Around the League - '23-24 Season

[Q-is-here]

It would be pretty wild if embiid rounds back into the insane more-points-than-minutes form just as the sixers get the 8th seed and the sixers beat Boston in the first round. As much as I'm not a huge embiid fan, my dislike of ESPN is far higher and they're basically a mouthpiece for new england spots. Although, a fully healthy embiid like we saw earlier this season is probably that scariest player the wolves have gone against, so the heat or someone knocking the sixers out in the second round would work .

ESPN has a fetish with New England sports, the Lakers, Golden State, Bronny James (even though he is not a legitimate NBA prospect), and Wemby. They got super excited about the Clippers too when they were surging, but that has since cooled. I really need to find a competing website to get scores, look at box scores, and watch highlights but I've been doing it on ESPN so long that it's a habit hard to break. But yeah, they irritate the hell out of me on a number of fronts.

[Lipoli390]

Don’t look now, but Lakers are coming. They’ve won 4 in a row and 9 of their last 10. I see them as the scariest first-round matchup in the West for any of the top three teams.

[FNG]

Don’t look now, but Lakers are coming. They’ve won 4 in a row and 9 of their last 10. I see them as the scariest first-round matchup in the West for any of the top three teams.

Yep, red hot. I like that old men Davis and James each had to play 36 minutes last night...they both have to be a little slow this morning. I also can't wait to see the Hillbilly Kobe trying to defend Ant. Ant was horrible in Phoenix Friday, and needs to bounce back big time in this one. I'm also looking forward to counting how many times Russell "forget" that he is guarding Conley.

[rapsuperstar31]

Don’t look now, but Lakers are coming. They’ve won 4 in a row and 9 of their last 10. I see them as the scariest first-round matchup in the West for any of the top three teams.

A healthy Lakers team is better than their record has them and will be a tough out for anyone. The only great win in those 9 wins is the butt kicking of Indiana. They've beaten a bunch of East coast scrubs and Milwaukee and Cleveland who have been playing terrible Cleveland 3-7 and Milwaukee 4-6.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Don’t look now, but Lakers are coming. They’ve won 4 in a row and 9 of their last 10. I see them as the scariest first-round matchup in the West for any of the top three teams.

A healthy Lakers team is better than their record has them and will be a tough out for anyone. The only great win in those 9 wins is the butt kicking of Indiana. They've beaten a bunch of East coast scrubs and Milwaukee and Cleveland who have been playing terrible Cleveland 3-7 and Milwaukee 4-6.

So... we all know about how the Lakers went on an amazing run in the 2nd half of last season... basically QUADRUPLING the 2nd best team in FTA differential. The Lakers shot more FTAs than the opponent in something like 38 of the final 40 games.

Well, they're still really really dominant at it... and once again... they keep getting better at it as the playoffs draw near.

The Lakers have shot more FTA than the opponent in 18 of the past 19 games. They are +176 during that stretch. The Lakers are also +34 vs. the Timberwolves in the past two matchups.



[Note: The only game the Lakers lost the FTA battle was against the lowly, trying-to-lose Raptors. Coincidentally, last year in the playoffs, the only time the Lakers lost the FTA battle was in the blowout win vs. Memphis. Seems like the closer the game... the larger the FTA disparity at times.]

[Q-is-here]

Don’t look now, but Lakers are coming. They’ve won 4 in a row and 9 of their last 10. I see them as the scariest first-round matchup in the West for any of the top three teams.

A healthy Lakers team is better than their record has them and will be a tough out for anyone. The only great win in those 9 wins is the butt kicking of Indiana. They've beaten a bunch of East coast scrubs and Milwaukee and Cleveland who have been playing terrible Cleveland 3-7 and Milwaukee 4-6.

So... we all know about how the Lakers went on an amazing run in the 2nd half of last season... basically QUADRUPLING the 2nd best team in FTA differential. The Lakers shot more FTAs than the opponent in something like 38 of the final 40 games.

Well, they're still really really dominant at it... and once again... they keep getting better at it as the playoffs draw near.

The Lakers have shot more FTA than the opponent in 18 of the past 19 games. They are +176 during that stretch. The Lakers are also +34 vs. the Timberwolves in the past two matchups.



[Note: The only game the Lakers lost the FTA battle was against the lowly, trying-to-lose Raptors. Coincidentally, last year in the playoffs, the only time the Lakers lost the FTA battle was in the blowout win vs. Memphis. Seems like the closer the game... the larger the FTA disparity at times.]

It is incredible. A big part of the story is that they commit the least fouls in the NBA. That kind of makes sense to me in a non-corrupt sort of way. AD and LeBron, regardless of which team they've been on, have always been able to defend without getting called for fouls (rightly or wrongly, but like I said, that didn't just start when they joined the Lakers). And then you have DLO who doesn't play enough defense to even commit many fouls. And they largely go without any big lumbering Centers that tend to be foul-prone, so I honestly think their low foul rate is pretty legit.

The other side of the coin might be a different story...Austin Reaves is a massive foul-baiter and should probably get called for more O-Fouls. And LeBron is always going to get a generous whistle.

[Coolbreeze44]

Can somebody explain this to me? The Lakers have a 28-13 record at home and are entertaining the Warriors tonight. That would give them 42 home games. What am I missing?

[Q-is-here]

Can somebody explain this to me? The Lakers have a 28-13 record at home and are entertaining the Warriors tonight. That would give them 42 home games. What am I missing?

Did they earn an extra home game during the in-season tournament?

[Coolbreeze44]

The in-season tourney?

[Q-is-here]

The in-season tourney?

Yes, the NBA had its first in season tournament this year, but it's done within the context of regular season games. I honestly didn't really pay much attention to it, but the Lakers won the tournament.