Jostling for position

[Rastapopoulos]

Wtf is this shit

I guess they can feel less bad about it because there aren't fans in the building who paid good money for this shit.

 

[wizenheimer]

Wtf is this shit

damn. I guess Portland counting on the Pacers for an assist is like counting on Melo to be a pass-first player

 

[Mr. Robot]

the way i see it, la clippers will choose who they want to face in the 1st round, dallas or the portland

they are 4th seed and if they want to face dallas, theyre gonna lose to okc (by resting a lot of players) and hope that dallas beats minnesota and therefore end up being the 5th seed

if they want to face portland (they know portland will give their best to win against denver and therefore get straight into playoffs), they will beat okc and hope dallas beats minnesota, so portland ends up being the 6th seed

 

[wizenheimer]

the way i see it, la clippers will choose who they want to face in the 1st round, dallas or the portland

they are 4th seed and if they want to face dallas, theyre gonna lose to okc (by resting a lot of players) and hope that dallas beats minnesota and therefore end up being the 5th seed

if they want to face portland (they know portland will give their best to win against denver and therefore get straight into playoffs), they will beat okc and hope dallas beats minnesota, so portland ends up being the 6th seed

they should have beat Houston last night if they wanted that kind of control of the situation

besides there are too many variables right now for any team to really control this situation. #1 vs #2 isn't decided; #3 vs #4 isn't decided; #5, #6, & #7 aren't decided. I can't recall all seeds from 1-7 not being known this late in a season. And all of this could still be true at 6pm tomorrow when 6 of the top-7 seeds start their games. Pretty entertaining if a bit nerve-wracking

 

[THE HCP]

My brain!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pinwheel1]

the way i see it, la clippers will choose who they want to face in the 1st round, dallas or the portland

they are 4th seed and if they want to face dallas, theyre gonna lose to okc (by resting a lot of players) and hope that dallas beats minnesota and therefore end up being the 5th seed

if they want to face portland (they know portland will give their best to win against denver and therefore get straight into playoffs), they will beat okc and hope dallas beats minnesota, so portland ends up being the 6th seed

Not just the first round. The Clippers could be thinking about round 2 as well. Do they want to avoid the Lakers until the Western Conference Finals? The only way is to stay out of 3rd.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[Rastapopoulos]

 

[Cugel]

Cmon, enough silliness. Playing the warriors for the season. I think if they lose against GSW than that's it. They will have no fight left to face Memphis or sas victoriously

 

[Pinwheel1]

Cmon, enough silliness. Playing the warriors for the season. I think if they lose against GSW than that's it. They will have no fight left to face Memphis or sas victoriously

The Blazers have some deficiencies, but lack of heart/fight is not one of them IMO.

 

[Orion Bailey]

Ive read through this twice and im still confused!

 

[Fairly-Hard]

I don't really want to see a Blazer starter on the court tomorrow. Doesn't matter to me what the outcome is.
Blazers can field a team that will compete without any starters.

 

[illmatic99]

if Sat

lal loss to indy (best case scenario for por)

then Sunday

por let den win*
whatever mavs does
whatever clips does
den automatically becomes 3

mavs 5
por 6
lal 7

den3 v por6 rd 1
clips4 v mavs5 rd 1

-----------------------

if Sat

lal win in indy

then Sunday

if

por win
lal win
whatever mavs does

then

mavs 5
por 6
lal 7

if clips win
clips3 v por6 rd 1
den4 v mavs5 rd 1

if clips loss
den3 v por6 rd 1
clips4 v mavs5 rd 1

-----------------------------

if Sat

lal win in indy

then Sunday

if

por win
lal loss
mavs loss

por 5
mavs 6
lal 7

if clips win
clips3 v mavs6 rd 1
den4 v por5 rd 1

if clips loss
den3 v mavs6 rd 1
clips4 v por5 rd 1

------------------------------

if Sat

lal win in indy

then Sunday

if

por loss
lal loss
whatever mavs does
whatever clips does
den automatically becomes 3

mavs 5
por 6
lal 7

den3 v por6 rd 1
clips4 v mavs5 rd 1

-----------------------------

if Sat

lal win in indy

then Sunday

if

por win
lal loss
mavs win

mavs 5
por 6
lal 7

if clips win
clips3 v por6 rd 1
den4 v mavs5 rd 1

if clips loss
den3 v por6 rd 1
clips4 v mavs5 rd 1




*someone loses their house on that bet

Well done.

 

[crandc]

No one is helping Blazers out. Pacers kept it close but loathesome Lakers won.

 

[riverman]

I don't really want to see a Blazer starter on the court tomorrow. Doesn't matter to me what the outcome is.
Blazers can field a team that will compete without any starters.

Personally I think CJ and Nurk have had plenty of rest already....I want them both in better game shape for the big dance and Norman and Roco to keep building chemistry....it's not like we've had the same core for 3 seasons together and there was little training camp and no road practice most of the season...I think lack of conditioning is more dangerous this season than rest is beneficial for those guys. Dame, Enes and Roco could use the rest....I'd still like to see the starters play the first half but we need to win this game so that they can get some practice in for the playoffs

 

[illmatic99]

I don't really want to see a Blazer starter on the court tomorrow. Doesn't matter to me what the outcome is.
Blazers can field a team that will compete without any starters.

huh? we have to win tomorrow at all costs.

 

[blazerkor]

https://clutchpoints.com/nuggets-ne...e-on-potentially-ducking-lebron-james-lakers/

I don't think we're getting let off the hook tomorrow. Not with what this article says and with the break the Nuggets are facing during the play-in tournament. They won't be resting anyone that doesn't have a legit injury.

We're going to have to fight to stay out of the play-ins.

 

[Buffalo Custard]

Since the beginning of April the Blazers have had 1 point losses to the Suns, Nugs, Clips, and Celts and a 2 point loss to the Grizz. Win ONE of those games and you don't have to worry about the play-in.

 

[Titan]

If the nuggets really want to lose to the L*kers, then let them. No way the NBA will let Lebron/AD lose in the first round. Clippers know this, clearly Ballmer has legit smarts.

 

[blazerkor]

If the nuggets really want to lose to the L*kers, then let them. No way the NBA will let Lebron/AD lose in the first round. Clippers know this, clearly Ballmer has legit smarts.

This narrative is so tired. Why don't you go out there and find one credentialed journalist that has ever had a sourced story about the NBA choosing who wins series. In other words, LINK?

The story of the NBA rigging playoffs series or even one game would be so good and career making that any investigative journalist would kill to break it. So all of these years of everything being fixed and not one email, recording, piece of paper or anything has been dug up on something that the league according to people like you does every year. How does this make any sense to you at all. Donaghy conspired on his own and got caught.

Do you think that the small market owners would roll over for this? Do you think Adam Silver and the league would wager everything on this? Do you think these things especially with examples like San Antonio, Cleveland, OKC, Miami, Orlando, Detroit and more? I don't think your that dumb, so just stop saying it just because it's a convenient conspiracy theory.

 

[AldoTrapani]

Who cares if we get the 6th seed. We’ll play the Clippers in the first round and get destroyed

 

[Titan]

This narrative is so tired. Why don't you go out there and find one credentialed journalist that has ever had a sourced story about the NBA choosing who wins series. In other words, LINK?

The story of the NBA rigging playoffs series or even one game would be so good and career making that any investigative journalist would kill to break it. So all of these years of everything being fixed and not one email, recording, piece of paper or anything has been dug up on something that the league according to people like you does every year. How does this make any sense to you at all. Donaghy conspired on his own and got caught.

Do you think that the small market owners would roll over for this? Do you think Adam Silver and the league would wager everything on this? Do you think these things especially with examples like San Antonio, Cleveland, OKC, Miami, Orlando, Detroit and more? I don't think your that dumb, so just stop saying it just because it's a convenient conspiracy theory.

Chill

 

[KSF-ERIC]

This narrative is so tired. Why don't you go out there and find one credentialed journalist that has ever had a sourced story about the NBA choosing who wins series. In other words, LINK?

The story of the NBA rigging playoffs series or even one game would be so good and career making that any investigative journalist would kill to break it. So all of these years of everything being fixed and not one email, recording, piece of paper or anything has been dug up on something that the league according to people like you does every year. How does this make any sense to you at all. Donaghy conspired on his own and got caught.

Do you think that the small market owners would roll over for this? Do you think Adam Silver and the league would wager everything on this? Do you think these things especially with examples like San Antonio, Cleveland, OKC, Miami, Orlando, Detroit and more? I don't think your that dumb, so just stop saying it just because it's a convenient conspiracy theory.

Hi Adam.

 

[Tince]

It really seems to me that it's in the best interest of the Clippers and Nuggets to lose tomorrow. It assures the Clippers of not seeing the Lakers until the WCF and it would assure the Nuggets of not playing the Lakers in the first round. This scenario also gives us a matchup with the Nuggets. It's a win win win!

 

[wizenheimer]

It really seems to me that it's in the best interest of the Clippers and Nuggets to lose tomorrow. It assures the Clippers of not seeing the Lakers until the WCF and it would assure the Nuggets of not playing the Lakers in the first round. This scenario also gives us a matchup with the Nuggets. It's a win win win!

the monkey wrench to your win-win is if Dallas decides to tank the Minny game...they get Denver and send Portland to LA

 

[Tince]

the monkey wrench to your win-win is if Dallas decides to tank the Minny game...they get Denver and send Portland to LA

If Dallas loses, Portland wins, and the Lakers win, Dallas is the 5th seed still. It would have to be a Dallas loss, Portland win, and Laker loss for Dallas to move to 6th correct?

That scenario is possible. If Dallas only cares about the best 1st round matchup, they might consider it. However, they don't know if the Clippers are going to lose heading into their game so it's also possible them slipping to 6th puts them in a 1st round matchup with the Clippers and likely the Lakers in the 2nd round. I think locking in the 5th seed is their best overall option given the imperfect information they have.

 

[blazerkor]

Chill

Hi Adam.

I'm chill, this stuff doesn't get to me at all. I'm just tired of it being nonchalantly referenced as an accepted truth when there's absolutely no merit to it.

I'm not some kind of league apologist. There are plenty of benefits the league lets go unchecked for big market teams.

If both of you or one of you actually believe that the league rigs games, I just need it explained to me in a way that makes sense. Why it would be worth the risk? Why is there zero evidence of the actual conspiracy to do it? How does it work? Why is it anything more than the thousands of other baseless conspiracy theories out there?

 

[Fairly-Hard]

huh? we have to win tomorrow at all costs.

That isn't true. Yes we want them to win tomorrow but it is not "At All Costs".
I'll give you this. Terry Stotts seems to agree with you.

 

[wizenheimer]

If Dallas loses, Portland wins, and the Lakers win, Dallas is the 5th seed still. It would have to be a Dallas loss, Portland win, and Laker loss for Dallas to move to 6th correct?

which is why, unless Dallas really really wants a matchup with the Clippers, there is no cost to Dallas losing the game. Resting players, especially Porzingas who is injury prone, and losing the game, doesn't change their situation any,

other than give them a chance they'd play the Murray-less Nuggets. A team they beat during the regular season 2-1.

of course there are no guarantees in the other games. LAC might not be able to out-tank OKC; who is in a 5-way tank contest for #2 in the lottery (while everybody has been focused on the race for top-6 seeds, the race to the bottom has been heated too!). Denver/Portland may be a toss-up (although I think the Blazers are going to win). And the Pels could jump up and bite the Lakers

who knows....maybe LAC's obvious attempt to tank for Dallas will make the Mavs want the Clippers as a point of pride. But, Minny won't be a pushover either and a lot of lottery teams go all out to win their last game. Of course, Minny is one of those teams in the 5-way race to the bottom

 

[handiman]

If both of you or one of you actually believe that the league rigs games, I just need it explained to me in a way that makes sense. Why it would be worth the risk? Why is there zero evidence of the actual conspiracy to do it? How does it work? Why is it anything more than the thousands of other baseless conspiracy theories out there?

Did you not read Donaghy's account of how the refs are influenced before games? The league distanced themselves from that narrative, but it is well documented that he put it out there.