NBA Playoffs 2023

[celticsclay]

Hope Warriors sweep Lakers!!!!

I hope the opposite. The fact i'm rooting for the LAKERS puts in to perspective how much I despise this Golden State team...also, I like the Celtics chances much more against L.A. in a potential finals series. Oh, how great it would be to give LeBron one more a** whooping on the grandest stage of all while also surpassing the Lakers for total titles won.

This guy gets it. We want no part of the Warriors. We”ll crush the Lakers.

How can you guys stand more of Reggie miller talking about the king. If there is only a few more games of that it will make my year.

[Who]

GSW vs LAL

Starters

G: Steph vs D Russell
G: Klay vs A Reaves
F: Wiggins vs LeBron
F: Draymond vs Vanderbilt
C: Looney vs A Davis

Steph is going to destroy D Russell. One of the worst defensive PGs in the league against the best offensive PG in the game.

I am looking forward to the Klay vs A Reaves matchup. Just how good is Reaves? He has a better handle & is a better passer than Klay. A good shooter but Klay is a special shooter. Can Reaves keep up with Klay? Can he outplay Klay? Is Klay still dominant enough to destroy Reaves? He sure did destroy Huerter who was a no-show in the last series for SAC.

Wiggins is a very good defender to have against LeBron. They'll have Draymond and Looney behind Wiggins to support him. I expect they can continue to deny LeBron's dribble drive game as MEM did in the last round with less capable defenders. LeBron is still the superior player due to his passing and rebounding.

Draymond and Looney against Vanderbilt and A Davis. Davis has destroyed GSW in the past. His athleticism and length was too much for their big men in the past ... but in the present? Can he do it again? Draymond has the clear advantage over Vanderbilt due to his superior ball-handling & passing. Can Looney slow down AD as he did with Sabonis?

Bench

G: G Payton III vs Schroder
G: Poole vs M Beasley
F: Moody vs Troy Brown
F: Kuminga vs Hachimura
C: Jay Green vs Mo Bamba

Well, the centers do not play. GSW have a big advantage at SG with Jordan Poole who is far and away the best bench player on either team and is up against a below average backup SG. Kuminga isn't playing. Hachimura gives LAL a legit backup PF which GSW does not really possess. So he will be matched up mostly with Draymond, Looney, Wiggins or Moody.

Payton and Schroder is a fun matchup; defense vs offense.

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

I can't help feeling that GSW has far more weapons than LAL does. The only chance I see LAL having is if AD rolls back the clock and puts forth a dominating series like he once did for NOP vs GSW ... and I'm not convinced he is capable of doing that anymore.

GSW's shooters is a big change from the shooting challenged Memphis Grizzlies. LAL's defense was spotty at best and being held together by the inerior D of AD. Against a team as potent from the perimeter as GSW? LAL is in trouble. AD was aided by playin against MEM's slashers. He'll have a tougher time chasing GSW around the perimeter denying them 3s.

Vanderbilt's switchability against GSW's shooters is valuable but I wonder if they'll move him to the bench in order to get more offense on the floor with Hachimura.

[hpantazo]

Wiggins and Looney have a good chance of at least slowing down Lebron and AD whereas nobody on the Lakers has a chance at slowing down Curry, and the Warriors have too many other weapons to hurt LA each night.

[kraidstar]

Hope Warriors sweep Lakers!!!!

I hope the opposite. The fact i'm rooting for the LAKERS puts in to perspective how much I despise this Golden State team...also, I like the Celtics chances much more against L.A. in a potential finals series. Oh, how great it would be to give LeBron one more a** whooping on the grandest stage of all while also surpassing the Lakers for total titles won.

This guy gets it. We want no part of the Warriors. We”ll crush the Lakers.

How can you guys stand more of Reggie miller talking about the king. If there is only a few more games of that it will make my year.

TP

He is sickening when he talks about LeBroid and the Lakers. It's like he gets paid per mention ala Idiocracy.

[Redz]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz). 

[Kuberski33]

What concerns me if we get a Celtics-Warriors rematch is that Curry will still be the best player on the floor and the coaching gap between Kerr and Joe will be steep.

[Vermont Green]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

[Vermont Green]

What concerns me if we get a Celtics-Warriors rematch is that Curry will still be the best player on the floor and the coaching gap between Kerr and Joe will be steep.

May I politely suggest that you may be getting a bit ahead of yourself?

[Celtics2021]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

[Vermont Green]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win.  I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

[SparzWizard]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

[Phantom255x]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

Is Reaves going to defend Klay all series? I feel like that's the matchup not too many are talking about. All the questions are about Curry, but Klay feels like he's going to be a secret weapon. Schroder and D'Lo won't be able to defend those guys all series

Golden State has way more to throw at Lakers. Outside of Morant, who was the other legit threat from Memphis to worry about?

[kraidstar]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

If Smart and White couldn't stop Curry I doubt the Lakers will. Curry will get his. The key to me will be whether Draymond and Looney can protect the rim.

[Vermont Green]

Is Reaves going to defend Klay all series? I feel like that's the matchup not too many are talking about. All the questions are about Curry, but Klay feels like he's going to be a secret weapon. Schroder and D'Lo won't be able to defend those guys all series

Golden State has way more to throw at Lakers. Outside of Morant, who was the other legit threat from Memphis to worry about?

It is interesting that GSW did not shoot the lights out vs. SAC.  Curry was 38% from 3 but Klay was only 36%, Wiggins 27%, Green 27% and Poole 26%.  That was against what was supposed to be the worst defense in the league.  Overall GSW were 33% from 3.  Of course the LAL were only 31% vs. MEM but I feel the Lakers rely less on the 3.

This is a tough series to call as it is hard to know what you are going to get with LAL.  They made so many changes late in the season.  They are still learning to play together.   Like PHX also.  Plus the play of Davis and LeBron seems to vary.  They have good nights and off nights.  What version of D. Russell is going to show up?  Can you rely on Reaves to continue to hit big shots as the pressure escalates.  GSW will take advantage of mistakes.  If LAL sleep walk a couple of games, GSW are not going to just give those back.

[Celtics2021]

It should be a doozy.  Warriors in 5 or 6. 

I did enough half hearted Laker hatred in round one.  (Really couldn’t stand the Grizz).

Do people think the Lakers are better or worse than SAC?  I think the Lakers right now are probably better.  So if GSW took 7 to beat SAC, how do they get past the Lakers in 5?  I guess they do have home court, which was important during the regular season but they did win 2 in SAC this series (and lose 1 at home).

I get that GSW are favored and should be.  But unless LeBron or Davis get injured,  I think the Lakers are going to be a plenty tough out for GSW (just like SAC was).

I think the Lakers are worse than SAC, by a comfortable margin.  Warriors will win, and it won’t go 7.  Either will lose to Denver, however.

I get that GSW are favored and understandably so, but is anyone on SAC better for a play off series than LeBron and Davis.  Yes, both are getting old and have durability issues but I still see that in a hypothetical SAC-LAL match up, LeBron and Davis are the 2 best players.  Maybe not every night any more, but on average or over the course of a series.

Vs. GSW, Curry is going to be the best player, or at least needs to be for GSW to win. I am not sure how LAL is going to stop Curry.

My friend whose a Lakers fan told me they got Schroder and Vando to cover Curry. Vando even locked up Ja and got the speed and length to go around screens.

Morant was pretty much playing with one hand and still had two games of 31 and 45 points on 50% shooting — if that’s what your friend considers “locked up”, Lakers fans are even more delusional than I thought.