The Knicks host the struggling Lakers, as the injury ravaged Knicks continue to destroy all comers.
They could even lose this game and it wouldn’t even matter, that’s how amazing they’re playing right now.
My 53-win prediction might be low at this point!!
Let’s go, Knicks!
258 replies on “Game Thread 2023-24 Knicks vs. Lakers (In-Season Tournament Revenge Opener, which is not really a thing)”
Let’s win this for cdiggy!!!
#GameThreadRaven
I feel like I have to reiterate a post, but Stephen A. Smith annoys me more than anyone. More than Dolan.
We could lose tonight just for the fact that Stephen A is there.
Only bad thing about Knicks being good is — Stephen A being happy.
Cash moves everything around me. Dollar dollar bills y’all. Let’s go Knicks. Fuck Stephen A. Fuck ABC and their LeBron love fest. And fuck lebron and AD for pussying out of Boston to rest for the Knicks.
Stephen A and now Doris Burke
Might have to get in the car and listen to 98.7.
https://twitter.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1753943033668571349
Right now him being out is most likely precautionary, but his injury history has to be kept in mind when he is on a big contract extension
Of course AD and Lebron are playing.
At least we won’t have to watch RJ attacking AD at the rim.
Clyde with the Zebra print tonight! Go Knicks!
User name checks out.
Crazy part is the 2013 team was a legit championship contender that year and had that 13 game winning streak towards the end of the season that made us really believe yet I don’t remember anywhere near the excitement for them as this team is providing right now.
I think too that this feels like the beginning of something that could be special over the next few years while 2013 kinda felt even at the time like a 1 year wonder.
Devo impact immediately on both ends. I wouldn’t wanna play against that guy.
How was AD complaining about THAT call.
Brunson is gonna have to score 40+ again if Knicks are gonna have any chance tonight.
Donte’s inferno has gone ice cold
If Donte doesn’t show up this game we might need to dust off Fournier for some offense. The lack of shooting is scary right now
Scoring with the available guys is a huge slog, but it’s looking more and more like Precious was more than a throw in. That dude can play.
The shots will fall eventually, just have to hang with them while they don’t.
Donte will get here. Precious wants to stay. Let’s go!
I think with Randle, OG and Grimes down, Evan Fournier does have a chance to come in off the bench. 0-11 from 3 combined?
How about 50?
Bunsen is cookin’
I loved that 2013 team but it was very much a “right now” team.
Remember Kurt Thomas sacrificing his career, willing us to win that game against the Jazz and breaking his foot in the process?
Or Jason Kidd at the 2 making us a well-oiled machine until his legs gave out for good before the playoffs?
Ronnie Brewer being the perfect 3&D guy for a few months before turning into a pumpkin
Or my personal favorite, Rasheed Wallace entering a game off the bench and getting two techs in less than 60 seconds, the second of which was after yelling “ball don’t lie.”
Making too many mistakes …
Don’t know who noticed but Thibs benched Hart right after the Lakers doubled off him
AD has 9 rebounds but the Knicks are outrebounding the Lakers 14-12.
After these first 9 mins I’m thinking to myself how the fuck have the Knicks gone 3-0 without Randle and OG lol
AD got in iharts head…he’s afraid to shoot now…
Why doesn’t iHart simply float the ball in over AD’s head with a 100% success rate, like Brunson?
I agree Doug, I loved that team and that season they were a legit championship contender. Went 5-1 vs Miami and SA, had that 13 game winning streak towards end of the season and were up 3-0 on Boston in the 1st rd. But not sweeping them and having to go 6 games ultimately doomed them vs Indiana in the 2nd rd. Shame too, would’ve loved to have seen them play Miami in the Conference Finals.
AD is not so easy to bully on the boards
Can’t buy a 3.
Edit: Thanks, Donte.
If we’re gonna shoot like shit… we can’t miss bunnies
Now the 3’s gonna start raining down.
One of the games was against the ymca hornets
Other 2 were solid, especially indy
Hart with his first three pointer since college.
Fans gonna have to will them to victory
I really enjoyed this trip down memory lane.
Melo’s 50 point game against the Heat, too.
I’m resurfacing memories of JR Smith elbowing a guy for no reason and getting suspended, Kenyon Martin telling everyone to show up wearing all black (“funeral colors”) only for it to light a fire under Boston’s ass, too much playing with their food.
DLo is pretty good.
As much as the offense has been a problem, the defense hasn’t been great. Can’t give up 27 to the Lakers when they shoot 3-11 from 3.
Some here wouldn’t want him at all even though he would help the bench
I remember those times so well because I shared them with all of you guys over the course of the season. This is a special little community and it’s meant a lot to me.
We’re not playing real well, but the Lakers kind of suck so that helps.
Lebron plowing effortlessly through the lane only to miss the layup badly is not something I’m used to
Tyson Chandler said recently in a podcast that not sweeping Boston and therefore not getting a week off cost them the series vs Indiana. He specifically mentioned finishing Game 6 Friday night and having to play Game 1 early Sunday afternoon forced them to not have a shoot around and that they were totally unprepared for Game 1 which to me is a huge indictment on Woodson and the coaching staff.
Thibs is not going to rest Brunson and DDV, huh?
Tyson was terrible against Indy…him getting washed by Hibbert didn’t help
Brunson’s bag is infinite. He seems to never score the same way twice
Every game for him is the playoffs
Any “free” points from Deuce gonna help a lot.
Hilarious phantom call
This might be the worst offensive lineup in NBA history
The malechai Flynn game
I recall Tyson played that series with a herniated disc. He looked awful.
I’m still mad about Chris Copeland not playing the 5 and I always will be.
Evil Donte!
Flynn ahead of Fournier in the pecking order of scrubs.
Evil Donte with the old-fashioned three point play
Evil Donte!
If the Knicks had this current lineup during a preseason game I’d turn the TV off.
Robinson Cano just hit a HR in the Caribbean Series!
BBA is right, with this many injuries, every game is a challenge for us
But did he call backboard?
Lol what was that?
If LeBron is gonna make long 3’s it’ll be a long night
What in god’s name did Deuce just do
Second unit running the All-Kobe Assist offense
This is some horrible defense by the bench unit.
It’s easy to forget sometimes how absurd Lebron is… at this age he’s still at another level.
Cano looked like he was on his way to the Hall with the Yankees then the PED suspension hit and everything just went down hill
I won’t even be pissed if the Knicks lose tonight, I’d just be super annoyed because it’ll be strictly due to injuries.
It was the bad chinstrap beard he grew out after signing the big money contract with the Mariners
iHart quieter than I would like (intimidated?).
There’s no question that the Knicks would be blowing them out if OG and Randle were playing.
I don’t mind if we lose. I just don’t want bullshit calls from the refs gifting the Lakers points.
Also Doris Burke is no bueno. They gotta find a better crew to call the Finals
We desperately need our guys back but it would be soooooooo funny to beat the Lakers with Precious and Deuce
AD is having a pretty dramatic effect in the paint
Thibs should probably give Fournier a few minutes here and there in this game.
Doris is awful
That would require them to spend more money, once Pat McAfee signed and all the money Stephen A gets they went on a budget
Tough to see her fall off. It’s disappointing how she’s moved away from the hard analysis in favor of these breathless superlatives about individual players. She is still good on the radio, though.
Reaves gets a good whistle
We arent playing well but Clyde is beautiful and that is all that matters to me at the current juncture
Sparkling transition defense by Christian Wood lol
Fortunately the Lakers aren’t either.
The Pacers game was a dogfight. This is kind of a mudfight.
It pays well to wear the purple and gold
Thank you, Raven.
I’m sitting next to #lolKnicksSupv as we’re watching our baseball team host Riverside City. I bet he doesn’t even know his Fakers are playing us right now.
The trolls seemed to have tuned out bc the Lakers are mid. If that stays that way, then I’ll be Ok with a loss tonight.
BTW it’s kinda weaksauce that LeBron and AD sat out the Celtics but were OK to play us.
we rely on closing people out in the fourth…it is going to be really hard to close out lebron AND AD in the fourth…
anything is possible though i guess…
After all that, we’re still tied!
Austin Reaves is on a few billboards out here for LemonDaddy.com – which you would never guess is a website for a lawfirm.
No way I’m clicking on that
Killed them on the boards, but the defense didn’t generate any turnovers and gave up too many easy baskets. They can do better in the second half.
primetime on national tv…oh yeah, lebron and AD were not going to miss that…
take solace in being surrounded by those Fakers that the Knicks have the better team at the moment…
well, maybe not this exact moment with everyone hurt, but this season though, for sure…
I think Doris Burke is excellent. She’s one of the most prepared commentators in the business, and is revered by her colleagues. If you don’t like her, give an actual reason. Otherwise it sounds a bit misogynic.
Z-Man, totally agree. I’m put off by the constant Doris criticism for no particular reason. She’s good, thoughtful, and much better than the likes of Mark Jackson or Doc Rivers.
Interesting seeing pics of Randle since the injury and he doesn’t seem to be wearing a sling or anything outwardly supporting his shoulder.
Ahahaaahahaa!!! Don’t blame you one bit.
I mean, one of the slogans is “treat vehicle dysfunction”. What in the fuck…
JK you seen these billboards right?
“Z-Man, totally agree. I’m put off by the constant Doris criticism for no particular reason. She’s good, thoughtful, and much better than the likes of Mark Jackson or Doc Rivers.”
OMG she is so far superior to those guys, and even JVG, SVG, Hubie, and others are hella more annoying.
Precious one on one defense has been pretty impressive
Didn’t Popevich praise Doris for her knowledge one time? I mean that’s really all the co-sign you need.
“Interesting seeing pics of Randle since the injury and he doesn’t seem to be wearing a sling or anything outwardly supporting his shoulder.”
Yeah, that’s definitely a positive.
The Mavs were beating the Bucks by close to 20 and it’s a 5 point game at the half. Cavs blowing out San Antonio. A win today would be quite nice.
OK, sure.
Doris on the radio is still the great color commentator she’s been for a long time — able to deliver complex analysis at a machine gun rate with enthusiasm, shrewd eye for detail, good at teaching you more about basketball in the process, loves the game of basketball without descending into platitudes.
What Doris has become on TV is not that. I don’t know why she’s done this, but she talks very slowly now and keeps her insights very general. She does fewer X’s and O’s in favor of these very gushy mini-monologues about individual players, offering more ooh-ing and ahh-ing than the substance she is capable of offering.
On the radio she’s a number-crunching Hubie Brown, on TV she’s become more like a Mark Jackson the past few years.
Hahahaaa yeah I drive by several of them every time I drive up to LA from the LBC, which is practically every day now.
The “Accidentes!” guy has the LA billboard game on lockdown though
She apparently relentlessly prepares for games, to the point that others use her as a sounding board. Here’s some insight.
We all have our taste, but please, at least listen to how prepared she is and how much she actually knows before disparaging her…not to mention acknowledging how hard it is for a woman to succeed in a male-dominated profession.
Agree with Doug. At the start of her tv broadcasting career, Doris was a breath of fresh air and had some good analysis. Now she speaks in generalities and has really annoying tendencies like calling every player by their first name and blathering on about a player several plays after they do something of note.
2019 Doris is not 2024 Doris
Again, she’s still as great as she ever was on the radio, maybe there’s less pressure to alter her approach for a “general audience.”
Nice zman…same day you blast E for the racism comment…you accuse people of being misogynistic….class act…
I’m not annoyed by Doris and when Breen is doing play-by-play what could be bad? I just miss hearing Walt. Doris is no Clyde.
“OK, sure.
Doris on the radio is still the great color commentator she’s been for a long time — able to deliver complex analysis at a machine gun rate with enthusiasm, shrewd eye for detail, good at teaching you more about basketball in the process, loves the game of basketball without descending into platitudes.
What Doris has become on TV is not that. I don’t know why she’s done this, but she talks very slowly now and keeps her insights very general. She does fewer X’s and O’s in favor of these very gushy mini-monologues about individual players, offering more ooh-ing and ahh-ing than the substance she is capable of offering.
On the radio she’s a number-crunching Hubie Brown, on TV she’s become more like a Mark Jackson the past few years.”
I couldn’t disagree more. Just now she just gave a great X’s and O’s evaluation of Jalen Brunson. I think it’s selective listening.
Yes, it’s harder for a woman to succeed in the world of sports media for structural reasons. But I don’t think we need to preface all our comments about a woman in sports media with boilerplate about how institutional sexism and the patriarchy are real like a land acknowledgment or something.
Curry torching DJM
Hustle
ok
Ugh, very annoying defensive possessions after going up 7.
I live in Florida now and I think those phrases are illegal here 🙂
Grab a 7 pt lead looking like we’re building momentum then give up back to back layups. Thibs obviously as frustrated as I was so he called a TO lol
reference Doris, I’ll be honest I’m a bit predisposed towards any lady that liberally will apply red lipstick…
she is getting up there now, but hey…i’m lonely…
reference the broadcast itself, during a lot of national games the Knicks will be the A side of the record…and get appropriate coverage…
we are clearly the B side in this affair…
We’d be fucked without Hart, making stuff happen. iHart’s defense on AD has been huge too.
“Nice zman…same day you blast E for the racism comment…you accuse people of being misogynistic….class act…”
Yeah, I’m a bit overprotective of women kicking ass in a man’s world. Tell you what, roll the tape of this convo to the women in your life and ask they why you are criticizing someone who is defending a hall of fame commentator against unwarranted criticism, and tell me what they think.
Who is the most overrated player in the NBA and why is it Reaves?
Yeah sure…I’ll get right on that big guy…
Doris gushing over a fairly normal Austin Reeves contest is what’s annoying about her TV work to me. There are plenty of worse announcers though
“Ally” is not a marginalized identity lol
What happened to Austin Reaves? He’s like a non entity out there
AD can still play defense I guess
Reaves was good against Boston
Maybe he needs his own team
This is some stupid offense by the Knicks right now.
Knicks need to chill
Donte said NO LAYUPS
Curry has 60 and the Warriors are going to lose
Trade for him
We’re playing our asses off on defense but we’re not punishing them selling out on Brunson yet
Our bench needs to come up big this game
Hadn’t understood the dislike of Doris myself. My big problem with her is her stories are long and often go on while very exciting plays are occurring that are missed entirely.
The offense looks terrible because we have Hart and Achiuwa out there together. It’s too easy to double off Hart even though he’s been great on the boards.
Missing a ton of wide open 3s.
That one-legged leaning duck-in floater by Brunson has got to be a lot harder than he makes it look
DJM specializing in giving historic scoring performances to the players he is guarding. Two in a week!
“Doris gushing over a fairly normal Austin Reeves contest is what’s annoying about her TV work to me. There are plenty of worse announcers though”
Annoying is one thing. That’s a matter of taste. I find Prince’s music annoying but acknowledge that he’s an all time great. Doris is an all-time great and should be given some deference as such.
hmmmm, i wonder if ‘ol Becky Hammond still thinks jalen is too short…
i think during that infamous nba today segment Chiney was co-signing Becky…
the first one to get it right there was Perk…
Deuce with the crafty and-1!
Sims is not great at defense
We’re officially a 2nd half/third quarter team
BANG
Refs are on their Lakers shit.
We miss Julius for those end of qtr shots….
The coward Lakers double teaming Brunson
DDV missing all his wide open 3s but making his contested 3s.
On the off chance we might the Lakers in the finals, Precious is playing 30+ minutes per game. He is The LeBron Stopper.
The Lakers get so many soft fouls in their favor, it’s really annoying.
Good quarter, this team stays alive in games they have no business winning, it’s so nice.
Mavs now losing after being up 20
That pick is quietly getting better
I want this game so badly….
Deuce throwing passes like Zach Wilson
Jesus, Deuce.
In the time it took to give that interview … sheesh. C’Mon!!
We know this winning streak has to end some time but please not tonight vs the Lakers on national TV
We might be in trouble if LeBron decides he really wants to win this game.
That was not the start to the 4th I was hoping for…
Ugh
We could probably beat these guys with a team made up of our players who are in street clothes
We can’t be missing layups …
This is looking shaky
Get DDV back there, come on.
Where the hell did Hart come from to grab that loose ball!?!?
Stops!!!!
If Knicks lose this game the blame is actually gonna be on the defense, they can’t get a fucking stop in the 4th quarter.
I would like to register my outrage about these refs
Defense was only good in the third quarter. First half was pretty bad too.
Ok maybe you can blame the offense too.
The Taurean Prince game
We need a bucket… they are getting better shots now… we have to hit the tough ones…
Man we could destroy this coverage fully healthy. Just a total sellout on Brunson. Also that 5th iHart foul was ticky tack as hell.
They are bottling Brunson up and we have no one to step up.
We just don’t have enough good players healthy. Give us just one of our rotation guys back and we clobber these fools
Josh Hart too scared to shoot that open three was really bad. Led to fast break open 3 for Prince. Deadly 6 pt swing.
Lakers doing a good job of forcing JB to pass to lesser offensive options…
It’s like Halley’s Comet, only it comes every year for the Knicks.
I’m worried about future … what if we’re never healthy ?!?
We could probably use Jacob Toppin right now
Are you telling me Julius Randle is indeed a useful NBA player
Even Grimes would have been pretty useful today.
Taj is fine
Jalen gassed. Sims not offering the escape valve in the high post.
I think you need to put deuce in for Josh hart, it’s too easy to double off him
This is an impressive 4th quarter collapse.
You can’t play Brunson 44 minutes and expect him to be the same at the end of games.
Lakers know if they defend hard they can stifle our offense and are energized on defense. It’s bad.
Keeping and valuing a shooter like Grimes who can defend and push Hart to the bench might be something to think about
This happened in the Miami playoff series..too much Josh
We don’t have an answer for double teaming to get the ball out of Brunson’s hands
I hope this isn’t some blueprint for guarding Brunson, they are totally neutralizing him
It’s actually surprising teams like Indiana and Utah didn’t do this to Brunson earlier in the week.
Arrrrgggghhhhhhh
going to get a guy like brogdon a guy who can create and shoot could make extra sense
Gives you two ball handers on the court at times
Just get Deuce in there. They need another shooter. Jesus.
It might be with no Randle or OG
Fuck the Lakers we’d destroy them if we were healthy
I don’t mind the winning streak ending but doing so by collapsing in the 4th quarter on national TV against the fucking Lakers sucks.
This is so annoying
I think Mitch would’ve muscled one or two of those layups in
It might be a good time to recalibrate expectations on Precious Achiuwa
They actually did it a bunch, but we were beating it with iHart p/n roll. Haven’t run it once here in the 4th Q
I give up. Put in Deuce and Fournier and just shoot threes.
Yeah, it sucks, but they are desperate and we aren’t.
Doubling Brunson is clearly our Achilles heel, at least while we are short-handed
I don’t think randle is smart enough as the main creator and I don’t truly trust og creation ability
They should make a move for brogdon
Let’s hope with 2 days off OG and Grimes return next week cause if not the next 5 games prior to the All-Star break might not be pretty.
I don’t think this defense on Brunson would be tenable if we were healthier. We’ve just got gaping offensive holes right now.
Spot on
6:30 scoreless minutes!
iHart got into foul trouble, but I also don’t remember them running it before he had to sit, now that you mention it
OG is looking out for his next contract and Grimes will not rush back for a team looking to trade him
At the end of the day, we got about 3 unexpected wins, so I can accept this.
Also really hurt that the Lakers came back from 6 down with AD on the bench. Gave them a real boost.
Four of the starters played over forty minutes. I think they are tired and it shows.
This is like how the Hawks shut down our offense in the playoffs by throwing soft doubles at Randle. Gummed up everything, no countermove
What’s Lebron’s record at MSG? I would think there’s very few losses
Oh yeah if teams did this with Randle and even OG playing they would get burned. Not worried about that but am worried that now with the streak and positive momentum over if OG and Grimes remain out its gonna be a dogfight to get wins.
Thibs has to be careful with josh hart long term…you cna not play him big minutes in lineups without spacing
No hard feelings tonight. This run had to end eventually. I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did.
His agent is Leon’s son, never underestimate the power of nepotism
You don’t need a ball handler you need guys who can hit a wide open shot.
It’s extra problematic against AD who can just stand next to the basket all game.
22 and 9 before today
I mean I don’t know how many games you’re realistically going to win with Precious Achiuwa and Josh Hart playing 83 minutes
This would be a good finals matchup 😉
The guys that are open can’t shoot … if the ball gets into Divo hands guess who’s guarding him … lebron … after Brunson and Divo no one is capable… McBride gave us ass tonight vs his good productivity against Indiana … and Achiuwa does a lot of good stuff … but he can’t his open 3s… a consistent corner guy would have really changed this game for us… do we still have Charlie Brown as our 17th man… I watched him shoot plenty well at St Joes. And iHart and Achiuwa missed some bunnies.
Feels like the turning point was when the Knicks got up by 8 and allowed an uncontested fast break on a make.
Hart is earning starting level money…his contract kind of goes un noticed
They battled…just ran out of gas…
Yeah. In the previous two games, we even ran it a few times with Precious and Sims. I was shocked, and it honestly looked like they had practiced it.
When iHart was out tonight, Sims had no idea where to stand on offense. Might have been better to switch his position and use Precious at the 5 on O for that high p/n/r.
Taj gibson is taking a roster spot
Evan doesn’t play
And Ryan the nova buddy is a cheerleader
Thats 3 empty roster spots
Sims is hot garbage ..he is what you call a Minutes eater to get a team through injuries
Hart with other shooters has been fine, but Hart and another bad shooter like RJ or Precious won’t work.
Doc Rivers is officially coaching the East All-Star team lol
Not much sense in complaining about guys #13-15 when three rotation players are out with injury
a lot of times I would just much rather have Grimes on the court especially come playoff time when players don’t even look at hart and dare him to shoot
Hope Leon is on the phone with the Blazers right now.
Everything went the Lakers way. Knicks missed a TON of wide open 3s and easy layups around the rim (iHart missed a lot).
Thibs got the rotations wrong I think. I think you play McBride over Hart in the second half. Speaking of Hart, his lack of of offense is a problem. Hopefully we get healthy fast or get help in the trade deadline.
That Laker offense in the 4th was more hero ball than anything. Not impressed. Full strength we blow them out. Whatever. Onward and need to get healthy.
I blame Stephen A and his annoying presence too.
Doris annoys me. She is definitely not an all time great. But she is vastly preferable to Mark Jackson.
Yeah exactly about Hart, when he’s playing with 3 other shooters he can pass up those 3s by driving and kicking back out to a shooter but right now with him and Precious on the floor it’s affecting the offense.
No Knick had a particularly good game this evening. Still, those Lakers are not a good team, and we would have no problem blowing them out under normal circumstances. Alas. When they decided to shut down Brunson at all costs in the fourth quarter, no other Knick stepped up. Six or so minutes without scoring a point in the fourth is embarrassing. It’s sad, but it was inevitable that those key injuries would catch up with us at some point.
Even fully healthy we’d still need another initiator/creator/shooter. At this level of health we’re just praying for miracles every night.
Sure. Maybe. I’d just rather watch our guys try that p/n/r to break Jalen free against the double team — no matter who is our Center at the moment. Even if Sims turns it over, running it is better than a lot of what we saw tonight.
Tough loss, but our great run can/will continue. Rest up, and be nice to each other on here tomorrow, folks. 😉
I think it’s totally fair to say that they should probably have tried to add players who theoretically could be contributors at the back of the roster, but come the heck on, they’re very shorthanded right now and only barely lost after winning, like, 16 games in a row. This loss is meaningless.
I wonder if the Knicks offer up Randle for Lebron by Thursday
They def need another creator
Is Fournier even back with the team? Wasn’t he out for personal reasons?
And when your short handed the roster spots for players who don’t play become more glaring
Why not use TAJ spot for a guy like Duane Washington who offers some shot creation as an end of the bench spark plug maybe
You really can’t get mad at a loss like this. We’re missing 1/3 of the rotation and that’s not even including Mitch
I also hate the incoming praise for the Lakers. They barely won against an undermanned team that couldn’t hit anything in the 4th.
I know in the grand scheme of things this loss is meaningless but it still annoys me lol.
Look around all the NBA rosters, players 13-15 mostly all suck it’s not just a Knicks problem.
We dominated on the boards again, but their bench outplayed ours and that’s pretty much the story.
Yeah we should probably stop doing that.
I wonder if LeBron offers up his kidney to be a knick by Tuesday
The back of the bench is often filled with bad players, but it is also typically filled with players who could develop into good players. Remember when Anthony Mason and John Starks were back of the bench guys on other teams before they made the Knicks? The Knicks have actively avoided those types of players in favor of guys like Taj and Archie, and I don’t think it’s a good idea.
But yes, in this game, the Knicks are missing so many starters and yet still were in this one, so the back of the bench being ill-equipped really isn’t that big of a deal, especially when guys #8-10 are doing so well.
It’s a tough position to be in when you are undermanned. You either keep the rotations/minutes intact and bring in bodies from the end of the bench to fill in or play to win and overload your remaining healthy rotation players. Thibs always opts for the latter. It’s a risky strategy as it wears out the players and also risks more injuries. However, it does bring in more wins at the end of the day. It is therefore not easy to blame the coach. Had he been doing otherwise, we would be fighting for a play-in spot instead of competing for the third or second seat.
Three things: First, this loss doesn’t really matter. Second, Sims is not a real backup center on either side of the ball—and neither is Precious. Sims should be benched and we should trade for someone like Xavier Tillman or find a guy in the G-league to give us replacement level minutes out there, especially if Mitch is out for the season. Precious can be the backup PF. Third, we clearly need an offensively minded backup point. The offense grinds to a screeching halt when Deuce and Hart are the primary ball handlers.
It happens. They shot better from 3, got 12 more free throws (as always, the Lakers lead the league in free throws attempted), and the Knicks were still in the game late in the fourth. Can’t ask for much more, to be honest, at full strength we would have crushed them.
We really need OG and Grimes to come back asap.
One of the trolls serves as our baseball statistician. I’m in the press box with him as he’s entering stats and I catch him quickly checking the score of the game. Let’s name him Smithers due to his penchant for shameless brown-nosing.
Me: I saw that, Smithers.
Smithers: What are you talking about?
Me: I saw that score you were looking at.
Smithers: Saw what? I was checking HS scores (he does some work for CIF).
He then pulls up HS scores
Me: except that wasn’t the app you just pulled up just now.
Smithers: why are you looking at my phone?
Me: Because you in here capping.
Naturally, he couldn’t help but post in our work text thread headlines of the Lakers’ win. I told him he’s acting like they won the IST or something (the point of their season where they peaked btw).
This is why I told my wife that our son will NOT be a Laker fan.
Agree with all of this..If I have to watch Duece as the backup in a playoff game the front office failed