Topic: NBA Thread: Brought To You By The Tampa Bay Raptors Of Toronto

[BlackNMild2k1]

Anyone paying attention to the All-Star Weekend?

I didn't watch USA v World, nor the Celebrity game
but I did check out the Skillz and 3-pt contest before LEGO Movie 2 started (had to finish the 3pt contest on my phone in the theater during the previews.... :/)

Winner of the Skillz contest was actually pretty amusing:


and the 3pt contest was good for a moment
almost thought all the NC Boys were gonna be out in the first round, especially after the awkward Dell Curry and his 2 sons interview at mid court just before the event... basically "Which of your 2 sons do you love the most, and why will Seth never be that child" LMAO, it was so bad.

Luckily, Steph even though not winning, put on a hell of a shooting display to almost win. it was a 1 shot difference for a tie. Had Steph put the Money rack up first, he would've tied or won the match.
It was a good watch though. Seth on the other hand.... at least he wasn't the first eliminated. LOL
The initial interview put all the pressure on him to perform, and in his attempt to step out of his brothers shadow.... disappeared completely. LMAO. poor Seth.

At least the stupid charity bet for his dad shooting 3's before the main event didn't end up costing him too much money. Dell and his "legend" didn't perform either. LOL

I didn't watch the mini-ball segment afterwards, nor the Dunk Contest, but I saw a few highlights from the finals.

edit(p.s. the highlights from the Dunk contest was 1 dunk other than the final dunk that won it all for Diallo from OKC.... didn't seem like a good contest at all)
They really should cap the night off with the 3pt Contest instead. 10 enter the 1st round. Top5 move to the 2nd round. Top 2 in the 3rd and final round.

Anyone care for the All-Star game later today?

[Adrock]

Jazz vs. Thunder was an excellent game. I normally wouldn’t have watched it, but I was rescuing a friend who had unwittingly tagged along his wife’s girls’ night so I’m glad that worked out for both of us. I only saw partway into the third quarter to the end. There were a few times I thought the game was slipping away from either team. Donovan Mitchell almost had it at the end of overtime.

[broodwars]

The playoffs are certainly going to be interesting, at least every Western Conference series that doesn't involve the Warriors. 2-8 right now are pretty much even (despite their records), so it's almost like the playoff seeding doesn't even matter.

I really wish Mitchell would perform like this more often. He has talent, but he only ever seems to bring it out when the Jazz are in desperate situations at the end of games.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I just want to say that Boogie Cousins in WASHED.
Kerr can keep starting him in the first and 2nd, but that's it. If he don't get a good start, he needs to work with the 2nd unit. We lost the game because they kept trying to appease Cousins ego by getting him the ball, and he CAN"T.DO.ANYTHING.WITH.IT.

it's hard to watch. he is slow. he has lost a step. he CAN'T JUMP..... just dunk the fucking ball.... WTF is wrong with you, you are standing under the rim. J.U.M.P.

Did you really miss a layup toi start the game, and then lead the way to spotting the Rockets 15 points to start the game..... then you injured Draymond, after almost taking out KD.

Kerr... do what's needed. TRADE THIS MAN.... huh? oh we can't do that? well, then bench this man. we fucking lost to the Rockets w/o James Harden....

come playoffs, he better be "injured".
get his pity ring in the finals, and then move the **** on to whatever meager contract he can get at some other team. Gonna be missing that money NO was gonna offer him, regardless of how much less it was than what he thought he should've been offered. [/rant]

[Soren]

It's one month of play after an Achilles injury. Let's uh...cool our jets here.

Cousins might just be a bad matchup against the Rockets. That being said I'm not ready to attribute all our woes to him.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I'll admit in the moment I was probably a little too quick to pull the trigger on that rant

but honestly, he is not part of our current best line-up
he has lost a step and seems to not have much vert left w/o a running start.

maybe it's just too soon and he'll improve more down the line, but they still need to stop forcing him into the lineup when it's clearly not working out for him. Ego's be damned.

Honestly, I hope he gets it together in the next few weeks. We gonna need him in playoff mode soon.

[Adrock]

Too early to call Cousins washed. It typically takes two years to know where a player stands after an Achilles tear, one for it to heal and another to get back to playing shape. This is pretty much why I’ve been saying he isn’t going to move the needle for this team. They were already the best team in the league.

Cousins’ value as a player was his skill, not athleticism. Next year we’ll see what he really has to offer.

[ejamer]

Cousins still has plenty of time to get things going, and as long as force feeding him shots now doesn't disrupt chemistry there is no harm. Golden State is so stacked, it's hard to see anything really disrupting them without a major injury (or two).

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was admittedly reacting in the moment.
Cousins was much better tonight. More like his "early" Warriors run. I can tell he's still in the rebuilding phase, but I was just more upset we didn't crush the Hardenless Harden Rockets. And it was mostly because of Cousins terrible no good very bad game, and our organization is so selfless, they sacrifice games/possessions just to help Boogie get going.

[Adrock]

That Dwyane Wade game winner.

Direct link

[BlackNMild2k1]

I was jaw dropped... wasn't even mad tho.

double blocked, and then still managed to get off a hailmary 3 before the buzzer that managed to go in.

Curry not getting off a shot on the previous possession and Durant missing a critical end game free throw could have made the difference.

[broodwars]

So...yeah...

Warriors - 96
Magic - 103

What happened there? The Warriors have been in a bit of a slump lately. Did they think they could just coast their way into the playoffs?

Meanwhile, the Nuggets are looking to (hopefully not) pick off an easy win from the Point Guard-less Jazz tonight and retake the #1 Seed.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I didn't watch tonight's game, but they usually have bad shooting nights in early games (pst).

Glancing at the box score, it looks like another bad shooting night for the Dubs.

[broodwars]

Jazz - 111
Nuggets - 104

It took a 22 point night from Kyle Korver, another 24 from Donovan Mitchell (on yet another very inconsistent night), and a miraculous overturning of a Rudy Golbert goaltending call late in the 4th, but the Jazz pulled it off.

Unfortunately, because the Heat didn't do their job, we didn't gain any ground tonight on Seeds 4 & 5, and we'll probably lose this ground when we face the Bucks in a few days. -_-

[BlackNMild2k1]

And like that... the Warriors reclaim the 1 Seed. Mwahahhahahaha!!!!

we needed these last 2 wins though (that we didn't get), as 6 of our upcoming 7 games won't be easy.... but after that, the schedule lightens up quite a but for the majority of what's left in the regular season.

We play Philly, Boston Denver.
get a break with the Suns
then we play Houston, OKC and the Spurs

after that, theres a few games we gotta come out blazing, but they are few and far inbetween.
so Hopefully Durant and everyone has gotten enough rest.... Boogie can rest a bit though, you take it easy there big guy.

[broodwars]

Bucks - 111
Jazz - 115

**** yes! The Jazz were never even supposed to be in this game, and a few minutes into the 4th quarter they certainly weren't (being down 12-15). But they came back to win it behind a 46 point night from Donovan Mitchell and another 23 from Derrick Favors.

Yeah, I know there are a lot of extenuating circumstances behind this win, but the Jazz just had a back-to-back with the Clippers & Nuggets the other night, so I don't care. They just beat the best team in the league.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Dubs got a much needed win....

but in a much more"in the moment" story!!!
Lakers in their last 7 games, have 4 of their last 5 losses to the following TANKING teams:
Hawks
Pels
Grizz
Suns

the fucking SUNS.
From a Lebron who claims to have "ACTIVATED PLAYOFF MODE EARLY"
Lakers are NOT making the Playoffs this year.
Lebron will not allow Luke Walton to survive the summer (but his consolation prize will be that he can start shooting Space Jam 2 early). LOL

Gotta be regretting that exit of the East. smh
We tried to tell him the West is too competitive, and the Lakers are bad.
Under .500 won't win you **** in the West, certainly won't get you in the Playoffs.

in other news....

The Spurs are about to fall to the 8th seed today. and just doing a predictive glance at the rest of their schedule vs the rest of the Kings schedule, Kings have an outside shot at sniping the 8th seed

Comparing the Lakers schedule to to the Timberwolves schedule..... The pups may overtake the 10th seed today with a win... they will have a tie record w/ the Lakers, but have beaten the Lakers during both matchups so far this year. I don't see it lasting long, as Minny doesn't exactly have an easy schedule remaining, but the Lakers remaining schedule looks just as rough TBH.

[broodwars]

You know, has anyone ever figured out why the West has always been super-competitive, at least in my lifetime, but the East has always been a dumpster fire ruled by 1-2 teams?

It just seems strange that since at least the 1980s, the top 9-10 Western teams usually have winning records and are in a tight race for the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Eastern teams seem to cap out their winning records at 6-7, with huge gaps between.

Regarding the Lakers loss to the Pelicans, I was looking at their SBNation blog last night, and apparently the general consensus seems to be that the Pelicans are better without Anthony Davis.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I have not idea, but it's a good argument to switch to Top 16 Playoffs instead of East v West every year.
More deserving teams in the West than the trash that's happening in the East year after year.
The playoffs would be much more competitive, with the best of the best rising to the top.
1 seed would mean a whole lost more too.

Let's take a look at what a 1-16 would like if the Playoffs were to happen today  (p.s. Lakers still miss the Playoffs. LMAO)

(1 v 16) Buck v Pistons  |  (2 v 15) Raptors v Nets

(8 v 9) Trailblazers v Celtics  |  (7 v 10) Thunder v Rockets


(5 v 12) Pacers v Spurs  |  (6 v 11) 76ers v Jazz

(4 v 13) Nuggets v Clippers  |  (3 v 14) Warriors v Kings 

It's 1 more West v East team lined up like this, but if you knew you were playing for overall record, and not just the record vs the people in your conference, scheduled losses against certain other teams would likely no longer be "scheduled" since now every win counts.

[BlackNMild2k1]

This looks fun. LOL

[ThePerm]

Yesterday I watched the UFC ppv at a Buffalo Wild Wings. What was also great was there was that Suns vs Lakers game. As a fairweather Suns fan, it was nice to see. My friend had mentioned that "the suns have the like worst record this season"

Then we joked about the ol' Paper Rock Scissors factor.

[BlackNMild2k1]

rock paper scissors is always a factor... anyone can have a bad night.

But............ The Lakers are fighting for an 8th seed slot.
Lebron stated that he has activated "Playoff Mode®" early this year

they have proceeded to lose game after game to teams that supposedly not really trying to win.
Now the Pelicans may have a bone to pick with Lebron and the Lakers, but Hawks, the Grizz and the Suns are all pretty bad teams (Trae Young has made major improvements upon his early season play though) that are actively playing for draft picks at this point.
If Lebron was really putting in that kind of effort, we shouldn't see **** like this (LMAO)
https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1102055989795319808 #Shaqtinafool

If the Lakers just kept playing the way they were playing last year before Lebron, but did it all year, they were likely an 8th seed team. If Lebron never got hurt, they may have been a 5th seed team.
and some may want to say the missing piece is Lonzo.... well, I think he comes back week after next. but that Laker schedule is not forgiving, so good luck sweeping that **** and hoping the Kings, Clips and Spurs all start dropping games like crazy.

Lakers lose against the Clips today, they have to follow up that loss with Denver and the the Celtics.... smh. and they gotta start beating the playoff contenders, they can't afford to give up a single game to anyone at this point.

Their next 8 games: Clippers, Nuggets, Celtics, Bulls, Raptors, Pistons, Knicks, Bucks
the bolded should be their gimmie games, but with the Suns calling their bluff... there are no more gimmie games.

[Adrock]

The Lakers aren’t making the playoffs. They probably would have made the playoffs if not for all the injuries despite all the unconventional signings after James. It’s irrelevant either way. If the Lakers make the playoffs, they aren’t winning the title so it’d be the same outcome if they don’t make it except with a worse draft pick. Some may argue that looking this bad will turn off free agents, and I really don’t think that’s the case. It’ll always be a destination franchise unless it’s completely devoid of assets or flexibility like a couple years ago.

There’s a part of me that wants the Lakers to miss the playoffs, somehow win the lottery, draft Zion Williamson, keep him, sign a max player, sign some decent vet role players at the minimum, and trot out that team next year. Not because I like the Lakers. There’s just nothing more delicious than angry sports tears. Then again, I get tired of hearing about any team all the time, and the Lakers get enough of that as a middling team.

[ejamer]

Lakers are a dumpster fire right now.

Lots of questionable (at best) off-season choices bringing in ill-fitting vets; young talent that isn't as talented as Lakers fans suggest; injuries derailing the momentum they did have; an ugly failed trade attempt at the deadline despite very publicly having players try to dictate the outcome. There was a point in time where this team could have made a playoff push - that time is long past, and salvaging a draft pick (which will probably end up being a trade asset rather than a Lakers player) is better than nothing.

I guess that dream of a Lakers/Celtics rematch will have to wait a few years.

...
Let's take a look at what a 1-16 would like if the Playoffs were to happen today  (p.s. Lakers still miss the Playoffs. LMAO)
...

Are available TV slots the only reason this hasn't happened yet?  Seems like a much better set of games when you are dropping the teams with the (actual) worst records instead of an almost arbitrary divide.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I think the All-star game experiment might lead the way to playoff reseeding at some point.

Some West teams realizing they have a shot at beating the bottom 4 in the East and secure a potential playoff spot might motivate them to not tank, rest, or schedule low effort nights.