Around the League: Week 14 (1/17 to 1/23)

[Split T]

Kings were outscored 13-1 over final 2:48 to lose 133-131 to the Pistons

[Superbone]

Kings were outscored 13-1 over final 2:48 to lose 133-131 to the Pistons

At home. I just watched that. What a sad sack team the Kings are. Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

[Superbone]

The other sad sack California team, the Lakers, also lost at home tonight to the Pacers. Ah…

[Shabazz]

A real shame.

[bajanguy008]

Wow
Yikes

[JeremyG]

Question: why did all of the experts predict the Lakers to return to championship contender status, when all of us knew they would be a disaster?

[Split T]

Well to be fair, they think they are title contenders because of LeBron and AD and they’ve only played 15 games together(9-6). Did all of the experts think they’d be title contenders? I think there was a good amount who thought this wouldn’t work.

[Split T]

No change…Klay has extended his lead. Only question now is if Westbrook passes Book.

Still can’t believe Wiggins is in a starting position. Who is voting for him? Canada?

[wpmiller42]

I get that the All-Star game is for the fans, but the Fan Vote has just become ridiculous. I'm not even going to argue about how off these rankings are.

[Shabazz]

No change…Klay has extended his lead. Only question now is if Westbrook passes Book.

Still can’t believe Wiggins is in a starting position. Who is voting for him? Canada?

It must be Canada, because his own frontcourt teammate is much more deserving.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I'm sure the international vote would surprise a lot of people as well. Many times there are unusual fan favorites abroad for unexpected reasons. Remember when T-Mac was significantly more popular than Yao Ming in China?

[Mori Chu]

Sad news for Ball.

[bajanguy008]

[Flagrant Fowl]

Shit Mode is how I'd categorize the Lakers recent performances.

[Mori Chu]

Lakers are currently 8th in the West with a 22-23 record and have gone 5-5 in their last 10. They sure don't seem like a title contender as constructed, but they aren't in much real danger of falling out of the play-in game. The 11th seed in the West is currently the Sacramento Kings who have an 18-29 record. The Lakers won't fall to a winning percentage THAT low. It seems like they can basically do whatever they want and will be almost certain to be a play-in team. They are unlikely to rise up to the 6 seed and unlikely to drop below the 10 seed, so what does it even matter?

I do love me some Russell Westbrook failure, though. And some Lakers failure. How many "experts" said this was going to be the best team in the West?

Side note: Here are the season predictions I made for the West for this year with the team's actual record in parentheses afterward. I wildly underestimated the Warriors, but I called the Lakers being a fringe playoff team. And at least I got the #1 team right.

West:
1 Suns (1) <-- $$$
2 Jazz (4)
3 Nuggets (6)
4 Mavs (5)
5 Grizzlies (3) <-- I believed!
6 Clippers (9)
7 Lakers (8)
8 Warriors (2) <-- oops
9 Blazers (10)
10 Timberwolves (7)
11 Pelicans (13)
12 Kings (11)
13 Spurs (12)
14 Rockets (15)
15 Thunder (14)

[pickle]

The East vote isn’t so bad outside of Rose and Aldridge.

[Split T]

The East vote isn’t so bad outside of Rose and Aldridge.

And Kyrie

[Flagrant Fowl]

Did he not turn down the Suns in the offseason?

[Split T]

Did he not turn down the Suns in the offseason?

I don’t remember that but it’s possible

[Flagrant Fowl]

Did he not turn down the Suns in the offseason?

I don’t remember that but it’s possible

Maybe the Suns weren't interested if they were expecting Biyombo.