LA Times: Lakers do not want Portland in first round

I'm sick of the national media saying matter-of-factly that the Lakers beat us March 20 in L.A. Here's the truth. We had it won until Camby got hurt.

We had led since the 2nd quarter. No exchanges of leads, it was all us. Now 5:45 left in the game we lead 72-66. The Lakers get physical, make a little run decreasing our lead from 6 to 4, and then hurt Camby at 4:18 when they make a basket. We are up 74-72, he comes out and won't play again. Gerald Wallace replaces Camby at center (because we have no Juwan Howard) and we know we will lose. Lakers tie it at 2:19 76-76. Lakers ahead 82-77 at :32. Lakers win 84-80.

We had it won until Camby got hurt. The national media, the local Laker media, and worst of all the local Blazer media, played it like, oh yeah, yawn, the Lakers beat the Blazers, ho hum, Blazers suck.

 

I'm glad to see you repeat this -- when you posted essentially the same thing in the game thread, I actually thought you were being sarcastic. I agree that the loss of Camby made it next to impossible to regain the momentum the way we might have if he'd stayed on the floor. I'm sure we weren't the only Blazer fans who got that sinking feeling when he left the game.

 

True, but "better teams" can lose series. Just not one of the most marketable teams, in the first round, in Stern's NBA.

I think even with truly neutral referees, the Lakers would definitely be significant favourites. But it would be the 2003 Timberwolves-Lakers first round series all over again, where Robert Horry got a superstar call against Kevin Garnett, fouling Garnett out in overtime.

 

exactly. They just don't want to have to use their officiating trump card early on in the playoffs. If somehow Kobe Pau Odom & Bynum all broke their legs during a 1st round matchup vs Portland in the 2011 playoffs, Stern would still see to it his golden goose advanced.

Would anyone here take the Western field's chances vs the Laker's of advancing to the finals? You'd have to give me like 4-1 before I'd even consider it.

STOMP

 

It is Blake. Blake is scared of playing us. He knows he could never live in Portland again if he helped eliminate us.

 

Does it warm anyone else's heart to know that Magic Johnson and the rest of the L*kers hate us? I figured we were no more than a blip on their radar.

I love rivalries.

 

Wasn't the exact same article written last season?

 

Even if the refs were on your side, the Lakers would still pummel you in 5.

 

Wrong. Brandon Roy has been faking this whole time. He's just biding his time to lull you into a false sense of security, only to return at full health and decimate anything and everything in his path.

 

The Lakers are better then us but if the refs are on our side and Gasol isn't allowed to hold LMA all day long, I like our chances.

 

Even if Gasol weren't allowed to hold LMA all day long, they'd still pummel you guys in 4-5 games.

They're that much better. C'mon get real.

On the other hand, if you had a healthy Oden...

 

There better then us but not to the point your making it. I think its you that needs to get real.

Even with how the reffing is gonna go if we get the lakers in the first round it'll be a 6 or 7 game series.

 

mkay.

 

Brandon Roy has been a non-factor in the latter part of the season. If this is the best we can expect out of him, then the Lakers are hands-down better. Sure, the Lakers tend to get calls and the Blazers don't (especially at the Staples Center, and even more especially in the playoffs), but Portland just doesn't have the combination of playoff experience and talent to pull this off, barring something really extraordinary (like Roy returning to form, Camby playing like it's ten years ago, and Gasol not being allowed to hold and flop in his defense against Aldridge).

 

Well being a bit angry at the you hinting at the possible sweep (Sex Panther) I guess I didn't explain myself very well. Getting swept in the first round is very very hard to do in the west. In the last 6 years it has happened three times. LA swept Denver in 2008, Dallas swept Memphis in 2006, Pheonix swept Memphis in 2005. 2005/2006 Memphis was a decent team but very soft and not built to succeed in the playoffs. 2008 Denver Nuggets focused there offense on an aging and not that effective Iverson who refused to let himself believe he was on the decline.
I think the Blazers at the moment are a much better team then the three I mentioned above. So that is why I was a little angry with the assumption being we would get swept by the Lakers and lumped with Memphis/aging Iverson Denver.
Lakers win the series but its not going to be as easy as some lakers fan think it will be.

 

We can beat them.