NBA Regular Season & Playoffs 2018-19 Thread

D2D

A new season so a new thread!

2 games to tip it off tonight. Sixers@Celtics at 1am followed by Thunder@Warriors at 3:30am. Both are live on Sky Sports

Osmosis Jones

Fultz getting the start tonight, not exactly going to be the most welcoming atmosphere to show everyone his new shot.

No chance I'm staying up for the second game with Westbrook out.

rebelyell99

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Fultz getting the start tonight, not exactly going to be the most welcoming atmosphere to show everyone his new shot.

No chance I'm staying up for the second game with Westbrook out.

Im a Thunder fan but its hard to see us coming within 30 points of the warriors tonight.Celtics philly game will be decent though.

bot43

Trying to get tickets for the London game. Been offered a £380 option (which would work out at £413.08stg after additionals) and a £220 option (£253.06).

Screw that

2smiggy

watched the Celtics game last night. Tatum, Morris, Horford and Baynes were good I thought. A good sign when the likes of Kyrie and Hayward can have quiet nights and the others can step up instead.

That being said the 76ers shot the ball horribly and the celtics were not a whole lot better !!

Itssoeasy

I'm delighted that the NBA is back on sky sports as I've not had bt sports for two years now. I'll be able to watch games on the catch up service now. Great move by the NBA.

kmart6

I'd question how its a good move by the NBA. BT did not want renew their contract and were clear from last season that they wouldn't be. The rumour for months was that Eleven Sports were the front runners, which would have been a crazy decision for the NBA to go with. Sky seemed to have only come in to the mix at the end and realistically the only option for the NBA for their games to be carried on a Satellite service into homes.

I'd actually be interested to see real numbers on Sky Sports v eir Sports subscriber numbers in Ireland, I know this is not something the NBA would be thinking of, they are mainly looking at the UK market. Sky have lost a lot of rights over the last few years and were hemorrhaging subscribers while eir (mainly thanks to BT) were consolidating and growing their share. Also have to look at the amount of eir Broadband and eir Mobile customers who get eir Sports as part of their package. As someone with eir Sports I won't be subscribing to Sky Sports for the NBA, can't justify the cost for the lack of rights they have, instead I'll just use the usual alternative means to watch online.

D2D

Got to be honest, pretty disappointed with the coverage from Sky Sports last night, especially comparing it to BT's coverage. BT usually took the TNT feed so you'd get the Inside the NBA coverage along with the game. Sky just had to game and that was it. No analysis at half time or after the game, just a Finals Recap instead. Hopefully they'll just take the TNT/ESPN feed if it's available instead of throwing a random NBA programme on as filler.

rushfan

D2D wrote:

Got to be honest, pretty disappointed with the coverage from Sky Sports last night, especially comparing it to BT's coverage. BT usually took the TNT feed so you'd get the Inside the NBA coverage along with the game. Sky just had to game and that was it. No analysis at half time or after the game, just a Finals Recap instead. Hopefully they'll just take the TNT/ESPN feed if it's available instead of throwing a random NBA programme on as filler.

Maybe in time they will. I had Sky Sports news on today & they were interviewing Bruce Bowen.

GoldFour4

Yeah, the coverage was announced quite close to the start of the season so it's possible they still need to sort out that sort of stuff.

Osmosis Jones

D2D wrote: »

Got to be honest, pretty disappointed with the coverage from Sky Sports last night, especially comparing it to BT's coverage. BT usually took the TNT feed so you'd get the Inside the NBA coverage along with the game. Sky just had to game and that was it. No analysis at half time or after the game, just a Finals Recap instead. Hopefully they'll just take the TNT/ESPN feed if it's available instead of throwing a random NBA programme on as filler.

Yeah the didn't have any audio from the studio, they even showed Reggie talking to Kenny but didn't have Kenny's audio.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

Does 11 Sports have the NBA also? I can see it on the banner on their website anyway.

Osmosis Jones

Watched the Suns vs Mavs game to see how the rookies got on, they both look completely NBA-ready. Doncic got into early foul trouble and that kind of messed up his game but the Mavs were pretty bad all around, Ayton dominated the paint offensively and he can shoot too. Booker ran the show though, 35 with 7 assists, if the Suns can actually win a few more games this might be the year he gets an All Star call up.

ButtersSuki

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

Watched the Suns vs Mavs game to see how the rookies got on, they both look completely NBA-ready. Doncic got into early foul trouble and that kind of messed up his game but the Mavs were pretty bad all around, Ayton dominated the paint offensively and he can shoot too. Booker ran the show though, 35 with 7 assists, if the Suns can actually win a few more games this might be the year he gets an All Star call up.

I think it's a little early for Booker and the biggest problem for him is he's in the West. Too much talent in the conference. If he was in the East he'd likely be looking at All NBA.

I've watched a lot of his play and offensively he's incredibly talented. His ability to shoot off the dibble and in particular bank shots is unreal. He scores a lot of his points with shots that are up there in terms of degree of difficulty. These take a toll athletically as you're getting a lot of contact on most of these plays. If I were coaching them I'd be ramping the pace up and looking to get him a lot more easy buckets, but still leave that option open if the fast break isn't on.

Watched him a lot in the Team USA practices this summer too, the kid can play offence. He's a sieve on defence though.

ButtersSuki

Lol. Just looked at the Top 5 plays from last night, positions 5-2 included:
1 game winner, and 3 big in-traffic dunks.

And the top play? LeBron uncontested fast break dunk on which - as is most often the case when he steals the balls - he travelled as he caught the ball. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Such LeBron fanboy fanaticism.

LuckyLloyd

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Lol. Just looked at the Top 5 plays from last night, positions 5-2 included:
1 game winner, and 3 big in-traffic dunks.

And the top play? LeBron uncontested fast break dunk on which - as is most often the case when he steals the balls - he travelled as he caught the ball. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Such LeBron fanboy fanaticism.

Keep on keeping on with the anti - fanboy fanaticism

ButtersSuki

LuckyLloyd wrote: »

Keep on keeping on with the anti - fanboy fanaticism

I don't blame LeBron for that, he's not making those calls. But come on, that's ridiculous.

Watch the plays and tell me how that's #1?

Why is that every time I criticise anything related to LeBron you assume it's me hating HIM? I'm not in this case, it's nothing to do with him and I'm not criticising HIM, I'm criticising the NBA, and whoever put that top 5 together.

Osmosis Jones

Stayed up for the game, had to see the Blazers' opener. 16 wins in a row vs LA now and Nik Stauskas of all people going off. When he signed I didn't think he'd be in the rotation, instead he puts up 24 in his first game, including a stretch where he had 16 of the Blazers last 18 points.

K.O.Kiki

Kawhi's hands are ridiculous.

Osmosis Jones

I'm fascinated by Markelle Fultz, look at this moment from last night. Wide open in the corner, no defender making any effort to get out to him, the easiest 3pt situation imaginable... and he decides to run head on into 4 Bulls defenders.

ButtersSuki

Osmosis Jones wrote: »

I'm fascinated by Markelle Fultz, look at this moment from last night. Wide open in the corner, no defender making any effort to get out to him, the easiest 3pt situation imaginable... and he decides to run head on into 4 Bulls defenders.

In today’s league, you just HAVE to take that shot, even if you’re a crap shooter.

Carcharodon

Trying to ease myself back into NBA but was sucked right back in tonight. Utah brought their A game and some but Warriors just pipped it in the end with Jarebko of all people but savage game, more of the same please

killwill

Carcharodon wrote: »

Trying to ease myself back into NBA but was sucked right back in tonight. Utah brought their A game and some but Warriors just pipped it in the end with Jarebko of all people but savage game, more of the same please

That 2nd quarter was just a joy to watch. Great pace to the game. Joe Ingles was very impressive. 7/11 three pointers. 10/15 FGs

ButtersSuki

Carcharodon wrote: »

Trying to ease myself back into NBA but was sucked right back in tonight. Utah brought their A game and some but Warriors just pipped it in the end with Jarebko of all people but savage game, more of the same please

Very under-rated and solid player.....great pick up for them.

ButtersSuki

killwill wrote: »

That 2nd quarter was just a joy to watch. Great pace to the game. Joe Ingles was very impressive. 7/11 three pointers. 10/15 FGs

Do some deep diving on Ingles advanced stats and you’ll be shocked at what you see. Trust me!

ButtersSuki

Pelicans throw up 149 tonight after beating Houston comfortably the other night in a high scoring game too. They’re really pushing the ball this year, could be very interesting if they can sustain this.

irishguitarlad

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Pelicans throw up 149 tonight after beating Houston comfortably the other night in a high scoring game too. They’re really pushing the ball this year, could be very interesting if they can sustain this.

Mirotic with a career high 36 points as well.

kmart6

Well this got interesting out of nowhere!

ButtersSuki

Lakers 0-2, not entirely unpredictable given who they’ve played.

Luca with 26, starting to feel it. He needs to lose some of that puppy fat though....

ButtersSuki

ButtersSuki wrote: »

Lol. Just looked at the Top 5 plays from last night, positions 5-2 included:
1 game winner, and 3 big in-traffic dunks.

And the top play? LeBron uncontested fast break dunk on which - as is most often the case when he steals the balls - he travelled as he caught the ball. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Such LeBron fanboy fanaticism.

Next night, Top 10 plays, Jerebko tip in game winner (remarkably similar to Olynk’s) is the #1 Play.

I’m NOT criticising LeBron - it’s whoever puts this stuff together’s fault.

Gwynplaine

2 losses for the Lakers. I'm glad there's some NBA coverage on Sky Sports Mix this year. Last couple of years I could only keep up to date through Instagram.

Osmosis Jones

For once I don't think it's a stretch to call one of these incidents an actual fight.

(Speaking of stretch look at the reach on Brandon Ingram with that punch)





Also just because I love him so much here's Lillard scoring next to the logo on literally the first possession of the game

2smiggy

@Rachel__Nichols: This is one of the pieces of video the Rockets are sending the league office as the NBA investigates last night's fight at Staples Center and determines discipline. https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/1054061847773556737/video/1

Seems Rondo spat at Paul

ButtersSuki

2smiggy wrote: »

@Rachel__Nichols: This is one of the pieces of video the Rockets are sending the league office as the NBA investigates last night's fight at Staples Center and determines discipline. https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/1054061847773556737/video/1

Seems Rondo spat at Paul

I didn’t see any evidence of spitting last night and I’m not sure they can convict him on that - that said I’m looking at it on mobile, will have a closer look later. I would say he deserves a lengthy ban if it’s proven that he did spit; but then again it’s the NBA so I’m not sure how long it will be. Ingram as 3rd man in will possibly get the longest ban of the three involved.

Osmosis Jones

Ingram started the whole thing with a shove on Harden and then getting up in the ref's face too. After starting 0-2 the Lakers losing Ingram and Rondo for possibly 5+ games could be really bad with how packed the west is.

ButtersSuki

Looked at a lot of the video footage now and can't see a spit. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but I can't see it, and the NBA is going to have a hard time proving it if there's no footage. If Rondo did do it though, it's disgusting and if proven he should get a long ban.

That said, there's a reason (well many actually :rolleyes:) Paul is the most disliked player in the league. He doesn't deserve to be spat at (no-one does) but it's not a huge shock he was involved in a fight. I was however shocked to hear this was only his 2nd ejection.

rushfan

ButtersSuki wrote:

Looked at a lot of the video footage now and can't see a spit. I'm not saying it didn't happen, but I can't see it, and the NBA is going to have a hard time proving it if there's no footage. If Rondo did do it though, it's disgusting and if proven he should get a long ban.

Had a look at it on Twitter, can't see a spit either but you can definitely see Paul wipe something from his right cheek. Ingram got 4 games off, Rondo 3, & Paul 2.

kmart6

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1054137903331328000?s=19

Hard to know what to make of these numbers, if they are saying Rondo spit then one game more than Paul seems light, if they aren't saying he spit then strange he's getting more since Paul booked him in the eye first.

Ingram lucky to only be getting 4 as instigator to the whole thing and then 3rd man in to the scuffle throwing a punch

ButtersSuki

It's a bit strange alright but they all got off very lightly IMO, esp. Ingram.

Not trying to make excuses but I wonder if Rondo whilst not intentionally spitting, but with all the shouting and sh*t talk that was going on a little bit of saliva came out and accidentally landed on Paul? Paul is wiping something, but there's a big difference in someone deliberately spitting on you and being caught in an accidental piece of spaying spittle.

Either way, I can't see a spit there btw.

K.O.Kiki

kmart6 wrote: »

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1054137903331328000?s=19

Hard to know what to make of these numbers, if they are saying Rondo spit then one game more than Paul seems light, if they aren't saying he spit then strange he's getting more since Paul booked him in the eye first.

Ingram lucky to only be getting 4 as instigator to the whole thing and then 3rd man in to the scuffle throwing a punch

https://twitter.com/bobbymarks42/status/1054140581998460929?s=21

BIG fines :eek:

Meanwhile, Trae Young got a 35/11 double-double

and Nikola Jokic had a 35-12-11 PERFECT game!

ButtersSuki

Jokic had a great night, BUT the problem with him (aside from the body) is he’s only taking 11 shots. They need him to be taking a lot more. He’s too unselfish if that makes sense? He’s had some crazy stat nights like this before (20pt double double or triple double on less than 20shots). They can give him the keys to the offence but he just needs to take more shots. In a funny way, he’s playing a very Euroleague big man type game, in the NBA. I’d love to see him turn up ripped and decide “I’m taking 30 shots a game this year” to see what the ceiling is.

Young more than any other rookie will I expect have wild fluctuations from
a scoring perspective - the highs will be high, and the lows will be low. He’s an outstanding passer though, and it’s almost forgotten in his play as there’s so much focus on his shooting. He’s a dark horse for Rookie of the Year if he can find some level of consistency.

ButtersSuki

Fines, meh. The fines always make me laugh, in reality they have no impact on these guys. It’d be like fining you or me €5.

It seems they’re going on some sort of scale relative to salary though for the fines, which is interesting, though there’ll possibly be some challenge on the grounds of discrimination on this from the Players Association.

ButtersSuki

Saw some new footage on ESPN, Rondo definitely spat at Paul. I'm no fan of Paul's (from a personality perspective), but Rondo should have gotten 10+ games for that. Even that would arguably be light.

Ingram got off very, very lightly too.

Osmosis Jones

Probably the best angle of the spit

2smiggy

Quick query, I have got the league pass, using the Indian method, and am casting to my nvidia shield with the nba app. But I can't seem to get rid of the subtitles!! Any ideas

ButtersSuki

Lakers 0-3 now. In fairness they’re not the only ones with losing records - there’s been a good few surprise results already and the pace (and scoring) across the league is off the charts. Was reading possessions per game are up 10+ since 2014, which is an insane jump in such a short period of time. Add in all the extra 3s and it’s easy to see why scoring is up. Makes a big change fro the 78-76 games of the mid 90s-2000s.

Paully D

https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1054609235806507009/photo/1

ButtersSuki

Paully D wrote: »

https://twitter.com/ESPNStatsInfo/status/1054609235806507009/photo/1

Hey, don’t you know you’re not allowed criticise LeBron on here? :pac:

rushfan

ButtersSuki wrote:

Hey, don’t you know you’re not allowed criticise LeBron on here?

Is that a new thing?😕

ButtersSuki

rushfan wrote: »

Is that a new thing?��

No. It’s in the Thread Rules. :rolleyes:

Osmosis Jones

I can never quite figure out which Morris brother I dislike more