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

rockets are better without KD

 

yeah, they're harder to defend with him (i hope we have a better plan for sengun tonight than we did last game, though), but the team just plays better when he's not there right now, perhaps out of spite, lol.

 

Heard in a pod that when KD doesn't play, everyone is slotted into their best roles and there's more spacing.
When KD has the ball, which he does a lot, Sengun and Amen are not floor spacers and it shrinks their offense. They also play at a higher pace without him.

More and more I see basketball as fit-based sport more than talent or skill. I think the game evolved to that due to being so more paced, much more skilled and teams having so much data nowadays to find the best counters.

I grew up watching in the late 90s and early 00s where the talent itself would win games because there were more isos and half court execution. There's was also a substantial skill gap between stars and role players.
Now role players can get you 40 and it's just another Tuesday.

There's much more than "who have the best players" because the game is much more complex and that explains why Indiana gets to the Finals, Boston are so good after dumping half of the rotation or we are beating the Rockets.

 

They better treat this, like it's game 7...

 

yeah, i agree with all this. you can't just amass talent and roll the ball out there anymore.

yeah, pressure completely reverses if we lose tonight.