2020-2021 NBA Game Thread

Kliq

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De’Andre Hunter has looked really good this year. Him hitting his upside would be huge for the Hawks.
It's another benefit from having added people like Bogdanovic, and eventually Gallo and Rondo. Their two young wings Hunter and Reddish have looked much better with more offensive talent around them and guys beyond Trae Young that can get them the ball in good situations. If Hunter and Reddish continue to develop and can become solid defenders, and if John Collins can harness his athletic potential and become a passable defender, then a lineup with the two athletic wings, a really athletic 4 in Collins, and a classic athletic 5 in Capela, then maybe, just maybe, you can have a lineup that can cover for Young on defense.
 

Tony C

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New Orleans and Atlanta are both really fun up-and-coming teams. The Hawks losing last night to the Cavs shows that they're young, and that the Cavs have some Sexland spark, too. Still, the Hawks with a healthy Gallo are exciting as heck.
 

BigSoxFan

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Keldon Johnson continues to look great for the Spurs. Looks like a big steal at 29. Curious to know what Ainge thought of him.
 

azsoxpatsfan

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Suns down 7 after three against the Clippers after being down 31 in the second quarter.
 

HomeRunBaker

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We knew the Clippers could blow 30 point leads. We now know they can blow a 30 point lead to a team playing their 6th game in 9 nights. From 30 to 3 in the blink of an eye.
 

azsoxpatsfan

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We knew the Clippers could blow 30 point leads. We now know they can blow a 30 point lead to a team playing their 6th game in 9 nights. From 30 to 3 in the blink of an eye.
To be fair, the Suns are apparently still the bubble Suns
 

PedroKsBambino

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For a couple of years, Wood was there for the taking, for Boston and every other team in the NBA.
I was trying to figure out, I think no way for Celtics to have given him real money this offseason...which is a real bummer. Thompson + Theis’ salary gets close but that’s not how cap works
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Is Steph Curry even league average at this point?

Side note, I have now watched two straight games where Steve Kerr has relentlessly targeted Enes Kanter on PnRs to great success. I am pretty confident in saying that as much as I love Kanter the personality, I don't miss the player one bit. Meanwhile, the struggle is real for Stotts because Kanter is having a good game offensively.
 

Sam Ray Not

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50 for Curry. 7th 50 point game of his career.
62 in 36 minutes. "Non-star."

HRB didn't claim it, though. He just asked a reasonable question.

Edit: he did miss his first free throw in two years, after 80 straight, so there's that. He's now at 98.0% from the stripe the season, a fairly massive regression from last season's 100%.
 
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ElUno20

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We aren't talking stats, we're talking standings. He cant be steph curry the god and fighting for an 8th seed
 

Sam Ray Not

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We're talking "Curry is being exposed as a non-star." The Warriors are another conversation. Fwiw, last I checked Jordan was pretty okay on the 1986-87 Bulls, a 40-42 team that fought for an 8th seed. Not a star, though, apparently.
 

Euclis20

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Hell, LeBron missed the playoffs just two years ago. He missed a third of the season due to injury, but they were an underwhelming 28-27 when he did play.

Besides, it's still too early to know what the Warriors will be this year.
 

benhogan

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"Curry is being exposed as a non-star." is so 2020

I'm hoping 2021 ushers in a new era where facts and opinions mesh better
 

azsoxpatsfan

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It is kinda wack how everyone is obsessed w the warriors being 3-3 even tho like half the playoff teams from last year are under .500
 

Apisith

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I’m looking forward to Curry’s version of the Unguardable Tour. I’ve always thought that if you put Curry into a situation similar to Harden and amp up his usage, you’d see similarly crazy numbers from Steph. Both Curry and Harden seem to get better the higher their usage numbers are.
 

Kliq

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Portland had no intentions of trying to stop Curry; I felt bad for CJ as he was not getting any help on those Draymond quasi-illegal screens and when he did, it was usually from Kanter or Nurkic who Curry easily abused.
 

Cellar-Door

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I’m looking forward to Curry’s version of the Unguardable Tour. I’ve always thought that if you put Curry into a situation similar to Harden and amp up his usage, you’d see similarly crazy numbers from Steph. Both Curry and Harden seem to get better the higher their usage numbers are.
I don't think Curry could handle it honestly, Harden whatever his flaws in terms of conditioning to start seasons is built like a brick outhouse, he's able to put up massive usage against everybody, and it sometimes wears him down by playoff time, but just taking that beating and coming back every night to do it again is his most impressive feat. I don't think Steph could consistently do that every night once he gets to the teams that play good hard defense. It's one thing when you're playing POR who have the worst backcourt defense in the league, it's another when you get into stretches with the Marcus Smart, Pat Bev, Jrue Holiday stretches (plus switching into guys like Jaylen Brown, Kawhi etc.) Curry needs to be managed because he lacks the size and strength to take that beating.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Kanter with 24 and 12 for Portland in the loss.
Gave it all back and possibly more on the other end, tho.

He’s such an enigma — such a beastly offensive force, rebounder, and all around great energy guy that you want to say, “I mean, it’s just one player, how bad on defense can he really be”? And then you see it and are reminded. It’s not just getting relentlessly hunted and P&Red to death by Steph, either; on one play he had 6-6 Eric Paschall at a standstill at the top of the key, with good position and no one open ... and EP took it straight into him, put him under the rim, and dunked.

Of course, you guys have all experienced it first hand so I’m preaching the choir. It’s just remarkable that one can be so good on one end and so bad on the other. Kanter with Draymond’s defense might be a top 10 NBA player.
 

Cellar-Door

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If anyone missed it, Marvin Bagley III's father demanded a trade on twitter, then deleted it, but started favoriting tweets talking about it. FOllowed by Bagley dodging questions about it, and De'Aron Fox's dad tweeting that the Kings should trade him (Bagley).

Nice to see KANGZ gonna KANGZ no matter what.
 

BigSoxFan

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If anyone missed it, Marvin Bagley III's father demanded a trade on twitter, then deleted it, but started favoriting tweets talking about it. FOllowed by Bagley dodging questions about it, and De'Aron Fox's dad tweeting that the Kings should trade him (Bagley).

Nice to see KANGZ gonna KANGZ no matter what.
Luka and NBA fans dodged a huge bullet. Bagley is a tough guy to evaluate. His defense isn't good. He doesn't block shots. He's not an efficient scorer. Can't shoot 3's. FT% all over the place in his career. Not a particularly good passer. Turns 22 so still time for improvement but seems like he's on the path to bust status.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Luka and NBA fans dodged a huge bullet. Bagley is a tough guy to evaluate. His defense isn't good. He doesn't block shots. He's not an efficient scorer. Can't shoot 3's. FT% all over the place in his career. Not a particularly good passer. Turns 22 so still time for improvement but seems like he's on the path to bust status.
It's even worse since he missed most of last year with an injury and will need time to get back up to speed this season.
 

BigSoxFan

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It's even worse since he missed most of last year with an injury and will need time to get back up to speed this season.
Agreed. And is seemingly already a malcontent. I would not want to be the team giving him his next contract. Feels destined to go to some place like Detroit on a big contract while putting up inefficient offensive numbers on multiple bad teams. I liked him at Duke and thought he'd be a much better pro but he has not shown any of that promise in the NBA. Hard to know what you can attribute to the Kings' dysfunction and what you can attribute to poor coaching/player development.
 

Cellar-Door

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Luka and NBA fans dodged a huge bullet. Bagley is a tough guy to evaluate. His defense isn't good. He doesn't block shots. He's not an efficient scorer. Can't shoot 3's. FT% all over the place in his career. Not a particularly good passer. Turns 22 so still time for improvement but seems like he's on the path to bust status.
Bagley is interesting, he was actually pretty good as a Rookie (obviously who he was drafted over made it look bad), league average TS, drew FTs at a high rate, showed flashes of maybe having a 3pt shot, not a shot blocker, but also had a pretty decent BLK%, good offensive rebounder, bad defender, but not terrible for a rookie. Then he essentially lost a year, and so far this year he can't score suddenly (but I wonder if his defense is better because small sample, but his on/offs are pretty good)
 
New Orleans and Atlanta are both really fun up-and-coming teams. The Hawks losing last night to the Cavs shows that they're young, and that the Cavs have some Sexland spark, too. Still, the Hawks with a healthy Gallo are exciting as heck.
FWIW, I chalk up the other night as a schedule loss - Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back (having traveled back to Atlanta from Brooklyn between games), while the Cavs had two full days of rest. It happens; nothing to get me too upset.
 

BigSoxFan

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Bagley is interesting, he was actually pretty good as a Rookie (obviously who he was drafted over made it look bad), league average TS, drew FTs at a high rate, showed flashes of maybe having a 3pt shot, not a shot blocker, but also had a pretty decent BLK%, good offensive rebounder, bad defender, but not terrible for a rookie. Then he essentially lost a year, and so far this year he can't score suddenly (but I wonder if his defense is better because small sample, but his on/offs are pretty good)
Yeah, seems like a coin flip about whether or not he reaches his potential or not. And probably depends on the environment. Clearly, Sacramento is not working but they're not going to trade him, which will probably stunt his development even more.
 

the moops

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Gave it all back and possibly more on the other end, tho.

He’s such an enigma — such a beastly offensive force, rebounder, and all around great energy guy that you want to say, “I mean, it’s just one player, how bad on defense can he really be”? And then you see it and are reminded. It’s not just getting relentlessly hunted and P&Red to death by Steph, either; on one play he had 6-6 Eric Paschall at a standstill at the top of the key, with good position and no one open ... and EP took it straight into him, put him under the rim, and dunked.

Of course, you guys have all experienced it first hand so I’m preaching the choir. It’s just remarkable that one can be so good on one end and so bad on the other. Kanter with Draymond’s defense might be a top 10 NBA player.
Heard earlier today.

In the half court, with Kanter on the floor, Portland has a 124 defensive rating. With he and Melo out there together, it is 129.

Oof
 

Kliq

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Heard earlier today.

In the half court, with Kanter on the floor, Portland has a 124 defensive rating. With he and Melo out there together, it is 129.

Oof
Which is kind of why Kanter is not a good fit for Portland. Portland has very clear strengths and weaknesses; they have a backcourt that is great offensively and bad on defense. Almost every other person on the roster should be picked based on that situation; which means finding players with size that can defend. Kanter is a good fit for a team that needs someone who can score off the bench in units that have limited offensive talent; but he really shouldn't be sharing the floor with Lillard or CJ, since his offensive skills are not needed as much and he can't cover for them defensively.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Which is kind of why Kanter is not a good fit for Portland. Portland has very clear strengths and weaknesses; they have a backcourt that is great offensively and bad on defense. Almost every other person on the roster should be picked based on that situation; which means finding players with size that can defend.
They did find Covington and Derrick Jones, Jr., both of whom (as one might expect) did credible jobs on Steph. They can be your 3-4 or even your 4-5 when you need to lock down a guard or wing who's going off. And yet ... somehow the Blazers saw fit to put Melo and Kanter on the floor together for most of the 4th quarter. STOTTSSSS!!!!! / Captain Kirk shaking fist
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Jones Jr. is the reason I think Olshey decided on Kanter vs a more defensive minded big. Last night, nobody could stop Curry though, which is why I think Stotts went for more offense. It may be trauma or force of habit but I think Stotts may feel most comfortable managing shoot outs versus rock fights.
 

slamminsammya

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Curry only had 24 points if you count legal points. I heard that he was racking up buckets against dead guys, guys not even registered to play for Portland. Its a sham.
 

the moops

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They did find Covington and Derrick Jones, Jr., both of whom (as one might expect) did credible jobs on Steph. They can be your 3-4 or even your 4-5 when you need to lock down a guard or wing who's going off. And yet ... somehow the Blazers saw fit to put Melo and Kanter on the floor together for most of the 4th quarter. STOTTSSSS!!!!! / Captain Kirk shaking fist
?? Steph Curry had 88 points in the two combined games
 

Kliq

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They did find Covington and Derrick Jones, Jr., both of whom (as one might expect) did credible jobs on Steph. They can be your 3-4 or even your 4-5 when you need to lock down a guard or wing who's going off. And yet ... somehow the Blazers saw fit to put Melo and Kanter on the floor together for most of the 4th quarter. STOTTSSSS!!!!! / Captain Kirk shaking fist
When they signed Melo last year, it was because guys were injured (I think Dame missed some games) and they were desperate to get anybody that could create their own shot. Once people got healthy, there is almost no reason to play him significant minutes, since they don't need him to score and he can't really do anything else except rebound a little. Last season, no matter how good Dame was, they were never going to go anywhere in the playoffs with such shitty play from their wings; they had nobody to even attempt to guard LeBron or Davis.

Covington was very good signing for them because he can at least credibly due that. DJJ is an interesting player, he would occasionally play significant minutes for Miami but was inconsistent; he is an absolutely incredible athlete, if you told me he had like, a 62" vertical I would believe it, but is he a good defender? Not sure about that one. Gary Trent Jr. is really streaky, if he can be consistent from three they might have an answer there. Still waiting on Anfernee Simons to do something tangible in a real NBA game.

The problem with the GS game was that the best way to slow Curry down is to have a really athletic five that can move well laterally; any traditional five, even a good defensive one like Nurkic, is going to get torched by Curry if he has to switch on to him. If I was Stotts, I would have benched Nurkic/Kanter and just played Covington at the five, and gone ultra-switchable. To this day, the best team at slowing down Curry imo was ironically the Rockets, because they went really small with Harden/Gordon/Luc Ricard Mbah Moute/Ariza/Tucker and were able to just switch everything and still have a quick, strong defensive player (when Harden was engaged) and avoided the DeAndre Jordan scenario, where Curry puts some lug on skates and cashes threes over them.
 

Sam Ray Not

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?? Steph Curry had 88 points in the two combined games
Yeah, but he got to his spots / shots much less easily when those guys were on him or switched onto him. I thought Gary Trent Jr. did a really nice job on him as well. Melo and Kanter are just roadkill when Steph gets it going.
 

Cellar-Door

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I honestly feel like the Blazers get some shitty defenders for bench minutes so fans think they are trying.

The Blazers' defense is always going to be shitty as long as Dame and CJ are their backcourt. You can't have 2 bad defending smallish guards and not be bad on D (also SImmons is somehow the worst of the bunch as the 3rd guard).

The Blazers should have traded McCollum 2 years ago at least, but they let that fluke WCF appearance and fans not really understanding how a team works dictate decisionmaking, so they'll be on the treadmill another half decade.
 

Sam Ray Not

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BKN 3-4
NYK 4-3

Collect your prize if you had that in the pool through seven games when the Nets were 2-0 with a +27.0 PD, while the Knicks were 0-2 with a -17.0.