2022-23 NBA Game Thread
- Thread starter Deathofthebambino
- Start date
Nobody should be surprised if Philly pulls off the round robin trifecta tomorrow night in Boston if they get blown out in the 3Q tonight either. NBA regular season in a nutshell.
WTF were he and Luka even doing in the game? It was tied with 7 seconds left after a timeout, and Atlanta was clearly going to hold for the final shot. I freely admit to not knowing their full rotation, but there's no way that those were the two best defensive options for their backcourt in a major, major moment for their season.
They had Josh Green in there too and those are the only 3 who have any concept of NBA defensive scheme. I’m not of the opinion that Kyrie is that bad of a defender either and he got caught not expecting Young to be in that spot (I don’t think the play was designed for Young to be their either)…..but the reaction was surely a classic.
I searched for it so you don't have to...
View: https://twitter.com/HawksOnBally/status/1642690827913666560
Whats amazing is that he just comes from way off frame to completely miss anything resembling a clean play.
Brook Lopez was just in the paint for like 10 seconds waiting for Giannis to pass to him lol. The Sixers just don't have the personnel to force him out of the paint on either side.
That said, the bucks are up 21 in the 4th, so it's looking like we're in the 2 seed and rest should be prioritized in these last games.
That said, the bucks are up 21 in the 4th, so it's looking like we're in the 2 seed and rest should be prioritized in these last games.
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If you listen to Horford’s interview with JJ Redick (link in the Horford thread) he discusses how Mazzulla didn’t feel like the team coasted last last year and wasn’t physically conditioned to play heavy minutes once the playoffs began. Ime suggested same but didn’t really push them down the stretch in this manner.
View: https://twitter.com/johnhollinger/status/1642691722156310528
Hawks truly the most mediocre team ever.
Hawks truly the most mediocre team ever.
Spurs also won as 16 point underdogs. From this article: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36047896/blazers-beat-timberwolves-largest-nba-upset-30-years
Sunday was the 91st time since 1990-91 that there had been multiple 15-point underdogs in a day. Sunday was the first time two of the underdogs won outright, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
Sacramento has a real chance to lose their final 5 games of the season. They began the year 0-4 which would make for an interesting 0-9 bookend to an otherwise 47-26 season. This is type the shit that I root for in these “regular” season games.
Spurs - L
@Pelicans
@Mavericks
Warriors
@Nuggets
Spurs - L
@Pelicans
@Mavericks
Warriors
@Nuggets
Yeah. The Blazers are locked in a life-or-death Wemby tank battle with the Magic, Pacers, and Wizards (all one game apart) where one win could decrease your chances at plucking #1 from 11% to 6%. The guys on the floor are never *actually* gonna throw games, but you can find phantom injuries and stuff in the event any of the "tank commanders" is starting to play too well. IIRC, the Warriors did that with rookie Klay a few times in 2012 when he was starting to hit too many threes and they were openly tanking for AD / MKG / Harry Barnes.Fair point, but for context this was the opposing lineup.
Plus: the Wolves (whose #1 pick belongs to Utah) were smack in the middle of the #5-11 morass in the West, where two losses could be the difference between a first round date with Sacramento and missing the play-ins altogether. The Wolves also had KAT back, had been playing well (consecutive wins over the Knicks, Hawks, Warriors, and Kings, before falling to the Lakers and Suns), and were at home.
I would not have taken the Blazers and the points. Though the one factor I think Vega$ might have missed was that some kind of nasty flu/cold bug had apparently just run through the Wolves' locker room.
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Who owns the tiebreaker for Suns-Kings? The best the Suns can do is tie for the #3 seed, so I'm curious.
In related news: brutal loss for GS last night to the Jokic-less Nuggets in Denver, with Klay rimming out a wide open game-winning three at the buzzer after a frantic GS comeback attempt in the last two minutes. Warriors could have salted away #5-6, and are now in a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam for the #5-8 slots with LAL, LAC, and NOP.
BUT amid all the frustrating losses and the Wiggins weirdness, a sneaky-cool fact is that the current NBA leader in threes made by a pretty comfortable margin is ... Klay Alexander Thompson with 290 (Hield #2 at 275, Curry #3 at 259).
Which may not seem that weird at first glance — it's Klay Thompson! — but is really pretty cool, even for non Warriors fans, when you think of where he was two years ago.
BUT amid all the frustrating losses and the Wiggins weirdness, a sneaky-cool fact is that the current NBA leader in threes made by a pretty comfortable margin is ... Klay Alexander Thompson with 290 (Hield #2 at 275, Curry #3 at 259).
Which may not seem that weird at first glance — it's Klay Thompson! — but is really pretty cool, even for non Warriors fans, when you think of where he was two years ago.
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If both teams won out/lost out in these final 4 games, Phoenix would win the Pacific due to better division record, 11-5 to 9-7, since they split their H2H 2-2.
Phoenix also stands a decent chance of holding up their end….
Spurs
Nuggets
@Lakers
Clippers
View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1642680864445435904?s=20
It would be pretty incredible if Fultz grows into a real player in Orlando. He still can't shoot 3s but is averaging a very respectable 14/4/6 and shooting 54% from 2.
It would be pretty incredible if Fultz grows into a real player in Orlando. He still can't shoot 3s but is averaging a very respectable 14/4/6 and shooting 54% from 2.
BREAKING NEWS:
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he already has.
After you get past the top 16-17 PG’s there is the next group of starters which is where Fultz currently resides in my rankings. Fwiw, I have him closer to that Top-17 than to 25-30. He was an integral part of why Orlando has played .500 since the injury-riddled 5-20 start by the Magic.
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This is a sim without NBA likeness rights, right? Those aren’t real NBA players are they?Fair point, but for context this was the opposing lineup.
There are a lot of really good guards in the league (hence the Jaylen Brown for Forward campaign)
Here is a rough PG list. Where do you slot him?
1. Luka
2. Curry
3. SGA
4. Lilliard
5. Morant
6. Fox
7. Holiday
8. Haliburton
9. Ky-ZuZu
10. Brunson
11. Harden
12. Ball
13. Trae Young
14. Garland
15. Murray
16. White
17. Smart
18. Brogdon
19. VanVleet
20. Maxey
21. Quickly
22. Poole
23. Chris Paul
24. D'Lo Russell
25. Kevin Porter Jr
26. Dinwiddie
27. Conley
28. Caruso
29. Westbrook
30. Tyus Jones
Damn. The NBA is really deep. I'd love to see two more teams. Seattle and Kansas City? Return to Vancouver?
Dallas is in a very difficult spot. If they are forced or decide to move him, a player like Luka doesn't come along often enough to realistically dream on finding his replacement via draft capital. There is likely no realistic trade that recoups his value either so any deal is essentially a bad one. On the other hand, what can they possibly do to convince him they can fix this? There really aren't any obvious answers.
Las Vegas and Seattle are probably going to go in together if I had to guess. The LeBron steam in Vegas is very real.
There are a couple guys toward the bottom of your list that I wouldn’t characterize as PG’s. Caruso and Maxey for sure and Poole is like Clarkson in that their job is to score by shooting with volume.
In your list I’d slot him below that tier which ends with VanVleet so right around 20-21.
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We've been discussing around here how poorly the Mavs have been run for a few years now. They continue to paint themselves into a corner. Maybe lottery luck solves all, it's a great draft, so they have that going for them.
Right, right. Vegas gets a team the next go-round for sure. Wonder if they'll get a baseball team, too.
Pelicans to the east to balance things out? That would be kind of fun.
Have to imagine that the A’s end up in Vegas just as the Raiders did. That’s a no-brainer imo and not just a rumor as their owner has said that he’s looking at moving them to Vegas once they didn’t get a new stadium.
In that grouping but probably at the top end of it. Definitely not below them.
PG is so stacked in the NBA. Fultz & Orlando deserve credit for rebuilding (building?) his career. I do like bigger PGs that can switch 1-5, that's a huge asset. Markelle is pretty stout on D.
Cole Anthony lost his starting spot this year and if he's anything like the old man he'll come back ferocious next season.
Noticeably absent from that list: Ben Simmons
What the heck are the Nets going to do with him?
Cole Anthony lost his starting spot this year and if he's anything like the old man he'll come back ferocious next season.
Noticeably absent from that list: Ben Simmons
What the heck are the Nets going to do with him?It's not really different from what Kemba had left on his contract. They can probably pay a 1st to get rid of him and add a rotation player, if they want to go that route. Or just wait it out and deal him as an expiring.PG is so stacked in the NBA. Fultz & Orlando deserve credit for rebuilding (building?) his career. I do like bigger PGs that can switch 1-5, that's a huge asset. Markelle is pretty stout on D.
Cole Anthony lost his starting spot this year and if he's anything like the old man he'll come back ferocious next season.
Noticeably absent from that list: Ben Simmons
Still blows my mind that he passed up that dunk and then completely forgot how to play basketball. Never seen anything like it; even Rick Ankiel was still good at other baseball skills after his meltdown.
That sounds about right. The Nets have the 1sts to unload just one of them.
Ben has become the ultimate Triple-Single, but after glancing at his stats was mildly surprised he played half the season/1100 minutes this season. He was somewhat effective. Teams like SAS, HOU could look to do a re-hab (the upside is much more than Kemba, right?). Having your 5th offensive option be a +++ defender that can guard 1-5/ball handler/passer has to be worth a gamble to teams torn down to the studs. Wherever IME lands would be a good place for Simmons to rebuild his career.
Guess we shouldn't count Danny out on getting paid a 1st to take on 2yrs of Simmons. They'll have CAP room and it's not a FA destination. Plus he can prune some of that roster (THT, Fontecchio, Gay)
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/simmobe01.html
This is actually a huge concern for me. Lopez spent games 2 and 3 of the playoffs last season stapled in the lane. Like, for 7-10 seconds without budging. The refs didn't call a single 3 second violation on him (for reference, the refs had called two in the first half against Phoenix the night before the Celtics/Bucks game 3). I'm not sure what happened, but Lopez cut the shit after game 3 and floated around the perimeter a lot more.
Him being allowed to do that is a huge problem with his size/length, and it can really affect a game.
His size can certainly be an issue, but Lopez was -75 in 188 minutes in last year's playoffs against Boston. Even when he has his moments, Lopez is just not a major concern for Boston when almost everyone (including his primary cover) is a good to great 3 point shooter.
Yeah, the Celtics have felt good about attacking Lopez for awhile now. The Grant Game last year was the Bucks being completely out of ideas.
The Celtics have put up points on the Bucks in every game this year. They're a nightmare matchup for Milwaukee, "we would have won with Kris" notwithstanding.
Anyone see the Trailblazers injury report for tonight's game?
M. Thybulle SG Ques Tues - Knee ( Mon, Apr 3)
K. Knox II SF Ques Tues - Knee ( Mon, Apr 3)
T. Watford SF Ques Tues - Ankle ( Mon, Apr 3)
N. Little SF Out Tues - Ankle ( Mon, Apr 3)
J. Butler Jr. PF Ques Tues - Ankle ( Sun, Apr 2)
K. Johnson SG Ques Tues - Finger ( Sun, Apr 2)
C. Reddish SF Ques Tues - Back ( Sun, Apr 2)
J. Nurkic C Out indefinitely - Knee ( Sun, Apr 2)
A. Simons SG Out indefinitely - Foot ( Thu, Mar 30)
J. Winslow SF out for season - Ankle ( Wed, Mar 29)
D. Lillard PG out for season - Calf ( Tue, Mar 28)
J. Grant SF Out indefinitely - Quadricep ( Sun, Mar 26)
I. Badji C out for season - Knee ( Tue, Mar 7)
That win in Minnesota has 'em shook.
M. Thybulle SG Ques Tues - Knee ( Mon, Apr 3)
K. Knox II SF Ques Tues - Knee ( Mon, Apr 3)
T. Watford SF Ques Tues - Ankle ( Mon, Apr 3)
N. Little SF Out Tues - Ankle ( Mon, Apr 3)
J. Butler Jr. PF Ques Tues - Ankle ( Sun, Apr 2)
K. Johnson SG Ques Tues - Finger ( Sun, Apr 2)
C. Reddish SF Ques Tues - Back ( Sun, Apr 2)
J. Nurkic C Out indefinitely - Knee ( Sun, Apr 2)
A. Simons SG Out indefinitely - Foot ( Thu, Mar 30)
J. Winslow SF out for season - Ankle ( Wed, Mar 29)
D. Lillard PG out for season - Calf ( Tue, Mar 28)
J. Grant SF Out indefinitely - Quadricep ( Sun, Mar 26)
I. Badji C out for season - Knee ( Tue, Mar 7)
That win in Minnesota has 'em shook.
