Suns and Lakers in full tank mode, Brooklyn keeps winning. Trouble for us?

[jbpats]

Subject says it all, Lakers and Suns have maybe 1 or 2 accidental wins left in them this season. Brooklyn has gone 4-6 in their last 10. Odds favor Brooklyn finishing with the worst record but I feel like the Lakers are going to take over that honor by the end of the season.
Are folks getting concerned?

Hopefully the C's don't lay and egg tonight and hurt their own cause. I can see Brooklyn playing us tough though especially with no IT.

[schabette]

Let's just revisit this thread when (if) they win 5 more alright?

[Chris22]

Brooklyn is the real deal. They have no reason to tank at this point. They could beat us, if we don't take them seriously.

[tazzmaniac]

Have you actually looked at the standings?  Brooklyn has 7 less wins than the Lakers with 15 games left.  Do you honestly think Brooklyn is going to go 7-8 or better over those 15 games? 
The Lakers are certainly tanking hard but that is too secure the 2nd worst record. 

[BitterJim]

Even if the Lakers go winless in their remaining games, Brooklyn would need to go 7-8 to tie them.  LA will definitely win a couple of their last 14 games, though, so really Brooklyn would need to go something like 9-6, which is pretty much impossible for them.  Their last 15 games include two games against us, one vs. the Wizards, one against Dallas (trying to make the playoffs), 2 against the Pistons (also fighting for a spot), 2 against the Hawks, 2 against the bulls, and then some games that I suspect they can win 3 of: home and away vs. 76ers, home and away vs. the Magic, and home vs. the Suns. I expect them to go 4-11 or 5-10 for the rest of the season and hold on to last place.

[jbpats]

Have you actually looked at the standings?  Brooklyn has 7 less wins than the Lakers with 15 games left.  Do you honestly think Brooklyn is going to go 7-8 or better over those 15 games? 
The Lakers are certainly tanking hard but that is too secure the 2nd worst record.

Have you looked at Brooklyns remaining games? here are 12 very winnable games for them
2 against us - they will have motivation to beat us
2 against the bulls - team is on a downward spiral
2 against the 76ers - coin flip
suns- they will win
Magic - they could win
2 against the Pistons - they could win
2 against the hawks - I'd think they'd win one.

This team has motivation to Win, all these teams I listed above have hardly any motivation at all at this point.

[hodgy03038]

Brooklyn's remaining games
BOS
DAL
DET
PHO
@WAS
@ATL
PHI
@DET
ORL
ATL
@PHI
@ORL
CHI
@BOS
@CHI


I see 8 definite losses for them there and that's not counting Philly who will probably win both.

[Green-Bananas]

Have you actually looked at the standings?  Brooklyn has 7 less wins than the Lakers with 15 games left.  Do you honestly think Brooklyn is going to go 7-8 or better over those 15 games? 
The Lakers are certainly tanking hard but that is too secure the 2nd worst record.

Have you looked at Brooklyns remaining games? here are 12 very winnable games for them
2 against us - they will have motivation to beat us
2 against the bulls - team is on a downward spiral
2 against the 76ers - coin flip
suns- they will win
Magic - they could win
2 against the Pistons - they could win
2 against the hawks - I'd think they'd win one.

This team has motivation to Win, all these teams I listed above have hardly any motivation at all at this point.

TP jbpats for not counting your chickens early... I posted similar sentiments in the Lakers Tank Thread. Although I just said it could get close, the usual suspects, showed up with their sarcasm.  Let's hope the Celt's take care of business and we can look to the lottery.

[Green-Bananas]

Brooklyn's remaining games
BOS
DAL
DET
PHO
@WAS
@ATL
PHI
@DET
ORL
ATL
@PHI
@ORL
CHI
@BOS
@CHI


I see 8 definite losses for them there and that's not counting Philly who will probably win both.

Philly, Orlando, Phoenix are all in tank mode... They're all trying to lose.
The Nets are trying to win... Its not your normal tank situation.
It will be closer than we would like. Lets hope the playoff teams do their part.

[saltlover]

If Brooklyn is at 17 wins at the end of March, and the Lakers still at 20 wins, I won't worry, but I'll start paying attention.

Expect Lopez to be shut down for April again like last year -- they don't want him getting hurt in the last few games, preventing a trade this summer.  Brooklyn still has 10 games left against teams fighting for the playoffs and positioning.  Even if they win all 5 of their games against tankers, they have to win at least 2 games against teams trying to win to even tie the Lakers, assuming the Lakers continue to lose out.  That the Suns are mentioned in this thread is absurd.  You really think the Nets are going to suddenly play .600 ball at the end of the season, which is a 50-win pace over the full year?

[Somebody]

Again as I've always been saying the key to their success is Jeremy Lin

[The One]

Suns and Lakers in full tank mode, Brooklyn keeps winning. Trouble for us?


No...it is not trouble.

[Green-Bananas]

If Brooklyn is at 17 wins at the end of March, and the Lakers still at 20 wins, I won't worry, but I'll start paying attention.

Expect Lopez to be shut down for April again like last year -- they don't want him getting hurt in the last few games, preventing a trade this summer.  Brooklyn still has 10 games left against teams fighting for the playoffs and positioning.  Even if they win all 5 of their games against tankers, they have to win at least 2 games against teams trying to win to even tie the Lakers, assuming the Lakers continue to lose out.  That the Suns are mentioned in this thread is absurd.  You really think the Nets are going to suddenly play .600 ball at the end of the season, which is a 50-win pace over the full year?

Salt, aren't the Suns the third worst team in the standings? What benefit is there for
them to win against the Nets? To let one of Philly or Orlando overtake them? Its that close.

No one here is implying that the Nets are any better then they were, a month ago. Or on a
50 win pace. We are just saying it's odd that all they bottom feeders happen to playing the
Nets to close out the season, and they all need loses to solidify there best lottery odds.
That's all.

The Playoff teams (Celt's for one) can make this a mute point. Let's hope they do

[Moranis]

historically the worst team hasn't gotten the top pick as many times as other spots.  I think 3rd worst has gotten the top pick the most often.  Having the worst record and getting the top pick until the last two years was actually quite rare.

[saltlover]

If Brooklyn is at 17 wins at the end of March, and the Lakers still at 20 wins, I won't worry, but I'll start paying attention.

Expect Lopez to be shut down for April again like last year -- they don't want him getting hurt in the last few games, preventing a trade this summer.  Brooklyn still has 10 games left against teams fighting for the playoffs and positioning.  Even if they win all 5 of their games against tankers, they have to win at least 2 games against teams trying to win to even tie the Lakers, assuming the Lakers continue to lose out.  That the Suns are mentioned in this thread is absurd.  You really think the Nets are going to suddenly play .600 ball at the end of the season, which is a 50-win pace over the full year?

Salt, aren't the Suns the third worst team in the standings? What benefit is there for
them to win against the Nets? To let one of Philly or Orlando overtake them? Its that close.

No one here is implying that the Nets are any better then they were, a month ago. Or on a
50 win pace. We are just saying it's odd that all they bottom feeders happen to playing the
Nets to close out the season, and they all need loses to solidify there best lottery odds.
That's all.

The Playoff teams (Celt's for one) can make this a mute point. Let's hope they do

The Suns can tank all they want, but they can't give back the games they've already won.  They currently have 9 more wins than the Nets.  That means, to catch the Suns, the Nets need to win 9 of their final 15 games, which is a .600 winning percentage.  The Nets have some winnable games ahead, but they are still playing 10 of their final 15 games against teams currently in the playoff position or within two spots of playoff position.  Detroit isn't tanking.  They're not a great team, but they're better than the Nets, and they're still trying to win.  Same with Dallas (if you believe otherwise, just ask Washington.)  Same with Chicago (for now).  There is no reason to believe the Nets will win 60% of their final games and catch the Suns.  Worrying about them is irrational.

Even "tanking" teams at the end of the year still have players on the court that are trying to win.  Those guys want playing time next year, or even a contract next year.  Sure, the Suns and Lakers coaches may not put all their best players on the court, but the guys out there are going to try -- why lose on purpose, giving a team a better draft pick who's going to come steal your job?  The same is true with Orlando and Philly.  The guys on the court still want to win, same as the Nets players.  There are no guaranteed wins left on the Nets calendar, and there are many games that they are very likely to lose.

There's really no reason to worry about this, and there's certainly no reason to start yet another thread about it.