Game 41: Los Angeles Lakers (28-14) @ Phoenix Suns (27-13) l Sunday l 7:00pm l NBATV l FSAZ

[bwgood77]

There is a big difference between the 5th+6th seeds and the 7th+8th seeds. You want a top 2 seed this year.

Worst case if we get a 2-3 seed in the Lakers really dropping in the standings with AD out for a while and LeBron basically out the rest of the season...if they drop to 6 or 7 and we face them in the first round when LeBron gets back.

[bwgood77]

Ayton played really well and took advantage of their tallest big man being 6’7.

Our rim protection when he’s not in the game is basically non existent and that should be James Jones priority if he’s looking to make a move before the deadline. And Saric’s gotta get it going again.

The team could have lied down today since we played against their JV team and treated it like the TWolves, Wiz, , Pistons games from earlier but didn’t. Credit to them for that. Hopefully it continues.

It's a positive note you've posted but I can't help but read it more cynically. As in, if we're having this kind of discussion, are we really a contender?

Idk. To be honest, my expectation from before the season was to make playoffs and have Booker/Bridges/Ayton taste what the playoffs are like. I’m excited to see how those guys play on the big stage. Now with the success we’ve had in the regular season, it will be a bit disappointing to not win at least one playoff series. But anything beyond that is a bonus to me.

It’s not going to be all that disappointing for me if we don’t win the title. We’re a team that went from hot garbage two years ago to being in the playoffs. I don’t think having a great regular season record means that the expectation should be to win a title either. Utah has the #1 record in the West right now but I don’t think most people would even pick them to be in the top 6 of teams with highest chance to win the title this season. Realistically I don’t think even their fans are expecting it.

I will add though like I mentioned in the other thread, the Suns may view it differently. Lebron/AD are banged up and Clippers/Denver look semi beatable. If the Suns want to take advantage of this playoff window we have with CP3 here then perhaps they make a move to take that next step and become a contender like you said.

There are improvements we can make in-house to help improve as well. A glaring one that I see is getting to the FT line. We rank among the dead last teams in FT attempts. The Lakers today without LeBron and AD still got to the line more than we did at full strength. FTs will be huge in the playoffs and something they should focus on to figure out how to get to the line more.

I'll be pretty happy if we make the playoffs and lose a hard fought series...just to get the experience, unless it's against a team like Dallas we should beat. But if it is against heavily playoff tested teams like a healthy Portland, Denver, LA teams, etc, I can't expect us to win in the playoffs with their playoff experience and best players in the series.