2017-18 NBA Regular Season Game/Observation Thread

ElUno20

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Clipps laid some of the blueprint out for giving the Rockets problems tonight. Really good full court man defense on cp and harden and go to work in the paint.

I could totally see Durant and Klay wearing them out in the post in the WCF
 

RetractableRoof

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Wonder what will happen in the Jazz/Suns event. Looked like Chriss got pushed from behind when dunking, which the refs didn't call, and it went all NHL from there.
 

Kliq

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Chriss really didn't get hit that hard; he went up for a dunk and the contact from Gobert knocked him off balance and made it seem like it was worse than it really was. Dudley just randomly going after Rubio afterwards (and then Chriss comes flying in and pushes Rubio, who didn't do anything on the previous play) looks bad, at least go after Gobert. Maybe Dudley didn't want to go after Goliath. Bad look for Phoenix.

Also Portland gets the last laugh, knocking out Cleveland 113-105. Minus Love Cleveland really does not have a reliable second-scorer.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Also Portland gets the last laugh, knocking out Cleveland 113-105. Minus Love Cleveland really does not have a reliable second-scorer.
And with Love they don't really have a reliable defense. The Cavs may be the Arizona of the NBA's spring madness.
11 straight for the Blazers. They are deep, have two beastly scorers and are well coached. They are going to catch someone sleeping.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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With regard to LBJ-Lue argument, someone commented on the video below saying he was sitting behind CLE's bench and LBJ was yelling that he needed a breather but TL didn't hear him.

Can't anyone find a good lip reader to post a transcript?

 

ElUno20

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And with Love they don't really have a reliable defense. The Cavs may be the Arizona of the NBA's spring madness.
11 straight for the Blazers. They are deep, have two beastly scorers and are well coached. They are going to catch someone sleeping.
Portland does a version of this crap every year. They get people excited and then we get into the playoffs and people realize Dame is small, one dimensional, and plays no D.

By catch someone sleeping do you mean get out the first round vs the average West 4-10 teams? Or upset the Rockets or Warriors? Because there are really only two teams in the West.
 

Kliq

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I think Portland can absolutely take Houston or Golden State to at least six games. They are better than they have been over the last few years and Stotts has figured out the rotation more; with Dame and CJ making a mini-leap this year. If Nurkic plays well they can really compete.
 

Sam Ray Not

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The Blazers have won 11 straight, including two over GS, to quietly solidify their grip on the #3 seed (3-game lead in the loss column over all the other contenders), so it seems pretty unlikely anyone's sleeping on them at this point. They're a very good team.

That said, careful what you wish for department, but if I'm the Warriors sitting at #2, I'm pretty okay with POR at #3 — at least more so than I would be with OKC, SA (with a healthy Kawhi), or UTA, all of whom I think present more matchup issues in terms of their size and physicality.

That's assuming both GS and POR make it to the second round, of course. They could also end up drawing one of those three tough teams in the first round and losing. The Warriors probably have less to worry about (assuming they get healthy, knocking wood) but in a first-round #3-6 matchup of POR v. OKC, UTA or SA, would anyone be that shocked to see the Blazers bounced?
 
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ElUno20

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I think Portland can absolutely take Houston or Golden State to at least six games. They are better than they have been over the last few years and Stotts has figured out the rotation more; with Dame and CJ making a mini-leap this year. If Nurkic plays well they can really compete.
Competitively getting your ass kicked does not = catching someone sleeping in my book
 

Sam Ray Not

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No Curry, Thompson or Durant tonight v. the Kings in Oakland. What happens when a resistible force hits a tanking object? The mighty starting backcourt tandem of Quinn Cook and Nick Young are gonna have to come up big for the Ws, else there'll be a lot of cranky Kings and Warriors fans in NorCal tonight.

The Kings blew a massive hole in their tank with their bad OT win v. Miami last game; they're currently sitting at #25, where 3 wins or 3 losses either way could spell the difference between a ~55% shot at Ayton/Doncic/Bagley and a ~6% shot. C'mon Vlade, do the right thing for once!
 

HomeRunBaker

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No Curry, Thompson or Durant tonight v. the Kings in Oakland. What happens when a resistible force hits a tanking object? The mighty starting backcourt tandem of Quinn Cook and Nick Young are gonna have to come up big for the Ws, else there'll be a lot of cranky Kings and Warriors fans in NorCal tonight.

The Kings blew a massive hole in their tank with their bad OT win v. Miami last game; they're currently sitting at #25, where 3 wins or 3 losses either way could spell the difference between a ~55% shot at Ayton/Doncic/Bagley and a ~6% shot. C'mon Vlade, do the right thing for once!
Good news for Warriors is that Draymond returns tonight but this should be a interesting/fun game to watch. If Nick Young is feeling it tonight he could get up 40 shots/50+ points. They are going to be running everything through Green/Young all night.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Ugh ... the bad news for the Ws is that it turns out Durant's rib is fractured ("incomplete rib cartilage fracture"). They're saying at least two weeks, and the playoffs aren't for a month, but it's close enough where it's concerning.

I mean, broken bones for KD and KT in the same week, with Curry's ankle issues suddenly popping up again? This season sucks so far. (I know Cs fans can relate...)
 

shawnrbu

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Kings beat the Warriors. Raptors and Warriors have the same record. Warriors may not have home court in the WCF and the Finals.

The NBA can't be thrilled about a Rockets/Raptors finals. We never did get the dreaded Spurs/Pacers finals 15 to 20 years ago, but Raptors/Blazers would be a good litmus test for the ratings floor, although the games would probably be really good.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Kings beat the Warriors. Raptors and Warriors have the same record. Warriors may not have home court in the WCF and the Finals.

The NBA can't be thrilled about a Rockets/Raptors finals. We never did get the dreaded Spurs/Pacers finals 15 to 20 years ago, but Raptors/Blazers would be a good litmus test for the ratings floor, although the games would probably be really good.
Sacramento trying hard to stick it to me in my Seasons Total Plays. I've got U28 -120 and after posting B2B wins are now up to 23. Another example to "the tanking people" that it isn't the players or even the coaches that are tanking.
 

Imbricus

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Isaiah with another rough night: 1-9 in 27 minutes. On the season, he's shooting at about Lonzo Ball's level -- a little better on 2 pt. shots (.372), a little worse on 3 (.302).
 

wilked

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Isaiah with another rough night: 1-9 in 27 minutes. On the season, he's shooting at about Lonzo Ball's level -- a little better on 2 pt. shots (.372), a little worse on 3 (.302).
Danny did so well in moving Isaiah, amongst his other moves.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Isaiah with another rough night: 1-9 in 27 minutes. On the season, he's shooting at about Lonzo Ball's level -- a little better on 2 pt. shots (.372), a little worse on 3 (.302).
This coming hours after his latest rant about "not being no 6th man".......this act is getting really tired.

“And I won't be a sixth man (in the future). I just want everybody to know that, like clear as can be. I'm a two-time All-Star and a starter who has done things that a lot of people in this league haven't done (when) given that opportunity."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/427514002
 

Fishy1

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This coming hours after his latest rant about "not being no 6th man".......this act is getting really tired.

“And I won't be a sixth man (in the future). I just want everybody to know that, like clear as can be. I'm a two-time All-Star and a starter who has done things that a lot of people in this league haven't done (when) given that opportunity."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/427514002
It's tiring, I guess, but it's also sad to see a guy in denial. To feel like you're on top of the world and to fall this fast, this quickly is a shock that would make anyone look bad. It's one of those things: we think it's hilarious when guys are successfull talk trash. When they start to blow, we want them to shut up.

Then again, if he'd just take a look-see at his shooting percentage, maybe he'd see the writing on the wall.
 

AMS25

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Feeling better about the Thunder now that they've added....Corey Brewer. Thunder are 5-0 since Brewer was added to the starting lineup. Next up: the Raptors. We'll see if the Thunder are really better or just looking good against mediocre teams.
 

ElUno20

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This is the stretch that ends the clipps playoff bid: rockets, thunder, blazers, wolves, bucks (2), pacers, raptors. Already 0-2, could easily end it 0-8.
 

In my lifetime

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This is the stretch that ends the clipps playoff bid: rockets, thunder, blazers, wolves, bucks (2), pacers, raptors. Already 0-2, could easily end it 0-8.
Fine with me. More important is that they barely make the playoffs next year so their 1st pick conveys to the Celtics.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Hornets coach Steve Clifford saying what I have always preached with player evaluation when asked about teams that sit veterans post-ASB. Love this!

"People talk about development or being able to see guys for next year. If you can't be organized when somebody's on the floor, one you can't evaluate them and two, they're hurting the ability of the other guys to play...... younger players have to be able to play in a way on the floor where the team can function. Because otherwise you can say you're evaluating them but you're screwing the other four guys up and you can't evaluate them."
 

Cesar Crespo

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Are people still favoring Simmons to win ROY or have some people jumped ship to Donovan Mitchell? Many said Mitchell would have to average over 20 for it to be a discussion, he's at 19.8 atm.
 

The Needler

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Are people still favoring Simmons to win ROY or have some people jumped ship to Donovan Mitchell? Many said Mitchell would have to average over 20 for it to be a discussion, he's at 19.8 atm.
I don't think it's a serious discussion. Simmons is having a historic year. The points (on >50% TS), rebounds and assists put him in the company of only Robertson and Magic, but when you add in his defense (the kid has 58 blocks!), he's in a class by himself and it's not close.
 

Kliq

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For a point guard? The list of players who've had seasons with nearly 8 assists and 1 block a game is basically LeBron, Wade, Wall, Bird, and Jordan.
I don't think he defends other point guards frequently so the fact that he plays PG on offense is moot. 58 is not a lot; and blocks are a poor statistic to demonstrate defensive prowess anyways. All that means is that Simmons has made 58 good defensive plays this season. I think he has good potential as a defender but is lazy at times, can be exploited on the pick and roll and checks out on occasion. All rookie stuff, but he still has flaws.

Mitchell has had a phenomenal year; I think Simmons is the ROY but it is certainly a conversation. Mitchell is a very good two-way player and actually shoots the ball outside 10 feet from the basket. He has become the crunch-time go to guy on a team that some people had as a lottery team, that is now poised to make the playoffs.
 

Sam Ray Not

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I hadn't watched that much of Josh Jackson, but man, he was impressive tonight v. the Warriors: 36 points on 23 fga with an array of slick moves off the dribble, 6 reb, 4 ast. And did much of it while being guarded by guys like Green and Iguodala. (And then I check out his B-Ref page and see still has only a .477 ts on the season. Go figure.)

Curry-less, Klay-less, Durant-less Warriors still manage to put up a 72-point second half and pull out the win, 124-109. Quinn Cook puts up a Curry-esque 28 points on 17 fga, a night after putting up 25 on 13 fga. Kevon Looney, who suddenly looks like the team's most reliable big man not named Draymond or KD, had 13 points and 6 blocks in 25 minutes.
 

The Needler

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I don't think he defends other point guards frequently so the fact that he plays PG on offense is moot. 58 is not a lot; and blocks are a poor statistic to demonstrate defensive prowess anyways. All that means is that Simmons has made 58 good defensive plays this season. I think he has good potential as a defender but is lazy at times, can be exploited on the pick and roll and checks out on occasion. All rookie stuff, but he still has flaws.
Add those 58 good plays to the 114 good plays he made on steals and the 192 deflections, and that's a whole lotta good plays on defense. He's already an elite defender by most any metric. He's in the top 30 of regular players in DRPM, he's 3rd in defensive winshares, 9th in dBPM, etc etc.

Also, he (effectively) defends guards about 1/3 of the time. Pretty good article about his defense and versatility here: https://fansided.com/2018/03/16/nylon-calculus-ben-simmons-versatile-defender/
 
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Kliq

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Cleveland needed a monster performance from LeBron (33-12-12) to beat the tanktastic Bulls by five. The Bulls also were playing without their four best players (Lopez, Lavine, Dunn, The Finnisher).
 

Imbricus

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Ante Zizic with another nice game for Cleveland last night; he was a guy I really didn't want to see go in the Kyrie trade: 7-9 FG with 6 rebounds in 20 minutes. He hasn't seen many minutes this season until lately. And credit where credit's due: Josh Jackson with a big game against Warriors: 36 points on 14-23 shooting.
 

AMS25

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Awesome game. Thunder defeat the Raptors, 133-125. Ugly officiating, though. Lowry fouled out with three minutes to go. Raptors really got frustrated. In the last minute, Ibaka, deRozan and Casey were all ejected.

Oh, and Ibaka kneed Steven Adams in the cojones during the third quarter. Ibaka's well-known for this; got Blake Griffin a few years ago.
 

chilidawg

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GS down two on the road to SA in the third. Durant, Curry, Thompson and now Green all out. Lineups like Bell/Looney/Young/Igoudala/Cook are actually looking pretty good. Got to give Kerr some props. It's amazing, there's far less talent there than a team like Phoenix, but such better basketball.