2023-2024 General NBA Season Thread
- Thread starter BigSoxFan
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Phoenix up big early (+22 early in the 2nd quarter). If they and the Lakers hold onto their early leads, that will be a disappointing end to the day (with Phoenix avoiding the play in and the Lakers staying in the 7/8 matchup).
Everyone forgot about the part about the Pelicans sucking at home all season. More of the same today.
The only team in a position to even try to lose were the Knicks, given the timing of their game with overtime. Matchups were all over the place, if the Cavs really wanted to finish 4th they could have played Orlando (44%), Indy (32%), Sixers (21%) or even the Heat (2%). The fun thing about everyone behind the Celtics (other than Philly lately) is that they don't have to try to lose, the losses have come pretty organically for most of the EC playoff teams.
And if they lose, odds are they stay right here and play the Lakers in a couple of days. What are the chances NO wins that game at home? 20%?
If that. Of course none of this would be an issue if a certain 64 win team hadn’t decided to tank one against the LA Y Ball squad at home.
LeBron did a pump fake, got his man up in the air, the man landed on him, LeBron did another fake up with the ball and then went up and scored.. Shouldn't the foul be on the floor and the basket not have counted? Because of the additional ball fake he clearly wasn't in shooting motion..
Cleveland was up 8 entering Q4
that's strange, I'd much rather be a 3 seed then the 4 seed
they rested Mitchell, LaVert and Garland so they obviously didn't care
They literally might be optimizing for "get through at least one round", since no one should want to face Boston earlier than they need to.
Cleveland - Orlando is a sneaky great series. Should have some fun, low scoring, games in that one as the series progresses.
It may end up being good, but I can't get excited for that matchup at all.
View: https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1779612668371906889
A first round series in which neither team has legit title aspirations and there is no pre-existing rivalry is a pretty boring story. Doesn't mean the games won't be good, but the stakes are pretty low for anyone outside of their own fan bases. I'm pretty excited to face the winner in the 2nd round though.
The Wolves are shooting 59% (47% from 3) and have more rebunds than the Suns.
They are also down 15 points thanks to 20 turnovers in 30 minutes.
Ant and KAT make all the wrong decisions, it's Rudy who is keeping them in the game with rebounds and multiple 3 point plays.
Edit: As I write that KAT scores 5 points and it's down to a single digit lead...
They are also down 15 points thanks to 20 turnovers in 30 minutes.
Ant and KAT make all the wrong decisions, it's Rudy who is keeping them in the game with rebounds and multiple 3 point plays.
Edit: As I write that KAT scores 5 points and it's down to a single digit lead...
With the way that everything always breaks in their favor, Wolves will come back and take the one seed and they'll play OKC instead.
LA taking out Denver for us and then losing in the next round would make me start going to church again,
I'm fine having the Lakers play OKC. They're in for a rude awakening if they think it's the typical "vets meet young guys" thing. OKC is good.
Of course I'll be watching (unless there's literally any other playoff game on). Nothing wrong with pointing out that it's objectively the least exciting 1st round matchup in the east, other than maybe Celtics/Bulls if the latter make it through the play in.
Cleveland didn’t only play their bench for the 4Q but they emptied their deep deep bench with Emoni Bates and Tristan Thompson. They clearly didn’t prioritize the win….while Thibs playing DiVincenzo 53 min in an OT win certainly did.
The only silver lining (and chance at optimism in their play in matchup with LA) for NO is that Brandon Ingram returned today, and wasn't terrible (6-9 for 13 points and 5 rebounds in 23 minutes). On the other hand, he was a team worst -28.
Will the Lakers stay in New Orleans? Phoenix could also stay in Minny, but probably not given it'd be all week.
They were actually in position to be the 2 seed while their game was still in the 4th. I guess it depends if they’re prioritizing winning the first round vs. winning the NBA title.
The Bucks made out great. Pacers they can handle, real chance they might have been underdogs round 1 to the Sixers.
Just looking through the latest NBA mock drafts and oh man, is this an all-time sucky draft or what? When you've got Reed Sheppard going in the top 3?
I dunno. I guess it depends on what Halliburton IND gets in the playoffs.
IND is going to score - MIL's transition defense is terrible and they struggle staying in front of guards. Question whether MIL is going to outscore them.
I think IND is a live dog.
That's what the scuttle butt is. Lots of teams are trading their 2024 first round draft pick. Few teams are trading their 2025 first round draft pick as that draft is supposed to be really good and deep.
IND could win, MIL has been a mess, but IND doesn't defend at all, and MIL is helped more by playoff basketball, shorter rotation hides their bench issues, they have more stars.
PHI was a terrible matchup, because they do have some guys who can defend, and a healthy Embiid is probably the best player in the series. PHI healthy all year probably coasts to a top 4 seed.
Of course the counter is... 1 game, so PHI could fall to 8 and MIA is a much easier matchup than IND.
Indianapolis won 4 of 5 vs Milwaukee in the regular season, I believe. So they certanly have at least a shot.
Oh they definitely have a shot, but regular season records rarely mean much unless it was all blowouts. Too many variables (injuries, rest, back to backs, travel) and teams just don't play the same (it's rare to hunt mismatches, run big minutes for starters, etc.). I don't want people to think getting IND is a cakewalk, but PHI would have been a disaster for MIL.
On that note, the Detroit Pistons just concluded their worst season in Franchise history 14-68.
Troy Weaver will go down as one of the worst GMs ever.
I’m revising the “Play-In” lexicon for the sad #9-10 matchups (GS at SAC, ATL at CHI) since none of them are actually playing to get “IN” to anything. The #7-8 is a legit Play-In game, as is final Play-In game (#7-8 loser v #9-10 winner). But #9 v #10 is really just a “Play-On” game.
I don't think the Lakers would have a great shot to do it, but am I insane for wanting them to win the play-in game and then beat Denver? I don't think they'd make it through the rest of the west gauntlet, and it would be awesome to have the Nuggets out before the Finals.
Insane. Let Minnesota or OKC take out Denver. I don't trust anything about this league when it comes to LA or LeBron.
Nope, not insane. Denver is the other best team in the league, and anyone knocking them off is good for us. OKC, Milwaukee, even the Lakers have their things but Denver is the biggest threat to Celtics, imo.
I also agree Lakers, as dangerous as they are for any one series, are really unlikely to stay healthy and effective for three or four series
LAL can't beat DEN, like to the level people are legitimately asking if they should tank game 1 of the play-in to try and get OKC. DEN is just a brutal matchup