One of either the Lakers or Warriors will be eliminated in the first play in game.

[FultzNationRISE]

Both could end up missing the playoffs, but one of them is guaranteed to be eliminated right on the first days of play-ins, as the current standings make it very likely theyll face each other in the 9-10 spot.

What do you do if youre the team that loses? What do you do if youre either of these teams and dont even make the playoffs? Neither has any reason to see this year as a fluke and presume to be contenders next year. Obviously if you make a conference final you can say ok we’re close we’ll try it again next year. But one of these teams is guaranteed to finish 10th in the conference.

Whats the move for either or both of these teams if they miss the playoffs? Will they openly run another year on the treadmill just to keep selling tickets to see Lebron and Steph? Cuz neither of these teams is going “up.” And neither has the assets to either rebuild for the future or add another allstar.

Like I dont see it making sense for Lebron or Curry to be back in these uniforms if they dont make the playoffs this year. It would basically just be to tour around as a traveling attraction like Kobe did at the end, they wouldnt be competing for anything. Do you see them going that route? Steph I probably could, Lebron not so much.

Your thoughts?

[AussieSteve]

Lakers will finish the season 10-3.

They'll end up in 7th.

[RRR3]

Lakers will finish the season 10-3.

They'll end up in 7th.
https://www.si.com/.image/ar_1:1%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cq_aut o:good%2Cw_1200/MjA0NzQ2NjgxMTY4NzAwOTIw/usatsi_22314993_168396005_lowres.jpg

[BarberSchool]

Lakers will finish the season 10-3.

They'll end up in 7th.False.

[Xiao Yao You]

go Steph!

[Airupthere]

Looking at the remaining schedule my guess is

6th Kings
7th Mavs
8th Lakers
9th Suns
10th Warriors

If anything it can be the Suns and Warriors

[FKAri]

**** off with these dinosaurs. We DONE with Bron and Steph. BIG trash!

[Manny98]

Lakers will finish the season 10-3.

They'll end up in 7th.
I can see the Suns dropping some games

Given the urgency LeBron has to get into playoff mode early, wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers finish 11-2 and grab the 8th seed

[tpols]

Shit the Rockets are on both their heels.

It's kinda wack though. I'd much rather watch the Lakers or Warriors than the Kings or Pelicans.

[ImKobe]

Lakers will finish the season 10-3.

They'll end up in 7th.

They're lucky to finish 8 -5 in that stretch with how they've played this season tbh. 8 of the 13 games are on the road and they've struggled in road games all year.

[Airupthere]

Suns remaining 14 games

Denver
Thunder
Clippers 2x
Wolves 2x
Pelicans 2x
Kings
Cavs
Sixers

These are the only really easy ones:
Spurs 2x
Hawks

[Duffy Pratt]

The amazing thing about the West this year is that no team from 1-10 can afford to coast.

1-3 are within a game of each other for home court throughout the West.

4-5 are within a game for home court in first round.

6-8 are within a game for being in the play-off or play-in.

And the Lakers and Warriors both have a slight chance of getting out of the bottom, but need, at the very least to get home court for the first play-in game.

With that much incentive for every good team, I think it’s absurd to predict 10-3 or 11-2 for the Lakers. The best chance for either of them to bump to the 8th spot is if the Suns crater, which is possible given how crushingly difficult their remaining schedule is.

By contrast, the East only has interest at 5-6, and 6-8, and it’s pretty limited interest at that. The Celtics are really going to have to screw the pooch to not make it to the finals.

[Airupthere]

Suns remaining 14 games

Denver
Thunder
Clippers 2x
Wolves 2x
Pelicans 2x
Kings
Cavs
Sixers

These are the only really easy ones:
Spurs 2x
Hawks

Here are the Lakers' remaining 13 games. I think the Warriors have much less chance of catching up and snatching a playoff spot than the Lakers.

Bucks
Wolves
Pelicans
Pacers 2x
Cavs
Warriors

Grizzlies 2x
Sixers

Bonus easy games:
Nets
Raptors
Wizards

[dankok8]

Don't think the Suns' schedule is nearly as daunting as it looks. A lot of the top seeds will rest the last few games.

Anything can happen really.

[Duffy Pratt]

Don't think the Suns' schedule is nearly as daunting as it looks. A lot of the top seeds will rest the last few games.

Anything can happen really.

Will they rest if it means dropping from 1 to 3?

[fsvr54]

Shit the Rockets are on both their heels.

It's kinda wack though. I'd much rather watch the Lakers or Warriors than the Kings or Pelicans.

Hell no. I've been sick of LeChina and Curry since 2016

[dankok8]

Will they rest if it means dropping from 1 to 3?

Yea. Honestly I think teams don't care that much. For instance Murray seems to be a bit banged up. Wouldn't be shocked if he played very few games for the Nuggets till the end of the season. Ditto with Wolves with Gobert.

[Axe]

One of them will eventually be displaced by the rockets. Hopefully, if it happens, it would be the warriors lol.

[tpols]

The Rockets have a legit shot at displacing the warriors or Lakers looking at the schedules. How wack would that be for Lebron, AD, and Curry to miss the playoffs and these booty bandits make it. :facepalm that nobody cares watching either. Silver needs to throw a rig down for entertainment purposes.

[Baller234]

i never thought i would see tom brady leave the patriots so yea anything can happen.

more likely though i think both players remain in place and the teams just make changes.

[AussieSteve]

False.

2-0 so far. 8-3 incoming.

Book it.

[hold this L]

The Rockets have a legit shot at displacing the warriors or Lakers looking at the schedules. How wack would that be for Lebron, AD, and Curry to miss the playoffs and these booty bandits make it. :facepalm that nobody cares watching either. Silver needs to throw a rig down for entertainment purposes.
Nah, the Warriors deserve to finish 11th because of how garbage the coach and FO have been. Absolute amateur hour. First season Steph is no longer in that legendary form, and the team's crumbled like a house of cards.

[Axe]

Iggy's presence really seemed to make an impact on the team. I mean he left them in 2019 and the warriors became the worst team in the league four years ago. Then he came back in 2021, only for them to make the playoffs again and win their fourth ring (since 2015) in 2022. Afterwards they still made the playoffs last year but had an early exit and retired. Now, they're currently hanging by a thread without him, on the verge of being kicked out of the tenth spot. :biggums:

[ImKobe]

Iggy's presence really seemed to make an impact on the team. I mean he left them in 2019 and the warriors became the worst team in the league four years ago. Then he came back in 2021, only for them to make the playoffs again and win their fourth ring (since 2015) in 2022. Afterwards they still made the playoffs last year but had an early exit and retired. Now, they're currently hanging by a thread without him, on the verge of being kicked out of the tenth spot. :biggums:

Idk what's going on with their defense man.. maybe Iggy did have a serious impact on how well they were coached on that end of the court. There's no way this team should be sitting at the 10th seed with the 18th ranked defense with the talent they have. The offense fell off a bit as well, but they're still good enough to where the offense keeps them in all these games, but they can't get stops when it matters.

[Manny98]

Suns just lost to the Spurs and have by far the hardest remaining schedule, Lakers can overtake them


https://youtu.be/Dj6T--Vag7s?si=M8B8bWqiUDfgObWO

[AussieSteve]

Pretty crazy that we're likely going to have a team in the West win 43 games and finish 11th.

Lakers shouod finish on 47 wins, but they've lost the season series against both the Kings and Mavs, so best they can realistically hope for is 8th. Unless one of those two teams finishes the season terribly.

Lakers might still finish 9th, even with 47 wins, if the Suns finish 6-4. The West is so stacked this year!

[Axe]

Idk what's going on with their defense man.. maybe Iggy did have a serious impact on how well they were coached on that end of the court. There's no way this team should be sitting at the 10th seed with the 18th ranked defense with the talent they have. The offense fell off a bit as well, but they're still good enough to where the offense keeps them in all these games, but they can't get stops when it matters.
Likely but it's probably got to do something spiritually with him as well. I mean when you take a look at it, he ended up with the miami heat in 2020 and they eventually made the finals during the disney bubble lol. That was his sixth straight trip to the finals iirc.

[L.Kizzle]

SUNS free falling as well and their remaining schedule is brutal.

[tpols]

Pretty crazy that we're likely going to have a team in the West win 43 games and finish 11th.

Lakers shouod finish on 47 wins, but they've lost the season series against both the Kings and Mavs, so best they can realistically hope for is 8th. Unless one of those two teams finishes the season terribly.

Lakers might still finish 9th, even with 47 wins, if the Suns finish 6-4. The West is so stacked this year!

Yup.

I've never seen the a conference this good before. It might be the GOAT conference. To have guys like Durant, Lebron, AD, Curry, Booker, Fox, Sabonis, Zion etc. all potentially be low seeded play in teams is insane. I remember when 8-10 seeds used to be easy wins and sometimes not good at all. Now we have superstars playing in that range.

[ArbitraryWater]

Shit the Rockets are on both their heels.

It's kinda wack though. I'd much rather watch the Lakers or Warriors than the Kings or Pelicans.


lakers will leap both, dont worry.

[ArbitraryWater]

SUNS free falling as well and their remaining schedule is brutal.

theyre back on track and will win quite a few of the remaining games

[Axe]

The lakers have won most in their last 10 games. Yet they're still stuck in a play-in spot. :ohwell:

[ImKobe]

The lakers have won most in their last 10 games. Yet they're still stuck in a play-in spot. :ohwell:

It's a stacked WC. Lakers are 20 - 8 since the start of February. They've been playing well for over 2 months.

[AussieSteve]

It's a stacked WC. Lakers are 20 - 8 since the start of February. They've been playing well for over 2 months.

Lakers were in 9th on Jan 31st.

They've since gone 20-8 and are still 9th.

It's kinda crazy.

[ArbitraryWater]

Lakers were in 9th on Jan 31st.

They've since gone 20-8 and are still 9th.

It's kinda crazy.

Eh. They just had to make up ground.

Same thing last year.

They could have finished 5th last year.

I think they‘ll finish 6th this time around.

[BarberSchool]

Lakers will finish the season 10-3.

They'll end up in 7th.



False.

Here’s to hoping Steph & Klay both have truly great games, in that 9/10 play in game. and it goes down crunch time.

…. a crunch time in which Draymond gets ejected for kicking AD in his nuts, then Curry gets hard doubled & kicks it to Chris Small, who drives in & gets his sh!t slapped against the board … by a soaring Reeves who also gets his airborne legs grabbed by CP3, in a dirty attempt to injure Reeves, but Reeves lands on Chris Small and gives him a grotesque career ending knee hyperextension injury during the landing.

LAKERS WIN ! (Only to get nuked immediately by Sabonis & Fox)