NBA 23/24:season

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122115464#Comment_122115464

You’re gonna want Porzingis back imo.

BQQ

Boston don’t really inspire confidence

if they make the finals, I don’t think they’ll win it

eagle eye

They were awful last night. Opened up a twelve point lead in the first and were down by six at the end of it. Went up by eight with I think it was four minutes left in the second and were tied at half time. They then just fell apart in the second half.

LuckyLloyd

Cleveland shot 54.7% (47 - 86) including 46.4% from 3 (13 - 28)

Boston shot 41.3% (33 - 80) including 22.9% from 3 (22.9%)

Still 6 games max series, probably 5

While some of the disparity last night (or the game dropped against Miami) is quality of play and tactical deployment, the majority of it is just shooting variance imo. And Boston are due a key series where they get the right side of jump shooting variance, may as well be the finals.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122120059#Comment_122120059

Defense was awful in that game. Weird things happening like Jrue stepping outside the circle as the Cavs were taking it in. That created big problems because it gave easy baskets to Cleveland and that then turned into players wide open on the outside as the Celtics tried to prevent the inside shots. This happened at the end of the first quarter when they had a twelve point lead and ended up behind by the end of the quarter,again in.the second when they gave up an eight point lead late in the quarter to go in level at halftime.

You'd expect that Mazzulla would have addressed that at halftime but obviously not and obviously Bickerstaff told his guys to do exactly that for the rest of the game.

So while the numbers look like it was a lucky win it was anything but. The Celtics have to address this for tonight or they'll lose again.

eagle eye

Pacers and Knicks is a great series, every game has been thoroughly enjoyable. Haliburton was great last night ably assisted by Siakam and Turner. DiVincenzo had a great night for the Knicks,Brunson had a quiet night for him with 'only' 26 points.

You just never know what's going to happen next.

py

The lack of calls in the post season is like a FU from NBA HQ for the sh!tshow of an all star game that was played out. A whole lot of non calls happening.

eagle eye

Much better from the Celtics tonight, much more like a team effort than a bunch of individuals trying to do their own things.

pjohnson

Here is how the lottery unfolded:

1. Atlanta Hawks
2. Washington Wizards
3. Houston Rockets
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Detroit Pistons
6. Charlotte Hornets
7. Portland Trail Blazers
8. San Antonio Spurs (from Toronto Raptors)
9. Memphis Grizzlies
10. Utah Jazz 
11. Chicago Bulls
12. Oklahoma City Thunder (from Houston Rockets)
13. Sacramento Kings
14. Portland Trail Blazers (from Golden State Warriors)

BQQ

spurs could be back to relevancy if they get their picks right to go with Wemby

eagle eye

Nuggets Wolves 2-2

Pacers Knicks 2-2

SlickRic

Hilarious that commentators were actually talking about the Nuggets being swept a few days ago.

py

The Knicks looked devoid of options yesterday. With the injuries they have, I am not sure they're going to have a shot of making the rest of the series competitive, nevermind winning it.

BQQ

Tom Thibodeau strikes again

Always runs his teams into the ground. He will never learn

eagle eye

Cava have a lot of work on ronight. Mitchell is out, won't play any part.

eagle eye

Celtics got it done last night but it was another disjointed performance.

Osmosis Jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122130662#Comment_122130662

Detroit falling to #5 for the third year in a row, I'd expect them to be right back in the same spot next year.

I do think the newer lottery odds help discourage full on tanking but it's also causing some teams to just get trapped down the bottom. They've been a bottom 5 team for the past 5 seasons now, their win totals are actually going down! From 19/20 to 23/24 their wins are: 20, 20, 23, 17, 14.

As a Portland fan falling hurts but I've not been too excited about this draft, and with Chauncey seemingly sticking around I'm sure we'll be back in this same position next year anyway.

EDIT: It's also now or never for Atlanta, they have options. This season there's been talk of trading Trae Young and now they can either get a package for him and add it to their #1 pick to kickstart a rebuild, trade the pick for a #2 option to Trae, or draft the best player available and hope he and Trae work well together.

Osmosis Jones

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122135676#Comment_122135676

So far it feels like they've just been winning by virtue of having more talent, not necessarily due to playing all that well. It's not exactly a problem as they're winning anyway and I don't think any of the teams remaining in the East are much of a threat to them, but they'll need to kick it up a gear if they make the finals.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122135866#Comment_122135866

If the Pacers make it past the Knicks I think they'll be a serious threat. They are a team, the Celtics are just individuals too often.

I don't think the Knicks will be a problem because you just put Holiday on Brunson and it makes it very difficult for them.

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122136071#Comment_122136071

I think you haven't made your peace with this Boston team all season. Marcus Smart and Robert Williams were players you personally liked, and your opinion (as expressed here) was that they didn't need to shake it up.

From what I can see, Boston just enjoyed a magnificent regular season (probably a top ~15 regular season ever given their net rating, including ratings for lineups when Tatum wasn't on the floor). They are about to advance to the ECF in 10 games, and their two losses involved abnormally proficient shooting days from their opponents. They are going to be strong favourites when the lines open against Indiana.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122138016#Comment_122138016

I was very unhappy about Marcus Smart and I still am. Robert Williams seemed like a great prospect and you are forgetting Brogdon. I didn't like them going but it wasn't that big of a deal. The only one I was really upset about was Marcus because he was excellent on and off the floor and a great leader too.

Anyway, Jrue has been excellent defensively, Porzingis has been a beast on both ends of the floor. We are without Porzingis now though and they don't look the same without him.

He's been better than I thought he would but he has an injury history which I talked about and here we are in the playoffs without him.

They looked a lot better with him in, like a team. Right now it looks like a group of individuals doing their own things. The talent is there to get away with that against poor teams. They would not have beaten the Cavs if Donovan Mitchell was there last night, that's if they played as they did last night. It might have been a case where they went in to the game thinking it was going to be an easy night which led to a poor performance.

Anyway, a group of individuals will not beat a really good team. I talked about the Pacers before the playoffs, did anybody have a better last 20 games than them? I don't know but they were certainly top five in their finish to the season.

The Heat last year were a team because of Jimmy Butler and a great coach.

I'm still not sold on Mazzulla. I don't think he's bad but I'm not sure he's good enough.

I want to see Tatum win a title so you are wrong to think I'm not aboard the Celtics train. I'm just a person that's able to stand back and look at things without goggles on.

If we don't do it though I hope it's the start of end of Bradley Stevens. He won't get fired this year no matter what but if we don't do it this year or next then he has to go.

Finally I'll just say that Smart was the link up guy for the Celtics, he made them a team rather than a group of individuals. If they had just brought in Porzingis and not Holiday I think they'd have had an even better regular season.

LuckyLloyd

Fair enough, but I am still struggling to understand what you are seeing really. Boston have had a great regular season, objectively, and they are about to beat two teams they were supposed to beat in 5 games each. I think you’re really squinting to see them as playing badly or as “individuals”. They are doing what needs to be done.

Moreover, once the Cavs have been dispatched it’s been a good season no matter what happens. If Stevens was okay up till this year I don’t see how another Conference Finals or Finals loss changes that.

Anyway, all will be revealed.

eagle eye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122138772#Comment_122138772

On Stevens, I said he won't be fired this year but at the end of '25 his position imo would be untenable if they haven't won the Championship by then.

What I'm seeing is a bunch of extremely talented players who are not in sync with each other. They are winning, and you said it, because individual talent. I don't think that'll work against the Pacers if they face them.

Porzingis is badly needed for the conference finals I think.

eagle eye

Brunson had a 28 point first half, Knicks up by 15.

eagle eye

Pacers pulled the lead back to six and looked like they were going to make a game of it but then the Knicks took off and lead by 21 at the end of the third. It's very hard to see a way back for Indiana in this one.

SlickRic

Nikola Jokic.

Questioned through 2 games.

Elite for the last 3.

Scored or assisted over 70 points - the first to do that with no turnovers in close to 45 years.

Again, some thought they were getting swept.

Osmosis Jones

The gap between Jokic and the league's second best player is growing more and more

eagle eye

I don't agree with the opinion that the gap is growing.

Jokic is miles ahead of anybody else but SGA has had a phenomenal season.

SlickRic

I don't agree that the gap is necessarily growing.

It's the same as it was after last year's Finals.

If the gap is growing it's simply because the next best, Giannis, has been injured / fallen off a bit. But SGA and Luka (outside of Luka's post-season so far) are coming.

A healthy Giannis isn't that far off Jokic. But Jokic is in front, obviously.

LuckyLloyd

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122140299#Comment_122140299

It really wasn't mad to have watched game two and think they might get swept. There was an unusually large gap between games two and three and Malone and his staff deserve credit for using the time wisely. Murray also healed up a bit and it looks like the rest is history.

But immediately after game two finished, it was fully reasonable to expect a 1 game suspension for Murray and to wonder how Denver as a whole might figure it out. Game 5 looked nothing like game 2. It's like a different series from a different year involving different opponents.