(LOCK THREAD) The LeBron James- 23-24 NBA Thread - 40K POINTS+(Part 1)(NO INSULTING)

[zimpy27]

Lakers winning next 2 games would be huge

[The Master]

Yeah, the way Pelicans and Kings are playing - not getting to the 7th/8th seeds game would be a season-ending huge disappointment.

Pels just lost to Spurs without three rotational players.

I consider both Thunder and Wolves a favorable matchup considering what Lakers have shown since February.

[PistolPeteJR]

Finally tied in 8th (although they lose the tiebreaker with SAC if I recall correctly). Big, big game tomorrow.

[nzahir]

Thoughts on todays game?

I feel like if we dont start out well and are down, then Lebron and AD kind of coast and probably check out early

B2Bs vs the Cavs and Minny (albeit without KAT they look much worse) is tough, especially with a 12:30 game

Need to get off to a solid start and have a lead early to win this

Worst case scenario here is losing a close one and then being tired for tomorrow and dropping that one as well

[homecourtloss]

Thoughts on todays game?

I feel like if we dont start out well and are down, then Lebron and AD kind of coast and probably check out early

B2Bs vs the Cavs and Minny (albeit without KAT they look much worse) is tough, especially with a 12:30 game

Need to get off to a solid start and have a lead early to win this

Worst case scenario here is losing a close one and then being tired for tomorrow and dropping that one as well

This will be a good test to see where this team is. They got off to a very slow start versus the Washington wizards, and the Toronto Raptors, two terrible tanking teams, but when you were watching those games, you knew it was just a matter of time before the Lakers take control, something you couldn’t say earlier in the year, no matter what type team that they were playing. If they got off to slow starts earlier in the year, best case scenario for them will be battling and winning a close one and not taking complete control in a matter of 10 or 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, if you look at the Milwaukee Bucks, and all three of their games versus Washington, Memphis, and the Toronto Raptors, you never really got the impression that they would get control in those games. This is a positive sign that they have a lot of confidence.

Now we’ll see what they do against an actual team.

[nzahir]

Thoughts on todays game?

I feel like if we dont start out well and are down, then Lebron and AD kind of coast and probably check out early

B2Bs vs the Cavs and Minny (albeit without KAT they look much worse) is tough, especially with a 12:30 game

Need to get off to a solid start and have a lead early to win this

Worst case scenario here is losing a close one and then being tired for tomorrow and dropping that one as well

This will be a good test to see where this team is. They got off to a very slow start versus the Washington wizards, and the Toronto Raptors, two terrible tanking teams, but when you were watching those games, you knew it was just a matter of time before the Lakers take control, something you couldn’t say earlier in the year, no matter what type team that they were playing. If they got off to slow starts earlier in the year, best case scenario for them will be battling and winning a close one and not taking complete control in a matter of 10 or 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, if you look at the Milwaukee Bucks, and all three of their games versus Washington, Memphis, and the Toronto Raptors, you never really got the impression that they would get control in those games. This is a positive sign that they have a lot of confidence.

Now we’ll see what they do against an actual team.

Sadly our injuries to Wood and Vando may haunt us today

It leads Ham to play these 3 guard lineups that are horrific

Vincent, Dinwiddie, Reaves, and Prince is just too small

We have a lot of guard depth, but not enough wings/bigs

Allen cooking AD rn, get it together

[toodles23]

God awful second half from Lebron so far. It would be so disappointing if they blew this game.

Something concerning to me is how important Russell has been to their offense in the last couple months, because I'm highly skeptical he's solved his playoff woes.

[nzahir]

[quote="toodles23"]God awful second half from Lebron so far. It would be so disappointing if they blew this game.

Something concerning to me is how important Russell has been to their offense in the last couple months, because I'm highly skeptical he's solved his playoff woes.[/quote]
Well lets make the playoff and find out

If he dissapears again in big games and is targeted on defense, then we may have to figure something out this summer

If he plays like how he is now, need to bring him back obviously and find a 1/2 or a 2/3 who they can put next to him besides just Reaves

Also, wtf does Gabe Vincent do on offense?

[IG2]

God awful second half from Lebron so far. It would be so disappointing if they blew this game.

He couldn't do a damn thing after hurting himself on that cameraman late 1st half. LA won despite him. Hopefully he won't look like this tomorrow night against a much better Minnesota team.

[RRR3]

Win the next 4 and they’re probably the 7th seed MAYBE the 6th. God I hate the playin we don’t need more games with potential injuries with random upsets potentially ruining what 82 games already decided. Silver is godawful.

[TroubleS0me]

We need more AD to LBJ alley oop

[nzahir]

We need more AD to LBJ alley oop

Why dont we see more of this tbh? Especially considering we have some decent spacing now (but teams still do sell out to pack the paint vs us seems like)

AD also doesnt seem like the same fluid athlete anymore when he was in NOLA or his 1st year here

[nzahir]

Win the next 4 and they’re probably the 7th seed MAYBE the 6th. God I hate the playin we don’t need more games with potential injuries with random upsets potentially ruining what 82 games already decided. Silver is godawful.

Yup the play in may screw us again

But we also shouldnt even be in this position if not for Ham starting Reddish and Prince for a lot of the season

Starting lineup should have always been 1 of the playoff starting lineups

I get wanting to try Prince due to the spacing, but after realizing we werent as good, should have gone back asap

Reddish starting is even less acceptable. He isn't even a bench calibur player on a good team, let alone a starter on a team that wants to contend

Who are we rooting for in terms of seeding?

Suns: Nola (no BI, maybe no Zion?), clips, at clips, at Sac (no Monk or Huerter), at Wolves (unsre if KAT is back)
Kings: at BKN, at OKC (unsure if SGA or Jdub play), Pels (no BI, unsure of Zion), Suns, Blazers
Nola: at Suns, at Blazers, at Kings, at GS, Lakers

What is even realistic?

[LeBird]

6th is realistic but Lakers have to do their part and keep winning.

[Myth_Breaker]

I don't see this particular aspect mentioned here (at least in recent posts), but IMHO it's worth mentioning that after the game in Indiana LeBron is 59 dimes away from 11 000 assists during regular season. There are 8 Lakers RS games left. LBJ's averaging 8.1 apg (and even more during the latest stretch of games), so there should be no problem with achieving that feat. Unless he misses some games, which I would personally bet on taking into account his age/mileage/current health. But the race for 6-10 spots in the West is so tight that he will be actively trying to avoid that. So we shall see.

I'd like to remind that only Stockton, Kidd and CP3 are ahead of LeBron in all-time race (respectively 15 806/12 091/11 842/10 941 assists). And most likely LBJ will remain "only" 4th all-time in this category, unless he plays a couple of seasons after CP3 retires. Which personally I would not advise: longevity is great, but too much is too much and it's better not to retire as a shell of his former self. Still, becoming the first player already this season with >40 000 points/11 000 rebounds/11 000 assists would be another tremendous achievement of him.

Update: 24 dimes away from 11 000 assists with 4 games remaining after the win over Cleveland. LeBron's at 8.2 apg for the season now. Looks like another incredible statistical feat is ripe for the taking...

[PistolPeteJR]

Who do we want to see lose tonight in the Suns-Pelicans game?

[The Master]

Who do we want to see lose tonight in the Suns-Pelicans game?

Low ball - Pelicans (7th/8th seed is a must)
High ball - Suns (chances for 6th seed)

I'd go with Pelicans losing unless Kawhi is ready to play (Suns have two games against Clippers) in regular season. I'm not afraid of play-ins as long as Lakers have 7th/8th seed.

[tsherkin]

Who do we want to see lose tonight in the Suns-Pelicans game?

I'm all about watching KD lose. xD

EDIT: I have, of course, just cursed the Pels.

[nzahir]

Who do we want to see lose tonight in the Suns-Pelicans game?

Feels like Kawhi will be out for a majority of the reg season, so the Suns have a pretty easy schedule

If BI is out until the last game or 2 (or even longer) and Zion may miss this game, feels like we should be rooting for the Suns and jst try to get into #7 vs one of NOLA or SAC

[homecourtloss]

Update: 24 dimes away from 11 000 assists with 4 games remaining after the win over Cleveland. LeBron's at 8.2 apg for the season now. Looks like another incredible statistical feat is ripe for the taking...

Since the AS break, LeBron has been much more involved in initiating sets as opposed to DLo or AR.

Assist per game before the AS break: 7.8
Assists per game post the AS break: 9.3

Lakers’ ORtg w/Lebron on court post the AS break: 122.5 on, 104.3 off
Lakers’ ORtg w/Lebron on court last 10 games: 124.5, 100.7 off