2016-2017 NBA Game Thread

Kliq said:

Portland beats San Antonio despite Kawhi playing at his highest level. Nurkic has been a great gamble on their part and with that backcourt and their athleticism on defense I think they could be a really fun lower seed.

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Agreed. I wish the Blazers were able to get better defense out of their backcourt and had another volume scorer off their bench. They could make some noise in the playoffs. Its pretty remarkable that San Antonio lost at home tonight.

Some other notes from this evening in the NBA.

Miami wins again with Dragic leading the way. 33 points on 11-18 shooting including 5-9 from deep, with 5 boards and 2 assists. Waiters Island had a rough night shooting 33% from the field. But he has to shoot so...

Rockets beat Lakers 139-100 and jack up 43 threes, making 18 of them. Harden isn't the leading scorer but messes around and gets 18 points, 12 boards and 13 assists. LouWill leads all rockets with 30 points including 7-9 from behind the arc (+33). Its almost not fair that this team has him - they may not go all the way but if this team is hot during a playoff series, there is almost no team that can shoot with them. If Durant is out or ineffective during the first few rounds of the West, Houston will be Golden State's worst nightmare.

Also, guess who is having a career night for Sacramento? And the answer isn't WCS or Curry 2.0. Skal Labissiere with 32 points. +22 tonight!

Fucking Kings winning asshats I want the pick swap for pure hilarity.

BTW on the Sixers warriors, it's worth noting when they got up big they put the poo poo platter in. Long and the scrubs to help the warriors get back in it.

What's encouraging for Philly is the starting lineup is probably the second unit next year.
So even if the warriors are on a bad run, can't complain with your second unit sticking with them.

Nikola Jokic with his 5th triple double in the last month and a half. Denver is closing in on .500 and have a very underrated offense. If you like offense, a GS/Den matchup and a GS/Houston match up are things you'd love to see. Denver has a brutal stretch coming up though. 14 games left, 9 on the road. 3 games against Houston, 1 against the Cavs, 2 against OKC. The worst team they have remaining is New Orleans, who the play 3 times.

More on Jokic.

Jokic's last 20 games: .571/.357/.821 18.4 points, 11.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.1 steal, 3.0 turnovers in 30.1 mp. When him and Plumlee play together, they are the best passing front court in the league. Murray and Harris continue to play lights out too. I'm guessing most people would take Minnesota's 22 and under talent first, but I'd be tempted to take Denver's. Towns and Jokic are close. I think Harris is much better overall than LaVine. Harris plays defense and is very efficient on offense. LaVine is the better scorer and has a nice shot himself but he's allergic to defense. Wiggins could change things as he's shown 6-10 game stretches where he can take over but then he disappears while Murray continues to improve as the season goes along. Over his last 23 games: .434/.383/.968 12.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, .8 steals in 22.4 minutes. His per 36's aren't too far off from Wiggins in that stretch. I guess it ultimately depends on your opinion of LaVine/Harris, what you project Murray to do going forward and if Wiggins takes the next step.

Add in the fact Kris Dunn is looking like a complete bust and Hernangomez is impressing in his limited play and showing great range. Denver also has Mudiay who still has potential. I don't know enough about Beasley or Enis to say one thing or the other. Is there any other team in the league with more talent under 23? Possibly a healthy Philly team but we don't know what Ben Simmons can do yet and Embiid is hard to value given his injury history. Saric is looking pretty good though and I'm not convinced Okafor is a complete bust and could turn into a decent scoring option off the bench if he can improve his rebounding.

edit: Towns over his last 30 is pretty ridiculous tho. 38.3 minutes, 28.0 points, 13.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.4 blocks, .8 steals on .604/.417/.825 shooting. Ridiculous.

And Seth Curry over his last 27 games: 33.1mpg, 16.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists. 1.1 steal on .515/.462/.857 shooting. Seth Curry is now a career .437 3 point shooter. Steph Curry is .436. Of course Steph has a sample size over 4000, Seth's is 400. Still, crazy to see him doing this when his first 3 years in the league he played 4 games and given who is brother is.

Thirty-four triple doubles for Westbrook! You know it's getting ugly when the family members get involved....

Kevin Durant's brother (apparently) tweeted about Russell Westbrook. Westbrook's wife, Nina, responded:

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Just noticed Elfrid Payton has 3 triple doubles in his last 6 games. In the 4 games prior, he missed 2 triple doubles by logging 12/10/8 and 15/9/9.

In his last 10: 29.3 minutes, .520/.000/.846 (0-4 from 3) 12.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.0 block. Orlando is 3-7.

Wizards have blown a 19 point half time lead at home to the Bulls and are now up only up 5 with 9 minutes to go.

bosox79 said:

Wizards have blown a 19 point half time lead at home to the Bulls and are now up only up 5 with 9 minutes to go.

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The Wizards are so inconsistent. I keep thinking they are better than they are.

AMS25 said:

The Wizards are so inconsistent. I keep thinking they are better than they are.

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They ended up winning. They are 25-8 over their last 33. They have a tough schedule coming up though. Of course Miami is 22-5 after starting 11-30. Before winning 13 games in a row, they had lost 10/11 and 13/15. They are currently winning atm and if they pull it off, will be 34-35. 1 game away from .500 and with a Bucks or Pistons loss tonight, they will be the 8th seed. If both lose, Heat will be 7th. The teams with positive point differentials are moving up the standings in the East quite fast (Bucks, Heat) while the teams that didn't are free falling (Bulls, Pacers). Atlanta is probably far enough ahead that they are safe to make the playoffs and the Hornets are probably too far back and are 9-23 in their last 32 anyway.

Truth to be told, I pay more attention to the West than the East. But, I am amazed at Miami's recent success. I had figured that the loss of Wade and Bosh would mean that the Heat weren't going anywhere.

Things are tight in the 4 -- 6 seed area of the West. The Thunder, Grizzlies, and Clips are virtually tied.

bosox79 said:

Just noticed Elfrid Payton has 3 triple doubles in his last 6 games. In the 4 games prior, he missed 2 triple doubles by logging 12/10/8 and 15/9/9.

In his last 10: 29.3 minutes, .520/.000/.846 (0-4 from 3) 12.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.0 block. Orlando is 3-7.

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Already has 4 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals after the first. Fantasy stud.

Also just noticed 24 year old Alan Williams is averaging 13.6 points, 10.5 boards, 1.4 blocks, 1.1 steals, 4.3 fouls in 27.0 minutes of play over the last 10 games for the Suns. 3.4 offensive boards. For his career he is at 11.8 minutes and 5.0 boards. That's a per 36 of 15.3. Insane. Who is this guy?

edit: Elfrid with 8 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals at half time. Williams has 12 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist in 10 minutes. 3 fouls too.

Apparently the Suns are sitting Bledsoe the rest of the year. This is allowing Tyler Ulis to play more and he's showing he can play in the NBA. Not bad for a 2nd round pick. 16 points, 8 assists, 4 rebounds so far tonight. For the month he's at 10.6 points, 6.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.4 TO in 8 games not including tonight's game. He's only 5'10 and will have to start hitting the 3 but he's looking like a backup at the very least.

After averaging .6 blocks per game in 18.7 minutes in his first 56 games, Chriss is averaging 1.8 blocks in 26.1 minutes over his last 12. So far tonight he has another 4 in 20 minutes. That's 26 blocks in his last 13 games. 20 in his last 7 (and counting). The first 56 he had 32.

Yeah bosox, I was noticing that Chriss looked like he had the best line of the rookies last night: 6/9 from the field, 8 rebounds, 4 blocks. I think that kid's going to be pretty good.

Buffalo Head said:

Former Knicks broadcaster John Andariese died yesterday at 78. RIP, Johnny Hoops.

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"Old number 54," as Marv used to call him on Knicks radio in the 70s.

Washington lost at Charlotte. So that's good.

Based on this model, Josh Jackson projects to be a ~32% NBA three point shooter.

(If you click through the link, you'll see that Marcus Smart was optimistically projected to be a ~34% NBA three point shooter).

Devizier said:

Based on this model, Josh Jackson projects to be a ~32% NBA three point shooter.

(If you click through the link, you'll see that Marcus Smart was optimistically projected to be a ~34% NBA three point shooter).

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That was basically correct in year 1. Then he got worse at shooting.

Denver vs Houston is quite the game.

bosox79 said:

Denver vs Houston is quite the game.

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Harden's finish is so amazing. I know that D'Antoni gave him the keys and LeBron is probably the real MVP but if James won it this season it would be all good.

LeBron is the real MVP every season, though.

I think James should be the MVP this year. We are playing some fun ball and he is carrying us and playing the best ball of his career.

Kliq said:

If you want to see a one-man wrecking crew, I suggest watching Lillard tonight against Miami; just awesome in the fourth. I said this earlier, but Portland would be a really fun 7-8 seed.

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OKC/Memphis have a 7 game lead over the 8th seed with 12 games remaining. Their magic number is 5. Portland is only a half game (tied in the loss colum) back of Denver for that 8th seed though and Denver has a pretty brutal schedule coming up with 8 of their 12 remaining games on the road. Meanwhile, Portland plays 10 of their remaining 13 games at home, one of those games being vs Denver. For the most part, they are also playing much easier teams. Dallas may have an outside chance being 2.5 games back but NO and Minnesota are probably done. Minny does play Portland 3 times and NO plays Denver 3 times and Portland once.

In the East, I assumed Atlanta was all but in the playoffs but maybe that's not the case. 3 games separate the 5 seed and 9 seed. 4 games separate the 5 seed and 10 seed. Charlotte is now only 3 games out of a playoff spot as well. I wouldn't call Atlanta's schedule easy but they do have the Nets twice, and games against the sixers and Suns. The Bucks, Heat and Pistons have a ton of road games left, while the Bulls, Hornets and Pacers have split schedules, with the Pacers probably having the easiest schedule left. It'll be interesting to see how the east breaks down. 6 or 7 teams for 4 spots.

Yeah, as I mentioned in the Celts thread, Atlanta is gonna be without Millsap for at least one maybe two more games. They're 0-5 without him this year.

Jerry Krause has died

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/18968449/jerry-krause-architect-chicago-bulls-dynasty-dies

I remember when he said the Bulls would never go into a down cycle like the Celtics did after Bird et al.

(But of course, he's in perfect position to collect a cheap rebound if Steph misses...)

Westbrook needs to average 7.25 rebounds and 8.25 assists over the next 12 games to average the triple double while his team projects to 47-35ish. It'll be interesting how much weight voters will put on the triple crown thing. That and he leads the league in scoring. I'd go with Harden at this point since LeBron is oldhat.

Detroit is down 6 with 7:36 left to go at Brooklyn while the Bulls are up 12 at Toronto with 7 left. Miami is currently up 21 vs the Suns at the start of the 4th. Detroit can't really afford to lose this game. Bucks at Blazers tonight should be a really good game too, or at least an important one.

edit: Bulls were winning by 15 or 16 with less than 6 minutes to go and the Raptors have tied the game and it's going to OT. Pistons tie it with 2 seconds left just to lose to a Brook Lopez buzzer beater.

Toronto/Chicago goes to OT

Pelicans outscored Memphis 32-13 in the 3rd quarter after trailing at the half 41-34.

at one point they went on a 21-0 run.

Raptors win in OT after trailing by 15 with 6:32 to go in the 4th.

Boogie goes 14-27 including 5-9 from deep, scoring 41 points and grabbing 17 boards as Pelicans beat the Grizzlies 95-82. Its too bad he is such a problem child. The guy is an absolute beast who can't really be stopped when he is playing his ass off.

If Westbrook averages a triple double, he'll win IMO. That's a hallowed feat. It's the hitting 400 of baseball IMO. There's little doubt he'll win if he does it imo.
Not sure he should and I'd be fine with Harden or LeBron but I'd be betting Westbrook if he does.it

LondonSox said:

It's the hitting 400 of baseball IMO.

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I thought hitting .400 was the hitting .400 of baseball. ;-P

Seriously, it's a pretty good comp, as both are based on somewhat silly old-school round-number thresholds that have been largely replaced among serious sports nerds by metrics that relate much more closely to a player's impact on winning ballgames (which is theoretically what both casual fans and serious sports nerds care about).

I'm basically with what Bill Simmons said in his latest Lowe Post podcast: Harden, Westbrook, James, and Leonard are four very worthy candidates for all sorts of reasons, but it's hard to get past the fact that Westbrook is the one guy in that group who doesn't play for a championship contender.

Thankfully the NBA playoffs are deep enough that we don't need to worry about an MVP candidate not making the playoffs. Not too get too metaphysical about this, but I don't like the idea of a regular season award being based on being a "championship contender."

Why are teams doing better on the road lately? Tinder.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents18969358/tinderization-today-nba
TL;DR: you get two hours more sleep with the app rather than hanging at the club.

That and NBA players are drinking a lot less than they used to because of the injury risks alcohol presents.

I know this isn't the media forum but if Shea Serrano isn't the best NBA "opinion" columnist working today, I don't know who is. His piece in today's Ringer about whether recent NBA fines for violent acts are worth it or not is gold. Warning: if you don't like NBA beef, don't bother clicking.

Cavs down 17 late in 3rd quarter...

DrewDawg said:

Cavs down 17 late in 3rd quarter...

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Down by 18 with 3:38 left in the fourth. And then they have go to Charlotte on Friday...

Cavs lose to Denver 126-113.

Greek Freak has 22 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and a steal... at half time.

Kliq said:

Westbrook tonight in OKCs blow out win over Philly: 27 minutes, 18 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists, 6-6 from the field, 6-6 from the line.

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First guy to ever have a triple double and be perfect from the field and line, right?

bosox79 said:

Westbrook needs to average 7.25 rebounds and 8.25 assists over the next 12 games to average the triple double while his team projects to 47-35ish. It'll be interesting how much weight voters will put on the triple crown thing. That and he leads the league in scoring. I'd go with Harden at this point since LeBron is oldhat.

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He's going to do it pretty easily now. Just staggering numbers.

It's not only the triple double, though. He'll also be the scoring champ. And it's over 30PPG. It's a historic season. I switch back and forth between him and Harden every time either has a good game.

Bucks are 14-7 since Khris Middleton returned, including 10-3 in March. 14-8 since the Jabari injury. If Jabari hadn't gone down, this team would be a nightmare. Their 13 games in March: 102.0 ppg, 93.2 points allowed. Middleton makes such a huge difference defensively. 19 games with Middleton for the season: 102.9 points for, 97.5 points allowed, +5.4. 52 games without: 105.1 points for, 105.0 points against, +0.1.

Also, after being out of the league for 2 1/2 years, former Celtic Jordan Crawford is averaging 13.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists on .518/.500.600 shooting in 8 games for the Pelicans.

I'm still not totally opposed to Russ as MVP, but stuff like this does put the some of the stat-chasing (rebound-hunting in particular) in perspective.