Outside Topic NBA Discussion - Printable Version
+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: C-House! (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: Outside Topic NBA Discussion (/thread-23146.html)
+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: C-House! (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: Outside Topic NBA Discussion (/thread-23146.html)
RE: NBA Discussion - cardcrimson - 04-04-2023
(04-04-2023, 08:10 PM)lex24 Wrote: Warriors hold OKC under 80 in first half……Ooof. Glad the defense is back up to snuff. . . .
Or perhaps on snuff.
leftcoast - Leftcoast - 04-04-2023
Golden State turns on the gas in the fourth and led by 15 prior to both teams emptying their benches.
RE: leftcoast - lex24 - 04-04-2023
(04-04-2023, 09:26 PM)Leftcoast Wrote: Golden State turns on the gas in the fourth and led by 15 prior to both teams emptying their benches.
Defensive effort increased about 150%. Crazy team. Part of it is personnel. Moody Kuminga Lamb played a fair amount lot in first half. Defensively challenged at this point to say the least. Although Moody did some good things offensively.
RE: NBA Discussion - Mick - 04-04-2023
(04-04-2023, 08:10 PM)lex24 Wrote: Warriors hold OKC under 80 in first half……
And the Warriors won in the second half. Final score, 136-125. Steph had 34, Poole had 30, DiVincenzo was +28, entire team looked great.
Warriors currently hold #5 seed in the west conference by 1/2 game at 42-38.
2022-23 NBA Standings | ESPN
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-05-2023
The Kings clinched the Pacific Division by winning in New Orleans. The Wolves clinched at least play-in with win in Brooklyn. The Nuggets' weird loss at Houston left the door open for the Grizzlies to steal the #1 seed. The Kings and Suns are both locked into their playoff seeding, but they play teams who are contesting their own play-in/off destiny still. If I'm the Kings and Suns I don't play my stars these last few games.
(Possible seed, confirmed or most likely seed)
Nuggets: @Suns, Jazz, Kings (1, 2)
Grizzlies: Pelicans, @Bucks, Thunder (1, 2)
Kings: @Mavericks, Warriors, @Nuggets (3)
Suns: Nuggets, @Lakers, Clippers (4)
Clippers: Lakers, Blazers, @Suns (5, 6, 7, 8)
Warriors: @Kings, @Blazers (5, 6, 7, 8)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lakers: @Clippers, Suns, Jazz (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Pelicans: Grizzlies, Knicks, @Wolves (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Wolves: @Spurs, Pelicans (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Thunder: @Jazz, @Grizzlies (10)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mavericks: Kings, Bulls, Spurs (9, 10)
Jazz: Thunder, Nuggets, @Lakers (10)
Winner of Lakers-Clippers tonight will move into 5th, loser will drop to 7th, putting W's in 6th.
RE: NBA Discussion - Mick - 04-05-2023
(04-05-2023, 07:08 AM)OutsiderFan Wrote: The Kings clinched the Pacific Division by winning in New Orleans. The Wolves clinched at least play-in with win in Brooklyn. The Nuggets' weird loss at Houston left the door open for the Grizzlies to steal the #1 seed. The Kings and Suns are both locked into their playoff seeding, but they play teams who are contesting their own play-in/off destiny still. If I'm the Kings and Suns I don't play my stars these last few games.
(Possible seed, confirmed or most likely seed)
Nuggets: @Suns, Jazz, Kings (1, 2)
Grizzlies: Pelicans, @Bucks, Thunder (1, 2)
Kings: @Mavericks, Warriors, @Nuggets (3)
Suns: Nuggets, @Lakers, Clippers (4)
Clippers: Lakers, Blazers, @Suns (5, 6, 7, 8)
Warriors: @Kings, @Blazers (5, 6, 7, 8)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lakers: @Clippers, Suns, Jazz (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Pelicans: Grizzlies, Knicks, @Wolves (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
Wolves: @Spurs, Pelicans (5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
Thunder: @Jazz, @Grizzlies (10)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Mavericks: Kings, Bulls, Spurs (9, 10)
Jazz: Thunder, Nuggets, @Lakers (10)
Winner of Lakers-Clippers tonight will move into 5th, loser will drop to 7th, putting W's in 6th.
Warriors can control their own destiny by defeating the Kings and Blazers on the road. I feel pretty good about the Blazers...regardless of whether they try for a last gasp season ending victory at home, or they play mainly their bench.
Which leads to the Kings. Interesting rivalry. W's have a 2-1 season lead over the Kings with all games decided by less than 10 points. Warriors have won six of eight, coming after a stretch in which they lost six of eight. The Kings have three games remaining, two on the road. If I were them, I'd rest the starters, but we'll see.
RE: NBA Discussion - Leftcoast - 04-05-2023
(04-05-2023, 07:24 AM)Mick Wrote: Which leads to the Kings. Interesting rivalry. W's have a 2-1 season lead over the Kings with all games decided by less than 10 points. Warriors have won six of eight, coming after a stretch in which they lost six of eight. The Kings have three games remaining, two on the road. If I were them, I'd rest the starters, but we'll see.
The Kings are going to the playoffs for the first time since Rick Adelman was their coach in the Triassic era of NBA Basketball. The team is young, ambitious, and has a lot to prove. The players grew up watching Stef, Klay, and the Warriors win play-offs and they live in Golden State's media shadow. They hired their head coach from Kerr's bench. They're likely to meet the Warriors in the first round of the Playoffs and want the momentum in their favor. Basically Sacramento as a city is SFs little brother and the Kings are the Warriors little brother - It's not logical but it's real.
I think the Warriors will get their best shot.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-06-2023
If I had any courage I would have made a substantial bet on the Clippers to beat the Lakers last night. Coming off eking out an OT win in Utah the night before, and their 3rd game in four nights, against a Clippers team that had 3 days off, it just didn’t seem possible the Lakers could win. Sure enough, the Clippers raced out to a 19 point halftime lead and hung on for the win, vaulting themselves into 5th, pushing Warriors to 6th, and dropping Lakers to 7th.
Given the Grizzlies lost in OT to Pelicans, the top 4 WC seeds are locked in. Only 6-10 are still being contested. How do the top 4 handle it? The Nuggets and Suns play tonight in a game that means absolutely nothing for either team and has zero impact on seedlings at all for anyone.
Then the Suns play at Lakers and host Clippers Sunday. They can avoid Lakers in first round and go a long way toward putting them in play-in by beating them Friday. The Warriors will have a must win game to avoid play-in in Portland on Sunday. The Warriors have a 74% chance of getting the 5 seed if they win in Sac and Portland, so they might not be too motivated to win both. But will be fascinating to see if the Warriors can in fact rise to the occasion to win what for them is a must win road game. The only other such game they won was in Dallas a couple weeks ago. If they win in Sac or Portland they will show they need to be taken seriously in playoffs. But even if they drop both, the return of Andrew Wiggins could make a sizable impact.
I’m really bummed Wiggins has been ruled out of last 2 games, but it is understandable why.
The Mavericks staved off elimination and get to play a Bulls team locked into 10th in East, and Spurs. I like their chances to get it and knock out OKC on Sunday.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-07-2023
Jazz eliminated by Thunder, so it most likely comes down to can Mavs beat Bulls tonight, because OKC should lose at Memphis and the Mavs host the Spurs on Sunday.
A look at the odds for the seemingly crucial Friday night games makes one wonder WTF is going on. Lakers -7 over Suns. Warriors -5.5 over Kings. Then you look at the injury reports for the teams playing those games, and in one case it makes sense…
The Kings have Sabonis, Huerter, Mitchell, Monk, and Lyles listed as doubtful, suggesting the Kings in fact are resting key players for what is a meaningless game for them. Of course you know many Warriors fans will make fools of themselves on net today claiming the Kings want to lose so they avoid Warriors in playoffs, which is a dumb take.
As for the other game, the Lakers list James, Davis, and Russell as doubtful, and the Suns have just one player who rarely plays listed as doubtful. Kinda makes me think odds makers expect the Suns injury report to fill up some time before the game on Friday. The Nuggets didn’t play any of their starters in Phoenix (and still only lost by 4), so don’t know how hard Phoenix tried to win that game. It’s hard to believe Paul, Booker, or Durant will play tonight, no matter what the injury report says.
This is what I meant by certain teams maybe resting their key players, having an impact on the results this final weekend. The Knicks are also resting some key guys in New Orleans tonight, so the W’s will likely need to win to stay ahead of Lakers and Pelicans. They now have a great opportunity being handed to them to do this and avoid play-in. Can they summon the will and intensity to win in Sacramento tonight?
In any case, with just 2 games left, the Clippers, Warriors, Lakers, Pelicans, and Wolves can all still finish anywhere from 5 and 9.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-08-2023
Mark Cuban should refund all fans who bought tickets for last night's Mavericks game against the Bulls and Sunday's against the Spurs. Here's why.
The Mavericks had a real shot to earn the 10th seed in play-in if they beat the Bulls, who were already locked into the 10th seed in East and were resting their best players. At the same time, the Mavericks owe the Knicks a first round pick if it is outside the Top 10. In an absurd coincidence, they went into the game tied with the Bulls for 10th, meaning if the Bulls won, the Mavs could almost ensure keeping the pick. The Mavericks didn't play Kyrie Irving, and played Doncic just 13 minutes, then fringe rotation guys, to stop pursuing the play-in, and basically lose on purpose.
This one game after pushing all their chips in to beat the Kings to have a shot at play-in. Can you imagine buying tickets to see a highly competitive NBA game, and then showing up to find a pre-season game has broken out, with both teams not caring at all about winning. Sure the players who played wanted to win, but the paying customers were totally cheated out of what they paid to see - their team giving everything with its best players to win. Mark Cuban should allow anyone in the building for free on Sunday, as both teams will be trying to lose to improve draft positioning.
On a similar note, the Kings and Suns rested their key players rather than really put in max effort to beat the Warriors and Lakers, and neither did.
Given the Knicks rested their key guys and laid down for the Pelicans like the Suns and Kings, the Warriors clinched nothing other than the opportunity to avoid play-in by winning in Portland. Sure was interesting how Anthony Davis and LeBron James improved from doubtful to playing on Friday night...
The Nets clinched the 6th seed Friday night, making every single game in the Eastern Conference on Sunday meaningless for playoff seeding. No fewer than four games impact playoff seedings in West, and would be five if the Mavs didn't tank to hold on to a first round draft pick in June.
RE: NBA Discussion - lex24 - 04-08-2023
(04-08-2023, 10:28 AM)OutsiderFan Wrote: Mark Cuban should refund all fans who bought tickets for last night's Mavericks game against the Bulls and Sunday's against the Spurs. Here's why.
The Mavericks had a real shot to earn the 10th seed in play-in if they beat the Bulls, who were already locked into the 10th seed in East and were resting their best players. At the same time, the Mavericks owe the Knicks a first round pick if it is outside the Top 10. In an absurd coincidence, they went into the game tied with the Bulls for 10th, meaning if the Bulls won, the Mavs could almost ensure keeping the pick. The Mavericks didn't play Kyrie Irving, and played Doncic just 13 minutes, then fringe rotation guys, to stop pursuing the play-in, and basically lose on purpose.
This one game after pushing all their chips in to beat the Kings to have a shot at play-in. Can you imagine buying tickets to see a highly competitive NBA game, and then showing up to find a pre-season game has broken out, with both teams not caring at all about winning. Sure the players who played wanted to win, but the paying customers were totally cheated out of what they paid to see - their team giving everything with its best players to win. Mark Cuban should allow anyone in the building for free on Sunday, as both teams will be trying to lose to improve draft positioning.
On a similar note, the Kings and Suns rested their key players rather than really put in max effort to beat the Warriors and Lakers, and neither did.
Given the Knicks rested their key guys and laid down for the Pelicans like the Suns and Kings, the Warriors clinched nothing other than the opportunity to avoid play-in by winning in Portland. Sure was interesting how Anthony Davis and LeBron James improved from doubtful to playing on Friday night...
The Nets clinched the 6th seed Friday night, making every single game in the Eastern Conference on Sunday meaningless for playoff seeding. No fewer than four games impact playoff seedings in West, and would be five if the Mavs didn't tank to hold on to a first round draft pick in June.
I never thought Doncic and Irving would work. Both need the ball in their hands. Neither are particularly effective off ball. Neither defend. That’s what I’d be ticked about were I a Mavs fan.
As for teams locked into their playoff slots, it’s coaching negligence to play the stars in games 80-81.
Looks like Warriors finish 7th, as they lose tiebreakers with Clippers and Lakers. No one but themselves to blame.
Let me wipe the egg off my face, Warriors are 1 up on Lakers. Hopefully they finish tied with Clippers. Finishing 6th is better than finishing 5th.
I keep calling for top seeds to pick their opponents. Be great drama. And add to the meaning of regular season. 1 goes first, then. 2 etc. Do it every round.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-08-2023
Well lookee here... https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/36121082/nba-investigating-mavs-sitting-key-players-amid-playoff-hunt
How funny and awesome would it be if the NBA took the pick away from the Mavs anyway for their purposeful tanking!??!?
After for weeks wishing and hoping the Warriors could get the 6th seed to play #3 Sacramento, I'm now firmly in the camp of wanting the Suns in the first round. Just bring it on. Must beat them eventually anyway to get to Finals, which is all the Warriors care about.
The final games that matter:
Saturday
Blazers at Clippers
Wolves at Spurs
Sunday
Clippers at Suns
Warriors at Blazers
Jazz at Lakers
Pelicans at Wolves
If the Clippers beat Blazers and Suns, they will be #5.
If the Warriors win in Portland they will be #5 or #6
If the Clippers split and the Warriors win in Portland, the Warriors will be #5
if the Clippers split and Warriors lose in Portland, the Warriors will be #7 or #8
After that, it gets too complicated, with the Lakers and Pelicans results needing to be factored in too.
I'm not even considering the possibility of Clippers losing Saturday and Sunday.
The Clippers and Warriors really have no choice but to win because if they lose they are at great risk of being in play-in games. What makes the Clippers game fascinating is the Suns could be putting up quite a fight because they are trying to get the Warriors in first round.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-09-2023
As expected, Clippers and TWolves took care of business on Saturday.
The Suns and Blazers appear content to lay down for the Clippers and Warriors, based on the fact the road teams are both 15+ point favorites, which doesn’t happen unless odds makers know what’s up.
Suns want to rest key guys to avoid injury. Blazers want to lose to enhance draft position, which they can do if Magic beat Heat in Miami. And the Clippers and Warriors must win to avoid play-in.
Pelicans at Wolves is the only game really being fought hard for by both teams on final day, as they vying for the 8th seed. At first glance, winning to play at Lakers isn’t ideal, but the loser then must host the Thunder, win, and then play at the winner of today’s game for right to face Nuggets. This is the game ESPN should be televising today, NOT Jazz at Lakers which will be layup drill for Lakers. Game means nothing for Lakers if Clips and W’s win as expected.
RE: NBA Discussion - gocard14 - 04-09-2023
Well Ws took care of business.
Clippers almost gagged against the suns backups, which would actually have worked out in their favor as the pelicans lost.
Fortunately the pelicans game went down to the wire, forcing the clippers to play to win and not call it early.
End result is the best possible outcome for the Ws. We avoid the Nuggets or suns until the conference finals; at which point Wiggins should be up to speed. We could still easily lose either or the first two rounds, but couldn’t ask for a better draw given the season we had.
RE: NBA Discussion - Mick - 04-09-2023
Warriors season record against potential opponents:
Conference Quarterfinals: 3-1 vs. Kings (130-125, 116-113, 115-122, 119-97)
Conference Semifinals: 2-2 vs. Memphis (123-109, 122-120, 110-131, 119-133
Conference Finals: 0-3 vs. Denver (123-128, 117-134, 110-112)
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-10-2023
Man, the Wolves sure did set themselves up for failure with their antics on Sunday. Rudy Gobert punches Kyle Anderson on sidelines during game and is sent home. Best perimeter defender Jayden McDaniels breaks his hand punching wall going to locker room at half time. Honestly don't know how the Pelicans blew this game they led most of the way. Could it be that Towns and Edwards raised their games and the Wolves are just better without Gobert?
West play-in predictions
10 Thunder - out
9 Pelicans
8 Wolves
7 Lakers - advance to play Grizzlies as 7
Pelicans beat Wolves to play Nuggets as 8
East play-in predictions
10 Bulls - out
9 Raptors
8 Hawks
7 Heat - advance to play Celtics as 7
Raptors beat Hawks to play Bucks as 8
Warrior at Kings set for 8:30ET Saturday on ABC.
When is the last time the Kings played in primetime of over the air network broadcast?
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-14-2023
Well, I got the Lakers right, barely, as the T-Wolves gagged away a game they had in hand.
Miami looked positively awful against the Hawks.
Thunder were very impressive against the Pelicans.
Had I known Demar DeRozan's daughter could make the Raptors miss 18 of 36 Free Throws by screaming whenever they shot one, I would have picked the Bulls to beat the Raptors.
I'm going with the underdogs for the 8th place games tonight; Thunder over T-Wolves and Bulls over Heat.
Anthony Edwards could be banged up for Wolves and Lu Dort will make his life miserable regardless. The Heat just don't have enough offense against a good on defense Bulls team.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-15-2023
Where did Zach LaVine go in Miami on Friday night? Demar DeRozan showed up, but his daughter wasn’t there for FT defense like in Toronto. Too bad it it didn’t come down to a last shot. I thought the Bulls would validate my faith in them when up 5 with mins left, but they went ice cold down stretch, while Jimmy Butler took over the game. Warriors fans complain about Jordan Poole, but Tyler Herro was picked higher,
Can’t explain the T-Wolves. They are the most mercurial team in the NBA. It seems they are capable of any outcome on any given day. I thought for sure they would be down and Thunder pumped up, but that sure wasn’t the case. Josh Giddey scored 6 points after Thunder needed all of his 31 vs. Pels. Kind of the definition of regressing to the mean.
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-16-2023
Only two competitive games on Day 1 of the NBA playoffs.
Evan Mobley was awful for the Cavs, missing so many shots at the rim, you'd think he played for Stanford. How the hell did the Mavericks think letting Jaylen Brunson go was a good idea?
Warriors fans will say if Wiggins went more than 1-8 from 3pt line, W's would have won, but Kevin Huerter was 0-5 on 3-12 too. The Warriors gave up 8 more offensive rebounds than they got. That was the difference in the game.
Who is more likely to win their series: The Kings up 1-0 on Warriors or Cavs down 1-0 to Knicks?
RE: NBA Discussion - OutsiderFan - 04-17-2023
I’ll just continue talking to myself here on the off chance anyone decides to chime in…
One of the greatest axioms in basketball is if you can’t stop the other team from beating you off the dribble you have no chance to win. The Warriors are getting killed off the dribble by the Kings.
The W’s margin for error is way too small for them to be able to overcome 22 turnovers like in Game 2.
The bench was atrocious minus GP2. Kuminga played just 4 mins and was -10. Poole was abysmal. Just 4 pts in 16 minutes on 1-7 and 2 FTs. DDV -13 and didn’t even take a shot.
And Draymond Green. Just another dumb overreaction that hurt his team and very well may have cost the W’s a chance to win.
If the key stat in Game 2 was Kings 17 ORebs, in Game 2 it was Warriors just 18 assists. I had a feeling they were in trouble when they had only 8 assists at halftime. The Kings are suppose to be terrible on defense and the W’s are making them look great with their careless and foolish play.