2020-2021 NBA Game Thread

Sam Ray Not

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If it was about the events in DC, why wouldn’t he say that? I would totally respect that.

Especially with Dinwiddie out for the season, it must be a total drag to have no freaking idea who/where your PG is on any given night. Can Nash lace ‘em up?
 

OurF'ingCity

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Durant released a statement along the lines of "I support him 100% and pray for the best" so I don't get the sense this is just Kyrie off on a frolic somewhere, or that it has anything to do with events in DC. Sounds like he might legitimately be going through stuff, so I'm going to withhold judgment until we know more, as much as I don't like him.
 

slamminsammya

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Could Kyrie be having a mental health episode? Its 2021, and it would not be surprising if he was a) being proactive about taking care of himself, and b) the team were not saying anything remotely detailed about it.
 

128

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Gordon Hayward with 28 first-half points tonite against the Knicks.
 

DJnVa

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Related to nothing, I heard today that the longest tenured Pelican is Zion. That's nuts.
 

HomeRunBaker

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De’Aaron Fox just threw down a monster exclamation point tomahawk dunk on Sabin is’ head. Whoa!!!

This Kings team may be dysfunctional but they still have some interesting individual pieces who have significant flaws in their game.
 

Kliq

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De’Aaron Fox just threw down a monster exclamation point tomahawk dunk on Sabin is’ head. Whoa!!!

This Kings team may be dysfunctional but they still have some interesting individual pieces who have significant flaws in their game.
A good case for expansion is that even the lousy teams have some pretty good players. I think every team in the NBA right now has someone who could conceivably make the ASG; even the Knicks have Randle and the Pistons have Jermai Grant, whos is improbably averaging 25 ppg on decent efficiency.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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Looks like a mental health episode it was not. Well, maybe it is and Kyrie's way of taking care of himself is partying his ass off in NJ. Not a good look either way.
 

Kliq

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What I don't get is why they didn't just announce that he was possibly exposed to COVID and he was in quarantine?
 

Kliq

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Did they even know where he was and what he was doing? Gist I got from the reports is that he's just MIA.
Which is what makes Mr. Chemistry such a special person. He can't just tell people he might have been exposed to COVID; he has to go mysteriously missing and have his coach wondering where he is, and then an NBA Twitter personality has to reveal the truth through a semi-real investigation.
 

Cellar-Door

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What I don't get is why they didn't just announce that he was possibly exposed to COVID and he was in quarantine?
He wasn't at the time.
He took time for "personal reasons" a while ago, then he went to his sister's birthday party yesterday, so now even if he does come back from his personal leave he'll have to quarantine.
 

Light-Tower-Power

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Maybe we're being too hard on him. It's the regular season, they have KD and LeVert to carry the load, and their #2 point guard has a perfectly intact ACL and can stem the tide in his absence.
 

BigSoxFan

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What are the penalties that Silver could impose here on Kyrie? Or is this basically a team matter (the team obviously won't do squat)?
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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I believe it is an NBA matter if he was partying maskless since that was collectively bargained: you lose 1/72 of your salary for each game missed due to quarantining necessary from a violation of public gathering restrictions imposed this year.

But for the "personal leave" leading up to the party, the team can investigate and penalize him if it is looking more and more like going AWOL just to jerk around rather than a more understandable mental break. Whether the team wants to at the risk of "losing" the player is another question.
 

DJnVa

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So how many athletes are at these parties and smart enough to make sure no one is filming?
 

Cellar-Door

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So how many athletes are at these parties and smart enough to make sure no one is filming?
Not many honestly. Someone is always filming nowadays. Or just posting to twitter than they saw him.
I am sure there are plenty of private card room related outings, but a big club like that is just a signal you plan to get caught and don't care.
 

nighthob

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Durant played in their latest game yesterday against OKC, with Kyrie still out for that one.
The answer appears to be "Violating NBA covid19 protocols for his sister's birthday party". Not sure who had that one on their Kyriexcuse Bingo card.
 

Sam Ray Not

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In the span of a few days we've gone from everyone thinking, "hmm, this Rockets roster is actually really interesting if Harden just sticks around," to Harden saying the Rockets "just aren't good enough" and "this situation is crazy. It's something that I don't think can be fixed."

James, you're two games out of a playoff slot with over 63 games to play.
 

HomeRunBaker

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In the span of a few days we've gone from everyone thinking, "hmm, this Rockets roster is actually really interesting if Harden just sticks around," to Harden saying the Rockets "just aren't good enough" and "this situation is crazy. It's something that I don't think can be fixed."

James, you're two games out of a playoff slot with over 63 games to play.
I mean, he’s not wrong. That s a pretty horrid roster around him. It doesn’t help that they matchup terribly with the team they would ultimately have to get past.
 

Sam Ray Not

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I mean, he’s not wrong. That s a pretty horrid roster around him. It doesn’t help that they matchup terribly with the team they would ultimately have to get past.
Really? On paper, it’s not *that* different from the borderline championship contender (or at least dangerously explosive 55-win team) they had last season. They still have Harden, Gordon, Tucker, House, and McLemore; they made a small downgrade from Westbrook to Wall while adding a budding frontcourt star in Wood and an intriguing bench big in Cousins.

Most salient differences are the loss of D’Antoni and the fact that for whatever reason their superstar gained 30 lbs. and doesn’t seem to GAF about the team.
 

Apisith

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Yup. The overall roster depth is, at worse, the same last year. The ceiling is higher than last year as well. Harden's given up, basically. It sucks.
 

benhogan

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Harden’s done with the main course. And will now suck down a few more ribs for a while.
fixed the above for you

James is going to find out the hard way that all Rick's Cabarets, outside of Houston, have been shut down. Then he's going to realize what "crazy situations" and "not getting fixed" are all about.

#Don'tFEEDtheBeards
 

HomeRunBaker

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Really? On paper, it’s not *that* different from the borderline championship contender (or at least dangerously explosive 55-win team) they had last season. They still have Harden, Gordon, Tucker, House, and McLemore; they made a small downgrade from Westbrook to Wall while adding a budding frontcourt star in Wood and an intriguing bench big in Cousins.

Most salient differences are the loss of D’Antoni and the fact that for whatever reason their superstar gained 30 lbs. and doesn’t seem to GAF about the team.
Jae’Sean Tate & David Nwaba are playing 23mpg and Sterling Brown 20. There are significant downgrades from last year all over the floor. These guys are replacing veterans like Covington, Rivers, and Jeff Green.

This doesn’t even account for the Wall fit w Harden compared to RWB, who is somewhat surprisingly had great chemistry with on the floor.

Last years team was structured with roles to win a couple playoff series......this one looks like they picked up one-year contract guys to see who sticks. Night and day IMO.
 

Sam Ray Not

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That's awesome. Another good one...

View: https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1349223112303390721


NBA top 10 in blocks

Myles Turner 46 (!!)
Rudy Gobert 29
Chris Boucher 26
Mitchell Robinson 21
Andrew Wiggins 20 (????)
Jarrett Allen 19
Anthony Davis 19
Andre Drummond 17
Marc Gasol 17
James Wiseman 17

On Trash Brother #1: that makes 37 blocks in his first 23 games as a Warrior. By way of comparison, Harrison Barnes, his most frequent comp, had 34 blocks in his first 159 games. Seems like there's at least one area in which he's better than mediocre? His D overall has actually been quite good. Gets the opponent's toughest defensive cover pretty much every game, and invariably handles it well, even when it's a beast like Kawhi or LeBron.

Harry Barnes has been fantastic this season, too, fwiw. Best player on the 5-6 Kings to date, by a pretty wide margin.
 

HomeRunBaker

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NBA top 10 in blocks

Myles Turner 46 (!!)
Rudy Gobert 29
Chris Boucher 26
Mitchell Robinson 21
Andrew Wiggins 20 (????)
Jarrett Allen 19
Anthony Davis 19
Andre Drummond 17
Marc Gasol 17
James Wiseman 17
I would reserve some ??? for 36-yr old Gasol here as well.

Wiggins has been a beast defensively for the Warriors. Maybe it is the additional accountability demanded by Steph, Draymond, etc but he’s turning into a more well-rounded player than he was in Minny.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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View: https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1349223112303390721


NBA top 10 in blocks

Myles Turner 46 (!!)
Rudy Gobert 29
Chris Boucher 26
Mitchell Robinson 21
Andrew Wiggins 20 (????)
Jarrett Allen 19
Anthony Davis 19
Andre Drummond 17
Marc Gasol 17
James Wiseman 17
Wiseman has played some decent defense which is his real immediate value. Blocks are cool and all but its not clear if they do anything to contribute to winning (not arguing one way or the other - just saying that those who have looked at their value haven't been able to identify blocks as a difference maker in terms of winning basketball games). But Wiseman shows the signs of a player who can credibly guard smaller guys on the PnR.

As a side note, the data is still kind of useless until teams get more consistency in line-ups and rotations and players are in better shape. I do wonder if we are going to get real read on players and teams this season with the protocols, missed games etc. Its entirely possible that as the playoffs approach, we get another team like Miami who kind of comes together at the end and surprises a few people. I fully expect the screwy schedule as well as the play-in games means that there are no "easy" match-ups - at least not for the first half of the season.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Jae’Sean Tate & David Nwaba are playing 23mpg and Sterling Brown 20. There are significant downgrades from last year all over the floor. These guys are replacing veterans like Covington, Rivers, and Jeff Green.
A lot of that is House and McLemore missing more than half their games. Assuming those guys are both still alive, they'll shore up the depth considerably. Covington was a big loss for them; I'd argue guys the level of Green and Rivers could be found pretty easily before the trade deadline if the team decided it wanted to compete. Wood is at worst a mild upgrade on Green. And Cousins was a nice add, at a position where they had nothing last year.

This doesn’t even account for the Wall fit w Harden compared to RWB, who is somewhat surprisingly had great chemistry with on the floor.
Chemistry takes time to develop. The Rockets have played nine games. Fit-wise, Wall is a pretty similar player to Westbrook: both big, physical, ball-dominant PGs who like to slash to the rim on O and can physically handle wings on D. Wall is a better three-point shooter than Westbrook. There's no reason the basketball fits with Harden shouldn't be fairly similar, given a bit of time and effort.

I can definitely buy that on balance the supporting cast has dropped off a bit, but I don't give Harden even in a little bit of a pass for quitting on his "horrid roster," if that's what you're indulging him. Curry's roster has had an even greater fall from grace than Harden's, and yet he came into the season in great shape (as always) and comes out every game and gets after it, setting an unwaveringly positive and supportive tone for his motley teammates. If 3-6 is a death knell, the entire Raptors team should be committing hara kiri, yet somehow we don't hear Lowry/Siakam/FVV and co. giving up on the season. I'm sure they'd laugh at the idea.

Suck it up, James.
 
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Sam Ray Not

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Wiseman has played some decent defense which is his real immediate value. Blocks are cool and all but its not clear if they do anything to contribute to winning (not arguing one way or the other - just saying that those who have looked at their value haven't been able to identify blocks as a difference maker in terms of winning basketball games). But Wiseman shows the signs of a player who can credibly guard smaller guys on the PnR.

As a side note, the data is still kind of useless until teams get more consistency in line-ups and rotations and players are in better shape. I do wonder if we are going to get real read on players and teams this season with the protocols, missed games etc. Its entirely possible that as the playoffs approach, we get another team like Miami who kind of comes together at the end and surprises a few people. I fully expect the screwy schedule as well as the play-in games means that there are no "easy" match-ups - at least not for the first half of the season.
Yeah, I definitely did not mean to conflate blocks with good defense. From what I've seen (all eleven Warrior games, lol) Wiggins has played great D apart from the blocks, while Wiseman has played pretty bad D despite the blocks (as one might expect from a 19 year-old who just started learning team defensive concepts like five minutes ago).
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Yeah, I definitely did not mean to conflate blocks with good defense. From what I've seen (all eleven Warrior games, lol) Wiggins has played great D apart from the blocks, while Wiseman has played pretty bad D despite the blocks (as one might expect from a 19 year-old who just started learning team defensive concepts like five minutes ago).
Oh I wasn't directing that at you btw - I am just fascinated with how the NBA market continues to evolve. A great shot blocker might have used that singular skill to get paid all the way into the early 2010s. Now I suspect that blocks are way down the list in terms of attributes teams value. Rebounds seem to have a lower price point too these days. Wiseman can do all of these things but his real upside is his defensive versatility and an already nifty game around the bucket (Curry appears to be having fun with his new rim running toy!).
 

Kliq

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A lot of that is House and McLemore missing more than half their games. Assuming those guys are both still alive, they'll shore up the depth considerably. Covington was a big loss for them; I'd argue guys the level of Green and Rivers could be found pretty easily before the trade deadline if the team decided it wanted to compete. Wood is at worst a mild upgrade on Green. And Cousins was a nice add, at a position where they had nothing last year.


Chemistry takes time to develop. The Rockets have played nine games. Fit-wise, Wall is a pretty similar player to Westbrook: both big, physical, ball-dominant PGs who like to slash to the rim on O can physically handle wings on D. Wall is a better three-point shooter than Westbrook. There's no reason the basketball fits with Harden shouldn't be fairly similar, given a bit of time and effort.

I can definitely buy that on balance the supporting cast has dropped off a bit, but I don't give Harden even in a little bit of a pass for quitting on his "horrid roster," if that's what you're indulging him. Curry's roster has had an even greater fall from grace than Harden's, and yet he came into the season in great shape (as always) and comes out every game and gets after it, setting an unwaveringly positive and supportive tone for his motley teammates. If 3-6 is a death knell, the entire Raptors team should be committing hara kiri, yet somehow we don't hear Lowry/Siakam/FVV and co. giving up on the season. I'm sure they'd laugh at the idea.

Suck it up, James.
Harden so far went missing before training camp, openly fleeced COVID protocols, has shown up in terrible shape and played passionless basketball while throwing his teammates and the entire organization under the bus at every turn. If Harden was in killer shape and putting up an efficient 30 points every night and the team was still losing, he would have a point. But he hasn't dedicated himself one iota to this season's team; he has no room to gripe.