Getty Images/Ringer illustration No, the Lakers should not lose the 7 vs. 8 game on purpose. But there is still plenty to watch for in the first four games of the NBA postseason, including Zion Williamson's chance at redemption, the health of Joel Embiid's knee, and more. The official start of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs remains days away, yet playoff discourse has already reached peak form. The play-in matchups and playoff seeds that resulted from the weekend's Game 82 chaos set up one big question that immediately made headlines at ESPN and elsewhere: Should the eighth-seeded Lakers intentionally lose the West's 7 vs. 8 play-in game because its winner will face the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the first round? If they did, the Lakers would be forced into an elimination game against either the Sacramento Kings or Golden State Warriors, then—if they won—move on to face the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. This plan is preposterous. Here are four strategic reasons why, without even getting into the competitive angle and the fact that LeBron James, of all people, is not going to throw a de facto playoff game: If the one-game tanking idea is premised on the Nuggets'...