Rockets v. a healthy Clippers — i.e. with Gallinari and Avery Bradley — could be a fantastically entertaining first round series. Sneak preview tonight (without Gallo, Bradley and I think Eric Gordon).
2017-18 NBA Regular Season Game/Observation Thread
- Thread starter DeJesus Built My Hotrod
- Start date
The Clippers new front office, including The Logo, has been fantastic. Both the CP3 and Blake trades actually improved the team (Harrell is underrated given what he does) but they have also uncovered some gems that others have missed such as my new binky, Ty Wallace (admittedly his outside shot has regressed but he gets something of a rookie/street FA pass here).
And yeah, this team is very easy to root for compared to the CP3/Griffin led squads who seemed to dislike one another and everyone else too.
And yeah, this team is very easy to root for compared to the CP3/Griffin led squads who seemed to dislike one another and everyone else too.
LAC team reminds me of the ORL team that won Doc coach of the year. The "Heart and Hustle" team, 2.0.
Clippers coming off a tough win in Denver last night, wouldn't be surprised if it's a blowout. I am enjoying these new look Clippers though.
You're forgetting that this is Houston's 4th game in 6 nights on a road trip. They are the ones primed to lay an egg.
From the consistently hilarious Knicks blog Posting and Toasting:
"In a past life, Nick Young had to have been an apex-level humanitarian, like, Jesus or Oskar Schindler or Mother Theresa. ‘Cuz from all the Golden State I’ve seen this year, Nick Young can literally spend his entire day high on edibles, take a cab to the arena, spend 14 minutes a night in the corner waiting to shoot open threes, then spend his night high on edibles, then do it over and over again. Unbelievable."
"In a past life, Nick Young had to have been an apex-level humanitarian, like, Jesus or Oskar Schindler or Mother Theresa. ‘Cuz from all the Golden State I’ve seen this year, Nick Young can literally spend his entire day high on edibles, take a cab to the arena, spend 14 minutes a night in the corner waiting to shoot open threes, then spend his night high on edibles, then do it over and over again. Unbelievable."
The answer might be that Jae was an average (but competent) 3&D SF/small-ball PF, on a team that had no other competent options at the position.
The alternatives to Crowder (2335 minutes) were:
- Smart (2399 minutes): next best option to Crowder, but lineups featuring Smart, IT, and Bradley were small and usually awful
- Jaylen (1341 minutes): rookie whose best strech of play came when he started alongside Crowder at the 2
- Jerebko (1232 minutes): the Swedish Larry Bird was terrible (too slow) at the 3
- Gerald Green (538 minutes): a bit player
Heck... IT's defensive numbers would look positive if the team literally played only 4 defenders when he was on the bench.
ATL with the bad win tonight and MEM managing to out-tank PHO, leaving ORL, MEM and SAC as the only teams with 18 wins.
This Pels @ Spurs game is pretty damn good. Pels 117 Spurs 116 in San Antonio with 37.1 left. Davis is slacking tonight with just 22 points and 13 boards...
22/13? Sounds like a cry for help to me. See you in Boston, Anthony.
He may ask for a trade after Jrue Holiday just missed two FTs with 22 seconds left. Fortunately Davis got the rebound and got fouled. He just hit his two FTs. But yeah, he should request a trade and a league waiver for the trade to go through tonight after the game.
lol, that looks like something I would do.
I bet I can slide a few of the requirements up and down to replace Thad with Jordan Bell. ;-P
I know the video was posted upthread by Ifmanis but given that this is about the top thing on NBA Twitter and may well be one of the signature plays of this season, the Titanic version is worth a repost.
As a side note, I have watched about 10-15 different angles on this and the most amusing part is as soon as Johnson goes down (after Harden gives him a little shove), you see his expression change as he comes to terms with his existential crisis. Its brutal.
As a side note, I have watched about 10-15 different angles on this and the most amusing part is as soon as Johnson goes down (after Harden gives him a little shove), you see his expression change as he comes to terms with his existential crisis. Its brutal.
On the TNT broadcast a game or two after, Smart pulled it off with another guy (albeit to a lesser degree) and one of the announcers verbified with "he James Hardened him" or something like that.
Pause it at :57 and go very slow mo for the next ~3 seconds. He picks up his dribble then takes a step back with his right foot, then left foot, then right foot again, I think
Even Michelangelo painted out the lines once in a while.
I doubt the official was looking at Harden's feet at that point. He was probably more concerned that Johnson hurt himself.
Wait, I thought he was referring to Smart's multiple shuffles early in the clip prior to the entry pass. Those were 3 travels in one play.
He walks all over Johnson's soul, but I don't ever see his right foot come up, so I don't think it's a travel.
Is the general assumption that Joel Embiid is the current frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year?
Gobert and Whiteside are #1-2 in DRPM (among players with > 25 mpg; David West is crazily #1 among all players), but Embiid's right behind them, with major glamour points on his side. Also: Philly's surprisingly excellent defensive rating (102.9 pts allowed per 100, #4 in the league) is better than Utah's or Miami's.
Any other candidates? There was talk of Durant, but advanced stats don't love his D, and the Warriors have slightly underperformed on D this season. The Celtics should have a candidate, as the league's top D all season long, but they're so well-balanced it's hard to single out one guy.
Gobert and Whiteside are #1-2 in DRPM (among players with > 25 mpg; David West is crazily #1 among all players), but Embiid's right behind them, with major glamour points on his side. Also: Philly's surprisingly excellent defensive rating (102.9 pts allowed per 100, #4 in the league) is better than Utah's or Miami's.
Any other candidates? There was talk of Durant, but advanced stats don't love his D, and the Warriors have slightly underperformed on D this season. The Celtics should have a candidate, as the league's top D all season long, but they're so well-balanced it's hard to single out one guy.
Sixers are a brutal matchup for the Cavs...BUT it's like the Sixers feel like they have so much talent they can't be bothered to run an offensive play.
I'm not saying it's right, but I've seen Al Horford named in two places, albeit both were a while back. Here's one:
https://nbamath.com/is-al-horford-the-nbas-defensive-player-of-the-year/
IT may be getting back to shape...sure is rolling tonight for the Lakers, anyway. And I know it's some sort sport here to mock Lonzo, but the guy's a joy to watch. Just had his 5th steal, perfect pass to IT for a 3, IT misses, but Lonzo gets the tip to a Laker....just has preternatural anticipation and basketball smarts. People who think he's been a disappointment aren't paying attention to anything but shooting % (though 58%+ in last 10 games indicates that may have shifted, too). I know +/- isn't the end all be all, but his +27 tonight seems reflective of something.
By the way, speaking of rounding into form -- D Wade looks amazing during this game, too.
By the way, speaking of rounding into form -- D Wade looks amazing during this game, too.
From what I've seen, Lonzo sees the game 1/2 step before anyone else. It is fun to watch. Too bad he can't shoot.
IT is currently 11-19 and 6-10 on 3P shots.
I still have my money down on "Kuzma is not gong to live up to the hype, but Ball and Ingram will."
Brandon Ingram got fouled pretty hard by Justise Winslow with about four minutes left in the game. Left the game with a left groin injury.
Embiid chases Korver off the three point line, forces him to take it inside and then blocks it from behind. Then, he takes a feed in the low post from Simmons, and then faces up and hits a shot over Nance. The guy is a monster.
I forgot to add that after Korver hits a three to make it a one point game, Saric hits a corner three on the next sequence and then talks shit to the Cavs bench on the way back down the floor. This Philly team fears no one.
12 seconds left, Saric dunks the ball. Jordan Clarkson collects the ball and pegs Saric in the back with it.
Clarkson is a dick but Saric was also a dumbass to jam it with the game over. I dislike the latter a lot so this may be coloring my view.
Embiid even had his hands up in "WTF" fashion at Dario after he dunked. Truth is, Clarkson was salty because of the aforementioned shit-talking Saric did to the bench after hitting that dagger three.
Philly is a legit contender in the East if Embiid can go consistently.
At this point, every Lakers win is a good thing.
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Cavs defense hasn't gotten any better since the trade. George Hill looks the same as he did in Sacramento.
Remember, the Cavs almost never practice during the regular season so turning over their team mid-season has basically led to their entire team having to learn on the fly how to play with each other. They are younger, and more athletic and have more shooting; but they haven’t had hardly anytime to gel as a team.