Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 233. (Read 914539 times)

The last time Lakers faced the Warriors in a play-in was in the 2020–21 season, when the Lakers were the 7th seed and the Warriors were the 8th seed. The Lakers took that game and got the 7th seed, and the Warriors got to play another game against the Grizzlies, but the Grizzlies beat them and snatched the 8th seed from the Warriors. Looking back, the Warriors that time were not at their best fit, and maybe one of their worst seasons in the Steph Curry era.

If they ever face each other again this season, this will be a great matchup and a history because both of their stars are chasing their 5th ring, so both of them are eager to get to the playoffs. Both teams have struggled this year, as we can see in their standings. I am rooting for the Lakers to win this one since they can become healthy once the play-in comes and they are more experienced in this kind of game.

Yes, it's a big surprise to me as well, and there are fans who says that he is overrated. And I guess they see Derrick White leaving in free agency that's why they lock him for good. But his age though, we really don't know what will happen to him in the next 4 years.

He will be like 37 years after this contract, and probably will retire after that.  .

I thought that Clippers might upset the Suns and could win even without their big players, as Hyland scores 37 points. But the Suns finally made a push in the last 5 minutes of the game.

One game they loss and the next game they almost made the same mistake again, and that is against a Clippers without its starters. I don't know, now I can see the weakness of the Suns, they should hope that the Clippers will loss to the Dallas in the first round so they'll not meet again in case the Suns will advance to the 2nd round.

Suns looking good because they are healthy, but not having a 100% Beal might be a problem as it cannot be just Durant and Booker all the time since sometimes Booker would also struggle when he'll be man by a good defender.


That's very unfair to him but what the Boston did wasn't illegal, maybe they just want to protect the value of Thomas so they can trade him, it's just sad they were not transparent to a player that lead the team in few seasons before the major injury.

I’m a little bit surprised to see the Celtics lock up Jrue Holiday for the next 4 years for 135 million dollars. I’m not sure how old Jrue is, but that seems like sort of a long deal for an older guy on a team that’s already got 2 young max players. I think the genius management over in Boston might be starting to make mistakes as they struggle to get Taytum a chip.

The Lakers will try to avoid to face the Nuggets, and the season is not over yet, we don't know if the Nuggets will finish at the top. And if in case the Lakers upset the Nuggets, I think they will be considered as the best in the West then since they defeated the defending champion, that's possible although the chance is quite slim because the Nuggets are pretty much consistent this season, even better.

Jokic is now the number 1 in ranking of the MVP race, so he will make sure that he'll be able to carry that in the playoffs as winning a season MVP and Finals MVP is just another level of achievement.

Chances that it will go the same as Lakers at that time Warriors beat them they don't have Davis which can potentially change the result. For sure there's a revenge mode will happen in play-in especially if Davis will go back on the line up. I don't know what how Warriors could handle it especially we know Lakers perform different especially in a must needed win game for them.

We can't assume that Lakers would beat Warriors on play in but for sure we can see a exciting match between this rival teams in West. Let see if we can see a similar like situation which Lakers beat Warriors on second round.

Yes, the Warriors finished at 6 but they are so close with the Lakers as the Warriors were only ahead by 1 win.

Warriors 44-38
Lakers 43-39

That was their record last season, but the Lakers had the better journey as they were able to reach the WCF, unfortunately they got swept by the Nuggets which also won the championship that season. Now, if the Lakers will again face the Nuggets in the first round, we might see the same result.

The current results of the Lakers are really similar to what they had last year, but the Warriors' results are a little different. Last year, the Warriors performed a little better and finished 6th in the standings at the end of the regular season, i.e. they didn't participate in the play-in tournament last year.
p.s.
The Lakers beat the Warriors in the second round of last year's playoffs.

Suns actually won the rematch with their strong 4th quarter run, but it wasn't anymore significant for the Clippers since they aren't playing their starters .Suns even almost loss, what a mess it could be if they did. Anyway, good that they win because they have now a chance to avoid the play-in.

on that win, Booker had 37, Beal 26, and Durant    24..

By the way, I thought IT was extended.. how come he is not gaining minutes?


I can't remember anymore but both of them pass the first round.

Haha, it's the hot talk in the internet now but that's actually a compliment to the Clippers. But preparing for the seed game will have them take their starters and key players need to take a rest.

As for the Lakers and Golden State Warriors. Wasn't it, it was the same last season that they're on the same seed or bracket?

Hyland and Boston are having the nights of their career. With the LA Clippers resting their stars, those two stepped up their game big time. They want to win it and make the Suns suffer, and so the Suns played better because they badly needed that win as they are racing against the New Orleans Pelicans for that 6th spot or a spot to avoid the play-in tournament.
Big game for the Clippers bench and Coach Ty Lue should have created an idea of how he could exploit those bench names. These guys want some minutes when the playoff comes so they can contribute something.
Suns on the other hand didn't use IT again so I guess we will not see him unless someone gets hurt in the Suns roster.

In other news, the Nuggets won against the Wolves which means the Nuggets get the top spot again with 2 games remaining in the season. I like what Coach Malone did, focus the defense on Antman and it actually worked out fine. They played like it was the hint of the West Finals.

Phoenix is maybe playing in relaxing mode but still, they're supposed to demolish this undermanned Clippers. But imagine paying high salaries for a trio of superstars only to struggle in the 7th place. Clippers have secured the 4th place already. There is a small chance Dallas can take their position but I really doubt the Clippers will lose again at home against the Rockets and Jazz.

For me, this is the best regular season so far since the play-in games are introduced. Too bad for last season's finalists, the Miami Heat, it is really struggling. Hopefully, they can win the next 2 games.

Suns are in trouble, they can't beat a Clippers without their starters, what a joke. It's already in the 4th quarter now and the Clippers are dictating the game enjoying a 6 point lead. I can't believe how bad the Suns are, even if they'll escape from this, it's still not good to see that they can't beat a team that are so undermanned.

This is a Hyland vs Booker show, both have 37 points as of now.

Welcome to the modern-day NBA. Where referees aren't using their whistle anymore because they want to just watch these players playing, and not letting them to take any free throw.

It's historic because it's the first time in NBA history that a team didn't shoot any free throws at all. I still remember the time where James Harden is taking more than 10 free throws per game when he's still in the Rockets. Now we just saw a whole team who didn't shoot any free throws at all. It would be more historic if both teams didn't shoot any free throws at that game. On the other hand, I don't see that this kind of game will happen in the playoffs though where everything is just pure physicality. Perfect defense by Bucks? Nah I don't think so. With how soft these referees are in the modern era where they will just whistle even the slightest contact. There might be some deeper reason to it, but I guess we don't need to stress ourselves out for that.

A loss for the Clippers will not affect their standings as the 4th seed so I guess putting your all-star players to rest even on one game is the best thing for them to do. Currently, the Suns are leading, and it would be a disgrace for the Suns if they will still lose into this game because it just shows that the team aren't ready for the playoffs yet.

This is a none bearing game for the Clippers as they have already secured the number 4 spot, with their current ranking, they will be having a home court advantage against the Dallas Mavericks, but I think it will be tough for them without Kawhi Leonard. I think his injury does not make him out of the preseason, so we have to be optimistic that he'll be coming back. As much as possible, he should come back in the first game vs the Dallas as losing at home is huge.

Suns trying to bounce back from a disappointing loss on their home court. Now they are on the road for  rematch with the LA Clippers and currently leading by 10 points. It's a good start for them, they can't allow the Clippers to charge back as they might have some problem in the 4th where the Clippers are usually good.

Booker thus far is leading the charge but they are playing a Clipper team without its starter, so this is just probably a gift for them.

Yeah nothing is really interesting now if we can see the GSW and the Lakers going head to head at the start of the play-in tournament. And, yes they did not play against each other in the play-in last year, but they did played each other in the 2nd round of the 2023 playoffs, which the Lakers have exposed the GSW that their small ball doesn't work against them as they are playing bully ball in which most their points was inside the paint and the number foul discrepancy is noticeably huge.
The GSW have not changed it that much though, they are still relying on their 3 point arsenal. I'm afraid it would end up the same with AD back in the game when play-in comes.
Well, that's just the first challenge for both teams, and better they hope the Denver won't retake the top spot, otherwise it would be an easy playoff start for both the Lakers and GSW, neither of this team will enter the 8th spot. The Wolves might not be as difficult as the Nuggets, so they'd better hope for that.

If they both succeed from their campaign during the playoffs it might be the sequence that may take place, and yes, it's good for both teams to understand whatever lapses that they've still got to make that to improve for the possible West final run, this game will be one of those turning factors to get the numbet 1 spot.

For now, lets enjoy how both teams will play and what will be the system that will bring the win to whoever will take this game.

Why is nobody talking about the historic achievement of Celtics when they faced the Bucks? I mean it is more of an achievement by the refs when they gave zero free throw worthy foul calls in favor of the Celtics the entire game. Is it a perfect defense by Bucks? I think it's also a team record for the Bucks since they only had two free throw attempts.

This is how you go as a ref when you want to finish the game early and maybe collect some cash from a bet hehe.

We will witness once again the battle for the number one seed in the Western Conference this time and, it could be the best opportunity for both the Timberwolves and Nuggets to see how much they need to improve to win against their rival because surely this will be the same scenario in the NBA playoffs for them if they don't act right now to try their best strategy to see if will going to work against their opponent, they lose the opportunity to counter them once they face against each other later cause that will be likely the case in the upcoming NBA playoffs.