brown told Jackson he felt he would be able to play in the Lakers' next game, Friday night at Staples Center against the Houston Rockets. Not an easy time to come back because it would mean testing that sore ankle in the post against 7-6, 310-pound Yao Ming. steve.springer@latimes.com
the lakers just won 5 in a row. either they're really bad at tanking or they aren't trying very hard.
