In the case of Embiid, we do have somewhat of an idea of why he always gets injured right? He's huge and he's literally ALWAYS flopping or falling down. (I mean, Chris Herring wrote an article titled "Why is Joel Embiid always on the ground?")
I see no reason to debate the former, but it is worth noting that now NY is 5-1 against PHI this year (3-0 in games where both Embiid and Maxey play) and NY is now 22-3 when Anunoby plays (21-2 when both he and Brunson play). And they're the ones missing an All-Star currently in Randle. Embiid is certainly hurt but also he is averaging 32 points and 38 minutes in the two games so far.
I think the Knicks are very good, and I'm really happy for their fans that they get to finally enjoy a real, serious team. They are fun to watch, and almost appointment viewing at this point.
Maxey was fouled, but the first foul on the inbounds play was Maxey giving a strong 2 handed shove to Hart trying to break free:
The head of officiating was on Lowe Post and basically said "we didn't change any rules, we just tried to be more consistent in some specific application scenarios" or some other double-talk. So, they are getting to 'change' through application to specific situations (don't let offensive player push off on drive, call on offense if they veer out of their 'lane' during a drive, etc). Surely, that has also been true of what is 'marginal' contact.
A minor nitpick with Bodner (and a few others like Bontempts)..... the L2M doesn't actually say that Nurse should have gotten a timeout. Doesn't list it as an incorrect call, but as part of a correct no call, which I would (and I would guess the NBA would as well) interpret as a recognition that Nurse attempted to call TO, but not that it should have been granted. Minor detail, but probably an important one when recapping what the L2M actually says. if the NBA believed the timeout SHOULD have been granted, they would have listed it as an incorrect no call in all likelihood.
The CNC is a reference to the lack of a foul call on the play (very clear from the explanation). No reason to believe an attempted timeout is a 'call' within the L2m definition. The statement in the L2M about the timeout includes all the conditions required for a timeout to be granted, so it seems clear that it should have been even from the persepctive of the league. What they are trying to clarify in the wording is that the official did not see it and that is why it wasn't granted--not that it was correct not to grant it. The word choice was intentional around that, I am confident.
Not sure, they clearly define a timeout as a call though from this:
Agreed. Personally, I really liked it and thought it was reasonably accruate initially...but in the last couple years it has become a PR exercise, and at this point isn't worthwile anymore for the reasons you note.
Jesus, feels like they need replay review for the L2M report in order to understand it.
It would go against Silver’s policy of complicating every aspect of the game with lawyerly bullshit
The L2M report seems like an attempt to lend legitimacy to a process that is largely subjective but they want to look as though is not. If you report that something was correct or incorrect that means there’s someone or an organization that knows what the right call is at all times which we know isn’t the case.
Because they didn't want to take him out of the game. 1 minute later he falls on Mitch's ankle.
My 2nd favorite regular season Marcus Smart moment:
#1 with a bullet. That's probably my favorite regular season moment of the ongoing Brad Stevens era.
He's had some big games in the playoffs, though none quite like this (his three best games by game score before tonight were all against Atlanta in 2021, in which he averaged 39/12/4 and shooting 56% from the field). It won't mean shit (nor should it) until he gets out of the 2nd round. Philly has to win game 4 to make it a series, we'll go from there.
