LeBron doubtful (ankle) in Lakers matchup vs. Bucks & KD, Suns fall to Spurs | NBA | UNDISPUTED

LeBron doubtful (ankle) in Lakers matchup vs. Bucks & KD, Suns fall to Spurs | NBA | UNDISPUTED

So I am assuming that you love this strategy this is an easy call SK I mean this is this is a schedule loss you just coming from home traveling to Milwaukee changing time zones Milwaukee’s playing well you looking at the schedule and like look oh we got Milwaukee Memphis we

Got to get that Indiana that’s a dog fight Y Brooklyn Toronto Washington they should win though so they looking like they strategically planning this hey guys we could go four on two in this trip so why would we waste all our energy on Milwaukee yeah when we can say

All right we got to get Memphis dog fight Indiana Brooklyn Toronto Washington we should win so this is an easy call this is what teams do when it’s a long season it’s not a Sprint it’s a marathon so you like look let’s get these ons we know we can get so

Why based all the energy on Milwaukee even if you do beat Milwaukee and then you got a back to back say you lose to memph is by playing everybody it makes it a wash anyway so you just got to say look schedule loss we’ll take that one get

Memphis dog fight Indiana and beat the rest 4- two is a good trip guys we go home and we good I I I mean I I I guess I could come over to your side and think about it that way but I also think about

It as you’re going up on the road to play a top-notch team that you now have to show okay we can play against these dogs even though you’re saying to me we won’t see Milwaukee unless we both get to the NBA finals but I still need to be

Able to see Can ad and LeBron do this against Dame Lillard and Giannis and in that Crew That’s said full strength it’s only important to do this in the playoffs why waste all of that versus Milwaukee we don’t we don’t I just I just would think I would just

Think that you you would want to take care of business and then some of those dudes against Memphis so you have them ready to go against the Pacers n uhuh now rest them versus Milwaukee they not getting Milwaukee and Milwaukee but why would I arrest them against Milwaukee

Because you got to make sure you get Memphis BR Toronto Washington but you you don’t think they can get Memphis with a it’s a back to back it’s a back to back and you got to start woring about LeBron minutes but I’m saying if if if LeBron in ad LeBron or ad whoever

Decide to sit against Memphis you don’t think they good enough to get Memphis they might can’t get Memphis so then it make it a wash anyway but if they sit Milwaukee and they play Memphis they for sure get that with them healthy so all right Paul Pierce you just said it’s a

Marathon not a Sprint yeah I think we just hit Sprint stage because there are 11 games left and this team has teetered along all year long until it’s driven you and I to craziness every day in the show m okay so finally they’ve won five out of seven have the Lakers finally

They’ve actually won three in a row and looked decent doing it all of a sudden as you pointed out yesterday you get a a measuring stick here where you get to go up to Milwaukee and say hey okay look look we’re on a little bit of a roll

Here let’s see what we got let Let’s test ourselves and I don’t even care about potential NBA Finals I just care about let’s let’s create and build more momentum because if you could go in there and beat these guys at the top of their game as they start to take off yes

You could say hey we we got something going here then you would have to figure out with with no LeBron for the next night maybe ad would play I’ve seen this team go to Boston with no ad and no LeBron and blow out the Celtics when Austin Reeves turned into Larry Bird

Scored 32 points I’ve seen that happen so it’s not inconceivable they could get both of them your your logic is standard conservative sort of NBA logic and I got it but this isn’t a standard conservative Lakers year it’s been a bizarre up and down roller coaster ride

Of a year and all of a sudden it’s starting to the compass is pointing North with 11 games to go and this team still hangs in there in the nine spot and now I got to talk about what Phoenix is not doing because Phoenix is in big

Trouble right now so if you look up the standings at Phoenix you you’re only what uh were you game and a half back of Phoenix two and a half I’m sorry yeah two and a half and three back of Sacramento and Dallas well Phoenix is catchable because Phoenix has the most

Hellacious closing Sprint of a schedule I have ever I I just don’t remember anything like this I would think the Lakers would want to get to the eighth spot but what what’s realistic with this look at it there’s six games on the road six games off East what’s realistic 4-2

No matter how you get it 4- two is a great trip okay that’s a great trip yeah okay it is but but this is the closing Sprint this is the closing Rush Where what if you I don’t know dare I say what if you one out what if you just got on a

Roll where you went like Houston Dallas crazy they’re both on fire right now okay why couldn’t you get on fire why couldn’t you sweep this road trip they just beat Milwaukee without LeBron okay they did DLo went for 40 so that’s the possibility that they can beat them okay

They sure they could without LeBron so they looking like hey we this is a this is a jump ball right here if we get this we get it we don’t but maybe we can cuz we just got him you know let’s get our role players some confidence let Den

Witty come in there Play Let Let DLo get back out there didn’t he blocked Dame shot to win the game uh Austin Larry Bird Reeves go out there in ball and we’ll definitely get Memphis okay I I don’t like your chances tonight against a Milwaukee team that’s still

Smarting from what you did to them because you know and I know they’re going to say watch for Milwaukee at home now now you say Paul right you say well at this point during the season you want to rest LeBron and you want to do some of those things I’ll fast forward and

Get out of the road trip and come back home you got three games in four nights you got Cleveland Minnesota and Golden State right you got to have those games as well you got to have those games so what do you do when you come up on these backto backs against Cleveland Minnesota

Then one night off and you got Golden State do you rest him again no no I think this is a trip based on these teams that I’m seeing they’re not going to lose to Brooklyn you can play LeBron 28 minutes they should win right Toronto

Same 25 minutes he can get rest on his trip and they can go four two so now he’s rested when they come home because you you can’t just keep playing the man 35 40 minutes going into the playoffs this is a trip that where they can actually win four games rest LeBron then

Come home then if you need to play them bigger minutes down the stretch you can do that but I think you got to manage his minutes right now coming down the stretch so he’s at least somewhat fresh going into the playoff and that has driven me crazy all year to your point

We went into this year just like we went into the year before and the year before with them talking about we’re going to manage LeBron’s minutes he’s going to be smart about this he’s going to be fresh for the playoff run right now he’s averaging 35.2 minutes per game guess

What that that ranks that’s fifth in the NBA that’s just craziness to me and to your point you’ve talked about him being something of a ball hog and and more of a stat machine well he’s gotten his stats he went past 40,000 he’s building them up we get all that and you’ve

Accomplished that but what is that do you care about winning do you care about a stretch run because you’re you’re in a position now where you’re you’re averaging so many minutes that you do need to rest before the playoffs so skip just mentioned stretch stretch run right

In the NFL you want to play your best ball going into the playoffs you that’s just what you want to do you don’t want to be teetering alone is that not the same in the NBA but this is different this is you you’re you’re coaching LeBron he’s been in deep playoff runs he

Understands the moment like he he knows how to turn it on and turn it off so you don’t need to do that with him so so you’re saying doesn’t matter it just seen won’t matter for the Lakers they showed that last year they was able to get to the Conference Finals yeah they

Got swept but the most important thing for the Lakers is just being healthy getting to the playoffs they don’t they don’t care about home court so so your mind has changed then from last week no no there’s certain teams you need playing well but no no but I’m saying

You said that the Lakers wouldn’t win a series they would probably wouldn’t be be able to beat Golden State so I’m saying you change your mind now where the way they’ve been playing that they can win a series they can beat the Golden State I think based on the

Matchup I think I mean Golden State could be Golden State I don’t even know hell it could be the sun state is doing lately I they let’s go deeper into the Suns okay so last night they have a game at San Antonio and there’s no women Yama

That was you have to win that game because you’re about to go on a death march of a closing schedule and instead they Jack around and mess around and all of a sudden I look up and wait a second the Spurs are ahead by two at home and I

Think we have the last two shots KD and book both get shots at it to win the game they each get a three a fairly open look to this is KD fairly good look shot he can hit yeah he can definitely hit that and then they get the offensive

Rebound and they kick it back to KD who kicks it back to book who gets a he made that shot I know he fell down trying to beg for the foul call but but the point is they got two pretty good looks and they missed them so now they have three

Great scores and they don’t have AE to the horsemen they don’t have a point guard I still think they miss Chris Paul that’s just me I I’d rather have Chris Paul running the show than Bradley Beal as a third scorer that’s just me I thought they were better last year but

Let’s look at this closing schedule I’ve just never SE anything quite like this before do we have the I’m going to read get anything out they didn’t get anything out of Bradley Grayson all all right so here’s now now look what Phoenix has to deal with they have to go

To Denver go to Oklahoma City go to New Orleans they go home for Cleveland that’s no walk in the park then Minnesota then New Orleans at home then Clippers at home then at Clippers then at sack and then at Minnesota and I don’t know who’ll be resting who at that

Point but still it’s just a brutal close I mean theoretically you could lose next 10 games against all playoff teams all playoff team all playoff I mean you could get on a negative role you could just about lose every one of those games I don’t know they going do that no but

But I’m just saying they’re they’re all losable kind of game yes they are they are losable games there’s not a Brooklyn in there there’s not a Toronto where you say well they got that one right there’s not an Orlando there’s not a Charlotte that’s it okay so could the okay so the

Lakers sit two and a half games back at them could the Lakers catch him P them absolutely okay now look one more slot ahead at only three games ahead of the Lakers are the the Kings the Kings own the Lakers but the Kings don’t own themselves because at home I’m going to

Give you recent home losses the Kings have suffered because they’re a weird team man because they can just punish the Lakers but at home they have lost recent within the last month they’ve lost to the Knicks the Rockets the Bulls Miami and Detroit they’ve lost at home

To those teams and even Miami hadn’t been playing great they’ve been up and down so my point is is it possible the Kings would would lose two or three that you weren’t expecting and all of a sudden the Lakers would say we pass them

Why but see that’s why I say what I say Paul when you start to think about what skip is saying why Lebron if he could play should be playing because these games are so important down the stretch you would certainly like to have a six seed the seventh seed versus the ninth

And the 10th seed but so do I play them in back Tob backs this late in the season but no you don’t have to play you can play Milwaukee and rest him against Memphis is what I’m saying yeah so so you’re saying rest him versus Memphis knowing that they can still beat him

Without LeBron I think they can still beat him without LeBron you think but if LeBron plays you know they can beat him you know yeah let’s take the Gimme let’s take the Gimme okay play them a little bit then against Memphis in the back to

Back I think he should play I think he should play against Milwaukee he when I look at the Western Conference this is going to come down to matchups like there this is so wide open in the Western Conference I think like based on matchups like you say the Lakers can’t

Probably beat the kings in the seven game series but they could probably beat Dallas or or Oklahoma City or or even Minnesota so I think down the stretch you’re going to see a lot of teetering down there to where they might take a loss to get a certain matchup uh if they

Can if they can make it they can actually push to that seventh slot and if I’m the Lakers I’m going actually try to push to the seventh slot and that’s why I’m rest on the front end of this and then down the stretch I’mma give I’m

I’mma play my guys down the stretch cuz I I can see the Lakers seven seven plays who though as it stands right now I’m push down the stretch though they can if I’m the Lakers I’m targeting I’m targeting I’m targeting the seventh spot if I’m the Lakers because you get a

Young inexperienced team up there at the top avoid Denver don’t don’t you know you got to try to avoid Denver at all costs and Sacramento and that’s about it for the Lakers everybody else they got they could be in the dog fight and eventually win a first round series okay

But how much would it help to get out of the play in Madness just just get they they want to get out of that they want to if they can if they can make a push for it they should make a push for it okay so why wouldn’t you start tonight I

I don’t get it now and again just for the record LeBron played 38 minutes against Indiana and played every he played the the last 10 minutes of the fourth quarter so it’s not like he turned his ankle although it’s chronic it just plagues him so is it plaguing

Him more is it possible he’s actually hurt hurt where he just said I just can’t go at Milwaukee it smacks of it smells like they’re just going to rest him for Milwaukee which was your first guest yesterday right yep I mean it just makes the most sense when you look at it

But questionable doesn’t mean he’s not going doubtful he’s doubtful doubtful doubtful so that’s pretty doubtful that’s like I mean they only had that’s why that spread is eight and a half points which is ridiculously high only had one day rest from Sunday you know and then you

Got to go to Milwaukee time change a team that’s playing well why burn all this energy out in this game when you know Milwaukee’s gonna beat them that’s that’s money in the bank you can bet it Milwaukee is getting the Lakers maybe Milwaukee look they could potentially go

Five and one Indiana’s going to be a dog f I’m play them in I’m going play them all the rest of the I don’t even have to play them all the rest of the games look at this the way Indi sit them in Milwaukee no don’t look though you sit

Them in Milwaukee you you play them in Memphis y’all should blow Memphis out and then you play them in Indiana you could possibly sit them in the last two games to Rono and Washington they should beat them without LeBron so you should go for it they can possibly be five and

One which is a great trick so Paul you don’t want to to find out what you’re made of tonight at Milwaukee it we know what they’re made of we know they can they can beat anybody on any given night they can lose anybody which was LeBron’s

Classic line of a month ago all right so let’s just let’s let’s we got to figure a number of things in health rest lowering the minutes and saving it for down a stretch going into the playoffs okay so what do you seeing the Suns or not seeing the Suns as we speak they

They a hard team to figure out skip because I look they got they got two top 10 player in the Western Conference would you agree they KD and Booker are two of the top 10 players in the western conference yeah Bradley Bill Ain far behind when he plays just in the Western

Conference but to me it’s just like I can’t figure him out you know so they they can get hot they both can score 30 uh and they lose and then and they make they make a good win they get a good win and then they they have a bad loss like

Last night I think this team is more built for the playoffs when I look at them uh when the game slows down and you got two players who are outstanding on offense who can just dominate a game On Any Given night and you put them in a

Seven game series they’ll be tough to bet against because before the season started I had them going to the finals me too based on based B they on their roster when they got Bradley Bill everybody was like oh oh look at this is

A squad yeah so I look at them as as a playoff kind of built team regular season they struggle against younger teams athletic you know teams that’s swinging the ball making extra passes they they don’t want to deal with all that in the regular season they just got

To get to the playoffs when the game slows down I can see them really playing well so but they just been hard to figure out in the regular season all right ditto the Clippers who lost at home last night to the team that the Lakers had handled the night before the

Indiana Pacers playing backto back the Pacers had to play a bunch of kids last night who didn’t even play against the Lakers and they just punished the Clippers at home and it wasn’t even close all right so can you make the case back to me that they have veteran

Players who just don’t even care they’re just waiting to tell us when it’s I I don’t know because to me I I really like really put some thought into this and I’m like it just seems like the Clippers are taking on James Harden’s personality they are I agree

That from the start and I agree with that up and down you know how James can be he’ll go into a series and it’s been true in in Houston where he’ll have a a 40-point game then come back and and not play so well and then play well and

That’s what I’ve seen against your Celtics last year he scored 45 in game 42 in game and go look at all the rest of it and that’s what I’m saying that’s what we seen from the Clippers when he first got there they stunk six game losing Street then right after that six

Game winning Street they won like what 10 out of the next 12 and then after Allstar break their back to where they started and that’s what who James has been and I don’t know if I don’t know I can’t put a finger tyo calls him soft

And and and Paul Jorge says we don’t have an identity like how do you not have an identity this late season and that’s why I’m worried about the Clippers they’re so up and down that I don’t know which way to go with them they it like like just like the Lakers

They can beat anybody or lose to anybody I’m trying to frame the Lakers right now by showing you look what’s happened to Clippers looks what look at the Suns and it’s not over for the Lakers we struggle with them that’s what I’m saying if they

Catch a little bit of fire and get a little bit of momentum I the schedule certainly favors the Lakers to pull into higher seating if they play it right they got to play it right though they can’t mess around with these memphis’s and in Brooklyn’s and Toronto they can’t

Just be like no showing up just because we know we can beat them this is why I feel like if he could play he should play against Milwaukee he shouldn’t sit if he could play That’s How strategic this is strategic but I may be wrong I

Mean I don’t you know I may be wrong cuz the back the last five games of the season is except at Memphis you got Cleveland Minnesota Golden State and New Orleans now maybe New Orleans is saying okay we’re done we don’t need CU last game of the season whatever the case is

But you still got them Clevelands in between and them golden states that’s sitting right there in the Minnesota they want to play too they want to try to have their seating in place yeah it just depends on whether or not we go and and be that team like LeBron says lose

One night beat anybody we can the next night then lose again or we going to be that team and show up that way if we do then we will be talking about something different come playoff time yeah well maybe DLo goes for 44 to not Milwaukee I’m comfortable with s Lebron we just

Beat him without him why not but Milwaukee lost the was it Golden State of Sacramento before they lost to the Lakers they road that road Tri Sacramento that road trip was nasty for them it was it was nasty all right enough NBA for the moment we get

Back to it soon but thanks for watching Undisputed fans do you want more highlights from the show make sure to click that subscribe button for all the exclusive content from Undisputed

Skip Bayless, Keyshawn Johnson and Paul Pierce discuss the latest news in the NBA including the Western Conference standings, LeBron James being listed as doubtful in Los Angeles Lakers matchup vs. Milwaukee Bucks and Skip reacts to the Phoenix Suns loss to the San Antonio Spurs without Victor Wembanyama.

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LeBron doubtful (ankle) in Lakers matchup vs. Bucks & KD, Suns fall to Spurs | NBA | UNDISPUTED

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