Little bit of playoff hope

[supaflash]

I'm actually a fan of the play OKC first anyway argument as well. For us it's championship or bust so it doesn't really matter what round we get to or face them.

IF we could play San Antonio though and have success it might boost confidence and get Metta and Nash a bit more time to get up to speed fully as well as Dwight. Hard to say really. It would just be nice to play them for a number of reasons, our own history with them, Nash and D'antoni's history (seriously how nice would that be for them to knock them out as a #1 after 'the suspension') and for our match up with them. Plus like us they are older and not fully healthy...

Yes we haven't been that impressive vs good teams, but we have won some good tough games and we have been finding ways to win despite injuries and inconsistent lineups which is a good sign to me.

We've got some guys that are on their last shot or their best shot in numerous ways that have no reason not to give every ounce of effort left in their bodies. The last few years that is something I had not felt. Aside from Kobe, Drew didn't really care, Pau was out of it, and the rest of the team was garbage. This year we have guys like Nash and Twan who are on their last tries who are going to lay it all on the line. Pau is back in it. Kobe is healthy, Metta is giving it his all, Earl has got his one chance to make himself... and just maybe Dwight is inspired enough to lay it on the line.

For JB maybe we can just believe one last time with these guys.

[Kalidogg24]

[gotokyo]

Be careful what you wish for.

Remember the 2011 Dallas series? Everyone was hoping to go up against them rather then Portland. Look how that turned out.

[Kilroy]

If we can't beat OKC, we have no shot at Miami, and I don't think anybody can take them out unless LeBron goes down... So what the hell, making it to the second or 3rd rounds is nothing but a moral victory anyway. Briong them on.

But before we pencil ourselves in to the first round, lets just get there first. To me, we still have a hard road there and thinking beyond the next game is pointless.

[Slava]

Even if we beat okc we have no chance on Miami unless Howard matches Lebron

[Dr Aki]

anyone seriously think we can stop the top offense in the NBA?

[Penberthy]

Stats are fun. Speaking of Averages, OKC averages 105.9 point per game. Do you think we can hold them to 0.9 pts below their average? If so, we should win 73.9% of our games against them according to your stat.

[LAkersWorld1]

Stats are fun. Speaking of Averages, OKC averages 105.9 point per game. Do you think we can hold them to 0.9 pts below their average? If so, we should win 73.9% of our games against them according to your stat.

I swear, I couldn't stop laughing and, you make a good point about stats and how deceiving they can be. But, my opinion on Aki's graph though illustrates (if players are focused on that side of the ball, too) that DEFENSE keeps you in the game, keeps you from losing leads, and the odds of winning are better. Even if your shot is not falling, defense, tenacious D makes a/the difference... At least that's how I interpret the stat.

I appreciate Supa's enthusiasm. Let's not lose that. Like Lloyd Christmas, I think we have a chance to win in the playoffs but as has been said, the LAkers have to get in first.

Our squads thing against them is: Our schedule vs Utah's schedule + the tiebreaker.

[Dr Aki]

Stats are fun. Speaking of Averages, OKC averages 105.9 point per game. Do you think we can hold them to 0.9 pts below their average? If so, we should win 73.9% of our games against them according to your stat.

if you really want the meaty stats, OKC has scored an average of 112 point on the lakers over 4 games this season.

the one time we held them to under 105 points? (they scored 96) we won

the other 3 times, they scored 114, 116 and 122 on us.

still praying for OKC to slip back into 2nd, but im not holding my breath

[Kilroy]

San Antonio would prefer not to play us, I think OKC is hoping to play us. If we make it, we'll be playing OKC.

[KB24TBOTB]

Who cares who we play, if we're going to make any noise in the playoffs we'd have to play them anyways

[Penberthy]

Stats are fun. Speaking of Averages, OKC averages 105.9 point per game. Do you think we can hold them to 0.9 pts below their average? If so, we should win 73.9% of our games against them according to your stat.

if you really want the meaty stats, OKC has scored an average of 112 point on the lakers over 4 games this season.

the one time we held them to under 105 points? (they scored 96) we won

the other 3 times, they scored 114, 116 and 122 on us.

still praying for OKC to slip back into 2nd, but im not holding my breath

One game we lost by six points with CHRIS DUHON as the starting PG, no Nash, Blake, or Pau
Another loss was with ROBERT SACRE starting, no Pau or Dwight
And the third loss was without Pau

Are you saying that those games have any relevance whatsoever on how we will play against them in the playoffs? If so, you should focus on the one game which we had a close to fully healthy team, with Pau coming off the bench- WHICH WAS A BIG FAT "W".

[AcecardZ]

@Penberthy brings up some decent points. Even with Nash out we are hethier now than we've been most of the season.

As far as OKC or SA "fearing" us I don't think they do for a second but anybody thinking this Lakers team is your typical run of the mill 8 seed is an idiot! We've been decimated by injuries all year and they've had a significant impact on our record. Had we been healthy we'd have likely been a 4-6 seed IMHO.