With 12 games to go, the Lakers are not mathematically eliminated from the postseason. However, they have less than a one percent chance to make the NBA’s second season, according to FiveThirtyEight’s playoff probabilities. The Clippers, on the other hand, have yet to officially clinch, but the franchise has slightly higher than a 99% chance to make the playoffs.
Both results are far from what many predicted prior to the season. As the two teams head in opposite directions, let’s take a look at some more notes from Southern California:
- Clippers head coach Doc Rivers believes teams are giving up on young prospects too early, citing the Lakers trading away D’Angelo Russell, as Brian Lewis of The New York Post relays. “You look at each draft and there’s guys that come out at 19 and they don’t take off right away. They get moved around, and the next thing you know, they’re players. It happens more than we know, and it happened to D’Angelo,” Rivers explained.
- The Clippers‘ bench sets the team apart and while it’s easy to point to two-time Sixth Man of the Year winner Lou Williams, the unit is deeper than one player, Martin Rogers of USA Today writes. “A lot of people would love to have one game changer in that role. We have two of them,” Rivers said referring to Williams and Montrezl Harrell. “To be able to do it you have to have that personality where you say, ‘I am going to come in and just grab the moment.'”
- The Lakers should bench LeBron James for the remainder of the season, Arash Markazi of The Los Angeles Times contends. Markazi believes the team needs to focus on making sure James is healthy heading into next season and not worry about the improbable chance it has to make the playoffs.
NBA is prone to gettting some really really ridiculous rumors at times. Doc to the Lakers is one of them.
Why on earth would the Clippers ever allow Doc out of his contract and/or a “trade” to give him to the Lakers? Oh, they’re the Clippers, got it, my bad…. never mind.
Note: A Doc Rivers/Lakers item that was originally mentioned in this post has been removed.
Lakers need to t*nk
Hey everybody, we’re changing the narrative!
Why sitting on the bench would make LBJ healthier for the next season? Players get as much injured training or showering at home as they do playing, which by the way is the reason they get paid, LBJ will have over 6 months to rest & recover, he shouldn’t waste his time going with the team USA, so why rest? All the fans wanna enjoy his phenomenon while it lasts, not his backside on the bench… SMH
Dude I’ve always felt this way about all players. They get paid to play and fans pay to watch them play. The sport is about the fans and players resting when its the only opportunity for most people to see the player live is just a slap in the face. Especially in Lebrons case, its an away game and the fans of Milwaukee are paying to see him. Most purchased their tickets in advanced only to be let down that hes not playing. NBA needs to get back to its old school standards. No malice in the palace but players with integrity.
Anyone else getting tired of DNP, Load Management, bench for period of time/balance of year to keep fresh or minutes restriction to ensure the player stays healthy for the offseason?
When did these guys become such glass dolls? Imagine telling Oak, or Lambeer or Kobe you were going to sit them down for a while to keep them healthy for NEXT season. How many coaches would have been Spreewell’d doing that?
I get it, Basketball at the NBA level is a very labour intensive game, but seriously, it’s gone too far.
Everyone’s body reacts differently over the course of a season.
Consider Kobe as an example.
Elite talent.
No one wants that for anyone.
Yeah! It was so much better in the 90s! A player like Dave Robinson would never sit out part of a season so his team could tank to draft a superstar!
I totally agree. Its an epidemic. Fans pay to watch live play. Too much rest. At least allow a decent amount of notice prior to game day so fans have the option to return their ticket. Sharif Rahim played all the games he could on them bad Sacramento teams. Bring back the pre 2010’s basketball integrity!
Lebron agrees. His team-imposed “minutes restriction” restricts him to essentially normal fulltime minutes. He has averaged about 32′ in the last 5 games, about 40′ in the five before that.
In 2014 the league average for starters was 31′ and that is more likely to have gone down than up.