2022-23 NBA Game Thread

HomeRunBaker

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On playgrounds has nothing to do with the NBA. And yes, it has been going on for decades but not to the extent that Draymond does
The 2008 Celtics may have been the worst of all time. I was up front for road games in half empty arenas in Charlotte and Atlanta that year. I can assure you what Draymond did yesterday was no worse than KG and Big Baby throughout the entire games. The game I was at when Pierce and Stephen Jackson were defending each other would have made Draymond blush.

Those convos were pure street dirt. The best non-dirt talk I ever saw was in Charlotte when Keith Bogans sole job one game was to be a magnet to Pierce. Every time Pierce went to the line that night (a lot), Gary Payton was chase down Bogans who literally tried walking away to every corner of the backcourt during the FT’s but Glove kept cutting him off and yapping at him. Funniest thing I’ve ever seen at an NBA game.
 

Auger34

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You’re missing context.
Those were all during the play and I assume there was never a scuffle where the players had to be separated in any of the times you described. When you’re calling someone a bitch because you don’t think they will fight you and you are questioning their manhood….that’s the definition of escalation (the very thing all of the major sports are trying their hardest to eliminate).
 

JCizzle

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Steve Kerr would cry about the code for a week if Dillon Brooks shoulder checked Steph like that.
 

HomeRunBaker

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You’re missing context.
Those were all during the play and I assume there was never a scuffle where the players had to be separated in any of the times you described. When you’re calling someone a bitch because you don’t think they will fight you and you are questioning their manhood….that’s the definition of escalation (the very thing all of the major sports are trying their hardest to eliminate).
N-words were most definitely used on the block during the action. I won’t recall specifics it was 15-years ago but yeah KG was involved in plenty of these things over the years. Rocco used to call him “fake tough” for this reason since forever.
 

128

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There's no middle ground with Nesmith, it seems. He's either 0-fer or he plays well, as he's doing tonite against the Bucks. Midway through the third quarter, he's 4 for 4 from 3-point range and 5 for 7 overall.

For Milwaukee, Holiday has 34 points and counting. He's an absolute beast.
 

benhogan

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If the Mavs miss the play-in game & Luka asks out,

would you try to move him for the #1 pick and rebuild around Wemby?

Kyrie is a terrible fit with LD & Dallas is so bad 3-15, it really needs to be torn down to the studs
 

Smokey Joe

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If the Mavs miss the play-in game & Luka asks out,

would you try to move him for the #1 pick and rebuild around Wemby?

Kyrie is a terrible fit with LD & Dallas is so bad 3-15, it really needs to be torn down to the studs
If Luka was asking out your choices are to wait him out and see if he can become mollified over time as things (hopefully) get better, or acquiesce to his wishes. I would trade him for the #1 in a heartbeat, but the owner of the pick might feel differently.
 

benhogan

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If Luka was asking out your choices are to wait him out and see if he can become mollified over time as things (hopefully) get better, or acquiesce to his wishes. I would trade him for the #1 in a heartbeat, but the owner of the pick might feel differently.
If Orlando got #1: Luka, Franz, Banchero, WCJ & a 3pt sniper would be beastly
 

Kliq

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It's an intriguing question but chances are the team with the #1 pick would probably be in a similar position to Dallas where they have Luka and a shit roster. Better to rebuild on Wemby's timeline.
 

Kliq

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Holliday with 51 points on 20/30 shooting. Giannis with 38/17/12 on 14/18 shooting. Good lord.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Holliday with 51 points on 20/30 shooting. Giannis with 38/17/12 on 14/18 shooting. Good lord.
I watched part of that 2Q and scoring was easier than it was in the ASG. Good god, it’s games like this that gives casual fans the impression that nobody defends in this league.
 

Kliq

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Westbrook with 36 points and 10 assists as the Clippers beat the Grizzlies despite no PG or Kawhi. Westbrook was 13/18 from the floor and 5/5 on threes!
 

DeadlySplitter

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I know Portland has packed it in, but only 80 points in this era, against a bottom 5 D in SAC, that's horrific.
 

jon abbey

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Knicks were tied through 3 in a big swing game for the 5-7 seeds with Miami, Randle left hurt and Brunson was back but not himself, so they went with Hartenstein, Hart, Barrett, Grimes and Quickley for all 12 minutes of the 4th and won it 25-16. Hartenstein has been great lately, rebounding and intimidating and playmaking, even a nice offensive move once in a while.

Now NY is 4 games up on MIA with 5 left plus the tiebreaker (3-1 season series), so magic number of 1 for a top 6 seed.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Westbrook with 36 points and 10 assists as the Clippers beat the Grizzlies despite no PG or Kawhi. Westbrook was 13/18 from the floor and 5/5 on threes!
Westbrook, Covington and Hyland combined for 16-18 on threes……and the game was still tied midway through the 4Q.
 

djbayko

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Apparently getting heckling fans thrown out of games is the new thing. Kyrie also tried to have someone else thrown out tonight View: https://mobile.twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1641245737613754368
So Kyrie and Westbrook, huh?

I don't know what happened in this case, but a few weeks ago, Westbrook tried to have another fan removed. Security allowed the fan to return to their seat after footage was reviewed and it was determined that all the fan did was hurt Russ' feelings. And, apparently, even that wasn't the first time it had happened. Seems to be a thing with Westbrook.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/11lexrs/video_shows_that_courtside_fan_did_rock_the_baby/
 

benhogan

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Knicks were tied through 3 in a big swing game for the 5-7 seeds with Miami, Randle left hurt and Brunson was back but not himself, so they went with Hartenstein, Hart, Barrett, Grimes and Quickley for all 12 minutes of the 4th and won it 25-16. Hartenstein has been great lately, rebounding and intimidating and playmaking, even a nice offensive move once in a while.

Now NY is 4 games up on MIA with 5 left plus the tiebreaker (3-1 season series), so magic number of 1 for a top 6 seed.
Obviously, the Brunson move gets the majority of kudos but the Knicks mgmt has really course-corrected over the last year.
1. Hartenstein was a nice under-the-radar value signing.
2. Hart/Reddick was an excellent trade at the deadline.
3. Committing to Quickley/Grimes (solid draft picks) instead of Fournier/Rose set up their high-effort/defensive identity

Knicks/Cavs will be a battle
 

Strike4

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Amazing how bad Luka looks like right now. Not bad as in he's playing badly, but he's really disengaged and not really playing any defense and the ball isn't going through him and he looks sad. You could see him chatting with players on the Sixers a few times, just trying to find a little cheer outside of the Mavs hole he's in.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Lots of permutations in the West still in play with five games left, but if we froze the standings right now (with the play-ins going according to form) we’d get:

#1 DEN v #8 LAL
#2 MEM v #7 MIN
#3 SAC v #6 GS
#4 PHO v #5 LAC

I’d be all over those matchups, both for Warrior favorability (with all due respect for the resurgent Kings, who could easily advance, especially if Wiggs never returns) and for all-around entertainment value.
 

Kliq

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Amazing how bad Luka looks like right now. Not bad as in he's playing badly, but he's really disengaged and not really playing any defense and the ball isn't going through him and he looks sad. You could see him chatting with players on the Sixers a few times, just trying to find a little cheer outside of the Mavs hole he's in.

Kyrie made quick work of him.

I thought the trade was a bad idea by Dallas and it somehow has been significantly worse than I predicted. I think even the biggest of Kyrie cynics figured that he would be on his best behavior for the first 25 games or so and play really well, but quickly the team has fallen completely apart. Trading for Kyrie was just a bad move; losing DFS exacerbated a huge existing problem on the defensive end, and playing with a backcourt indifferent to defense wasn't going to help.
 

Smokey Joe

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Kyrie made quick work of him.

I thought the trade was a bad idea by Dallas and it somehow has been significantly worse than I predicted. I think even the biggest of Kyrie cynics figured that he would be on his best behavior for the first 25 games or so and play really well, but quickly the team has fallen completely apart. Trading for Kyrie was just a bad move; losing DFS exacerbated a huge existing problem on the defensive end, and playing with a backcourt indifferent to defense wasn't going to help.
Sadly, he has been on his best behavior. Just his presence causes teams to fall apart. ( or the absence of their 2nd, 3rd and 4th best players from last year.)
 

HomeRunBaker

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Amazing how bad Luka looks like right now. Not bad as in he's playing badly, but he's really disengaged and not really playing any defense and the ball isn't going through him and he looks sad. You could see him chatting with players on the Sixers a few times, just trying to find a little cheer outside of the Mavs hole he's in.
The most underrated criticism of Doncic’s game these past couple years has been his unadulterated disinterest in defense. I’d imagine part of the Kyrie deal was to allow him to take plays off offensively on occasion to become a somewhat passable defender but he simply refuses to give effort on that end of the floor. It’s almost inconceivable that a team who plays at such a slow pace is this bad defensively, even when DFS was here, and Doncic doesn’t appear to give two shits.

Sadly, he has been on his best behavior. Just his presence causes teams to fall apart. ( or the absence of their 2nd, 3rd and 4th best players from last year.)
The Mavs aren’t really falling apart though. They are however struggling in end of game sequences in a massive way. Neither Kyrie or Doncic are getting into “close out mode” offensively as they don’t have a clear pecking order so the defenses are ahead of their offense in these sets. The other reason as you say is that they aren’t getting anything from anyone else while their defense struggles especially with Doncic on the floor.

Over the first 40 minutes they create a ton of problems when they are on the floor together with matchups but one go-to guy needs to be established and that isn’t something that is going to be easy for Kidd or for either of them to figure out. Kidd is going to have trouble keeping them from imploding but this team is competing hard despite having one of the leagues worst 3-15.
 
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ManicCompression

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The most underrated criticism of Doncic’s game these past couple years has been his unadulterated disinterest in defense. I’d imagine part of the Kyrie deal was to allow him to take plays off offensively on occasion to become a somewhat passable defender but he simply refuses to give effort.
Doncic looks super puffy, too, like he's drinking too much. I can't think of another reason that he wouldn't be in better shape at this point in the season. He's got late career Shawn Kemp body.

For all his talent, he seems like a pain in the ass to deal with. If he doesn't turn his attitude around, he's going to have James Harden's career - all statistical accomplishments from being an offensive hinge and no titles to show for it.
 

JCizzle

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Am I crazy or did the NBA recently run games throughout the day on ABC/ESPN on Sundays? They sometimes have the Saturday night game, but it seems weird they basically gave up on the weekends?
 

HomeRunBaker

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Am I crazy or did the NBA recently run games throughout the day on ABC/ESPN on Sundays? They sometimes have the Saturday night game, but it seems weird they basically gave up on the weekends?
ABC has the Sunday games. They had a couple doubleheaders recently but these are all scheduled prior to the season and I’m guessing these games were to fill the gap between NFL and March Madness. The only all-day scheduling that I recall is Christmas Day and MLK Day.
 

jmcc5400

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So many pathetic garbage teams. In a just world the Fakers would be done. But no of course not.
And do you trust Denver, Memphis or Sacramento to do them in? I don’t. I’m at a DEFCON 3 with the Lakers right now.
 

bigq

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I am looking forward to the Bucks-76ers game tonight. Both teams are healthy for the most part. The Embiid-Giannis matchup is always fun. I am a 76ers fan tonight.
 

HomeRunBaker

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So many pathetic garbage teams. In a just world the Fakers would be done. But no of course not.
Lakers are winning at around a 65% clip over the last 6-7 weeks. They were garbage prior to the deadline but this team is not that one. Complete and total transformation since then.
 

Euclis20

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And do you trust Denver, Memphis or Sacramento to do them in? I don’t. I’m at a DEFCON 3 with the Lakers right now.
I'd be surprised if anyone other than GS (if Wiggins is healthy) or Phoenix (if Durant is healthy) were able to send them home in the West. A truly sorry state of affairs.
 

128

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Lakers are winning at around a 65% clip over the last 6-7 weeks. They were garbage prior to the deadline but this team is not that one. Complete and total transformation since then.
True, and it pisses me off how easily Pelinka was able to remake the roster.
 

Kliq

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The Lakers stink and their best two players are always hurt. Not worried about them at all
 

HomeRunBaker

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Kyrie with the most hysterical defensive play, linebacker hit on Trae with clock running down and complained as if he wanted a review. Wtf did I just watch?