The Lakers LeBron James, who finished with 31 points, drives against the Pacers Aaron Holiday during the fourth quarter Saturday. (Kim Klement/ Pool picture via Associated Press) The hottest conspiracy theory in the NBA is that the Lakers competitors in the Western Conference are attempting to help Portland become the 8th seed in the playoffs.
The Trail Blazers have actually been among the more outstanding teams in the bubble, with wins over Houston and Denver, and they nearly beat Boston, which is third in the East and has won 46 video games.
So when Clippers coach Doc Rivers rested Kawhi Leonard on Saturday against the Trail Blazers, and then pulled his other star, Paul George, from the video game with three minutes staying and the Clippers tracking by three, eyebrows raised. Was this an attempt to throw the video game to improve the chances the Lakers would need to see this hard team in the very first round?
Rivers said George just was on a minutes limitation and had reached his limitation.
Then the coach was asked if he thought the Trail Blazers could beat the Lakers.
” I dont get included in that,” said Rivers, whose team beat Portland regardless of not having its stars in at the end. I heard our men talking about it, Im like, Listen, thats their business.
The Lakers likewise declined to engage in the conversation after their 116-111 loss to Indiana. LeBron James, who scored 31 points against the Pacers, stated it was none of his service.
Coach Frank Vogel was asked about the Clippers decisions with their stars and how it could impact his team.
” Ive got no issue with it,” Vogel stated. “Everybodys got to manage their group their own way.”
More on his mind is the management of his Lakers team, which lost its 3rd game in a row considering that clinching the Wests leading seed and dropped to 2-4 in the bubble.
Vogel has actually not played his expected playoff rotation yet and on Saturday night he offered substantial minutes to reserves Jared Dudley, Quinn Cook and Talen Horton-Tucker. Cook was the Lakers second-leading scorer with 21 points. Dwight Howard provided a late boost with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
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Anthony Davis saw frequent double-teams and made only three of 14 shots, scoring eight points.
” I certainly need to be better,” Davis stated. “I had some excellent looks tonight. Simply missed. Some shots around the rim– layups that I missed out on. Open 3s– missed out on. Open midrange shot. Shots were simply not entering.”
Pacers forward T.J. Warren scored 39 points, continuing a standout displaying in the bubble.
Vogel anticipates to continue try out his lineups throughout the next two seeding video games. Hell wait till the break before the start of the playoffs to work on those rotations. By then hell also be closer to knowing which team the Lakers will face in the preliminary.
The Clippers win Saturday knocked Portland a video game and a half back from eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies, and the Trail Blazers are only a half-game ahead of 10th-seeded Phoenix, which is 5-0 in the bubble.
The eighth and ninth teams in the West will get involved in a play-in game as soon as the seeding video games end.
If the 8th seed wins, it advances to the playoffs. If the ninth seed wins, the groups play a removal video game.
And while the Lakers are taking note of that race, on Saturday night they found reasons to feel optimistic about themselves.
” We wished to get better today; I seem like we did,” James stated. “… We played Lakers basketball tonight and win, draw or lose, when we do that were gon na give ourselves an opportunity to be really effective in the win column.”
Three observations on the Lakers:
— LeBron James is getting more comfortable with the quirks of playing in the bubble. He said after the video game that he could not keep in mind the last time he played a real game in an empty gym– it didnt even take place in high school.
— Talen Horton-Tucker has been making more minutes in the rotation with his play. After scoring 10 points versus Houston on Thursday, the 19-year-old rookie scored 10 versus Indiana.
— After shooting 10.5%, 13.5% and 25% from three-point range in three of their first bubble games, the Lakers shot much better Saturday. That remained in part due to the performance of Quinn Cook, who made 5 of 9 threes and was their second-leading scorer.
” I do not get involved in that,” stated Rivers, whose team beat Portland despite not having its stars in at the end. Vogel has actually not played his expected playoff rotation yet and on Saturday evening he provided substantial minutes to reserves Jared Dudley, Quinn Cook and Talen Horton-Tucker. Cook was the Lakers second-leading scorer with 21 points. Vogel expects to continue experimenting with his lineups during the next 2 seeding video games. By then hell also be closer to understanding which team the Lakers will face in the first round.
