Does the Lakers series prove that you should always manipulate 1st round playoff matchups?

[jus a fan]

SACRAMENTO Whooped lakers 4 times this year
the play in game vs SAC would not have been a foregone conclusion.

Lakers played to win 1st play in game because the 2nd play in game was actually a harder test and they were more likely to be booted out of the playoffs.

[WentzerWuver]

The Lakers had a chance to lose to the Pelicans in the play-in game to beat Sacramento and face OKC (winnable matchup)

Instead they let their pride get in the way, beat New Orleans, and now are getting embarrassed by the defending champs which everyone predicted.

Instead of a successful year, it's now become a failure season because they chose to win a game.

Should the Lakers have ducked Denver? Is Darvin Ham going to lose his job because he coached to win?

So you need to wait for yout Lakers to lose 3 straight to create this thread asking this question most of us, at least me, already push for them to lose to the Pels to avoid playing against the Nuggets in first round of the playoffs????

I guess Lakers hopeful always think they can beat any team regardless of match up. And I already know if next year this same scenario happens, Lakers fans will think they can beat the Nuggets this time cause the 3rd times the charm?

So carry on and have fun with it Lol

[WentzerWuver]

SACRAMENTO Whooped lakers 4 times this year
the play in game vs SAC would not have been a foregone conclusion.

Lakers played to win 1st play in game because the 2nd play in game was actually a harder test and they were more likely to be booted out of the playoffs.

That means nothing cause the Lakers match up so well against them and would have won easily unless you think they can't beat their own mental issues against bad teams Lol

[madmaxmedia]

What difference does it make if they play DEN in the first round, second round, or WCF? They would have lost either way. Every single non-Lakers fan knew they weren't making the Finals this season anyway

You don't lose on purpose especially if it puts you into a single game elimination position. The Lakers are not good enough to be trying stuff like that

And if you are good enough to pull of stuff like that...you probably don't need to anyway.

[jkvonny]

SACRAMENTO Whooped lakers 4 times this year
the play in game vs SAC would not have been a foregone conclusion.

Lakers played to win 1st play in game because the 2nd play in game was actually a harder test and they were more likely to be booted out of the playoffs.

That means nothing cause the Lakers match up so well against them and would have won easily unless you think they can't beat their own mental issues against bad teams Lol

The Kings match up well against the Lakers. Thats why they have owned them for years.

Quicker guards and Sabonis owns AD.

Kings win.

Lakers out of the playoffs. Kings 8 seed vs Thunder.

[jus a fan]

SACRAMENTO Whooped lakers 4 times this year
the play in game vs SAC would not have been a foregone conclusion.

Lakers played to win 1st play in game because the 2nd play in game was actually a harder test and they were more likely to be booted out of the playoffs.

That means nothing cause the Lakers match up so well against them and would have won easily unless you think they can't beat their own mental issues against bad teams Lol

I think you are mistaken on matchups. Sac is a bad matchup for Lakers and have been for a long time.
If Jokic is AD's Daddy Sabonis is his Step Daddy 10-0 in H2H matchups Lakers have no answer for Fox also

[SweaterBae]

OKC would stomp LA.

[GeorgeSears]

I believe they would've beaten OKC in 6. In all 4 matchups against OKC, AD ate Chet Holmgren's lunch. He's too big, too skilled, and has enough mobility to contest the pick-and-pop 3 that Holmgren takes, which is a key part of OKC stretching the floor. The Lakers would have a size advantage in that series.

That was shaping up to be the matchup until the Nuggets choked against the Spurs.

[Dacost]

Last year was the issue they got lucky and got a badly injured Memphis that lost JA half way through.

They though this year was the same their older guys were ok with the play -in but instead of injured team they got defending champs and got their cheeks whoop.

[HMFFL]

The Lakers had a chance to lose to the Pelicans in the play-in game to beat Sacramento and face OKC (winnable matchup)

Instead they let their pride get in the way, beat New Orleans, and now are getting embarrassed by the defending champs which everyone predicted.

Instead of a successful year, it's now become a failure season because they chose to win a game.

Should the Lakers have ducked Denver? Is Darvin Ham going to lose his job because he coached to win?

"They let their pride get in the way"

Sure they did.


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[Rendei]

I've always hated that philosophy. If you actively hide from a team, then you've already been psychologically defeated by them if you meet up later. In sports you need some blind confidence to be great.

[CS707]

So is the premise here that Denver is just a random bad matchup that is otherwise keeping LAL out of the finals?

Because if so, lol.

[NyKnicks1714]

What difference does it make if they play DEN in the first round, second round, or WCF? They would have lost either way. Every single non-Lakers fan knew they weren't making the Finals this season anyway

You don't lose on purpose especially if it puts you into a single game elimination position. The Lakers are not good enough to be trying stuff like that

An extra round in the playoffs. That's always a good thing.

But yes, no team is ever losing on purpose in that spot, even if it's better for them to. And that's just a problem with the play-in. A team shouldn't be in a position to play a game where winning results in a much less favorable matchup. One day we might see a more extreme version of this scenario.

[nbafan38]

IMO Absolutely not. You never tank a play in game and the lakers weren't beating Denver no matter what round they play them.

[ChipotleWest]

It's a huge risk because the Kings have owned the Lakers about as bad as the Nuggets have. They've won 8 of 9. You're going to leave your season up to one game with them? What if something happened to Lebron or AD which happens often? You just cost yourself from even making the playoffs.

[Shock Defeat]

I've always hated that philosophy. If you actively hide from a team, then you've already been psychologically defeated by them if you meet up later. In sports you need some blind confidence to be great.

That's interesting because I don't see anybody clowning Cleveland or Milwaukee for that matter, both teams to an extent ducked Philly.

[nbafan38]

I've always hated that philosophy. If you actively hide from a team, then you've already been psychologically defeated by them if you meet up later. In sports you need some blind confidence to be great.

That's interesting because I don't see anybody clowning Cleveland or Milwaukee for that matter, both teams to an extent ducked Philly.

I don't support teams ever losing to avoid teams but it's a very different thing if you are already locked into the playoffs coasting in the final regular season games vs losing a play in game intentionally to avoid an opponent.

[Nuntius]

The Lakers had a chance to lose to the Pelicans in the play-in game to beat Sacramento and face OKC (winnable matchup)

1) Let's stop pretending that the matchup against OKC was a winnable one for the Lakers. The Thunder won 57 games and were the 1st seed for a reason. They are damn good.

2) The Kings were 4-0 against the Lakers this season. They beat them every single time. We shouldn't assume that the Lakers would be able to beat the Kings to make it out of the play-in either.

[ChiTownHero1992]

To me no, there is no guarantee they would've beat SAC or GS for that matter...you play to win the game NO MATTER WHAT

[Rendei]

I've always hated that philosophy. If you actively hide from a team, then you've already been psychologically defeated by them if you meet up later. In sports you need some blind confidence to be great.

That's interesting because I don't see anybody clowning Cleveland or Milwaukee for that matter, both teams to an extent ducked Philly.

Not clowning, but I wasn't a fan of it. Their one title in 2021 came after not dodging Miami in the final game and wanting all of that smoke.