Thursday 2/6 NBA Game Thread

[rockmanslim]

That Klay interview, damn. He's still in shock.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

This is obviously centel but thought it was pretty damn funny

[Lakers In 5]

Trading for Luka has activated LeBron’s 5th prime.

[OkcSinceSGA]

Lakers fans write down what I’ve been saying the last few days so when I tell ignorant ass people in the playoffs this: no team in the league is equipped to deal with LeBron/Luka. He’s 40 and can literally flip a switch still any time. He’s getting a pissed off peak Luka who can drop 30/10/10 in his sleep. Lakers about to get nasty.

I usually like to err on pessimism but it's hard to imagine how you defend the Lakers if they are healthy.

You literally can’t. OKC is elite for example but don’t have a defender big enough to check either one honestly. Both guys are basically 6’7+ and 240+ lbs. Too big for Dort/Caruso/SGA/Jalen. Chet will be defending outside all series.

[Enso]

That Klay interview, damn. He's still in shock.

He looked pretty stoic to me

[Homer38]

Read on Twitter

[rockmanslim]

This **** Lebron James dude he is ridiculous fam.

I seriously wish he'd come into this league now just to see what kind of **** up statlines he'd put up.

42/17/8 is **** ridiculous. Dude might **** around and get player of the month at 40.

at 40!

He's at like 60% or less of his explosiveness in his prime.

If he came in now he'd be head and shoulders above anyone today. Name names, doesn't matter.

[Revived]

LeBron has played way better without AD this season even prior to the Luka trade.

[RRR3]

I’m surprised people are so high on this Lakers team. Not winning with a bad defense.

[SlimShady83]

I’m surprised people are so high on this Lakers team. Not winning with a bad defense.

LOL no Luka, NO Williams Insert Signature = GG

[magee]

I’m surprised people are so high on this Lakers team. Not winning with a bad defense.

They are beating the teams they are supposed to beat. Let's see how they fare when the playoffs get a little tighter. Having a healthy Gabe Vincent helps their backcourt depth a lot, just to space the floor and be a strong POA defender. Let's see how they fare with Luka and a healthy Mark Williams before we can truly say whether or not they are winning.

They'll still need to stop SGA, but man does it help having both Luka and LeBron to help counter what Shai does, too.

[rockmanslim]

Uhh, D-Rob and Duncan?

Dirk and Luka?

[zimpy27]

I’m surprised people are so high on this Lakers team. Not winning with a bad defense.

They will be bad at defending but they won't have a bad defensive rating. I'd expect middling.

The reason is rebounding. None of their players are below average at rebounding, in fact a few of their players rebound above average to elite for their position.

A defensive rebound ends an opponents offensive possession. An offensive rebound is like a steal.

[rockmanslim]

LeBron no mention of Knecht or Cam when asked about Mark Williams. Completely different from when AD got traded. For obvious reasons yeah but still funny

[playoffs]

Blazers are the hottest team in the NBA but what's the point? A worse draft pick? They aren't making the playoffs

I mean they're only 2.5 games behind y'all. If they keep playing like this they are definitely making the play-in at least.

[The Master]

I’m surprised people are so high on this Lakers team. Not winning with a bad defense.

I mean, almost no one says they're primary championship candidates, but if for whatever reason Thunder collapse, I don't think it's unlikely for them to be reaaaaally competitive. LeBron playing again like a top10 player, Lakers finally finding nice depth with Vanderbilt and Vincent, Russell getting traded for a decent 3&D wing, them being ~average defensively for ~two months now even without AD on a court - plenty of positives moving forward. Everyone thought they'll collapse defensively without AD and in reality they've beaten since Knicks, Clippers and Warriors, playing very good defense (besides 2nd half today) mostly (Vincent, DFS, Vanderbilt, also Hayes looking like a decent backup big lately and LeBron not being terrible on D anymore: this is not a BAD defensive roster after all).

Top3 offense and 15th defense is like +5/+6 SRS team in regular season and we know how great as playoff performers Doncic and (still) LeBron are. This is where you can realistically have this team. This would be the best Lakers team post-2021 regardless of Luka trade.

[AleksandarN]

Lakers fans write down what I’ve been saying the last few days so when I tell ignorant ass people in the playoffs this: no team in the league is equipped to deal with LeBron/Luka. He’s 40 and can literally flip a switch still any time. He’s getting a pissed off peak Luka who can drop 30/10/10 in his sleep. Lakers about to get nasty.

I usually like to err on pessimism but it's hard to imagine how you defend the Lakers if they are healthy.

You literally can’t. OKC is elite for example but don’t have a defender big enough to check either one honestly. Both guys are basically 6’7+ and 240+ lbs. Too big for Dort/Caruso/SGA/Jalen. Chet will be defending outside all series.

The Nuggets. Maybe the Lakers will win two games this time.

[DonaldSanders]

I wish they kept letting them play in the 3rd quarter for the rest of the game. As soon as it got chippy and more exciting, the whistle really came out. That Looney/Vanderbilt tie-up changed the game; It became a pretty tight whistle after that.

I'm not saying the Warriors would have won, they've had a losing clutch record this year. But you know the fans enjoy the game that way, I really think the key to ratings improvement might be letting the heated games stay that way. It's a lot more exciting, and typically in the playoffs they let the game play more physical. It's more fun!

[SlimShady83]

I usually like to err on pessimism but it's hard to imagine how you defend the Lakers if they are healthy.

You literally can’t. OKC is elite for example but don’t have a defender big enough to check either one honestly. Both guys are basically 6’7+ and 240+ lbs. Too big for Dort/Caruso/SGA/Jalen. Chet will be defending outside all series.

The Nuggets. Maybe the Lakers will win two games this time.

Nah Bruh ... You heard It hear first... Lakers sweep Nuggets first round

GG Nuggets.

Yes I said Bruh

[AleksandarN]

You literally can’t. OKC is elite for example but don’t have a defender big enough to check either one honestly. Both guys are basically 6’7+ and 240+ lbs. Too big for Dort/Caruso/SGA/Jalen. Chet will be defending outside all series.

The Nuggets. Maybe the Lakers will win two games this time.

Nah Bruh ... You heard It hear first... Lakers sweep Nuggets first round

GG Nuggets.

Yes I said Bruh

Who guards Murray, MPJ and Jokic?