The Indy Talks To Himself (NBA) Thread.

Clowney is the future. Keep that bum Jokic on the bench.

 

I've literally never even looked at NBA fantasy, so I know nothing about it. It seems like you probably want Jokic in the lineup over John Collins.

Rough to have both KAT and Ingram with those late injuries.

 

Season on the line, and AD is out with “Headache and nausea.”

For real?

 

https://x.com/statmuse/status/1777873986967204079?s=46&t=-g4-4SHxx6dZ80rS7hnjTA

Edey is cooked.

 

Went to bed at halftime, but not surprised at all to read this:

https://x.com/sixthmanjake/status/1777906064962290171?s=46&t=-g4-4SHxx6dZ80rS7hnjTA

Looks like the Lakers had cut it to 6 with 3:30 left in the 3rd quarter. After 3 and a half minutes of this lineup, which had ZERO minutes played together prior, the lead was up to 17.

This is why coaching matters. A good coach knows that you can’t give 3 and a half minutes to a lineup that’s played ZERO minutes together in what is essentially a MUST WIN game to guarantee you’re not the 10 seed and give yourself a shot at being the 7 seed.

 

History will not look back favorably on Pelinka and Buss hiring Darvin Ham instead of Ty Lue because they “didn’t want LeBron to have too much control.”

 

Clippers are up on the Suns at halftime with a starting 5 of:

Amir Coffey
Terance Mann
Bones Hyland
Mason Plumlee
PJ Tucker

Lol what the [uck fay]?

 

Broussard says he’s voting Luka MVP.

I’m not sure I think Luka deserves it over Jokic, but I think it should be closer than it is.

 

An argument can be made. He's had a heck of a season. I'd still go Jokic, but agree Luka is close.

 

https://x.com/trevor_lane/status/1778288802282254567?s=46&t=-g4-4SHxx6dZ80rS7hnjTA

Coach matters.

 

Jokic is -5000 to win it. I think Luka got 1 vote in the latest straw poll.

Luka is 1st in points, 2nd in assists, 16th in rebounds. Crazy that it’s not closer.

 

Quite possibly the dumbest thing in sports right now:

Lakers, Warriors, and Kings all tied at 8-10 with 45 wins and 35 losses. Lakers are in 10th because both teams hold the tiebreaker over them.

Lakers In Season Tournament win literally has no impact. Doesn’t guarantee them a spot. Doesn’t count as one of their 82 games. Doesn’t give them an extra win on the season. Doesn’t give them an automatic tie breaker.

It means literally nothing, and it’s complete bull shit. They’re going to be the first team in history to win a game between the first game of the regular season and last game of the regular season that just doesn’t count for anything. And it might cost them a playoff spot.

 

Western conference is bananas

 

This Pelicans meltdown is something else.

 

https://x.com/cantguardjake/status/1779268269024628945?s=46&t=-g4-4SHxx6dZ80rS7hnjTA

@Ssmiff

 

We knew all of this before the season started and there was largely not a peep, but now that Laker fans are realizing that they're facing swift elimination it's the "dumbest thing in sports"

 

Yeah man - it was the dumbest thing in sports before the season too. We just hadn’t been shown why.

But now we have a potential 3-team tie at 46 wins to finish in the 8-10 seeds, guaranteeing that at least 1 team who won enough games to be the 4 seed in last year’s standings won’t even make the playoffs this year. And the Lakers, who won the damn IST and are the only team out of the 3 that actually has 47 wins during the regular season, will be 10th in that scenario, forcing them to win TWO road games just to make the playoffs.

It is incredibly dumb for the IST win to not have any impact on tiebreaker scenarios. It is incredibly dumb that a game played during the regular season just doesn’t count towards the winning team’s record - the only game where that is the case. If they want the IST to matter, then in places where it can actually impact the season/playoffs in some form or fashion, it needs to do so.

 

So there's a 3-way race for the West 1 seed on the last day of the season.

OKC is -19.5 against Dallas
Denver is -13.5 against Memphis
Minnesota is -1.5 against Phoenix

If Phoenix manages to win, and the Nuggets/Thunder take care of business as expected, it will lock Denver in at the 2 seed. Phoenix will have given themselves a chance at the 6 seed but will need the Lakers to beat the Pelicans in order for that to happen. Bottom line - by beating Minnesota, Phoenix is setting up a potential scenario where they land in the 7/8 play in game, with the winner matching up with... the Nuggets, in round 1. That's rough.

Alternatively, they could throw the game against Minnesota. That likely leads to OKC/Minn/Denver all winning, which locks Denver in at the 3 seed and Phoenix in at the 7 seed. Yeah, you're locking yourself into the play-in, which is not ideal, but at the same time, you're GUARANTEEING that you have a 0% chance of seeing Denver in the first round, and you're also giving yourself a chance to be on the complete opposite side of the bracket from them.

So the question becomes - is the risk of the play-in worth guaranteeing you don't see Denver until the conference finals? No NBA team would agree with me, but I lean towards yes for a few reasons:

1. If you can't win 1 out of 2 home games in the play-in to get into the 7 or 8 seed, then doesn't any of this stuff truly matter to begin with?

2. Even if you beat Minnesota, you still don't control your own destiny and are 100% reliant on New Orleans losing to the Lakers for it to matter.

3. If you beat the Wolves, the statistically most likely scenario is a round 1 match up with the Nuggets. Denver is heavily likely to land in the 2 seed. The Pelicans are favored against the Lakers, which means Phoenix is likely to land in the 7 seed, regardless. And as a 7 seed, Phoenix would likely be favored over whoever they play in the play-in, meaning they'd get the Nuggets. So, essentially, your most likely outcome by winning against the Wolves is a first round match up against the Nuggets.

No thanks.

 

What the league wants to see:

Lakers beat Pelicans
Suns beat Timberwolves
Kings lose to Portland

That sets up:

7. Pelicans
8. Lakers
9. Warriors
10. Kings

Lakers beat Pelicans to land at 7. Warriors beat Kings and then Pelicans to land at 8. KD, Bron, and Steph all make the playoffs.

 

Does the FA Cup have an impact on the Premier League standings? Is there any in-season tournament like that that is NOT entirely separate from the domestic league standings? I'll hang up and listen for the next 5 paragraphs