2026 Playoffs: (4) Lakers Vs (5) Rockets - Discussion

Was listening the BS podcast with Lowe and Simmons pointed out that Durant and Thompson have played a ridiculous amount of minutes this year. Everyone will be rested but this is a situation where I would consider full court and using guys like Bronny and Theiro and all their fouls to really make them work to bring the ball up the court.

Everyone has been focused on the Rockets doing that the Lakers with Luke being the de facto PG but whats good for the goose is good for the gander (did I get that right?)

 

Email JJ ..... see if he'll abandon his 8 man rotation.

 

Early off-season confirmed

 

If KD is out, we're alot closer to stealing some games.

Luke (38) / Bronny (10)
Smart (36) / Jake (12)
Lebron (36) / Jake (12)
Rui (36) / Kleber (12)
Ayton (28) / Hayes (20)

I think that's basically our team at the moment. We really need our top 5 guys to carry, and Jake needs to be dynamite off the bench - if he is having a good day, I can see him stealing a bunch of Kleber's minutes too. We need Luke & Rui to have a few 20 point games off hot shooting, we need a good old 7/11 Marcus Smart shooting game, we need a vintage Ayton 24/12 game and we need Hayes & Kleber to be solid. I'd also hope JJ tries Adou, NSJ & Vando at times, any 3 can provide energy and a spark as the series goes on.

Rockets are probabaly:

Thompson (40) / Reed (8)
Okogie (28) / Reed (20)
Jabari (38) / Eason (10)
KD (38) / Eason (10)
Sengun (34) / Capela (14)

They'll probably cut Capela's minutes pretty quickly and play Eason more if he is playing with energy. They don't have much else outside their top 7-8 guys, especially if DFS is glued to the bench for good. They're young so I don't see Thompson, Reed, Jabari, Eason, Okogie & Sengun getting tired - but if we can make them play really big minutes, my hope is they have a few bad shooting games.

Lakers in 5! (More like, lets try to get this first game)

 

Agree with almost all, but I don't want Bronny minutes or think they're necessary. Kennard and LeBron split PG duties offensively, with Smart as secondary ballhandler when 1 of them is out. Always have 2 of those 3 on the floor.

I'm also one of the few in the camp who would like to see some Vando minutes. I can't look it up right now, but when I've looked it up in the past, his defense has outweighed the lack of offensive, in certain lineups, by both +/-, net rating, and other stats. I think a lineup of LeBron, Kennard, LaRavia, Vando, and Hayes works for this purpose. If it doesn't, then sure, try Kleber. This yields:

Kennard (36) / LeBron (12)
Smart (36) / LaRavia (12)
Lebron (24) / LaRavia (24)
Rui (36) / Vando or Kleber (12)
Ayton (28) / Hayes (20)

 

Yeah pretty sure Vando plays. Their biggest strength is rebounding so Vando will definitely play.

I liked some minutes of the Bronny, Jake, Rui, Vando, Ayton lineup last week. Wondering if we will see that or a version of it

 

CP3, C-3PO, it doesn't matter, bring em all! Chris Paul, Logan Paul, Jake Paul, any other Paul…Lakers in 5!"