If trading Simmons for AD is the only way they keep Butler, do they pull the trigger?
Discussed a bit above--I'd say let the Sixers take the 3 seed and the Raptors in round 2. This Pacers team simply doesn't have scoring.
Players don’t care and ownership would probably prefer the pick to convey this year
They want the pick to convey this year to get it over with. Or at least at one point they did. Not sure if that's changed or not.
Lots of the bottom feeders actually playing decently down the stretch here. Lakers and Knicks appear to be the only two actively tanking.
I feel the optimal seeding would be Indiana at 4 with the hopes of Philly winning a first round against someone else so we can face our best matchup in Round 2.
Brown still has to find a way to mask his bench. Scott and Ennis can be ok in the regular season but I wouldn't want to count on them providing a decent 12-15 min in a tight playoff game...….while McConnell and Amir are so terrible at this point they shouldn't even be getting regular season minutes if they had anyone else worthy of those minutes. It's true that rotations are shortened in the playoffs with no B2B's however they aren't eliminated and I'm expecting this lack of quality depth to bite them when the games really matter.
In that scenario, wouldn't optimal be Boston at 4 and Indiana at 5? It's going to be interesting to watch it play out, anyway.
Makes sense.
They've cost me so much money this year. I wish their franchise the absolute worst.
Mavs and Rockets in a good one in Dallas, Houston up 89-86 with just over 4 left in the fourth.
Rockets hold on, 94-93; Luka (finished an assist shy of a triple-double, 19-15-9, but a painful 1-6 from 3) did a great job down the stretch finding guys for good looks to keep them in it, but CP3 with a block on the potential game winner to seal it.
Suns giving everything the Dubs can handle tonight. Maybe that Celtics victory shook their confidence or maybe it wasn't as an impressive we as we thought?
NickFriedell
Via @ESPNStatsInfo: Suns closed as a 17-point underdog against Warriors. It is largest upset in an NBA game since March 6, 2016 when the Lakers upset the Warriors as a 17.5-point underdog. That's the only time in the last 20 seasons that an underdog of at least 17 points has won.
They killed Denver in Denver on Friday. I think it's regular season malaise. Still, Houston is peaking at the right time, and OKC plays hard as hell. I think the Dubs win the title, but maybe it'll be an interesting ride. 3 tough road games coming up and Durant looks questionable for the next week.
I agree with gedman and ja - this is the absolute worst part of the season for the players whose teams are either locked into a playoff position or, like the Warriors, simply don't care. They are, tired, they are banged up and the games just don't mean that much. Meanwhile the Suns are trying to find something good from yet another hapless season so they are going to play hard no matter what.
Unless you have playoff mode activated, its hard to get up for these games and, as we have witnessed, even then its still difficult.
Unless you have playoff mode activated, its hard to get up for these games and, as we have witnessed, even then its still difficult.
Boogie is doing to the Warriors what Hayward did to the Celtics. More raw talent doesn't necessarily equate to a better team...….and sometimes it can be a detriment. Watching him brick 2-3 airballs from the top of the arc each night as the offense stagnates and jog back with their head down can't be good for morale. I haven't looked at the numbers but I'd be surprised if the Warriors offense isn't significantly worse with him on the floor. It seems to flow much more naturally with an active Looney slashing/screening and allowing the best players to handle the ball/take the shots rather than alter their offense to "incorporate" Boogie.
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Yes, BRef has the #s as pretty bad: On = 111.7 ORtg / 112.0 DRtg; Off = 117.5 ORtg / 110.3 DRtg.
edit: a tweet from last week posted #s for the rotation players with and without Boogie:
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Yes, BRef has the #s as pretty bad: On = 111.7 ORtg / 112.0 DRtg; Off = 117.5 ORtg / 110.3 DRtg.
edit: a tweet from last week posted #s for the rotation players with and without Boogie:
No truth to the rumor that Kerr was also caught whispering, "Can Boogie go back on a minutes restriction?" to an assistant during last nights timeout.
However, Kerr was caught saying something else which appears to start with, "I'm so f*cking tired of . . . ." and may include "Draymond" at the end.
Now we know why all of the Cs are covering their mouths when they talk.
Anthony Slater is always among the smartest, least hysterical observers of the state of the Ws (imho), for anyone who has the Athletic.
Is it just me, or has every good team except Milwaukee and Toronto gone through weird patches of chemistry issues this year?
Is this just how life is when a) the league is really talented, making it hard to coast b) a lot of good players are about to change teams?
Is this just how life is when a) the league is really talented, making it hard to coast b) a lot of good players are about to change teams?
He just missed 8 games and missed about 20 last season.
Granted that's better than his first few, but I don't think "crazy how healthy he's been" really fits yet.
I think that it shows how important chemistry and continuity are. Continuity is underrated and explains part of Milwaukee's stability (and last year's Raptors, ironically).
Player movement is way more likely to impact consistency. No movement, and everyone knows their role. Toronto this year is an exception and probably better explained by some here than I.
Adding Cousins to GSW and seeing some negative ripples isn't susprising, for example. Butler to Philly, etc.
I'm guessing that the first time the Bucks and Raps face playoff adversity, they don't handle it well. Teams that face in season adversity and get past it have already been forged.