It started last week as a whisper and became louder by the day until it was the elephant in the bubble: Could the Los Angeles Lakers really lose in the first round of the NBA playoffs?
This wouldve sounded preposterous for most of this season. The Lakers had LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the best record in the Western Conference and the statistical markers of a championship team. Then the NBA shut down for several months. When the season resumed in Walt Disney World, it seemed they had forgotten the point of basketball is putting the ball in the basket.
The Lakers have been so dismal in the NBA restart that the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies are no longer playing this weekend for the rights to get rolled as the No. 8 seed. One of them will have the unlikely opportunity to beat a team that looks oddly vulnerable in an unpredictable environment that might be an incubator of anomalies. Its a first-round series with all the makings of an upset.
The reason that No. 1 seeds rarely lose in the first round isnt simply that they tend to be a whole lot better than No. 8 seeds. Its also that the NBA playoffs are designed to suppress randomness and reward favorites. But not this year. The fundamental weirdness of the bubble is enough to throw underdogs a bone.
It doesnt help the Lakers that they dont even know who theyre playing yet. To account for the strangeness of an interrupted season, the NBA introduced a play-in game for the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds, which turned out to be the Blazers and Grizzlies. If the Blazers win Saturday, theyre in. If the Grizzlies win, they play again Sunday.read more
BLAZERS Surging. LAKERS Struggling. NBA Upset Bubbling…
