xdrta+ wrote:vvoland wrote:wco81 wrote:There's some speculation that the Lakers, who've played very well against the Pelicans this season including beating them Sunday pretty handily, may strategically lose the 7-8 Play-In game and then beat the winner of Kings-Warriors, in order to become the #8 seed.
Because they match up far better vs. #1 OKC than #2 Denver.
I think most teams would prefer to take their chances vs. OKC than Denver.
And Minnesota could be in danger of losing to Phoenix too. They can play 5-out, which has caused problems for Gobert in previous playoffs.
That would pretty much take away a big part of the Wolves league-leading defense.
I believe they're 1-7 combined vs the dubs and kings. Highly doubt they tank the NOP game.
For sure, tank the Pelican game? What could possibly go wrong with that?
I think a lot of that speculation came from ESPN, reinforcing why I almost never listen to them anymore. Completely ridiculous idea; I have trouble thinking they actually believed any of this, and were more likely just spewing clickbait. If they honestly did believe they'd tank the 7/8 game, then a bunch of posters here should probably be applying for jobs.
