GT: 2/8 - LAL @ IND - 4pm - TWC Sportsnet

[miggs]

Los Angeles Lakers (11-42) @ Indiana Pacers (27-24)

Monday, Feb 8, 2016 @ 4pm Pacific Time

TWC SportsNet / 710AM ESPN / 1330AM Espanol

Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indiana















Coming off a strong but losing effort in San Antonio, our lottery-bound Lakers head into Indiana trying to get to a dozen wins on this rough season. It will be Hibbert's first game back in Indiana since being traded last off-season as well as the first time Jordan Hill sees the Lakers since leaving in the off-season.

With Nance out, I expect Randle to continue his strong play. I'm hoping to see Russell's assist numbers rise as well as an overall good performance from the kids against a strong Indiana team fighting to reach elite status in the reborn Eastern Conference.

With the trade deadline only 10 days away, I wonder if we'll be showcasing certain players over others in an attempt to make some changes heading into the Draft Lottery like maybe flipping our vets to playoff teams to shed salary and continue chasing the top 3 pick while giving our young core all the court time they'll need to develop the most they can this season.

Lou Williams - 7m - 2 yrs
Brandon Bass - 3m - 1 yr (likely opts out)
Nick Young - 5.2m - 2 yrs
Roy Hibbert - 15.6m - expiring


Would be pretty sweet to shed Bass + Lou + Young for an additional 15-15.5 mil in cap space heading into free agency, opening up a potential 3rd max slot...






Keys to the Game

Spoiler:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BenSimmons25/status/695494448667586561[/tweet]

For those playing the Tank Wars, tank analyst miggs got you

1. PHI = 8-43
2. LAL = 11-42
3. BKN = 13-39
4. PHX = 14-38
5. MINN = 16-36
6. NOP = 18-32

Darkhorse Potential Tank Teams:

7. MIL = 20-32
8. SAC = 21-30
9. NYK = 23-31



Tank Games to Watch tonight and what we need to happen...

LAL @ IND (Lakers lose)
LAC @ PHI (Sixers win)
DEN @ BKN (Nets win)
NOP @ MINN (Wolves win)
OKC @ PHX (Suns win)






PLEASE DAB RESPONSIBIBLY

[Slava]

Good GT, this will be an easy loss. Kobe will try to shoot his way through and PG/Miles will have a ton of open shots and fastbreaks. They'll probably bury us by 20.

[miggs]

Yup i believe it'll be another loss too, that Indy team is really trying to get better despite their already impressive season so far

I also can't help but feel a funny feeling about Nance being held out so long as purely precautionary, giving Randle big mins at starting PF, worries me we may shop Randle, would suck but obviously depends on the return, maybe it's just the trade deadline coming up that has me hoping we don't dump our youth for some short sighted lateral move or worse lol

i'd also like to continue to see more of Randle and Black together, I like that a lot, especially with Randle's improving jumper, really helps open up the floor for Russell and Black to do their sweet PnRs

Hibbert may not play, if he doesn't I expect to see Bass get the start at center but still think Black will get many mins too if Hibbert sits out tonight.

[ArC_man]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MarkG_Medina/status/696823764286308353[/tweet]
Easy loss

[miggs]

[moonpie]

Hibbert is out, Randle and Kobe playing. Russell GTD (Groin)

[moonpie]

Russell is playing tonight

[Jakay]

The Lakers have been playing pretty footloose and fancy free the last few games. This will not be that kind of game, or at least, I'd be very surprised if it was. Pacers are too embroiled in playoff positioning right now to let a game like this slide.

Good thread, btw. I suppose I'd better start keeping up on the "tank analytics" now since that's going to be the only thing interesting about where this year is ultimately headed.

: They're only 14.5 games out of that eighth spot though!

Yeah, about that...

[ArC_man]

Russell's got great defensive IQ when he's locked in.

[Mirjalovic]

you just can't handle Randle.

[Mirjalovic]

ANTHONY BROWN!

[KobeBryant24]

Dlo scrubbing up a storm

[ArC_man]

Way too many TOs

[iamworthy]

D'angelo mudiay

[Mirjalovic]

Way too many TOs

22 minutes later, still same

[Mirjalovic]

something wrong with the Lakers

[Mirjalovic]

Nice finish Russ

[cashflo]

Tank watch
Philly beating Clips in 3rd quarter
Nets up on Denver at halftime...

Let's win with a loss tonight!

* also Dfish is now available for the cause...

[TwoStarz]

Russel taking it to the pacers now!

[Crooked-I]

Kobe is gonna make us lose our pick, but oh well I don't care this is just too awesome.