2017-18 NBA Regular Season Game/Observation Thread

chilidawg

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If Celtics play well, TOR/CLE games give us the opportunity to sneak past TOR if Cleveland wins or have Cavs slide down to 4th. Basically Celtics gotta take care of business and things could work out well.
The way Toronto is playing I think we'd have to do something like 14-2, beating Toronto both times, to overtake them. That'd get us to 60 wins. Toronto just needs 13-5 to get to 60.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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So for those of us who thought this season's tanking is historic, we were correct. Currently, only 4 games separates the worst team from the 7th worst team. In no other season has that gap been closer than 9 games.

An interesting update to the tanking, including some lineups that these teams are using to "win," is here: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-tanking-wars-eight-teams-in-tight-race-for-last-place-in-standings-draft-lottery-balls/.

Of note, Cristiano Felicio is the MVP for tanking, having a net -24.8 rating On Court and -38.7 net rating On Court as a starter.

Emmanuel Mudiay, who is averaging 9.1 points on 10.1 shots per game as a Knick while shooting 33% / 12.5% . 63.3% (his shot is uglier than Josh Jackson's), is "contributing" to NYK being outscored by 21.8 points per 100 possessions.

BRK with a big win last night. Go Nets!
 

DJnVa

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The way Toronto is playing I think we'd have to do something like 14-2, beating Toronto both times, to overtake them. That'd get us to 60 wins. Toronto just needs 13-5 to get to 60.
Absolutely---my point was more that since they play Cleveland twice, if they sweep Cleveland that hopefully helps push Cavs to 4th, but if Cleveland wins both, then we get a shot at maybe catching them. If Celtics play well themselves, it's win-win.
 

JakeRae

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So for those of us who thought this season's tanking is historic, we were correct. Currently, only 4 games separates the worst team from the 7th worst team. In no other season has that gap been closer than 9 games.

An interesting update to the tanking, including some lineups that these teams are using to "win," is here: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-tanking-wars-eight-teams-in-tight-race-for-last-place-in-standings-draft-lottery-balls/.

Of note, Cristiano Felicio is the MVP for tanking, having a net -24.8 rating On Court and -38.7 net rating On Court as a starter.

Emmanuel Mudiay, who is averaging 9.1 points on 10.1 shots per game as a Knick while shooting 33% / 12.5% . 63.3% (his shot is uglier than Josh Jackson's), is "contributing" to NYK being outscored by 21.8 points per 100 possessions.

BRK with a big win last night. Go Nets!
I don't buy it. The Ringer is drawing the causal link in the wrong direction. The league just has a flat and broad bottom this year. Teams at the very bottom always tank late to secure draft position. This year, it's 7 teams (the Nets aren't tanking, they are just bad) instead of 3 or 4 because the bottom has been flat and close since the beginning of the season, not because tanking or the incentives around it have changed.
 

JakeRae

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So for those of us who thought this season's tanking is historic, we were correct. Currently, only 4 games separates the worst team from the 7th worst team. In no other season has that gap been closer than 9 games.

An interesting update to the tanking, including some lineups that these teams are using to "win," is here: https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/nba-tanking-wars-eight-teams-in-tight-race-for-last-place-in-standings-draft-lottery-balls/.

Of note, Cristiano Felicio is the MVP for tanking, having a net -24.8 rating On Court and -38.7 net rating On Court as a starter.

Emmanuel Mudiay, who is averaging 9.1 points on 10.1 shots per game as a Knick while shooting 33% / 12.5% . 63.3% (his shot is uglier than Josh Jackson's), is "contributing" to NYK being outscored by 21.8 points per 100 possessions.

BRK with a big win last night. Go Nets!
I don't buy it. The Ringer is drawing the causal link in the wrong direction. The league just has a flat and broad bottom this year. Teams at the very bottom always tank late to secure draft position. This year, it's 7 teams (the Nets aren't tanking, they are just bad) instead of 3 or 4 because the bottom has been flat and close since the beginning of the season, not because tanking or the incentives around it have changed.
 

mikeot

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Rockets @ Raptors tonight only available on League Pass, unfortunately. Watching to see if Houston’s streak ends.
 

benhogan

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Rockets @ Raptors tonight only available on League Pass, unfortunately. Watching to see if Houston’s streak ends.
Great game so far and the Raptors are having their way. The Toronto 2nd unit is vicious.

Can't wait to watch Mamo, Smart, Rozier, Monroe and Theis play Van Fleet, Poeltl, Siakam, Miles and Wright. Cage match!
 

Kliq

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Blazers down the Warriors in another reminder on how much Damian Lillard loves to play GS. Dame/CJ/Klay/Durant combine for 123 points.

Cavs down ten with three minutes to go against the Clips...
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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A side note to the Warriors/Blazers game is that Draymond Green now has 15 techs after receiving one tonight. The next one earns him a one game suspension and a 5k fine.

McCollum had a great game too. As Kliq notes, good on Olshey for not trading either of his backcourt, for sticking with Stotts and for adding good value depth in Davis, Napier, Nurkic and even Evan Turner. The Blazers are going to be a tough out for whomever they face in the playoffs.

Finally, DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 23 boards in the Clippers win over the Cavs.
 

benhogan

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A side note to the Warriors/Blazers game is that Draymond Green now has 15 techs after receiving one tonight. The next one earns him a one game suspension and a 5k fine.

McCollum had a great game too. As Kliq notes, good on Olshey for not trading either of his backcourt, for sticking with Stotts and for adding good value depth in Davis, Napier, Nurkic and even Evan Turner. The Blazers are going to be a tough out for whomever they face in the playoffs.

Finally, DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 23 boards in the Clippers win over the Cavs.
Blazers getting Nurkic + 2017 1st round pick (#20) for Mason Plumlee + 2018 2nd rounder + cash, was also absolutely brilliant.

Where was Danny when Denver held that yard sale?
 
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the moops

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Looks like since Ibaka did it, it's been accomplished 8 times, including Davis today. 4 times by Whiteside, and once each by Davis, Noah, Sanders, and Hibbert
 

eddiew112

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Career high 9 points tonight for the former Terrier star John Holland. It's great to see one of our own back in the league
 

benhogan

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The Philadelphia 76ers will be the Eastern Conference #3 seed. Book it.

They sit 1 game behind in the loss column to the present #3 seed Pacers (tough remaining schedule).

76ers remaining schedule is easy.
-17 games left: 11 home/6 road games.
-5 games left against playoff teams, ALL at home (Pacers, Nuggets, Cavs, Bucks, Wolves). All winnable, and they'll probably be favored in each of them.
-12 against tankers.
 

Kliq

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Golden State goes down to Minnesota thanks to a monster performance from KAT (31 and 16) with help from Wiggins (23 points on 9-16 shooting).

Durant has been a monster in these two games without Steph, and Klay has stepped it up a bit as well, but the supporting cast has been dull and clearly struggle to score without Steph bending the defense as only he can.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Cavs just 1 game in the loss column ahead of the 6 seed.
But, but..I was told their defense was fixed!

Cleveland's D-Rating before the All-Star break (so including a few good games with the post-deadline team) was 109.9 which put them 28th in the league. For reference, the worst team at that point was Phoenix with a D-rating of 110.6.

Since the break - and admittedly its a very small sample size - the Cavs have moved up to 22nd in the league in D-Rating. However, its just marginally better at 109.3. So some of their improvement relative to other teams is just the tankers, tanking harder. Since the break, seven teams have a D-Rating higher than Phoenix's number beforehand (the Knicks are fittingly the biggest turnstyles).

0.5 points per game improvement doesn't seem like they "fixed" things to me. That said, as others have pointed out, the Cavs haven't had much time to practice or work the new players into their schemes. However defense is easier to play/scheme than offense and the guys they acquired have played for defensive minded coaches before so the practice/integration argument falls a bit flat.

I never rule out a LeBron team. However gun to my head, I don't see them getting past Toronto and there is a very real risk that they get bounced from the playoffs in an earlier round.
 

Ed Hillel

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Cleveland has allowed 100 points in 27 of their last 30, including 110 or more in 17 of them (!!!).

I can’t see this team going very far.
 

jon abbey

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Kevin Love has yet to play with the new guys, I don’t know if they’ll have time to make that work but if they get him and other guys back, they’ll at least be better than this.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Kevin Love has yet to play with the new guys, I don’t know if they’ll have time to make that work but if they get him and other guys back, they’ll at least be better than this.
Perhaps. However, while Love's return will help their offense, he will do little to fix their defense which is the problem. Between that and their lack of a clear number two scorer, even with Love, this team is vulnerable.
 

DJnVa

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7-6 since the trading deadline, but they started 3-0.

Cavs are only 3 losses ahead of the #8 seed and have been outscored on the year.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Not worth a thread because not much to discuss but Stevie Francis put up a must-read story on himself (who else) in the Player's Tribune: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/steve-francis-i-got-a-story-to-tell/. Here's the best bit (it's at the end):

Look, you can think whatever the hell you want to think about Steve Francis. You can think that, when I was in my prime, I was the most electric player to ever do it. Or you can think I wasn’t shit. It really doesn’t matter to me. But I was thinking about something the other day … about where I’m from, and how damn crazy it is that I ever played one minute in the NBA … and this is the only thing I want people to remember.

Takoma Park, Maryland, 1997.

I had come back home from San Jacinto for a couple days. To be honest, I was homesick as hell down there in Texas. I was crying every day, telling the coaches I wanted to quit and go home. Back to my family, back to the block, back to selling drugs, back to the same bullshit, every day, forever. It’s what I knew.

So I go home on a break, and everybody’s like, “Oh, you think you’re the man now? Alright, college boy. We’ll see how good you are.”

They put me up against Greg Jones, the No. 1 guy in D.C. at the time. It was a dope-boy game. That means 50 guys on one side of the court with AK-47s, and 50 guys on the the other side of the court with AK-47s.

They had $10,000 on the game. One-on-one. Best of three.

You can’t say no.

We played the first game, and I killed his ass.

The second game starts, and I could’ve killed his ass again. For a minute, I was thinking about it. I could’ve been the man in D.C. I could’ve been a street legend. I could’ve beat him, and made some money, and stayed on the block, where I felt comfortable.

I could’ve stayed in the box.

But I wanted more. I wanted something different. I wanted to marry Janet Jackson. So I let him win the second game. And then I took the ball and I threw it over the backboard and walked off the court. I got on a plane back to my community college in Texas, and I killed Shawn Marion’s ass instead.

From the corner to the NBA in four f*****g years.
 

jon abbey

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D’Angelo Russell hit 7 3s in a 6:40 stretch of game action tonight against TOR, that’s pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty good.
 

Strike4

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Not worth a thread because not much to discuss but Stevie Francis put up a must-read story on himself (who else) in the Player's Tribune: https://www.theplayerstribune.com/steve-francis-i-got-a-story-to-tell/. Here's the best bit (it's at the end):

Look, you can think whatever the hell you want to think about Steve Francis. You can think that, when I was in my prime, I was the most electric player to ever do it. Or you can think I wasn’t shit. It really doesn’t matter to me. But I was thinking about something the other day … about where I’m from, and how damn crazy it is that I ever played one minute in the NBA … and this is the only thing I want people to remember.

Takoma Park, Maryland, 1997.

I had come back home from San Jacinto for a couple days. To be honest, I was homesick as hell down there in Texas. I was crying every day, telling the coaches I wanted to quit and go home. Back to my family, back to the block, back to selling drugs, back to the same bullshit, every day, forever. It’s what I knew.

So I go home on a break, and everybody’s like, “Oh, you think you’re the man now? Alright, college boy. We’ll see how good you are.”

They put me up against Greg Jones, the No. 1 guy in D.C. at the time. It was a dope-boy game. That means 50 guys on one side of the court with AK-47s, and 50 guys on the the other side of the court with AK-47s.

They had $10,000 on the game. One-on-one. Best of three.

You can’t say no.

We played the first game, and I killed his ass.

The second game starts, and I could’ve killed his ass again. For a minute, I was thinking about it. I could’ve been the man in D.C. I could’ve been a street legend. I could’ve beat him, and made some money, and stayed on the block, where I felt comfortable.

I could’ve stayed in the box.

But I wanted more. I wanted something different. I wanted to marry Janet Jackson. So I let him win the second game. And then I took the ball and I threw it over the backboard and walked off the court. I got on a plane back to my community college in Texas, and I killed Shawn Marion’s ass instead.

From the corner to the NBA in four f*****g years.
That was awesome.
 

Imbricus

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Zizic with another good game for Cleveland last night: 5-5 from the field, with a block, in 15 minutes -- though 3 turnovers.
 

Kliq

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The All-NBA guard spots are going to be a bloodbath. Six spots for a bunch of guys. Harden is a lock. Curry is as well, unless he misses the rest of the regular season, and even then he is probably in. Then I think DeRozan and Lillard. Then you have two spots for: Kyrie, Klay, Westbrook, Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Oladipo, Lowry, Butler, Lou Williams, Kemba, and likely some other candidates.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Klay diagnosed with a fractured thumb. They're saying "up to two weeks," so it's probably of the mild/hairline variety, but still crap news for the Ws with Steph, Draymond, Andre, West, Bell and McCaw all on the shelf various injuries. And KD was wearing a pretty intense-looking shoulder bandage after last game. Getting to be the "war of attrition" time of year...

Edit: for any Ducks fans, Chris Boucher has been activated and may make his NBA debut for the Ws tonight.
 
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HomeRunBaker

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The All-NBA guard spots are going to be a bloodbath. Six spots for a bunch of guys. Harden is a lock. Curry is as well, unless he misses the rest of the regular season, and even then he is probably in. Then I think DeRozan and Lillard. Then you have two spots for: Kyrie, Klay, Westbrook, Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Oladipo, Lowry, Butler, Lou Williams, Kemba, and likely some other candidates.
Assuming DeRozan and Lillard have 3/4 locked up I'm pretty certain you can safely eliminate Kemba, Lou Williams, Lowry, Beal, and Butler (too much of season missed) as well as anyone not named above from contention. Picking 2 out of Klay, Westbrook, Paul and Oladipo will be tough enough.....none of those others can possibly leapfrog above all but one player in that group. I'd include Westbrook in that Top-6 comfortably leaving one spot up for grabs between Klay, Oladipo and Paul......gun to head I go Oladipo, he's made a full fledged leap into the bottom end of that group this year.
 

BigSoxFan

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Assuming DeRozan and Lillard have 3/4 locked up I'm pretty certain you can safely eliminate Kemba, Lou Williams, Lowry, Beal, and Butler (too much of season missed) as well as anyone not named above from contention. Picking 2 out of Klay, Westbrook, Paul and Oladipo will be tough enough.....none of those others can possibly leapfrog above all but one player in that group. I'd include Westbrook in that Top-6 comfortably leaving one spot up for grabs between Klay, Oladipo and Paul......gun to head I go Oladipo, he's made a full fledged leap into the bottom end of that group this year.
Oladipo has to be there. He should even be in the MVP discussion somewhere, as he is largely responsible for Indiana vastly outperforming their expectations. Pacers Vegas O/U this year was like 32 and they’re on a 48 win pace.
 

the moops

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Assuming DeRozan and Lillard have 3/4 locked up I'm pretty certain you can safely eliminate Kemba, Lou Williams, Lowry, Beal, and Butler (too much of season missed) as well as anyone not named above from contention. Picking 2 out of Klay, Westbrook, Paul and Oladipo will be tough enough.....none of those others can possibly leapfrog above all but one player in that group. I'd include Westbrook in that Top-6 comfortably leaving one spot up for grabs between Klay, Oladipo and Paul......gun to head I go Oladipo, he's made a full fledged leap into the bottom end of that group this year.
I don't think Derozan or Lillard have 3/4 locked up by any stretch. And what happened to Kyrie?
 

Sam Ray Not

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Argh, I thought I triple-posted, and now I somehow deleted all my replies. Stupid machines. Too lazy to rewrite my justifications, but..

1. Curry & Harden
2. Paul & Lillard
3. Westbrook & Butler