Are you a Clippers fan who isn’t sure who to root for in the NBA’s August 6th bubble games? You’re in the right place.
With each team playing just eight “seeding games” in Orlando before the playoffs begin, there’s limited time to both battle for playoff positioning as well as build momentum after a four-month layoff. That means that, while we obviously want the Clippers to be successful, Clippers fans can’t just pay attention to LAC–nearly every game played in the NBA over this two-week span is important to the playoff picture.
Of all of the NBA’s August 6th bubble games, our eyes will be on Clippers vs Mavericks today, as LAC looks to improve on their 1-2 start against the team that is their most likely first round opponent.
The NBA’s August 6th Bubble Games
All times Pacific Time.
New Orleans Pelicans vs Sacramento Kings, 10:30am, NBATV
Rooting for: Sacramento Kings
The Kings are 0-3 in the bubble and have played so poorly for so long that Kings fans are calling for general manager Vlade Divac’s resignation. With their 0-3 record, they’re at the very edge of elimination, as a 3-5 or worse finish would keep them behind even an 0-8 Memphis. That means 4-4 is the minimal hope. At least one, if not two, of Portland, San Antonio, and New Orleans will also beat that mark. With games left against the Pelicans twice, the Nets, Rockets, and Lakers, it’s likely curtains for the Kings if they leave themselves needing perfection with games left against two of the conference’s best teams.
But we aren’t rooting for the Kings because we care about their hopes–in fact, it’s their lack of hope that’s why we’re hoping for them to pull this one off. Right now, the West play-in tournament is slated to be between Memphis and Portland. I expect Memphis to slide to 10th or lower without Jaren Jackson Jr., but in case the Grizzlies steal a couple of games, Portland needs to fend off New Orleans and San Antonio.
The Pelicans, with the friendliest remaining schedule in the league (Sacramento, Washington, San Antonio, Sacramento, Orlando), are the biggest threat to Portland right now.
Miami Heat vs Milwaukee Bucks, 1:00pm, TNT
Rooting for: Miami Heat
Bam Adebayo vs Giannis Antetokounmpo should make for a fun match-up in this one, even if the Heat are without Jimmy Butler and/or Goran Dragic.
It’s hard to call the Bucks’ 1-2 start to the bubble shaky when they’re clearly embracing it by rotating their lineups to get different guys playing time. This is essentially pre-season for Milwaukee, who can only lose the 1-seed if they finish 1-7 and Toronto goes a perfect 8-0. I’m not going to take that potentiality seriously for now.
But Miami’s chances of passing the Boston Celtics, while slim, are more worth monitoring right now. Miami (2-1 in the bubble) needs to lose 3 fewer bubble games than Boston (2-2) to pull ahead (Boston has the tiebreaker after winning the season series 2-1), so the margin for error for the Heat is slim. If the Heat win out, they’d need Boston to split their last 4 games against Toronto, Orlando, Memphis, and Washington 2-2. That’s already unlikely. Any Heat loss essentially ends this race.
Remember, of course, that we only want Miami to pass Boston because we think the Celtics are the better team–and therefore a more formidable challenger to Milwaukee in a second-round series from the 4-5.
Indiana Pacers vs Phoenix Suns, 1:00pm, NBA League Pass
Rooting for: Phoenix Suns
This is probably the lowest-stakes of the NBA’s August 6th bubble games, but what the hell. This might be recency bias, but the Suns’ win over the Clippers on Tuesday impressed me. They’re 3-0 in the bubble with Devin Booker averaging over 30 points, and while LAC was their only impressive win in those 3, you can only give them credit for playing the teams on the schedule. The Suns clearly came to Orlando with something to prove, and they’re doing it so far.
If Phoenix is capable of having big enough nights to beat the Clippers and Bucks, it only figures that they have the firepower to be a threat to take a game off of the Lakers in the first round, right? The Suns would essentially need a perfect bubble–even 7-1 ties them with Memphis, and the Grizzlies won the season series 3-1–plus help from other teams, but I wouldn’t hate to see a Portland vs Phoenix play-in game. And the fanbase could sure as hell use it (you could say this for the Kings too, but their roster isn’t winning games).
The Pacers are less important overall, as I haven’t worked out any significant preference for where the Clippers would like them to land, but they’re a helluva fun watch with TJ Warren the early MVP of the bubble.
LA Clippers vs Dallas Mavericks, 3:30pm, TNT
Rooting for: LA Clippers
A preview of the likely first-round 2-7 series in the Western Conference! The Clippers will not want to show their hand here, but also do need to start winning some games if they want to hold on to 2nd.
Check out Niels Pineda’s game preview here.
Portland Trail Blazers vs Denver Nuggets, 5:00pm, NBA League Pass
Rooting for: Portland Trail Blazers
The most impactful non-Clippers contest of the NBA’s August 6th bubble games, with two factors at play here: Portland’s push to the play-in tournament, and Denver’s status in the top half of the Western Conference. As far as Clipper priories go, Denver is the more important team, as they are directly challenging LAC for the 2-seed.
The Clippers need the Nuggets to walk a bit of a tight rope in the back half of bubble play. Obviously, LAC wants to hold on to 2nd place (although if the Utah Jazz, currently narrowly in 4th, fall to 6th, it might not be a big deal). But perhaps even more important is keeping the Houston Rockets out of third place. Houston and Denver are each 2-1, and if Houston wins out (LAL, SAC, SAS, IND, PHI) they’ll need the Nuggets to finish 4-4 (last 4 games after this one against Portland: UTA, LAL, LAC, TOR) in order to move into 3rd.
Denver’s ability to go 4-4 with that remaining schedule isn’t certain, but I also don’t fully buy Houston’s high-variance offense going undefeated against several good teams. For now, a Denver loss helps protect the Clippers’ 2nd seed more than a Rockets rise threatens their second-round matchup. But we’ll likely root for Denver in future games, keeping them walking the tightrope between LAC and HOU.
The Blazers, our preferred 8-seed, likely need a 5-3 record in the bubble to secure a spot in the play-in game (4-4 or 3-5 leaves things a bit up in the air based on other teams). They’re 2-1, with this game, LAC, PHI, DAL, and BKN left on their schedule. A win here against Denver puts them in a strong position.
Los Angeles Lakers vs Houston Rockets, 6:00pm, TNT
Rooting for: Houston Rockets
This one is tough. Houston (2-1 in the bubble) is currently in 5th, a half-game behind 4th-place Utah (2-2) and a half-game ahead of 6th-place OKC (2-1). The Clippers want to keep the Rockets out of 3rd and 6th.
But after today’s game against the Lakers, I expect Houston to go 3-1 in their last 4, while OKC should finish 3-2 (4-1 if the Clippers rest guys in the finale) and Utah 3-1. Given Denver’s difficult remaining schedule likely producing a 4-4 or 3-5 finish, that leaves those 4 teams all very close to each other from 3-6. For now, though, Denver still has a 2-loss lead, so we’ll work with the information we have. But if we end up with a Denver loss (to a sub-.500 team) and a Rockets win (vs the 1-seed) tonight, Houston’s odds at the 3 will jump dramatically.
Things are nudged a little Houston’s way by my general dislike for the Lakers, and any potential impact this loss could have on their mentality, especially if they do end up seeing the Rockets in the playoffs.
Yesterday’s Games
Memphis Grizzlies 115, Utah Jazz 124
We were rooting for: Memphis Grizzlies
It’s not a surprise to see Memphis lose here, but a Jazz loss would have drastically reduced Houston’s chances of falling to 6. The Grizz move to 0-4 (remaining: OKC, Toronto, Boston, Milwaukee); 2-6 keeps them in the play-in tournament, 1-7 leaves things up in the air, and 0-8 likely leaves them out. No offense to the Grizzlies, but with JJJ out, we’d like to see other teams in the play-in games.
Philadelphia 76ers 107, Washington Wizards 98
We were rooting for: Philadelphia 76ers
Yesterday, I had this to say:
this is a freebie for the Sixers, as Washington is primed to go 0-8 in the bubble. Unfortunately, they’re the Sixers, so they might lose just for the hell of it.
It almost came true! The Sixers are very likely going to finish 6th in the East, away from Milwaukee’s side of the bracket, but this win keeps the door open. The Pacers are a game ahead of them and hold the tiebreaker, so Philly (ORL, PDX, PHX, TOR, HOU) needs to outplay Indiana (PHX, LAL, MIA, HOU, MIA) by 2 games the rest of the way.
Denver Nuggets 132, San Antonio Spurs 126
We were rooting for: Denver Nuggets
I got some pushback in the comments for picking Denver, who is now just a half-game behind the Clippers in the 2-3 race. But due to the Nuggets’ extra game played (a loss) before the season was suspended, they’d need to outplay the Clippers by another game in each team’s final 5 games to pass them on win %. For example, a 4-1 Nuggets finish leaves them at 6-2, with a 67.1% winning percentage. The Clippers could finish 4-1 (5-3 overall) and finish at 68.1%. Crucial is the remaining head-to-head between the two teams.
The Spurs are now 2-2. They need to go 3-1 in their last 4 games (UTA, NOP, HOU, UTA) to have a shot at the play-in–if they go 2-2, they’ll finish 4-4, behind even an 0-8 Grizzlies. Just one of Portland, New Orleans, or Sacramento finishing 4-4 or better (or Phoenix finishing 6-2 or better) beats San Antonio’s 4-4 in that case. At 5-3, they have a chance to be one of the top 2 teams passing an 0-8 Memphis.
Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Los Angeles Lakers 86
We were rooting for: Los Angeles Lakers
An OKC loss would have pushed them quite a bit of the way towards 6th. Now, they’ve got a couple easy games ahead against Memphis and Washington (and potentially Phoenix if the Suns start losing and pack it in), meaning they should keep pace with Houston.
At least the Lakers got blown out.
Toronto Raptors 109, Orlando Magic 99
We were rooting for: Toronto Raptors
This game doesn’t do much for anything, except keeping Orlando in 8th instead of 7th in the East, a race that I’m not sure matters much.
Brooklyn Nets 115, Boston Celtics 149
We were rooting for: Brooklyn Nets
The Nets pulling off the upset would have helped Miami try to catch Boston for 3rd place, but it was simply never going to happen. It takes some kind of defense to concede 149 points while no player scores more than 21.
Stay tuned in to 213Hoops every day of the NBA’s Orlando Bubble for a new Rooting Interests.
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