You blame Waiters there? They got him the ball 35-feet from the basket with no momentum toward getting a shot off. How many players even GET a shot off there?Waiters is just pure trash. 5 seconds left and that's the shot he takes
You blame Waiters there? They got him the ball 35-feet from the basket with no momentum toward getting a shot off. How many players even GET a shot off there?Waiters is just pure trash. 5 seconds left and that's the shot he takes
It helps when your opponent is the Hawks who were also on the second leg of a B2B and 3rd game in 4 nights.So, Orlando, coming off a road win at Milwaukee and playing on back to back nights, goes into Atlanta and dominates them. 3 wins in 4 days too, as they beat the TWolves at home, before going to Milwaukee. Nice to see a team prove that road back to backs aren't automatic schedule losses, I guess.
Decent D on that play, but poor perimeter D throughout the game — Miami with a season-high 18 threes. Yet another game that showed how much the champs rely on Iguodala. Bad perimeter D + suboptimal ball movement + bad turnovers = a near home loss to a mediocre team.It was pure Waiters. And yes, it was a horrible shot. Credit to the Warriors for not allowing Richardson - who was beastly all night with a career high 37 points on 14-22 shooting including eight of eleven from deep - from getting a good look.
It also doesn't hurt to have a guy named Kevin Durant going off for your team either. 39 points on 16-24 shooting though he was one of seven from behind the arc. However that one three was the game-winner.Decent D on that play, but poor perimeter D throughout the game — Miami with a season-high 18 threes. Yet another game that showed how much the champs rely on Iguodala. Bad perimeter D + suboptimal ball movement + bad turnovers = a near home loss to a mediocre team.
Awful night for Cousins on both ends, but I appreciate how in a fairly meaningless game Kerr stuck with him in the closing lineup to build his confidence; and he came up big in the closing seconds with the offensive rebound and two swished FTs.
Hah, yeah, he's pretty good. And the 1-7 from 3 means he was 15-17 from 2, with one of those misses being the crafty surprise-block on his turnaround by old man DWade.It also doesn't hurt to have a guy named Kevin Durant going off for your team either. 39 points on 16-24 shooting though he was one of seven from behind the arc. However that one three was the game-winner.
If I'm remembering right, he had the whole left side of the paint cleared out for a drive.You blame Waiters there? They got him the ball 35-feet from the basket with no momentum toward getting a shot off. How many players even GET a shot off there?
FWIW, the “NY media” are a shell of what they used to be, no one takes Francesa seriously and newspapers are disappearing faster than mid-range jumpers. I think this is much less of an issue than it would have been 10 or 20 years ago; these days Twitter rips everyone whether they deserve it or not and what market they’re in has nothing to do with it.It also doesn't hurt to have a guy named Kevin Durant going off for your team either. 39 points on 16-24 shooting though he was one of seven from behind the arc. However that one three was the game-winner.
I really hope Durant realizes what he has in Golden State. I know some Knicks fans here think that NY will welcome him as a savior but we all know that as soon as Durant's petty, sensitive side comes out, the NY media, at least, will pounce. He is low hanging fruit for them. This is one instance where Kleinman may be doing Durant wrong if they are both joining the Knicks organization. NY, Boston and to a lesser degree, Philadelphia, are the worst possible places for him to play the rest of his career.
He started to drive but got some separation and had a good look, IMO. He keeps driving the defense collapses and he gets even a worse look.If I'm remembering right, he had the whole left side of the paint cleared out for a drive.
Just a dumb heat check shot.
I'd have to believe that Spoelstra designed that play for him to get off a 3 for the win on the road which is standard and he's one of their iso guys who can get a quality look off even when the entire building knows what's coming. This was similar to the separation-3 that Waiters hit over Klay to beat the Warriors at the buzzer a couple years ago. There is no way he's wanting a 2 to force OT when you have a flight waiting to take you to Denver for another game tonight.If I'm remembering right, he had the whole left side of the paint cleared out for a drive.
Just a dumb heat check shot.
Lin is getting closer to completing the “Steve Pearce”Minor move, but the Raps found a nice replacement for Delon Wright at third-string / big PG. The East #1-4 is an absolute monster.
Well year sure of course but why would Lin ever agree to come here to be a 10th man? Buyout guys, and their representation, want minutes to market themselves for their upcoming FA period unless they are at the end of their careers like a PJ Brown, Cassell, Marbury, David West, etc. This is why people shouldn't have been surprised when Wayne Ellington signed with Detroit rather than go to a contender where he wouldn't earn consistent minutes. Lin was fortunate to get the best of both worlds as one of the top buyout guys on the market.Lin would have been a massive upgrade over Wanamaker, especially with Kyrie out for a bit. Wish Danny had gone for him.
I agree with this but if PG keeps this up he is going to make it tight. Who knew he had this sort of season in him?Meanwhile, PG with the “other” triple double: a quiet 47 points (15-26 fg), 12 reb, 10 ast night.
Poor Giannis, though: he failed miserably with 29 pts (9-13 fg), 17 reb, 8 ast and a +21 in a 12-point Bucks win. The base-10 hating scrub.
1. Giannis, 2. PG. That’s the MVP convo in my book.
Just to be clear: if the Rockets has been up 40 with two minutes left instead of 14, your position is that it’d be entirely reasonable to leave Harden in to hit the 30 mark?Damn that Harden, scoring all those unnecessary points! There is no such thing as unnecessary points in the NBA. If Steph Curry did this I bet you’d have the same attitude.
It was a 3-possession game late 4th quarter. Maybe the star comes out with 90 seconds left prior to his 3-pointer but it wasn’t as egregious as you made it sound.Harden stays in the game in the 4th Quarter in a blowout to score 11 points in 6 minutes to get to 31.
Westbrook sets a NBA record with his 10th straight game with a triple double. Westbrook shoots 4 for 18.
Never change, fellas.
I love it. The Western Conference fans working into their playoff intensity. It's nice to know it's not just us Northeast-miserable-weather asses who have nothing to do in the winter but bring the hate.Whoa, the usually good-humored and measured SRN getting his dander up..."And no, dipshit" made me laugh, haven't heard that in quite some time.
I think reasonable minds can agree that the only way Harden gunning for the streak is a real detriment is that if it is coming at the expense of the Rockets winning games. In this scenario, you are complaining not that Harden was gunning late while his team was losing, but rather that Harden was actually too effective and that he scored too many points and his team was winning by too much. As if there is some very specific, precise range a lead can be before it tips into shameless self-promotion. Think about.Just to be clear: if the Rockets has been up 40 with two minutes left instead of 14, your position is that it’d be entirely reasonable to leave Harden in to hit the 30 mark?
And no, dipshit: my feelings would not be that different if Curry did it. As a superstitious guy, I’d actually be worried under similar circumstances that Kerr might be angering the hoops gods and risking injury. And for what? Reaching a round 30 point threshold Is not an actual thing that anyone should care about. We’re not even talking about a personal or league record.
Main point of course is that it *wouldn’t happen*, since Kerr, like Brad Stevens and most other coaches, is not in the business of letting his players pile up meaningless individual records (and risking injury in the process) that have no impact on the team’s winning ballgames. There’s ample evidence (Klay getting pulled with 60 points in 29 minutes, e.g.) to suggest that Kerr doesn’t privilege individual player stats over winning games in this manner.
Of course, as I noted above, in this case the margin at the end was just borderline enough where you could argue at least the first 3-6 points were necessary to secure the win; and after that we were talking about just an extra minute of play, so whatever. But it’s stupid (so fairly par for the course from you) to suggest there’s “no such thing” as a limit to that kind of coaching decision. Rockets up 50, garbage time, Harden on the bench — still totally cool with you for Mike D to call time out and put Harden in to chase individual glory?
I guess the only potential detriments to the Rockets winning would be (1) the small risk of injury; and (2) the unnecessary wear and tear on a superstar who has always been quite durable, but has shown occasional signs of gassing out in the playoffs.I think reasonable minds can agree that the only way Harden gunning for the streak is a real detriment is that if it is coming at the expense of the Rockets winning games. In this scenario, you are complaining not that Harden was gunning late while his team was losing, but rather that Harden was actually too effective and that he scored too many points and his team was winning by too much. As if there is some very specific, precise range a lead can be before it tips into shameless self-promotion. Think about.
I always thought we had a funny, sarcastic back and forth banter. I’m not sure why the name calling feels necessary.
I'd argue that the opposite is true. Outside of the occasional graphic that they show during the games, does anyone really care that Westbrook is averaging a triple-double again? The first season it was a big deal because it was believed to be impossible, but since then the narrative that the triple-double isn't important has usurped it. Now everyone falls over themselves to point out that it's actually not impressive, and somehow this ends up working against Westbrook.That Westbrook line is brutal...and yet he will get lots of love because he is a triple double machine.
There is no denying that Westbrook is still a very good player and outside of shooting, he is having a great season. The problem is that his shooting is terrible and as his game ages, you can start to see some scary glimpses of what a slowed Westbrook with no shot looks like.I'd argue that the opposite is true. Outside of the occasional graphic that they show during the games, does anyone really care that Westbrook is averaging a triple-double again? The first season it was a big deal because it was believed to be impossible, but since then the narrative that the triple-double isn't important has usurped it. Now everyone falls over themselves to point out that it's actually not impressive, and somehow this ends up working against Westbrook.
People keep saying that Westbrook is having a bad season; but really he is only having a bad shooting season. He's leading the league in assists, 2nd in steals, 6th in Defensive Rating, 12th in BPM, 4th in DBPM, and 13th in VORP. He's shooting less and differing more and his team is 17 games over .500 and his teammate is playing the best ball of his career and getting MVP buzz.
But the main narrative doesn't really care about that. Because Westbrook averaging a triple-double has become a negative instead of a positive, the appreciation of his brilliance has become a faux pas. You can't point out that Westbrook is the best rebounding guard of all time, or that he is the best playmaker in the NBA and has been for the last couple years, because you have to be reminded that because he averaged at least 10.0 in three particular categories, his accomplishments are actually not that impressive and overrated.
Meh - depending on the angle the ref had, I can for sure see where they thought it may have been tipped by Griffin.Staring right at it. NBA refs are simply terrible.
Reading online that the NBA explains why this was NOT a travel.Staring right at it. NBA refs are simply terrible.
Using some of the logic here, Harden's performance would have been better if he had actually missed a bunch of shots earlier in the quarter, and allowed Dallas back into the game, only to rescue it at the very end. Instead he was too efficient and scored some "unnecessary" points at the end.Harden didn't look tired or overworked when he splashed three long triples, or when he stripped Brunson and headed the other way to plow into Euro-Harden and get to the line for a couple of freebees.
Harden was very nonplussed in getting to thirty points. Dallas was purposely trying to stop him from getting there, and he wasn't having it. His team and the Houston fans loved it.
It sure looked like a travel to me. He took three steps before he "lost control" of the ball.I don't get the logic. Like ... if I never gather the ball, can I just run endlessly without dribbling? Instead of dribbling on the floor, can I do an alt-dribble whereby I just run around hot-potatoing the ball from hand to hand, à la Fultz at the FT line?
That's a lame straw man, of course. Assuming Harden scoring 11 points in the last 2:30 is a given, I'll simplify the argument you're mischaracterizing, from my perspective, anyway:Using some of the logic here, Harden's performance would have been better if he had actually missed a bunch of shots earlier in the quarter, and allowed Dallas back into the game, only to rescue it at the very end. Instead he was too efficient and scored some "unnecessary" points at the end.
You think Harden is already working on perfecting the Bobble-step move?I don't get the logic. Like ... if I never gather the ball, can I just run endlessly without dribbling? Instead of dribbling on the floor, can I do an alt-dribble whereby I just run around hot-potatoing the ball from hand to hand, à la Fultz at the FT line?
Theoretically no because the "fumble" must be "unintentional".I don't get the logic. Like ... if I never gather the ball, can I just run endlessly without dribbling? Instead of dribbling on the floor, can I do an alt-dribble whereby I just run around hot-potatoing the ball from hand to hand, à la Fultz at the FT line?
ThisThat is the lamest explanation of all time. Just say you missed the call and move on.
Per the rules you don’t have possession so yes. This has always been the rule.I don't get the logic. Like ... if I never gather the ball, can I just run endlessly without dribbling? Instead of dribbling on the floor, can I do an alt-dribble whereby I just run around hot-potatoing the ball from hand to hand, à la Fultz at the FT line?
I was assuming that his “hot potato-ing” would be masked to appear unintentional.Theoretically no because the "fumble" must be "unintentional".
I know his Brinks Truck comments, the video tribute thing and his general pining for a return to the Celtics didn't sit right with folks here - but damn I want him to come back and make an impact. Flaws and all, I loved watching peak IT4 and while I hold no hope that he comes anywhere near that, if he can give the Nuggets some solid scoring off the bench and a few turn-back-the-clock moves, I am all in.IT is getting close...
Adrian WojnarowskiVerified account @wojespn 8m8 minutes ago
Denver guard Isaiah Thomas will decide early in the day about possibly making his season debut vs. Sacramento on Wednesday, league source tells ESPN. Nuggets have upgraded Thomas to questionable. He's been out since hip surgery last March.
I’m sure he’ll hit a game winner against us tooI know his Brinks Truck comments, the video tribute thing and his general pining for a return to the Celtics didn't sit right with folks here - but damn I want him to come back and make an impact. Flaws and all, I loved watching peak IT4 and while I hold no hope that he comes anywhere near that, if he can give the Nuggets some solid scoring off the bench and a few turn-back-the-clock moves, I am all in.