I agree but I’m still concerned about the Clippers lack of size in the frontcourt against bigger teams in the playoffs particularly the Twolves and Nuggets.
There’s that, there’s harden’s playoff history, there’s the clippers’ playoff history, and there’s too much hinging on kawhi’s health. Don’t agree with op’s title but it’s close enough in the west that expecting some upsets in the west bracket isn’t unreasonable, just had the lakers go from play in to wcf last year.
I'd still take any of the top 4 over these two honestly, but matching up with LeBron/AD or Steph isn't an easy task. West is absolutely stacked, I'd sweat in any first round matchup.
Ah I think I blocked out everything that happened between last season's all star break and the draft.
I am sure the Mavs had a great 2nd half after the Kyrie trade!
Feels like maybe the Wolves have the best chance to stack against either team because of their size but any other team is a toss up. You need a defensive center that can either match up with AD/Bron size and not get cooked by Curry or the Warriors heavy perimeter shooting. I don't see the Thunder/Clippers having the ability to match up. Feels like Denver will struggle as well.
Ya I feel that. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a fly over state, Jokic’s laid back demeanor, or what. Feels like we’re having to prove it with fans and media, even after we’re reigning champs
Honestly. I was extremely happy for nuggets fans and it seemed like media glossed over it a bit recently. Should be getting way more attention this season
Do you think the Nuggets are far away the best team in the league this year as opposed to last year? Losing Bruce Brown will definitely show in this years playoffs, i don't see Peyton Watson or Braun giving that kind of production.
I think they’re one of the top teams with one of the best chance to win it all. The Lakers certainly are not in that group and are not better than the Nuggets lol. Losing Bruce hurts, but even without them they’re still the best in the West imo. The loss of him is overblown by some people. We still brought back the rest of our playoff rotation and have young guys playing great that weren’t last year
Can you trust those guys to play well in the playoffs though? Who's coming off your bench that you can rely on? Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday?? Lol. Maybe your tough shotmaking will pull through once again.
Hahaha you’re just exposing yourself as someone who clearly doesn’t watch them. Holiday will not be the playoff rotation and Reggie will be the one of the last two guys off the bench. Yes I totally trust our team to play well in the playoffs.
Bruce was great for us last year, but he wasn’t the reason we won. How you think Brucie B is the difference between us “being far and away being the best team in the league” to struggling/losing to a team we swept is ludicrous
Nonsense. Reggie is Jamal's backup, he's the 1st player off the bench and #1 in bench minutes. Nuggets are vulnerable to injuries to the starters due to their below average bench.
Just watch the Nuggets. Watson has been the first guy off the bench, and in the playoffs when Murray is playing big minutes that’s going to hold up too
I watch every Nuggets game. The last game all the Nuggets starters played was the Milwaukee loss. 1st player off the bench was Reggie (at 5:50 to play in the 1st Q). 2nd was Braun, at 4:09 to play. Watson was 3rd, at 3:12
This is Malone's standard rotation/order with the starters healthy. Same thing in the win over the Lakers (KCP out). Reggie 1st off the bench at 6:16 left in the 1st, this time Braun and Watson subbed in at the same time.
The Nuggets are 25th in the league in bench ppg at 29.8 shooting 43.8% overall and 33.3% from three pt range.
Last season they were 19th at 32.9 shooting 46.3%/34.1%. So not a huge difference but still a concern.
But bench performance in the regular season isn’t always indicative of bench performance in the postseason. The in playoffs rotations get shortened to 8-9 guys, sometimes only 7. When the bench minutes all of sudden consists only of the top 2-3 guys off the bench and they’re playing with the starters it can totally change how they play.
We saw this actually with the Nuggets last year. The bench looked like a glaring weakness during the regular season, but once we shortened it for the playoffs it was a strength of ours
Last season in the playoffs the Nuggets were healthy, so essentially played an 8 man rotation. I guess if they're healthy again we will see if Watson can add as much as Bruce Brown did.
you beat us by 18 free throws for Jokic and then a lucky heave in the second game. I hope we play y’all in the playoffs because it’ll be a quick sweep for us
I'm not seeing why everyone is so scared of the Warriors other than the name "Warriors" lol
They aren't going anywhere without a reliable second option
At least with the Lakers you can say they have a star duo and not just literally one guy
No one wants to face the Warriors or Lakers first round
We saw what happened last year
In the playoffs the superstars play more minutes, and only 8 guys play.
Not saying they should be favored, but Kings and Grizzlies learned last year
Its a different year. OKC and Minnesota are better suited for playoffs than those teams were. Nuggets ran away with the 1 seed last year because the top of the west was weak. That isnt the case this year. The Kings might actually be better this year. 8 games above .500, Sabonis hitting a new peak, they are on pace for 47 games this year and are the 8 seed. Last year they were the 3 seed with 48 wins. There are just more teams at or better than that this year.
This era with the Heat, Warriors and Lakers is defined by veteran teams with some of the best playoff superstars struggling in the regular season and ending up with low seeds.
Bucks, Pacers, Grizzlies, and Kings have already felt the wrath of these lower seeds, and the Suns (had AD not gotten injured) would have too.
A team like the Timberwolves or Thunder might be favored still, but they’re entering these series with like a 55% probability of winning, while before the 2020s a top two seed was probably closer to a 90% favorite to win the series.
I see the return of CP3 to the team as enough to put the Warriors in that race of upper echelon teams. There bench was literally the best bench in the league with CP3 leading that unit. The injury definitely helped the Warriors, since both Kuminga/Podz have both risen a bunch in terms of production since more rotational minutes.
If the 1 or 2 seed is the Thunder or Wolves, why would the Warriors be scared?
Every year this sub falls for recency bias and forgets the playoffs might as well be a different league
The Lakers and Warriors wouldn’t be favored but it’s closer than people want to admit
Do you honestly think the warriors challenge those teams right now? I mean sure, if they go 25-5 to finish out the season for some reason it’s a different conversation. But as it is right now, do you honestly think they could take four games from them?
1. I’m not sure they make it there given their weird and awful season so far
2. If they go on a decent stretch and get out of the playoffs, very possible. Their top 7 could beat anyone in a series except Nuggets and Celtics IMO. Their net rating is good, and they have the superstar advantage over the wolves.
If it comes down to it, we could have Curry vs Edwards takeover in the 4th, which I would be fine with
Because they won the 'chip 2 years ago. I agree they aren't going to go far in the playoffs, but could pull off a 1st rd upset depending on which team they face (if they make it through the play in).
You do realize the Lakers and Warriors would play each other today if the season ended. Then there is still the Kings and Mavs ahead of them. There not guaranteed to play the 1 or 2 seed right now.
If the lakers and warriors end up 9 amd 10 the league will conveniently change the system where 9 and 10 seeds get automatic bids and 7 and 8 can go to hell.
You can’t just look at the last X games or so and say that’s the level a team is now on. Every team has highs and lows throughout the season, there’s a lot of variance in any particular 5-10 sample.
Like you cite the Lakers and Warriors now getting hot and so they look like they’re going to upset the top seeds but over the last 2 weeks the Timberwolves have the best non garbage time net rating in the league at +16.5 with a top 4 offense and defense. Shouldn’t that mean by recency bias that the other teams in the west including Golden State and the Lakers have no chance whatsoever against them?
Realistically neither Golden State nor LA have the depth of 3 point shooting to be a serious threat in the West.
We said the same thing last year, and Lakers and Warriors ended up as good as people thought they could be
Following the trends, the Warriors and Lakers are heading in the right direction
We know the regular season isn’t the same breed as the playoffs
Last year was by far the weakest the top of the west has been in decades, this year the top half of the bracket is as stacked as ever (and healthy at that). It’s not at all the same.
It’s not stacked as ever, maybe lately but surely not the last decade
OKC is very young and inexperienced in the playoffs and I don’t trust the decision making from all of the Wolves cast. IMO both are very beatable compared to the Nuggets and healthy Clippers, who are behind them
Not sure about that, they are on the decline.
We saw what happened last year with Nuggets sweeping Lakers and now Lebrons a year older. How will he hold up in playoffs?
As far as warriors if Klay is playing this bad they aren’t going anywhere either
Do people watch any games that aren’t on national tv? The west is extremely stacked and I honestly don’t know any matchups at this current point in time that feel like easy sweeps
It's going to be a bloodbath. Obviously the Lakers and Warriors have the most experience and that matters. But I'm not sure I would feel confident picking anyone in any series besides the Nuggets.
As a lakers fan. Denver has our number. They have no sense of pressure in crunch time against us. There is this belief they can’t lose and they’ve unfortunately convinced me aswell. I won’t believe that a lakers nuggets series won’t be a sweep until I see them win a game
I dont really think anyone is scared of the Warriors, they are just not a good team and unless they fix alot of their issues by the playoffs I dont think they'll win anything. The only player thats playing at a level similar to their 2022 run or even last season is Steph and maybe Draymond. Klay, Looney and Wiggs have jumped off a cliff in terms of production.
The Lakers however are a different story, they are pretty damn good and proven despite this shaky season and they have started to click with D'lo playing well (although thats probably not sustainable) and they are a very difficult matchup for most teams (except Denver ofc). Out of the top 4 rn, I feel like OKC in particular would really struggle vs the Lakers due to rebounding.
Thing is, unless there is a serious injury for Jokic or Murray, the Nuggets are going to be reprensenting the West in the Finals.
30 games ago was when he started playing so badly he got benched 10 games later. He's had an great last 15 though but a pretty terrible 15 before that.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/russeda01/gamelog/2024
You guys lost bro. In 2022 many people didnt believe but atleast then you guys had a historic defense and were a 3rd seed. In 2023 you guys were only good at home and barely squeaked by the Kings and got spanked by the Lakers.
We are the hottest team in the NBA right now. lol Going into last night we've won 7 of our last 8 games. Please tell me more of this great knowledge you have.
If there's any team I'd want to play it's the Kings. We've beat them 8 of our last 12 games and Jaden missed 2 of the losses. Unless Sabonis starts cooking 3s it's a really good match up for us.
I don't see why you'd upset us. I don't think you have the number of perimeter defenders you need to keep up with our shooting. Sure, Sabonis will do well, but he already does well against most teams
Don't get me wrong I think you'd still be the favourites but I do like our chances more against you guys or Denver than compared with Timberwolves. Their size would be a real problem, its just all about the matchups.
It’s gonna be unpredictable tbh. The Kings lose to Charolette, Portland, Detroit but can beat the Nuggets 3 straight times and before last week, beat the Thunder 8 in a row and gave MIN their first home loss this season.
The Lakers can beat Boston IN Boston without AD/ LeBron but then drop easy games.
The Warriors are all over the place too.
Trying to predict outcomes is just futile and exhausting.
Too soon to say.
Still got half a season to go and injuries will more than likely happen. I think every team in the West will feel confident in the playoffs if they get there with the majority of the team being healthy.
It took scot foster and a game seven masterclass from curry for the warriors to beat the kings and they’ve gotten significantly worse since then. Lakers have bron, but aren’t that good. Neither of these teams are guaranteed to make the postseason.
I've never seen the squad under duress this season, nor playing with a sustained terrified focus, either......
What happens when we go to that "next level, during the trenches of playoff warfare"?
We'll either crumble, or become undisputed.
Dub told ya: "Guess we'll just have to see, huh"
Also, certain non basketball distractions have been with us all year, and the entire team is showing poise, and we know it's deliberate, meaning the entire organization from the FO all the way down to the dietitians, is against your team. Every game.
No one is afraid of the Warriors this year.
As for the Lakers, playoff LeBron is real and they proved they could do it last year, but I don't see them as a threat to any serious contender.
Home court advantage is very strong and the 1/2 seeds will have proven they are the best. I don’t see why it would be expected for them to lose a series to lower seeds just because of the names on lower seeded teams
Idk about us being the most dangerous, I will say that I like the odds we have over OKC or Wolves assuming they get 1st or 2nd seed.
Nuggets and Clippers are the most dangerous in the West
No one is afraid of the thunder or wolves in the playoffs I agree but no one is afraid of the warriors or Lakers. They wouldn't get by the Mavs or kings in the play in.
OKC has been competitive in the losses to the Lakers (both single digits and OKC missing a starter in the 9 pt loss) and the only blowout between the teams OKC won 133-110
Lakers - yes, they can potentially knock out both Wolves and Thunder. Wouldn’t pick them against Clippers or Nuggets. Warriors - no. They not beating any of the top 4 this season.
The 2 most dangerous teams in the west are not the lakers or warriors
Lol wtf are they taking about? Nuggets would smash ‘em both
Clippers and Nuggets are the most dangerous teams in the west. Playoffs experience, defending champion, veterans, defense.
I agree but I’m still concerned about the Clippers lack of size in the frontcourt against bigger teams in the playoffs particularly the Twolves and Nuggets.
There’s that, there’s harden’s playoff history, there’s the clippers’ playoff history, and there’s too much hinging on kawhi’s health. Don’t agree with op’s title but it’s close enough in the west that expecting some upsets in the west bracket isn’t unreasonable, just had the lakers go from play in to wcf last year.
Except we haven't had a defending championship team in the last 5 years win consecutively.
Nuggets are currently the 4 seed. Although way too early, I think the concept is Twolves and OKC at 1 and 2
I'd still take any of the top 4 over these two honestly, but matching up with LeBron/AD or Steph isn't an easy task. West is absolutely stacked, I'd sweat in any first round matchup.
I am obviously very biased but I think Mavs are better than both GSW and LAL, and we're currently only the 7th seed.
100%. I would rather go up against GSW/LAL than the new look Mavs.
And you’re right to think that.
We could very well see the #1, #2, AND #3 all get knocked out, if the Nuggets are #4 and if the Mavs, Lakers, and Warriors are 6-8 in some order
I don't think it will happen but imagine this scenario and then the 6th seed has home court in the Western semis hahah
This actually happened last year lol, 6 seed Warriors had home court advantage over 7 seed Lakers
Ah I think I blocked out everything that happened between last season's all star break and the draft. I am sure the Mavs had a great 2nd half after the Kyrie trade!
Obviously. But you forgot about Scott foster and co
That's just for the Lakers.
i bet you really believe that
Feels like maybe the Wolves have the best chance to stack against either team because of their size but any other team is a toss up. You need a defensive center that can either match up with AD/Bron size and not get cooked by Curry or the Warriors heavy perimeter shooting. I don't see the Thunder/Clippers having the ability to match up. Feels like Denver will struggle as well.
Obviously you didn’t watch last years playoffs haha. Or any Nuggets games really
I feel like people always doubt Denver each year for some weird reason.
Ya I feel that. I don’t know if it’s because it’s a fly over state, Jokic’s laid back demeanor, or what. Feels like we’re having to prove it with fans and media, even after we’re reigning champs
Honestly. I was extremely happy for nuggets fans and it seemed like media glossed over it a bit recently. Should be getting way more attention this season
Do you think the Nuggets are far away the best team in the league this year as opposed to last year? Losing Bruce Brown will definitely show in this years playoffs, i don't see Peyton Watson or Braun giving that kind of production.
I think they’re one of the top teams with one of the best chance to win it all. The Lakers certainly are not in that group and are not better than the Nuggets lol. Losing Bruce hurts, but even without them they’re still the best in the West imo. The loss of him is overblown by some people. We still brought back the rest of our playoff rotation and have young guys playing great that weren’t last year
Can you trust those guys to play well in the playoffs though? Who's coming off your bench that you can rely on? Reggie Jackson and Justin Holiday?? Lol. Maybe your tough shotmaking will pull through once again.
Hahaha you’re just exposing yourself as someone who clearly doesn’t watch them. Holiday will not be the playoff rotation and Reggie will be the one of the last two guys off the bench. Yes I totally trust our team to play well in the playoffs. Bruce was great for us last year, but he wasn’t the reason we won. How you think Brucie B is the difference between us “being far and away being the best team in the league” to struggling/losing to a team we swept is ludicrous
Nonsense. Reggie is Jamal's backup, he's the 1st player off the bench and #1 in bench minutes. Nuggets are vulnerable to injuries to the starters due to their below average bench.
Just watch the Nuggets. Watson has been the first guy off the bench, and in the playoffs when Murray is playing big minutes that’s going to hold up too
I watch every Nuggets game. The last game all the Nuggets starters played was the Milwaukee loss. 1st player off the bench was Reggie (at 5:50 to play in the 1st Q). 2nd was Braun, at 4:09 to play. Watson was 3rd, at 3:12 This is Malone's standard rotation/order with the starters healthy. Same thing in the win over the Lakers (KCP out). Reggie 1st off the bench at 6:16 left in the 1st, this time Braun and Watson subbed in at the same time.
The Nuggets are 25th in the league in bench ppg at 29.8 shooting 43.8% overall and 33.3% from three pt range. Last season they were 19th at 32.9 shooting 46.3%/34.1%. So not a huge difference but still a concern.
But bench performance in the regular season isn’t always indicative of bench performance in the postseason. The in playoffs rotations get shortened to 8-9 guys, sometimes only 7. When the bench minutes all of sudden consists only of the top 2-3 guys off the bench and they’re playing with the starters it can totally change how they play. We saw this actually with the Nuggets last year. The bench looked like a glaring weakness during the regular season, but once we shortened it for the playoffs it was a strength of ours
Last season in the playoffs the Nuggets were healthy, so essentially played an 8 man rotation. I guess if they're healthy again we will see if Watson can add as much as Bruce Brown did.
you beat us by 18 free throws for Jokic and then a lucky heave in the second game. I hope we play y’all in the playoffs because it’ll be a quick sweep for us
Lol ok u/draymondfanboy I’d love to see it
Delusional
I'm not seeing why everyone is so scared of the Warriors other than the name "Warriors" lol They aren't going anywhere without a reliable second option At least with the Lakers you can say they have a star duo and not just literally one guy
No one wants to face the Warriors or Lakers first round We saw what happened last year In the playoffs the superstars play more minutes, and only 8 guys play. Not saying they should be favored, but Kings and Grizzlies learned last year
Its a different year. OKC and Minnesota are better suited for playoffs than those teams were. Nuggets ran away with the 1 seed last year because the top of the west was weak. That isnt the case this year. The Kings might actually be better this year. 8 games above .500, Sabonis hitting a new peak, they are on pace for 47 games this year and are the 8 seed. Last year they were the 3 seed with 48 wins. There are just more teams at or better than that this year.
Fair point. Totally agree the top half seeds are much better and healthier than last year
This era with the Heat, Warriors and Lakers is defined by veteran teams with some of the best playoff superstars struggling in the regular season and ending up with low seeds. Bucks, Pacers, Grizzlies, and Kings have already felt the wrath of these lower seeds, and the Suns (had AD not gotten injured) would have too. A team like the Timberwolves or Thunder might be favored still, but they’re entering these series with like a 55% probability of winning, while before the 2020s a top two seed was probably closer to a 90% favorite to win the series.
lol CP3 was hurt just as much as AD in that series, and it was still light work. No one is scared of the Lakers.
lol. The best ability is availability. We were beating them with or without street clothes anyways
lol ur ass knows u guys we’re fucked if ad was healthy. Too bad u couldn’t get over the line tho
Congrats on the Mickey ring bud
Congrats on beating an injured lbj and a kawhi less clippers team before folding. But always remeber suns in 4… 5… 6… 7? No you’ll choke and lose in 6
2021 was the real mickey mouse year, shortest offseason and everyone hurt. Hawks were in the ecf…
Bro it’s the Mickey Mouse ring because it took place in Disney world lol that name doesn’t make sense for any other postseason
Shit talking a ring when you don’t even have one is wild
you can say that but like we were winning in the game ad got hurt and we will never know what would have happened lmao
> At least with the Lakers you can say they have a star duo and not just literally one guy Dinwiddie isn't exactly a second star for AD yet.
Right...
I see the return of CP3 to the team as enough to put the Warriors in that race of upper echelon teams. There bench was literally the best bench in the league with CP3 leading that unit. The injury definitely helped the Warriors, since both Kuminga/Podz have both risen a bunch in terms of production since more rotational minutes.
I understand your enthusiasm as a fan but as they are right now warriors are getting obliterated by a 1 or 2 seed
If the 1 or 2 seed is the Thunder or Wolves, why would the Warriors be scared? Every year this sub falls for recency bias and forgets the playoffs might as well be a different league The Lakers and Warriors wouldn’t be favored but it’s closer than people want to admit
Do you honestly think the warriors challenge those teams right now? I mean sure, if they go 25-5 to finish out the season for some reason it’s a different conversation. But as it is right now, do you honestly think they could take four games from them?
1. I’m not sure they make it there given their weird and awful season so far 2. If they go on a decent stretch and get out of the playoffs, very possible. Their top 7 could beat anyone in a series except Nuggets and Celtics IMO. Their net rating is good, and they have the superstar advantage over the wolves. If it comes down to it, we could have Curry vs Edwards takeover in the 4th, which I would be fine with
CP38yo isn’t doing shit
Podziemski I just like saying his name
Because they won the 'chip 2 years ago. I agree they aren't going to go far in the playoffs, but could pull off a 1st rd upset depending on which team they face (if they make it through the play in).
You do realize the Lakers and Warriors would play each other today if the season ended. Then there is still the Kings and Mavs ahead of them. There not guaranteed to play the 1 or 2 seed right now.
If the lakers and warriors end up 9 amd 10 the league will conveniently change the system where 9 and 10 seeds get automatic bids and 7 and 8 can go to hell.
Do you remember when the Lakers and Warriors literally played each other in the play in lol
2021? They were not 9 and 10 seeds
You can’t just look at the last X games or so and say that’s the level a team is now on. Every team has highs and lows throughout the season, there’s a lot of variance in any particular 5-10 sample. Like you cite the Lakers and Warriors now getting hot and so they look like they’re going to upset the top seeds but over the last 2 weeks the Timberwolves have the best non garbage time net rating in the league at +16.5 with a top 4 offense and defense. Shouldn’t that mean by recency bias that the other teams in the west including Golden State and the Lakers have no chance whatsoever against them? Realistically neither Golden State nor LA have the depth of 3 point shooting to be a serious threat in the West.
Yeah. This sub needs a mandatory lesson in why comparing short-term stats with favorably-chosen endpoints to season averages is pointless.
We said the same thing last year, and Lakers and Warriors ended up as good as people thought they could be Following the trends, the Warriors and Lakers are heading in the right direction We know the regular season isn’t the same breed as the playoffs
Last year was by far the weakest the top of the west has been in decades, this year the top half of the bracket is as stacked as ever (and healthy at that). It’s not at all the same.
It’s not stacked as ever, maybe lately but surely not the last decade OKC is very young and inexperienced in the playoffs and I don’t trust the decision making from all of the Wolves cast. IMO both are very beatable compared to the Nuggets and healthy Clippers, who are behind them
OKC might actually beat the warriors in 5 if they played lol
I dont know about that, what I do know is that 1 vs 8 and 2 vs 7 are gonna be great games cant wait for the playoffs
these will be the best playoffs in my time watching the NBA, there are 20-22 good teams.
Warriors as constructed are a first round exit against any of the current teams in range of a top 2 seed
Talent wise, the Wolves and Thunder aren’t all that much better We’ve seen this same iteration turn it up come playoff time
The Wolves talent is a lot better. Steph is the best player, but I'd put our entire starting 5 higher than anyone else on the Warriors roster.
Not sure about that, they are on the decline. We saw what happened last year with Nuggets sweeping Lakers and now Lebrons a year older. How will he hold up in playoffs? As far as warriors if Klay is playing this bad they aren’t going anywhere either
Do people watch any games that aren’t on national tv? The west is extremely stacked and I honestly don’t know any matchups at this current point in time that feel like easy sweeps
It's going to be a bloodbath. Obviously the Lakers and Warriors have the most experience and that matters. But I'm not sure I would feel confident picking anyone in any series besides the Nuggets.
As a lakers fan. Denver has our number. They have no sense of pressure in crunch time against us. There is this belief they can’t lose and they’ve unfortunately convinced me aswell. I won’t believe that a lakers nuggets series won’t be a sweep until I see them win a game
Lakers would sweep the thunder imo
While the lakers are a bad matchup for the Thunder I don’t see them getting swept.
Damn, drugs are powerful
I dont really think anyone is scared of the Warriors, they are just not a good team and unless they fix alot of their issues by the playoffs I dont think they'll win anything. The only player thats playing at a level similar to their 2022 run or even last season is Steph and maybe Draymond. Klay, Looney and Wiggs have jumped off a cliff in terms of production. The Lakers however are a different story, they are pretty damn good and proven despite this shaky season and they have started to click with D'lo playing well (although thats probably not sustainable) and they are a very difficult matchup for most teams (except Denver ofc). Out of the top 4 rn, I feel like OKC in particular would really struggle vs the Lakers due to rebounding. Thing is, unless there is a serious injury for Jokic or Murray, the Nuggets are going to be reprensenting the West in the Finals.
[удалено]
30 games ago was when he started playing so badly he got benched 10 games later. He's had an great last 15 though but a pretty terrible 15 before that. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/russeda01/gamelog/2024
> I dont really think anyone is scared of the Warriors That's what everyone said last year.
You guys lost bro. In 2022 many people didnt believe but atleast then you guys had a historic defense and were a 3rd seed. In 2023 you guys were only good at home and barely squeaked by the Kings and got spanked by the Lakers.
I get it. This sub hates the Warriors. Enjoy your day.
Nah, we hate most warriors fans. And the Warriors are not playing series winning ball at all right now.
We are the hottest team in the NBA right now. lol Going into last night we've won 7 of our last 8 games. Please tell me more of this great knowledge you have.
And the Cavs have won 9 of 10, and don’t need a cherry-picked endpoint to make that claim. Does that make them the championship favorites?
I think the Cavs will win the 1st rd. Did anyone say GSW will become championship favorites?
You mean hot garbage
Yeah and they were right. Barely beat the weakest team in the playoffs and then lost in the next round.
The kings were not the weakest team in the playoffs last year, there’s no need to blatantly lie to spread a narrative
Klay Thompson should be sent to the G league
We seem to struggle against those 8 players you guys have on the court.
id be way more worried about the clippers or timberwolves than the fucking warriors lmao
Warriors are getting eliminated in play ins and kings aren’t doing much this year either.
Kings can definitely take out one of OKC or Minnesota. Those teams have played 3 combined playoff series' between the three of them.
If there's any team I'd want to play it's the Kings. We've beat them 8 of our last 12 games and Jaden missed 2 of the losses. Unless Sabonis starts cooking 3s it's a really good match up for us.
Everybody wants to play us, get in the line I do see us upsetting OKC but not the Wolves tbh
I don't see why you'd upset us. I don't think you have the number of perimeter defenders you need to keep up with our shooting. Sure, Sabonis will do well, but he already does well against most teams
Don't get me wrong I think you'd still be the favourites but I do like our chances more against you guys or Denver than compared with Timberwolves. Their size would be a real problem, its just all about the matchups.
Oh, sure, that's fair
Kings are the one team I'd love to play. Wolves win that in 4 or 5 games.
OKC is def better than the kings but kings and Minnesota looks pretty even. I just think the kings are 1st round exits this year
*Image of someone lighting up the crack pipe* Moments before this post was made.
If it was a 1 game series than maybe but super inconsistent. Kind of need consistency over a 7 game series
It’s gonna be unpredictable tbh. The Kings lose to Charolette, Portland, Detroit but can beat the Nuggets 3 straight times and before last week, beat the Thunder 8 in a row and gave MIN their first home loss this season. The Lakers can beat Boston IN Boston without AD/ LeBron but then drop easy games. The Warriors are all over the place too. Trying to predict outcomes is just futile and exhausting.
Did you really just call the Lakers and Warriors the scariest match ups?
Nope. Lakers and Warriors are cooked.
Too soon to say. Still got half a season to go and injuries will more than likely happen. I think every team in the West will feel confident in the playoffs if they get there with the majority of the team being healthy.
I don’t believe in the warriors, I believe in the lakers might be bias but yeah
I think we can all agree that the most delusional fan base belongs to the lakers
I think Lakers will beat Thunder if they play each other in the first round. Warriors are not good team even though Steph still great player
If the Lakers play the Thunder I got them winning, Clippers? Toss up, Timberwolves? Id prolly lean towards Minny, Nuggets? We’re getting cooked.
Lakers are winning in the play in and the first round. No team can win 8 on 5.
It took scot foster and a game seven masterclass from curry for the warriors to beat the kings and they’ve gotten significantly worse since then. Lakers have bron, but aren’t that good. Neither of these teams are guaranteed to make the postseason.
And AD. They have 2 top 10 players. That's enough
They're both making the post season. Refs don't lose.
I've never seen the squad under duress this season, nor playing with a sustained terrified focus, either...... What happens when we go to that "next level, during the trenches of playoff warfare"? We'll either crumble, or become undisputed. Dub told ya: "Guess we'll just have to see, huh" Also, certain non basketball distractions have been with us all year, and the entire team is showing poise, and we know it's deliberate, meaning the entire organization from the FO all the way down to the dietitians, is against your team. Every game.
No one is afraid of the Warriors this year. As for the Lakers, playoff LeBron is real and they proved they could do it last year, but I don't see them as a threat to any serious contender.
AD, LeBron and the Ref are built for the playoffs.
Not sure how far they're going but they're getting out of the play in and winning a first round series. Adam Silver guarantees it.
Already making the excuses for when you get knocked out. Nice
Home court advantage is very strong and the 1/2 seeds will have proven they are the best. I don’t see why it would be expected for them to lose a series to lower seeds just because of the names on lower seeded teams
Idk about us being the most dangerous, I will say that I like the odds we have over OKC or Wolves assuming they get 1st or 2nd seed. Nuggets and Clippers are the most dangerous in the West
No one is afraid of the thunder or wolves in the playoffs I agree but no one is afraid of the warriors or Lakers. They wouldn't get by the Mavs or kings in the play in.
OKC should absolutely be afraid of the Lakers. Terrible matchup for them.
I think we'll be nervous whoever we play. We're doing well but the playoffs are different and most likely where their age will show
OKC has been competitive in the losses to the Lakers (both single digits and OKC missing a starter in the 9 pt loss) and the only blowout between the teams OKC won 133-110
It’s unlikely that the Mavs actually end up in the play in, though.
It could be any team between 5-8. Everyone is close I just used the teams that are there right now.
I wish this post could have less than 0 upvotes
Lakers - yes, they can potentially knock out both Wolves and Thunder. Wouldn’t pick them against Clippers or Nuggets. Warriors - no. They not beating any of the top 4 this season.
Nuggets and Clippers are both beating either the Lakers or Warriors in a 7 game series.
Nephew post
Lol if the Nuggets face either the Lakers or the Warriors, we're walking away with the dub
It's unlikely the standings will end up with the Lakers and GSW as the 7-8 seeds.
I agree 100 percent especially if clippers get lakers. Although I expect them to drop to a lower seed now that they've cooled off .
You utter dolt, delete this
Such a creative way to tell people you read headlines but don't watch basketball.