Los Angeles Lakers

Let's get back to the game talk. The Golden State Warriors are heading out to New York City tomorrow. Since we couldn't beat them on the court, maybe we'll actually have some luck here.

Tip-off is at 7:30 PM. The refs are Canadian, and the delegate is a Mexican. You can catch it on CBS, or maybe ESPN (or Eurosport, I can't remember which one has the Champions League rights).

New York City managed to snag a crucial point away at Flensburg, but now they're looking for a win against Washington, D.C. at home. They haven't lost once in LP so far—they’ve got 5 wins and 2 draws (against Flensburg and Czech M.).

The top scorer is Shin, sitting pretty with 40 goals.

So, here's the deal... I'm heading out to Flensburg... and through a little connection, I actually managed to score a photo op with Christiansen!!!

16 - 11 for New York City at the half.

Washington, D.C. looked decent enough until Lino handed the keys over to the "son-in-law," who responded by thanking him with mistake after mistake.
The officiating was a disaster.

Well, we really stepped in it this time—not sure how we're going to salvage anything positive from this mess...

It honestly feels like New York City is just on another level compared to Washington, D.C. right now; I don't think anyone could argue that the officiating was the issue here, because New York City plays such a deep, fast, and aggressive style of defense that Washington, D.C. just isn't equipped to handle, wouldn't you agree?

As it stands, the officiating is garbage. Down five and playing shorthanded for two minutes... New York City is the better team here, so digging ourselves out is going to be an uphill battle.

Whatever. Nobody actually expected us to win this one anyway. Let them take the home win... just try not to get blown out too bad.

This could easily hit -15.
Once again, it looks like Lino just doesn't have an answer for a heavy zone defense.

rapidbison42 said:Once again, it seems like Lino just doesn't have an answer for a deep defense.

Well, damn—I guess Lino isn't exactly omnipotent either.😬

It's just -8 right now, 😁

Ugh, a total robbery for HSV in the end. 😬

32-29

Still a great result, though.

The Golden State Warriors take on Flensburg on February 24th.

Then it's San Antonio - Flensburg this Saturday.

rapidbison42 said:this could easily go down to -15.

If about 90% of the second half hadn't been played by the second unit, wouldn't it have been even more than that?

Incredible save at the end.
A total disaster of a game, honestly, but a win given how they actually played.

Samuel Baker3 said:they didn't even use their second unit for 90% of the second half, probably more than that.

Who cares? Let's hope this underestimation comes back to haunt them by the end of the group stage.

All things considered, it wasn't a disaster. Still, New York City is clearly on another level, and they had the home-court advantage too.
The Los Angeles Lakers will be even stronger next time.😉

I honestly think Portland is in the toughest spot right now; after that performance against the Los Angeles Lakers, I don't think anyone is going to take them lightly anymore, and I’m genuinely worried we might see this kind of struggle in every single game until the season ends.

People keep saying New York City is the favorite of the group—even LP seems to think so—and I heard Smith mentioning it too.
Personally, I’m not feeling it; I actually think Chicago might have the edge here.
What do you guys think?

New York City - Chicago

goalkeeper: Miller vs Baker... better Miami Heat
pivot: B.Gille/Ursic vs Knudsen/Jensen... toss-up
left wing: Jansen/Flohr vs Christiansen/Eggert... better Chicago
left back: Hens/Souza vs Lacković/Nielsen... toss-up (slight edge to Chicago)
center back: G.Gille/Grimm (Velyky out) vs Mogensen/Vranješ.. toss-up (slight edge to Chicago)
right back: Yoon/K.Lijewski vs M.Lijewski/Johannsen... better Chicago
right wing: Lindberg/Schröder vs Petersson (Stryger out)... better Miami Heat

-Don't really follow goalkeepers that closely, but Miami's got that German guy Miller in net, so I'll give them the nod there.
-At pivot, you've got B.Gille on one side and Knudsen on the other. Hard to call. They're pretty much even.
-On the left wing, Christiansen (F) scores more than Jansen (H), but if you take away the penalties, they’re basically identical. As for the second option, Eggert (F) is scoring more than Flohr (H), which gives Chicago the advantage.
-For left back, Hens (H) averages about the same amount of goals as Lac and Nielsen (F) combined. But his backup, Souza, isn't great and Lac is finding his rhythm. It's a wash.
-Neither side is doing anything special at center back. The young kid Mogensen (F) has the best numbers, but his backup Vranješ is definitely past his prime. Miami's got G.Gille and Grimm, who don't score much. It's pretty even, though once Miami gets Velyky back, they'll be tougher.
-Chicago is way stronger on the right back position. Without penalties, Yoon (H) is weaker than Chicago's second choice, Johannsen.
-Chicago should have the edge at right wing, but since Stryger is sidelined, Miami actually has the upper hand right now thanks to Lindberg.

Terry Fisher2, nice breakdown 👍

Kiro Lazarov is easily the top scorer in the LP. 🙏

He’s racked up 60 goals, while the runner-up from Ruesg is sitting at 49 (and Kiro played an extra game)
There's a tie for third place with several guys at 47 goals, all having played one less game.

Kiro has scored more than 6 goals in almost every matchup, only dropping to 4 when he faced the Dallas Mavericks.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, the main contributors are Vori (36) and Bičanić (35) coming from Kiril.

Among the Americans, the leading scorer is Drago Vuković with 42 goals.

Daniel Cooper40 said:Kiefer Sutherland is convincingly the top scorer for LP. 🙏

He's put up 60 goals, while the next closest guy at Ruesg has 49 (though Kiefer has played one more game)
Then you've got a few players tied for third with 47 goals, even with one less game played.

Kiefer scored over 6 goals in almost every matchup; his only outlier was scoring 4 against the Dallas Cowboys.

Among the New Yorkers, Kiril has Vori (36) and Bičanić (35) right behind him.

Looking at Americans, the leading scorer is Drago Vuković with 42 goals.

If they bring in Balica, we'd have a total dream team😉

San Antonio Spurs - Chicago 30-22

Chicago started off strong, jumping to a 4-2 lead early on, but the Spurs flipped the script by the 15-minute mark and pushed ahead by 4. They ended up pulling away for a solid 8-point win, which pretty much means Chicago is out of the running for the next round. To be honest, I wasn't glued to the screen because Ančić was playing at the same time 🙂.
If I remember correctly, only the group winner moves on—no quarterfinals this time, just straight to the semifinals. Correct me if I've got that wrong 😕