if the Lakers want to three-peat they better clinch 1st seed..

[Koolaid_Man]

...and finish with 60+ wins...because

- in 2009 playoffs they would have never beaten the rockets and nuggets without homecourt advantage.
- in 2010 they would have never beaten the celtics in the finals without homecourt advantage.

if the spurs clinch the 1st seed this year (i believe they will), i can't see the lakers beat them in a series without homecourt advantage. if the lakers clinch the first seed and the celtics win the east with a better record, they won't have a chance against them without homecourt advantage.

but who cares about the regular season, right laker fans?

le correction: When The Lakers three-peat you better clinch your ass.

[Killakobe81]

Obviously, having home court advantage helps. But for teams like the three I mentioned, it's not imperative, in terms of having to have the 1st seed.

Does anyone really believe the Lakers couldn't win the championship if they're not the 1st seed?

The main reason I want the Spurs to get home court advantage isn't just to avoid having to play both the Lakers/Mavs. It's that, if they have a slip up at home, they'll only have to win one on the road to win the series. Think about it. Three teams of this caliber, a home loss is probably likely whether it's with or without the advantage. But if it's without, then you have to win two on the road to win the series and that's probably more unlikely than the one home loss is likely.

Most sensible post in this thread. For any of the 3 getting to avoid BOTh teams is a plus ...AND you have the 2 or 3 team do half the work for you.
That is the only reason I care about HCA.

But if the Lakers can not get #1 ...I think they can fall as far as 4 and still be fine. They still would have to beat the #1 seed and the winner of 2/3 regardless so you might as well play them in round 2 ... I have no doubt the Lakers could win in Dallas or San antonio anyway. (not saying they WILL just saying they have proven they can) so home-court is not a neccesity.

Manu is playing lights-out, hill has improved and as i have said many times Duncan has a Finals run left in him ... maybe he doesnt give you a series like last night but even if he gives you two of those especially at home the Spurs are probably winning BOTH of those games ...

As For the Mavs, Dirk is gonna go off ...he is one of the toughest matchups in the NBA ...but when the Mavs have beat the Lakers it's usually Terry that kills us. I think getting chandler in foul trouble is key as well.

again, not worried yet but I am interested to see if both the Mavs and spurs can keep playing at this level and maintain that in a playoff series ...