2021-2022 NBA Game Thread!

[Kliq]

I know it's easy to say that everyone saw the Lakers' struggles coming, but this is still somewhat remarkable. Lebron looks a bit slower but statistically he's as strong as ever - his assists and rebounds are down, but his steals/blocks/turnovers/TS% are the best they've been since Miami, his points are the highest they've been since his first stint in Cleveland. How is he this good (still) and how does that line up with the Lakers being this bad?

He doesn't play defense and the Lakers are better without him on that end of the floor. His supporting cast also stinks and in today's NBA, you can be dominant but you need to have more than one guy to be truly competitive. We'll see what happens when Davis comes back.

Statistically he has played incredible basketball for the last month.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Man Jokic is having an amazing season. Not only are his offensive numbers great but by most advanced stats his defense has been as well, a pretty surprising development. It'd be a shame if he doesn't get MVP because his supporting cast has been decimated.

Jokic made a play tonight that probably nobody in the arena recognized what he was doing. As a Laker scored at the rim and was re-entering the court from behind the backcourt. Jokic, taking the ball out of the rim, reached it out on a string and kept it there rather than releasing it to Morris to try and draw a technical from the Laker player swatting at it on instinct…….and it almost worked but he pulled back from knocking it out of Jokic’s hand at the last second. I just thought that was a phenomenal heady play.

 

[benhogan]

I know it's easy to say that everyone saw the Lakers' struggles coming, but this is still somewhat remarkable. Lebron looks a bit slower but statistically he's as strong as ever - his assists and rebounds are down, but his steals/blocks/turnovers/TS% are the best they've been since Miami, his points are the highest they've been since his first stint in Cleveland. How is he this good (still) and how does that line up with the Lakers being this bad?

1. AD not playing great and injured
2. RWB's continued decline
3. the rest of the roster is old/offensive focused

The Nets did something interesting (and smart) the other night. They started two young players (rookies) with their veteran BIG3. Kessler Edwards (2W) & DayRon Sharpe played serious minutes in the Bulls blowout. Nash has effectively used them + Cam Thomas, Nic Claxton, Bruce Brown, David Duke to provide energy/defense + sop up regular season NBA minutes.

As opposed to the Lakers which are packed with old future HOFers that probably don't care about regular-season games in January and especially don't care about doing the little things to win.

I know the playbook is to surround Bron with 3pt shooting. BUT you also need some youngsters, like Caruso, to hustle/play D/provide energy around Bron as he ages.

 

[128]

View: https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/status/1482571614902444033

 

[Sam Ray Not]

View: https://mobile.twitter.com/statmuse/status/1482527286007975936

 

[Cellar-Door]

Denver desperately needs a backup C.

Jokic is +9 in 35 minutes... the team is down 16 because in the other 8 minutes they got obliterated.

 

[Sam Ray Not]

Denver desperately needs a backup C.

Jokic is +9 in 35 minutes... the team is down 16 because in the other 8 minutes they got obliterated.

More plus-minus weirdness from the same game: Gobert and Mitchell both started, both played 35 minutes … and somehow Gobert put up a +36 where Mitchell was a -4.

 

[Cellar-Door]

More plus-minus weirdness from the same game: Gobert and Mitchell both started, both played 35 minutes … and somehow Gobert put up a +36 where Mitchell was a -4.

It's part of the same thing. Utah staggered to make sure Gobert got all the minutes Jokic was out he was +25 in those minutes, Mitchell was in for the minutes when Jokic was murdering the non-Gobert lineups.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

View: https://twitter.com/MagicJohnson/status/1482571614902444033

The Lakers are tied with the Patriots for most championships this century, won in 2020, and are the 8 seed right now. Everybody light a candle and say a prayer for the poor Lakers and their fans.

 

[Kliq]

Also Jeannie Buss stinks as an owner and the Lakers would be a massive tire fire if the allure of playing in LA wasn't too much for LeBron to resist.

 

[Euclis20]

Also Jeannie Buss stinks as an owner and the Lakers would be a massive tire fire if the allure of playing in LA wasn't too much for LeBron to resist.

Yeah, they won titles at the beginning and end of the decade, but were basically a tire fire in between. Over the last ten years they've had a championship, two first round exits and six seasons in the lottery (including four seasons under 30 wins). Even as the Lakers tied the Celtics in titles, the Celtics jumped back out in front of them for regular season wins this decade (currently the Celtics are up by 36). It's been a weird stretch for them. For 8 years with Miami and Cleveland, Lebron's mere presence was a guaranteed trip to the finals. Now he's still putting up ridiculous numbers, but for the 3rd time in 4 years the Lakers are looking like a first round exit at best. It's not quite that simple, but I understand the anger.

 

[Cellar-Door]

View: https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1483214548542754816


Tony Bradley with a not great foul on Morant (leaving the knee in is dangerous), Morant wants to get into it. Steven Adams just steps in, picks up Bradley and carries him to his coach like he's putting a toddler in timeout.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Russ just threw down the Dunk of the Year on Gobert!!!

O….M….G!!!

Edit: Ref calls Russ for a taunting T bc he deservedly lost his mind on the follow through. Not only shouldn’t taunting following a big play not be a T but it should be mandatory. What is the point of taking the fun out of the game?

 

[Just a bit outside]

Russ just threw down the Dunk of the Year on Gobert!!!

O….M….G!!!

Murdered him. Holy shit!

 

[luckiestman]

View: https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1483297803287760896?s=20

 

[slamminsammya]

View: https://twitter.com/TheHoopCentral/status/1483297803287760896?s=20

why is the announcer imploring him to throw it down when he already throwed it down? did he not see the throwdown was completed already?

 

[luckiestman]

why is the announcer imploring him to throw it down when he already throwed it down? did he not see the throwdown was completed already?

maybe the audio isnt synced properly. You can kind of tell Russ hears someone say “throw it down” and he has the realization that he should throw it down and proceeds to throw it down.

 

[slamminsammya]

maybe the audio isnt synced properly. You can kind of tell Russ hears someone say “throw it down” and he has the realization that he should throw it down and proceeds to throw it down.

great coaching

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Another angle and yeah I guess you have to reluctantly hand Russ the T here lol.

View: https://twitter.com/worldwidewob/status/1483298016811315204?s=21

 

[Cellar-Door]

You have to give the T there, partly because of the yelling in the face, partly because he drills him in the head. Ref is never taking it off the board even if by rule he should, but he's always gonna make it up a bit with a T.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

You have to give the T there, partly because of the yelling in the face, partly because he drills him in the head. Ref is never taking it off the board even if by rule he should, but he's always gonna make it up a bit with a T.

Yeah that second angle clearly shows that the official had no choice.

Meanwhile the Lakers second unit is falling flat on their face without LeBron and Russ in the game.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Lakers have gone full playoffs on the Jazz. Just getting Gobert in space then driving on the guards for easy buckets. And Jazz for like the 8th straight year not only have no answers, but refuse to go to Gobert in the paint on the other end, he's posting in good position and his guards just ignore him.

Jazz season going to end the same way this year as every year. It's amazing they just get cooked the same way every year once teams start aggressively game planning and they still can't deal with it.

 

[Just a bit outside]

Yup. Jazz getting destroyed by Stanley Johnson.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Lakers have gone full playoffs on the Jazz. Just getting Gobert in space then driving on the guards for easy buckets. And Jazz for like the 8th straight year not only have no answers, but refuse to go to Gobert in the paint on the other end, he's posting in good position and his guards just ignore him.

Jazz season going to end the same way this year as every year. It's amazing they just get cooked the same way every year once teams start aggressively game planning and they still can't deal with it.

Jazz were up against it tonight between winning in Denver last night and facing a motivated (by LeBron) Laker team tonight…..and still in the game. It doesn’t help when you run smack into The Stanley Johnson NBA Coming Out Party!!

 

[Cellar-Door]

BTW if Celtics fans were worried about the Tatum/Brown pairing not being best friends.... watch Utah, that's a team where the stars actively dislike each other. Gobert is about 3 more hero-ball possessions from wanting to fight Mitchell.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Fun (or maybe not) Fact of the Day:

LeBron is 2 years older than Roy Hibbert who was an All-Star the year before LeBron returned to Cleveland.

 

[Euclis20]

Fun (or maybe not) Fact of the Day:

LeBron is 2 years older than Roy Hibbert who was an All-Star the year before LeBron returned to Cleveland.

LeBron is also 3 years older than Andrew Bynum, who was an all-star a few months before LeBron won his first title with Miami.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

BTW if Celtics fans were worried about the Tatum/Brown pairing not being best friends.... watch Utah, that's a team where the stars actively dislike each other. Gobert is about 3 more hero-ball possessions from wanting to fight Mitchell.

Doesn't everyone in the NBA hate Gobert? Door knob licker.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Doesn't everyone in the NBA hate Gobert? Door knob licker.

Other than that one incident I think he's not particularly disliked no. His teammates seem to like him (as they should he's a generational defender who makes their jobs much easier).
I think Mitchell is the one to watch, he seems to be an immensely selfish player on offense and one who makes zero effort on D. Also he was already leaking that he would like to go to a big market not even halfway through his first year of his new max deal

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Other than that one incident I think he's not particularly disliked no. His teammates seem to like him (as they should he's a generational defender who makes their jobs much easier).
I think Mitchell is the one to watch, he seems to be an immensely selfish player on offense and one who makes zero effort on D. Also he was already leaking that he would like to go to a big market not even halfway through his first year of his new max deal

I disagree a ton on the Mitchell lack of effort or bad teammate claim. I don’t know where this came from. All guards take plays off (read:Scroder is worst defender evah) and many times their “effort” is part of the overall defensive scheme which is much different in Utah with Gobert than most places. I’ve also heard nothing but how great of a teammate Mitchell is (especially from Royce who often a goes on about it).

The Jazz scheme is designed to close out on 3-pt shots and force dribble drive into Gobert without fouling. This bold part is crucial to understand as it can be misconstrued to a perimeter player getting beat. The Jazz defend 3’s as well as anyone in the league (due in large part to Gobert allowing them to play this scheme) and send opponents to the line less than anyone (or close, I haven’t checked recently) year after year. So when you combine not fouling with allowing defenders into the paint with the dribble it is easy to see where the confusion lies but it has resulted in Utah having one of the leagues best regular season defenses each year.

 

[Cellar-Door]

I disagree a ton on the Mitchell lack of effort or bad teammate claim. I don’t know where this came from. All guards take plays off (read:Scroder is worst defender evah) and many times their “effort” is part of the overall defensive scheme which is much different in Utah with Gobert than most places. I’ve also heard nothing but how great of a teammate Mitchell is (especially from Royce who often a goes on about it).

The Jazz scheme is designed to close out on 3-pt shots and force dribble drive into Gobert without fouling. This bold part is crucial to understand as it can be misconstrued to a perimeter player getting beat. The Jazz defend 3’s as well as anyone in the league (due in large part to Gobert allowing them to play this scheme) and send opponents to the line less than anyone (or close, I haven’t checked recently) year after year. So when you combine not fouling with allowing defenders into the paint with the dribble it is easy to see where the confusion lies but it has resulted in Utah having one of the leagues best regular season defenses each year.

Mitchell grades out as a very bad individual defender, and in almost every Jazz game I see he takes a LOT of plays off, and I don't see him doing what the scheme needs him to do, because his closeouts are lazy, and he doesn't really direct guys on drives. We'll see on teammate thing, I didn't say teammates think he is a bad one, I said his offensive game is selfish, but every star has guys hyping them up in the press. I watch him jack deep 3s against coverage when his co-star has a 6'2" guy under the basket possession after possession as a game slips away and his teammates and coach look exasperated far too often to buy that he's not a selfish offensive player. That's not a "bad teammate", it's a guy with a selfish offensive game.

On defense, he routinely grades out as probably the worst defender on the Jazz roster, and hasn't improved even a little his entire career, if anything he's regressed. He appears to be a guy who has decided that his job is to get buckets, and Gobert's job is to play defense and anything on that end isn't his problem.

He's still a really good player, and likely the Jazz will choose to trade Gobert to appease him and hope he stays, but I for one am glad we have Tatum instead of him.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Random notes around the league:

Pascal Siakam has had a bit of a resurgence lately: Last 10 games: 38.8 minutes, .481/.452/.662, 23.5 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 2.0 steals,

Cade's last 18: 32.9 minutes, .444/.396/.821, 17.9 points, 5.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks, 3.8 TO, 3.2 PF. Up to .397/.321/.841 shooting for the year. His first 15 he was shooting .335/.245/.867.
Bey's last 16: 36.9 minutes, .429/.372/.896, 20.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists. Not a bad duo to build around.

Anfernee Simons last 7: 37.3 minutes, .500/.427/.926, 26.1 points, 8.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds, At 26.6 minutes, .445/.390/.934, 14.6 points, 3.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds for the year. I knew about the scoring, the playmaking surprises me.

I saw the name Şengün mentioned in the Tatum thread. He's having a very interesting year for a 19 year old. 6'9 or 6'10 with a 7'0 wingspan, can't find his standing reach. Over 37 games, he's averaging 18.2 minutes, .504/.286/.699, 8.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.9 blocks. His scouting report says he can pretty much get to the rim at will and that's what has been happening this year. Supposed to have good playmaking skills and decent vision, but doesn't create off the dribble. Give him a 3 point shot and Houston has something.

Haliburton is currently out on protocols and has been scoring less with Fox back, but over his last 16: 35.6 minutes, .502/.477/.860, 17.4 points, 9.4 assists, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals, 2.6 TO. They really need to trade Fox and let Haliburton do his thing.

Anthony Edwards last 10 games: 33.4 minutes, .492/.468/.857, 24.2 points, 3.8 assist, 3.7 rebounds, 1.4 steals. He's now at .442/.376/.803 shooting for the year. In his first 27 games, he was shooting .338 from 3. In other words, Tatum has time to turn his season around. Edwards is going to be a monster, he's one of the players that could leap over Tatum.

Thomas Bryant and Rai are back in Washington, which should give them a boost. Both are building up their minutes atm but did help contribute to a win vs Philly.

NO has been relying on Ingram more lately to create offense. Over his last 18: 34.9 minutes, .445/.307/.805, 23.4 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 2.0 TO. They are 9-9 in those games. In general, they are 1-7 w/o Ingram, 15-21 with. Another game, he only played 8 minutes and NO lost that one too. I still think he's the most likely 3rd star to end up on Boston, especially if Zion is damaged good. Personally, I think he's a better than average playmaker while someone on here compared him to Tatum. He has insane length, so maybe his problems on D are more effort and teammate related. He can shoot the 3, and he can pass the ball. He's buddy buddy with Tatum.

RJ Barrett is having a good January: 8 games, 37.2 minutes, .460/.467/.689, 23.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists. Interesting player and still really young, but he hasn't shown much in the way of improvement. I was really looking forward to seeing how he'd play this year after last year's promising campaign but up until the last month, it's been pretty meh. Someone said they didn't know who the 3rd best player was (only because they missed Garland) but who is the 4th? Barrett? Herro?

 

[Cesar Crespo]

It's part of the same thing. Utah staggered to make sure Gobert got all the minutes Jokic was out he was +25 in those minutes, Mitchell was in for the minutes when Jokic was murdering the non-Gobert lineups.

Does Jokic demand a trade if Porter is done and Murray doesn't fully recover?

 

[Cellar-Door]

Does Jokic demand a trade if Porter is done and Murray doesn't fully recover?

He doesn't seem the type. Also too much needs to go wrong.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Random notes around the league:

Cade's last 18: 32.9 minutes, .444/.396/.821, 17.9 points, 5.7 assists, 4.9 rebounds, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks, 3.8 TO, 3.2 PF. Up to .397/.321/.841 shooting for the year. His first 15 he was shooting .335/.245/.867.
Bey's last 16: 36.9 minutes, .429/.372/.896, 20.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists. Not a bad duo to build around.

Anfernee Simons last 7: 37.3 minutes, .500/.427/.926, 26.1 points, 8.0 assists, 2.6 rebounds, At 26.6 minutes, .445/.390/.934, 14.6 points, 3.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds for the year. I knew about the scoring, the playmaking surprises me.

Random responses while sitting in the worst poker game Florida has ever had.

* I posted several games into Cade’s career that there was nearly zero chance that he wasn’t at worst a plus shooter in this league on top of all else he brings to the table. He was behind everyone else to start the year having been out with an injury and he’s already slowed the game down for himself. I’d guess he elevates to All-Star level by next season or the following.

* Simons can score but not really within an structured offense. I think his recent numbers are a little misleading as a couple of his big games have come against zero resistance in Atlanta and Sacramento. I also don’t think he’s a good playmaker at all and still a terrible decision maker. Assist number inflation coming from having the ball in his hands as the only ball handler much of the time so is often making a standard pass to the shooter.

He reminds me of Lou Williams/Clarkson when they entered the league as PG’s without yet finding their identity. He’s a 2 plain and simple imo and is going to be a great second unit scorer probably near those levels of offense if/when he accepts his role.

 

[terrynever]

Embiid is just torching Orlando tonight. 20 points in first quarter. 47 so far in 26 minutes on the floor. He is just driving to the hoop and dunking.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Embiid is just torching Orlando tonight. 20 points in first quarter. 47 so far in 26 minutes on the floor. He is just driving to the hoop and dunking.

This was his chance to get to 100 if there was a commitment to do so after the 1Q.

 

[terrynever]

This was his chance to get to 100 if there was a commitment to do so after the 1Q.

Doc would never risk it. He kept Embiid to 27 minutes tonight. Like a night off.

 

[Auger34]

Other than that one incident I think he's not particularly disliked no. His teammates seem to like him (as they should he's a generational defender who makes their jobs much easier).
I think Mitchell is the one to watch, he seems to be an immensely selfish player on offense and one who makes zero effort on D. Also he was already leaking that he would like to go to a big market not even halfway through his first year of his new max deal

A few things here….

-Mitchell and Gobert definitely do not like each other. I remember there was an article (I believe on ESPN.com) with quotes from teammates where they basically said that Gobert and Mitchell needed to quit bitching at each other and just play….and that was before Rudy gave Mitchell COVID.

-I do think Jazz players like Gobert but for whatever reason Gobert gets completely disrespected by players around the game. Zach Lowe on a recent Lowe Post episode actually asked his guest why Gobert got shit on so much but other players.

Maybe Danny can do his old franchise a favor just like Kevin McHale if Spider ever asks out….we already know that Mitchell is close with the Jays

 

[chilidawg]

A few things here….

-Mitchell and Gobert definitely do not like each other. I remember there was an article (I believe on ESPN.com) with quotes from teammates where they basically said that Gobert and Mitchell needed to quit bitching at each other and just play….and that was before Rudy gave Mitchell COVID.

-I do think Jazz players like Gobert but for whatever reason Gobert gets completely disrespected by players around the game. Zach Lowe on a recent Lowe Post episode actually asked his guest why Gobert got shit on so much but other players.

Maybe Danny can do his old franchise a favor just like Kevin McHale if Spider ever asks out….we already know that Mitchell is close with the Jays

I'd rather have Gobert

 

[Kliq]

Embiid is just torching Orlando tonight. 20 points in first quarter. 47 so far in 26 minutes on the floor. He is just driving to the hoop and dunking.

Not stated here is Mo Bamba had 28 points in the first half, and finished with 32 points in 29 minutes after fouling out because he was hacking Embiid so much. What a strange game.

 

[Kliq]

Crazy moment: A Brooklyn assistant coach reaches on to the court, breaks up a pass and forces a turnover on the Wizards; refs totally miss it. Brooklyn won by one, btw.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poElSpe93TY

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

Jokic cooks like no other scorer in the NBA including Embiid. They are both playing brilliantly right now.

As a side note, the Nuggets with Murray and Porter Jr. back in the next few months are kind of interesting.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I'd rather have Gobert

No doubt. Mitchell is an explosive scorer but Gobert completely changes the way you can play the game.

 

[radsoxfan]

Jokic cooks like no other scorer in the NBA including Embiid. They are both playing brilliantly right now.

As a side note, the Nuggets with Murray and Porter Jr. back in the next few months are kind of interesting.

The Nuggets with anyone half decent would be interesting.

Jokic +/- this year is insane. That team without Jokic is Piston/Magic territory or worse.

 

[DeJesus Built My Hotrod]

The Nuggets with anyone half decent would be interesting.

Jokic +/- this year is insane. That team without Jokic is Piston/Magic territory or worse.

He just threw a dime to Gordon for a game winner out of a double+the rest of the Clippers blitzing him. He is the master of all that he surveys.

 

[ElUno20]

Jokic is the king.

Meanwhile....if the lakers had vogel on a game by game basis, losing to this shitty pacers team might get him fired tomorrow

 

[Sam Ray Not]

Embiid + Jokic: 99 points on 48 fga.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

Meanwhile, Ice Trae had 23 points in the 3rd quarter last night and is now in the top 10 all time in games with 30+ points and 10+ assists. (He's still 23 years old.) It's been a depressing season for the Hawks, but they've now defeated the Bucks and Timberwolves back-to-back this week, Okongwu had five blocks (and only one foul!) last night and is really stepping up defensively, and maybe Reddish's departure might just be unlocking the minutes logjam somewhat.

 

[Eagle3]

Crazy moment: A Brooklyn assistant coach reaches on to the court, breaks up a pass and forces a turnover on the Wizards; refs totally miss it. Brooklyn won by one, btw.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poElSpe93TY

I've never seen a coach touch the ball intentionally before. Mind boggling that the refs didnt see it. What should have happened if the refs did see it? I would assume technical foul and then maybe the coach ejected?