Remember when the Lakers were supposed to be The No. 8 Seed From Hell?
Would you believe The No. 9 Seed From Hell?
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the Jazz – who initially reeled out of the way as soon as they heard footsteps – couldn’t lose them all. Utah took advantage of a schedule opportunity to go on a 7-1 run.
The Lakers, meanwhile, were in the process of answering all questions about how good they had become and who finished the season as the best team in town. Then they were flattened convincingly by the Clippers, again.
That dropped the Lakers to No. 9, a half-game behind the Jazz – until Tuesday night, when the Lakers won and the Jazz lost.
Guess who’s back at eighth? More to the point, guess how long the Lakers will stay there, playing back-to-back tonight in Portland?
Unfortunately for the Lakers, running neck-and-neck is no good. The Jazz have the tiebreaker, having already won the season series, 2-1.
The Jazz have three games left: home-and-home vs. Minnesota, and at Memphis.
The Lakers – who have yet to win both ends of a back-to-back set this season – play at Portland, always a hot spot where their arrival will be enough to awaken the sleeping Trail Blazers for a night. LA closes at home against three playoff teams – the Warriors, Spurs and Rockets.
Hopefully, ABC has learned enough to duck the game against the Spurs on Sunday, with the over-under on the number of players Gregg Popovich takes on the trip at seven.
Whatever happens, and however kosher it is, it’s going to be interesting.
On to the rankings.
The Nuggets are bleep out of luck? They won the game they Gallo got hurt in, then they went and CRUSHED the Rockets without him and Lawson, putting more points than they have all year.
The Nuggets should be above both the Grizz and Clippers.
These rankings are horrible.
Knicks should be higher than Memphis you silly man.