The 2024 Playoff Chase Thread

R

Rain man

Starter
#331
#331
LOL. The Lakers - the team with the 4th best home record in the West, and the only team in the top 10 with a losing road record - are the only team in the West (and probably the only team in NBA history) to have 42 home games and 40 road games. This of course is courtesy of the In season tournament. But why? The West knockout rounds were Pellies @ Kings and Suns @ Lakers. The next round was Kings @ Suns and Pellies @ Lakers. So the end result was the the Pellies end up with 40 home games and the Lakers with 42 home games. Why didn't they just have the last game of the in-season tourney be Lakers @ Pellies and have an even schedule for all teams? Or have the last game of the season be @New Orleans instead of @LAL

It seems like the NBA always gifts the Lakers these little breaks and advantages, but if you listen to Lakers' fans there is no team treated more unfairly in the whole league...
 
F

Fantazija

Bench
#332
#332
Rain man said:
LOL. The Lakers - the team with the 4th best home record in the West, and the only team in the top 10 with a losing road record - are the only team in the West (and probably the only team in NBA history) to have 42 home games and 40 road games. This of course is courtesy of the In season tournament. But why? The West knockout rounds were Pellies @ Kings and Suns @ Lakers. The next round was Kings @ Suns and Pellies @ Lakers. So the end result was the the Pellies end up with 40 home games and the Lakers with 42 home games. Why not just have the last game be Lakers @ Pellies and have an even schedule for all teams?

It seems like the NBA always gifts the Lakers these little breaks and advantages, but if you listen to Lakers' fans there is no team treated more unfairly in the whole league...
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Wow, good point, they play last game of the season, should be quite easy to even this out
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#336
#336
Rain man said:
LOL. The Lakers - the team with the 4th best home record in the West, and the only team in the top 10 with a losing road record - are the only team in the West (and probably the only team in NBA history) to have 42 home games and 40 road games. This of course is courtesy of the In season tournament. But why? The West knockout rounds were Pellies @ Kings and Suns @ Lakers. The next round was Kings @ Suns and Pellies @ Lakers. So the end result was the the Pellies end up with 40 home games and the Lakers with 42 home games. Why didn't they just have the last game of the in-season tourney be Lakers @ Pellies and have an even schedule for all teams? Or have the last game of the season be @New Orleans instead of @LAL

It seems like the NBA always gifts the Lakers these little breaks and advantages, but if you listen to Lakers' fans there is no team treated more unfairly in the whole league...
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The last game is in NO.
 
R

Rain man

Starter
#337
#337
Section 101 said:
The last game is in NO.
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Ah, you are right. Then they should’ve had the last in-season game in NO instead of LA. To have one team get 42 home games and the other get 40 is inexcusable. The teams also played in February in LA. Could have changed the location of that one to balance the schedule. Unacceptable to leave that disparity. We’d be pissed if it happened to us.
 
megapoxy

megapoxy

Bench
#340
#340
I don't think the Lakers have 42 games at home, 2 matches of those were in Vegas, they were typically shown as hosts having a better record in the IST than their opponents.
Hm but the one vs Pacers doesn't count... anyway I don't know I give up, lazy to check every one of them!
 
T

Tizzy Flip

Bench
#341
#341
Rain man said:
Ah, you are right. Then they should’ve had the last in-season game in NO instead of LA. To have one team get 42 home games and the other get 40 is inexcusable. The teams also played in February in LA. Could have changed the location of that one to balance the schedule. Unacceptable to leave that disparity. We’d be pissed if it happened to us.
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Not sure I understand. Any team that was the 1 seed in the IST and went undefeated in it would have the same advantage, right?
 
Section 101

Section 101

All-Star
#342
#342
Rain man said:
Ah, you are right. Then they should’ve had the last in-season game in NO instead of LA. To have one team get 42 home games and the other get 40 is inexcusable. The teams also played in February in LA. Could have changed the location of that one to balance the schedule. Unacceptable to leave that disparity. We’d be pissed if it happened to us.
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The lakers had the best record for the in season so they got the home game.
 
R

Rain man

Starter
#343
#343
Section 101 said:
The lakers had the best record for the in season so they got the home game.
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then they should make it up later in the season to rebalance the schedule. I understand giving them the advantage in the tourney if that is important. But they shouldn’t also get an advantage for the season. They could have easily switched the later Pellies-Lakers game to make it 41-41.
 
R

Rain man

Starter
#344
#344
megapoxy said:
I don't think the Lakers have 42 games at home, 2 matches of those were in Vegas, they were typically shown as hosts having a better record in the IST than their opponents.
Hm but the one vs Pacers doesn't count... anyway I don't know I give up, lazy to check every one of them!
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oof. You are right. The game against the Pellies was in Vegas. So they got 41 home games, 40 road games and a neutral game vs Pellies (the second Vegas game vs Indy didn’t count). Okay- Nevermind then. I can accept that. I was thrown off by looking at the standings that show them Having 42 home games. My bad.
 
B

bball_nomad

G-League
#345
#345
Suns have 2 games against the Clippers: home and road. Theoretically, Clippers look like they don't have much to play for or do they? I think they do. Clippers are currently 4th in the West, with Mavs 2 games behind. Tomorrow Mavs play on the road against measly Hornets and 3 hours later Suns host Clippers. If Dallas wins, Clippers will have to protect their home court advantage in the play-offs. Clippers are not a convenient team for Suns to play against. Outcome of the Suns 2 game series against Clippers starting tomorrow will have a HUGE impact for the final standings in the West.
 
R

Rain man

Starter
#346
#346
For me, I think the simplest way to look at things is:

If we get to 49 wins (go 4-0) we are the 6 seed if NO loses one of its non-Kings games (@ Blazers, @ Warriors, vs. Lakers) and we are the 7 seed if they win all of those games.

If we end up with 45 wins (go 0-4) we are probably the 10 seed, we are probably playing horribly, we probably get bounced, and there is probably some sort of meltdown.

If we end up with 46 wins (go 1-3) we are probably the 9 seed, but all of the above with playing horribly, getting bounced, and meltdown, is probably true.

If we end up with 47 wins (go 2-2), who knows, and it likely depends on which 2 games we win.

If we end up with 48 wins (go 3-1), we are probably the 7 seed, possibly the 6 seed, and outside shot at falling to #8. It would depend on who we beat, but best case scenario would include winning the Pellies and Suns games. 48 wins, with wins over the Suns and Pellies gives us an excellent shot at passing the Suns, gives us a chance of passing the Pellies with some help, and also puts into play a potential 4-way tiebreaker where we would have decent odds of winning the 6 seed.
 
K

kingdivac

All-Star
#347
#347
Rain man said:
For me, I think the simplest way to look at things is:

If we get to 49 wins (go 4-0) we are the 6 seed if NO loses one of its non-Kings games (@ Blazers, @ Warriors, vs. Lakers) and we are the 7 seed if they win all of those games.

If we end up with 45 wins (go 0-4) we are probably the 10 seed, we are probably playing horribly, we probably get bounced, and there is probably some sort of meltdown.

If we end up with 46 wins (go 1-3) we are probably the 9 seed, but all of the above with playing horribly, getting bounced, and meltdown, is probably true.

If we end up with 47 wins (go 2-2), who knows, and it likely depends on which 2 games we win.

If we end up with 48 wins (go 3-1), we are probably the 7 seed, possibly the 6 seed, and outside shot at falling to #8. It would depend on who we beat, but best case scenario would include winning the Pellies and Suns games. 48 wins, with wins over the Suns and Pellies gives us an excellent shot at passing the Suns, gives us a chance of passing the Pellies with some help, and also puts into play a potential 4-way tiebreaker where we would have decent odds of winning the 6 seed.
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Simplest?
 
R

Rain man

Starter
#351
#351
kingdivac said:
Simplest?
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Well the whole point is that there is no simple. We could go anywhere between 0-4 and 4-0, and we could end up anywhere from 6th to 10th. So there isn't a SIMPLE. But the simplest way is to figure out what things are certain. The certain things are:

- Go 4-0, and you are either 6 (if the Pellies lose a game) or 7 (if the Pellies win all non-Kings games)
- Go 1-3 or 0-4 and you are 9th/10th and likely not getting out of the play-in.

The rest isn't certain. But 2-2 likely has you in the 8/9 range, depending on who we beat. 3-1 likely has you in the 6/7/8 range, with the order of likelihood (to me at least) seeming to be 7 as most likely, 6 next most likely, and 8 least likely.

Sorry, but that is the simplest that it gets with 4 games left and 4 (or maybe 5 if we lose enough to let the Warriors back in) teams left in the running.
 
R

Rain man

Starter
#352
#352
BenchMob said:
I’m thinking realistically we can go 3-0, have the 6th seed and lose to the Blazers to drop to the 9th. Would be fitting no?
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I had that same thought. That would be so 2023-24 Kings! That loss would probably move us from 6 to 7, and out of the guaranteed playoff.

But of the 4 remaining games, the Suns game is the most consequential because of the tiebreaker and their hard remaining schedule. If we only lose one game, that would be the worst one to lose. If we go 3-1, losing to either the Thunder or Blazers, we have a shot at #6 and are likely #7. If we go 3-1 with a loss to the Pellies we are likely #7 with a home game against the Suns in the 7/8. But if we go 3-1 and lose to the Suns, we are likely #8, with a road game at Phoenix or New Orleans.
 
iowamcnabb

iowamcnabb

Hall of Famer
#358
#358
We still have to be concerned about the Lakers. If we go 2-2 they would need to win all three games. If they beat the Warriors tomorrow they have the Grizz after that and then the Pelicans to finish the season. Depending on what happens with the Pels their fate might already be decided by then and could rest players. We just don’t know. Gotta root for the Warriors tomorrow and take care of business on our end
 
B

bball_nomad

G-League
#359
#359
Utter craziness. For all top 10 teams in the West (5 going to the play-offs, 5 still "in between" play-in or play-offs) every game, every W matters. First 3 teams fighting for the first 3 places, Clippers haven't secured home court advantage in the first round and with the rest of the story - we right at the center.
 
B

bball_nomad

G-League
#360
#360
BenchMob said:
My mindset is to finish 2-2. Loss to OKC, split with NO/PHX, and win in Portland. If that keeps us at 8 I will be OK with that, 2 shots to get in the playoffs. Anything better would be gravy.
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We play Blazers at home, last game of the season ;) Soooooooooo........ why so serious??????? (movie quote). 1-2 @ OKC and at home against PHX (last 3 games against them resulted for Domas in 3 TDs) and NOP? My mathematical mind can't accept anything less than 3-1 ;)
 
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