Interesting question on Grantland BBall Hour. Teams tanking games to PHX

[NashtyNas]

Takes a Patriots fan to come up with new ways to bend the system rather than play fair. Well done Simmons.

Coming from a Lakers fan? That's quite rich.

This is just Bill stirring the pot as usual. Makes very little sense.
If all those teams are suddenly losing games to the Suns "on purpose" we will move up in the ranking because us winning + teams above us losing is very good for us. As it is we are only 2 games behind the Spurs, 3.5 behind the Clips and 4.5 behind Dallas.

We should have beat the Clippers once already and we likely will the next time we face off.
The Spurs still give us trouble due to size and I think Dallas is a better team, but either can end up in the gutter because of injuries rather quickly.

I don't think any team will lose games on purpose in the West any time soon. It would be a risky move unless you are a divisional winner because everyone else is too close to us to give us freebies.

[JoseRizal]

With how tough the Western Conference is, I don't think any potential playoff team would intentionally lose a game to the Suns as every game counts...

[thamadkant]

Those teams don't have to tank...

Suns will take the wins from them by force.

[CBA]

I don't think anyone other than Golden State would gain much from this strategy. If OKC and Phoenix are neck and neck, then sure GSW resting their players in the April game can only help. No one is catching them for the #1 seed.

[NaturalBuns]

You lose two games in March or April it can cost you home court advantage. Every West series went 7 games last year in opening round except the Portland and Houston series. That series had numerous OT games.

Home court matters in the west big time.

[brutalitops]

Maybe if it was the east

[Slava]

Takes a Patriots fan to come up with new ways to bend the system rather than play fair. Well done Simmons.

Coming from a Lakers fan? That's quite rich.
.

Come again? How did the Lakers cheat their way to titles?

[tidho]

Isn't worth it for teams to risk home court over such a strategy.

Now if G.S. (or whomever) is safely on top, AND happen to play the Suns the last couple days, AND, it still matters then of course you rest up your guys for the long playoff run ahead.

[PKABOOICU]

screw that…I won't see the lakers in the playoffs…atleast I know durant and westbrook will give me some great games to watch. Ill take OKC over the suns just to watch some great playoff match ups

[Prokorov]

Pretty ridiculous on many levels:

1) if you are a west contender, you can afford to give away games. you need to win to keep your spot/seeding.
2) OKC is 2 games back with 41 games to play. I could buy this if OKC was 2 games back with 6 or 8 games to play, but thats a half season of teams tanking to the suns... with a super small gap between the teams.

[markjay]

This will only come into play in the last week of the season, when team's playoff ranking may be set already. No playoff team is going to tank to Phoenix in the middle of the season.

[NBAfan3024]

If teams are tanking to them. ..those teams aren't that strong afterall if they are scares of any team

[NashtyNas]

I don't see any playoff-caliber western teams buying into this strategy. In the west you can have the two seed and lose 3-4 games and end up as the 8th seed. Every single game matters and it's just too risky.

Exactly. Portland is 5.5 games ahead of us right now and they have some injuries and a questionable bench. Why would they throw games on purpose to us? SA, DAL, LAC are all very close as well. Each game we win against them brings us 1 full game closer. I know SA and LAC are definitely worried.

This whole premise is stupid. Outside of the top 3 (division winners) no one will even consider losing to us on purpose. That may put them in the position we are in with the Thunder right behind.

[kinghasnoequal]

The Warriors look like the best team in the league. They have swagger and they're not backing down from anybody. They're not some 6th seed chump ducking competition like the Nets were doing last season. When was the last time you saw a #1 seed tank games because they were "scared" of another team? Never?

As for the rest of the western conference, they don't care whether OKC or PHO gets in. If OKC gets in, then they'll probably play GSW in the first round anyway. I doubt very much if teams are any more scared of OKC than they are of GSW.

Then GSW can keep their "pride" and enjoy losing in the first round (if they get OKC).

Why would they lose?

Because OKC will be healthy. Who's keeping Durant or Westbrook in check? Ibaka really helps limit anyone you have at the four, Westbrook will guard Curry well too. Unless you guys are shooting really, really well, then you have a good chance to lose. I'm not saying it's a 100% loss, but if you could avoid OKC but "resting" your players for one game late in the season, then why wouldn't you do that?

[NavLDO]

With 40 games left to play in the season, the currently 4th-8th seeded teams are all within 4 1/2 games of each other, so any team "tanking" to the Suns are taking a big gamble even making the assumption that the Suns will even be the 8th seeded team, anyway. So let's say said team "tanks" 2 games away to PHX in the next month and a half, and PHX overtakes the Spurs by a half game, then do you "tank" to the Spurs, losing yet another game? Would said team be more concerned with OKC or the Spurs? Who is scarier, Westbrook-Ibaka-Durant or Parker-Leonard-Duncan? That's the REAL question.

We already know that a Bledsoe-Dragic-Len is the scarier trio between the two "trios" above, anyway.

[jbk1234]

Stupid strategy. What happens if the Clippers go into a slump? Then you just lost a game on purpose and OKC still makes the playoffs. The only team that should even consider such nonsense is the 1 seed in March and April depending on the standings.

[kodo]

This is a horrible strategy for WC playoff teams.

The only team that will benefit from the Suns being #8 instead of OKC is the Golden State Warriors. So the WC will collectively tank to make an easier 1st round for Warriors? How does that help the other 7 teams in any way???

The only way this benefits other teams is if they think the Suns have a better chance of beating Golden State in the 1st round than OKC.

[Texas Chuck]

The Warriors look like the best team in the league. They have swagger and they're not backing down from anybody. They're not some 6th seed chump ducking competition like the Nets were doing last season. When was the last time you saw a #1 seed tank games because they were "scared" of another team? Never?

Well we know Avery Johnson was too stupic/stubborn to do so and that worked out fine.....


But as PMott points out--its way too soon for this. The West is so absurd. Its tough enough as it is, you don't want to fool around and risk an extra series on the road trying to keep out the Thunder. Its not like the other matchups are going to be any better. Mavs barely held off Phoenix last year and had Dirk played remotely close to expectations the Spurs who had one of the most dominant playoff runs of all-time would have been out in 6 games in the 1st round.

Just try and get the best seed you can and see if you can run the gauntlet.

[Texas Chuck]

Takes a Patriots fan to come up with new ways to bend the system rather than play fair. Well done Simmons.

Coming from a Lakers fan? That's quite rich.
.

Come again? How did the Lakers cheat their way to titles?

Well Shaq against Shawn Bradley always did feel a bit like cheating to me......

[Effigy]

Great idea. Force the Thunder to get a lottery pick instead. Not like Presti has a reputation for finding gems in the draft.