2017-18 NBA Season Part III: Warriors, come out and play-yay

[M2]

10 teams alive in the west. Maybe 10 alive in the east. And who's tanking for Doncic?

[Kingspoint]

I love Stu Jackson. Nice to listen to him (with Fratello) on nbatv.

A great analyst like Stu, Double-D, Brent Barry, Steve Smith makes the season enjoyable. Stu is right on top of things. He's really informed, unlike the jokers McHale, Shaq, Charles, Kenny Smith, Weber (who is really clueless).

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Charlotte versus Philly is churning out as advertised. Bummer someone has to lose. Charlotte has hit a few more three's for the early difference.

[Revering4Blue]

10 teams alive in the west. Maybe 10 alive in the east. And who's tanking for Doncic?

Or....

Starvin' for Marvin..

Tankin' for Ayton...

Poor for Porter..

Stinking for Sexton..


I'll be here all week...Don't forget to tip your servers.

[Kingspoint]

Belinelli doing his best Belinelli impression...stand around and watch everyone else do the work. Embiid is doing everything he can, (his 3rd straight back-to-back appearance), but when he exits the game, there's no presence of anyone on the floor establishing their will against Charlotte.

It's an impressive effort what Charlotte is trying to do to make the playoffs.

They posted a great stat tonight showing the top-5 teams of Assist-per-bucket ratio, GSW, ATL, BOS, SAS, PHI. Whenever you are in a stat on style of Offense or style of Defense with GSW, SAS and BOS, you're playing the right way. That style of Offensive play is the most difficult to defend. That style of play also keeps everyone involved, making them more willing to play Defense. So, you see a stat like this and you have to know that Philly's success will come soon. The wins will be there, soon. That style gets them leads, but making buckets the last five minutes of a game are more difficult. They are winning games they would have lost earlier. They may still come back and win this one. Philly's Starters will have to do it all against a Charlotte Starting five playing very well.

Howard with 5 fouls going into the 4th. Embiid or Simmons could get him out quickly.

[Kingspoint]

Don't want to sleep on IND @ MIL, tied at half, Detroit trying to stay relevant vs ORL, WAS trying to continue to show that five is greater than one vs TOR, and MN @ UTA later.

[Kingspoint]

Every loss by Charlotte puts another nail in their coffin.

Quality win by the Sixers. Fantastic balance from the Sixers' Starting Five.

[Kingspoint]

Detroit and Charlotte seem to be eliminated the same way the Lakers seem to be. It would take a miracle now.

The 8 teams in the East are set with only seedings to be determined. Wade has righted the ship in Miami.

[M2]

Embiid is doing everything he can, (his 3rd straight back-to-back appearance), but when he exits the game, there's no presence of anyone on the floor establishing their will against Charlotte.

That's what I was saying yesterday. Embiid carries that team.

[Kingspoint]

That's what I was saying yesterday. Embiid carries that team.

Great team response to Charlotte's valiant effort. Again, the Sixers' Starting five were incredibly balanced, all contributing Defensively and Offensively.


Towns got himself tossed. That's two technicals in the first half last night and tonight by Minnesota. They can't keep their cool right now. They are off until Thursday to think about it.

[Kingspoint]

Minnesota continues to lose their cool. This team isn't going to make the playoffs. Too immature. Teague with the flagrant-2 foul on Rubio.

[Kingspoint]

Now Thibs gets another technical. Inexcusable getting into it with a player. Immature. Is there ever a moment when Thibs isn't whining?

[texasdave]

Here's a little statistical oddity: 10 players saw time on the court for the Pacers last night. Nine finished on the positive side of the +/- scale. The only player who did not was Victor Oladipo, who led the team in scoring on Friday.

[Stray]

Devin Booker became the 3rd youngest to 4K points last night behind Lebron and Durant. In his last 6 he's averaging 33-6-4. Such a talent wasting away on a bad team.

[M2]

Devin Booker became the 3rd youngest to 4K points last night behind Lebron and Durant. In his last 6 he's averaging 33-6-4. Such a talent wasting away on a bad team.

There's a case to be made that the Suns might have something in a few years. Booker's a premium scorer. T.J. Warren's a solid mid-range guy with a solid mid-range contract. Advanced stats like Elfrid Payton, at least they think he's decent. If Josh Jackson, Dragan Bender and Marquese Criss can mature into something, Phoenix could have a quality core. I have no clue as to whether that will happen, but add in the high pick this season and I can see why Suns fans might have a glimmer of hope.

[SteelSD]

That's what I was saying yesterday. Embiid carries that team.

Yep. He does, and he completely neutralized Dwight Howard last night. Also, the Illyasova (who was great last night) signing was very important for the bench; which is starting to look like an actual NBA bench.

It was interesting that Amir Johnson was a DNP-CD last night with Holmes getting 12 minutes. Illyasova got the remainder of the backup C minutes in a lineup that now has scary length off the bench- even when going "small"- as well as from the starting five. When Saric got into foul trouble, Illyasova then just slid to the four-spot when Embiid returned.

[Kingspoint]

Ilyasova was really solid. Fit right in right away.

[Kingspoint]

I spent an hour-plus looking up every advanced stat I could find covering the last 8 games, last 10 games and last 15 games.

On every stat that's meaningful where doing well in that stat usually leads to winning, it was consistent across the board....

Toronto is dominating the NBA right now.

They are followed by Houston and Golden State.

But then it's Philadelphia by themselves, so the Sixers were doing fantastic before adding Ilyasova and Belinelli, but now they are legitimate. The #3 seed is very possible for them. Only Toronto in the East is playing better. There are several key stats where Philly is #1, #2 or #3.

Toronto is playing at another level right now though that Houston's and Golden State's other level can't even match.

When looking at just the Defensive stats, Portland is right there with Philly, Houston and Golden State (Toronto playing in another Universe Defensively), thanks mostly because of Moe Harkless. Hopefully, Harkless doesn't miss any time, but he's questionable tonight, where his length will be missed against Westbrook, George and Anthony.

[Kingspoint]

Right now I would vote for Dwane Casey for Coach-of-the-Year and Bobby Webster as Executive-of-the-Year with Madai Ujiri getting a ton of credit.

[Kingspoint]

I don't like to get into individual matchups, but Irving vs Harden will be classic tonight.

Boston vs Houston,....ABC matchup.

Sub-games worth watching:

OKC @ POR (Harkless' and Turner's injuries are the most impactual issues)
DEN @ CLE (Milsap's 3rd game back, ready to roll)
LAL @ SAS (Lakers are really playing well)
DET @ MIA (Detroit's last chance to remain relevant,...Miami can put the final nail in this coffin)


Carmelo has only shot 50% from the field three, maybe four times in his last 20 games. His absence isn't a negative factor for OKC.

[texasdave]

The Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of the 4 Cavalier's starters not named LeBron James are as follows: Osman (10.6), Smith (8.3), Thompson (13.7) and Hill (10.9). 15.0 is considered the average for the league. I hope James has a strong, strong back.

[Revering4Blue]

10 teams alive in the west. Maybe 10 alive in the east. And who's tanking for Doncic?

In inverse order:

Clippers - Fighting for playoff spot

Utah, Detroit and Charlotte - See Clippers

Lakers - No incentive to tank, as they don't own their own 1st rounder

Knicks - Playing Frank N., Emmanuel Mudiay and Trey Burke (among others) instead of Jarret Jack and Lance Thomas = Wise roster management; not tanking. Were very much in the playoff race with Porzingis.

Bulls - Emphasizing youngsters. Then again, heavy minutes to Robin Lopez and Justin Holiday wouldn't result in more wins, IMO.

Brooklyn - See Lakers. Plus, over-and-above losing Jeremy Lin for the season on opening night, have endured several lengthy losses of players. Interesting group of youngsters, though. Also, the Nets own Toronto's 1st.

Orlando - Another team bruised-and-battered all year. They weren't going anywhere with Elfrid Payton, but have only a second round pick to show for the '14 Draft night fleecing by Sam Hinkie (No surprise there).

Kings - Received, IMO, a dreadful return for George Hill. I can understand emphasizing youngsters, but I don't really understand the logic of multiple DNP-CDs for Zach Randolph, as doing so leaves them thin at PF behind Skal, particularly, when either Willie Cauly-Stein and Kosta Koufas are out. On a related note, given good health (no certainty), Harry Giles = an extra '18 lottery pick.

Hawks - Operating under the assumption that front offices (as opposed to players) tank, yup, they're tanking. IMO, it's indefensible to receive nary a second rounder for Bellineli or Illyasova. Dedmon, too, could've fetched a future asset. When Schroder, a ridulously compensated Bazemore and John Collins are your "cornerstones" moving forward, you're in dire need of a very high pick in a stacked draft.

Mavericks - Regardless of Mark Cuban's recent comments on the subject, I, for one, don't see a thinly-disguised tanking job -- the prime example: '16 Lakers with Kobe -- based around a franchise icon (Dirk Nowitzki, in this case). Quite the contrary, the trade for McDermott, while no game-changer by any means, could be a net positive and Nerlens Noel is back.

Suns- Honestly, even with several youngsters with high ceilings in tow, who expected much from this bunch in the first place? Granted, they've played without both centers (Chandler and Len) several nights. Whether or not either or both were actually sidelined is up for debate and may send up a red flag. Ditto for waiting so long to fill the PG void with Brandon Knight sidelined for the year. The bright-spot, Booker has shown that he can run the team in spurts, while displaying a relatively new facet of his game: posting up.

Grizzlies - Hard to believe that this team was 7-6 with Conley, as it's a poorly constructed (too many PF types, now including Chandler Parsons, who will be hard-pressed to play significant minutes as SF anymore) roster. Holding on to the likely soon-to-bolt Tyreke Evans at the trading deadline made no sense unless I'm missing something, especially when you're hard-pressed for future draft picks (the Celtics own the Grizzlies' '19 first). Two second rounders for Evans are better than nothing, which they're likely to be left with.

[texasdave]

The Knicks were not in any kind of playoff race even with Porzingis. They were 23-32 when he went down, and had lost 15 of their previous 21 games. They weren't making the playoffs.

[Kingspoint]

The Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of the 4 Cavalier's starters not named LeBron James are as follows: Osman (10.6), Smith (8.3), Thompson (13.7) and Hill (10.9). 15.0 is considered the average for the league. I hope James has a strong, strong back.

At Halftime, Cleveland, as a team, has only one Steal and no blocks. Not that those stats are indicative of effort, because they aren't, but when you only have one total in a half, that is. They do have 8 Offensive boards, so it could just be that Denver is taking care of the ball (something Portland is 2nd best in the league at, btw).

And, "No Soup for You!, J.R. Smith", who hasn't taken a shot in 14 minutes.

[Kingspoint]

And Sacramento used Memphis' 2017 1st Rounder on Jackson.

[Kingspoint]

OKC is +13 with George and Westbrook in the lineup and +6 with Carmelo added to them.

- - - Updated - - -

35 Assists for Denver in Cleveland.

Every team in the East is looking for Cleveland losses to try to grab for themselves that 3rd seed.

[Kingspoint]

It's not a coincidence that Portland is 7-2 with Moe returning to the Starting lineup. They struggled against Minnesota when he left.

[Revering4Blue]

The Knicks were not in any kind of playoff race even with Porzingis. They were 23-32 when he went down, and had lost 15 of their previous 21 games. They weren't making the playoffs.

Likely not, but they were only around four or five games out at the time KP went down. They were in the same position as the Hornets are right now. Oh. well...Moot point now.

[M2]

Looks like the Celtics will have both the Grizzlies and Kings 1st rounders in 2019.

[Kingspoint]

It gets overlooked that George is one of the game's best players, and in my opinion, the best player on the OKC roster. Without Anthony, George gets a lot more touches, and that's a good thing for OKC.

[Revering4Blue]

And Sacramento used Memphis' 2017 1st Rounder on Jackson.

IIRC, that pick was originally New Orleans', and became Zach Collins, who, of course, was dealt for original Blazers' draftee's Harry Giles and Jackson. The aforementioned two had better work out for the Kings in order to salvage something from the Cousins heist.

[Kingspoint]

Looks like the Celtics will have both the Grizzlies and Kings 1st rounders in 2019.

It's just not fair.

[texasdave]

The Jazz better make hay in their next 9 games, because their schedule down the stretch is brutal. In Utah's final 10 games they have roadies versus Spurs, Warriors, Lakers, Timberwolves and Trailblazers. They're at home against Memphis, Boston, LAL, Golden State and LAC.

[Kingspoint]

Who currently has the 5th best record in the NBA?

Your Portland Trailblazers!

Rip City, Baby!

- - - Updated - - -

Utah @ Portland ....... Final game of the year. Going to be awesome.

[Kingspoint]

The Jazz better make hay in their next 9 games, because their schedule down the stretch is brutal. In Utah's final 10 games they have roadies versus Spurs, Warriors, Lakers, Timberwolves and Trailblazers. They're at home against Memphis, Boston, LAL, Golden State and LAC.

You want to play the teams you're trying to catch, so SAS, MIN, POR and LAC are all good to have on the schedule. While the Lakers are playing very well, they need to sweep those two games (just as Portland needs to win @ LAL on Mon). The Boston and two Warrior games are the tough ones. Portland has the same three games. There are no easy games left (except the Knicks at home Tuesday for Portland, but that's even a sleeper game on the 2nd night of a back-to-back).

Tie-breakers are going to come into play throughout both conferences.

[Kingspoint]

Boston/Houston was better than advertised.

[Kingspoint]

Crowder is scoring the ball well for Utah. He fits in well with his Defense and hustle.

[BillDoran]

C.J. McCollum for Andre Drummond, who says no?

[Kingspoint]

C.J. McCollum for Andre Drummond, who says no?

I say, "No". Zach Collins is our Center of the near future. Don't even know if we'll match Nurkic' offer. Probably will as Paul Allen will be ready to go all in, but Zach is the real deal....far superior in most areas to what Drummond offers. Drummond is better now, but Zach already does things Drummond and Nurkic will never do. Zach is three years ahead of his projection. Most bigs take 5-7 years to develop but Zach is developing right before our eyes and is earning every minute of his play. We'll lose Ed Davis this off-season. Zach will get all of those minutes at Center next year. Swanigan will get Zach's minutes at PF.

[BillDoran]

I say, "No". Zach Collins is our Center of the near future. Don't even know if we'll match Nurkic' offer. Probably will as Paul Allen will be ready to go all in, but Zach is the real deal....far superior in most areas to what Drummond offers. Drummond is better now, but Zach already does things Drummond and Nurkic will never do. Zach is three years ahead of his projection. Most bigs take 5-7 years to develop but Zach is developing right before our eyes and is earning every minute of his play. We'll lose Ed Davis this off-season. Zach will get all of those minutes at Center next year. Swanigan will get Zach's minutes at PF.

I'm optimistic about Collins too. And while it's probably not fair to trot out the numbers of a 20-year-old big man, he's been trash statistically. Offensively, he's been cast as a shooter to unfortunate results (40 percent shooting, 34 percent from 3). He's got good presence on D and his numbers from his year at Gonzaga portend well as a guy who can rebound and protect the rim. But I'm having a hard time counting on Collins just yet. It's hard to tell what his offensive personality will be. Is he a shooter or a paint scorer? Right now, he's neither.

I do think Collins and Drummond could co-exist quite well, especially if Stotts sees Collins as a shooter. You'd certainly lose a lot at SG, but I think whether you see Collins and Drummond as a future tandem or not, Drummond alone will replace an outgoing Nurkic and then some. The defense sees a big boost as CJ's replacement will likely be better and Drummond adds rebounding and defense (currently the league leader in Defensive Plus/Minus).

Ultimately, I think it's easier to find a SG than a impactful big. Drummond-McCollum is effectively cash-neutral, and if you could somehow offload Turner (fat chance), you've got some flexibility in your roster for the first time in ages. If you can't, you've got a good, more pace-forward, defensive-centric team going into 2018-2019. If you can add some scoring punch somehow someway, I think it's a better squad than essentially repeating this season. Re-signing Nurk will ruin the team financially going forward as well. Locked into a big three of Nurk, Dame and C.J. is no way to compete in the NBA.

[Kingspoint]

I'm optimistic about Collins too. And while it's probably not fair to trot out the numbers of a 20-year-old big man, he's been trash statistically. Offensively, he's been cast as a shooter to unfortunate results (40 percent shooting, 34 percent from 3). He's got good presence on D and his numbers from his year at Gonzaga portend well as a guy who can rebound and protect the rim. But I'm having a hard time counting on Collins just yet. It's hard to tell what his offensive personality will be. Is he a shooter or a paint scorer? Right now, he's neither.

I do think Collins and Drummond could co-exist quite well, especially if Stotts sees Collins as a shooter. You'd certainly lose a lot at SG, but I think whether you see Collins and Drummond as a future tandem or not, Drummond alone will replace an outgoing Nurkic and then some. The defense sees a big boost as CJ's replacement will likely be better and Drummond adds rebounding and defense (currently the league leader in Defensive Plus/Minus).

Ultimately, I think it's easier to find a SG than a impactful big. Drummond-McCollum is effectively cash-neutral, and if you could somehow offload Turner (fat chance), you've got some flexibility in your roster for the first time in ages. If you can't, you've got a good, more pace-forward, defensive-centric team going into 2018-2019. If you can add some scoring punch somehow someway, I think it's a better squad than essentially repeating this season. Re-signing Nurk will ruin the team financially going forward as well. Locked into a big three of Nurk, Dame and C.J. is no way to compete in the NBA.

Portland is one of the Top-5 Defensive teams right now. Oddly, they are average Offensively, but that problem has been solved.

Look at any of the Defensive metrics that translate directly to winning games on the season or over the last 8, 10 or 15 games, and Portland averages right around 5th. The things they are superior at, doesn't get noticed unless you're paying close attention and are watching most of their games.

Portland is bettered by only one team in the NBA at playing excellent Defense without fouling. A lot of that can be attributed to their hiring of a former ref to show them how to do this in practice. Teams must practice. That's how you correct mistakes and improve cohesion.

No team is better in the NBA, except maybe one, at valuing each and every posession. I get on Portland about it all the time, but like the Blazers themselves, I expect more from them. All other teams are more careless with the ball and with each posession whether that's from poor shot selection, or turnovers, or arguing with the refs when they themselves screw up. Nurkic is the only Blazer who whines or complains. Nurkic gets pulled from games by Stotts for it. Dame pulls Nurkic aside to remind him to focus on his tasks. By staying focused, Portland accomplishes more per posession.

Portland's philosophy is to force teams into taking mid-range shots. Consequently, thanks to the interior Defense of Nurkic, Zach and Ed Davis, all three who were not part of this team for most of last season, Portland allows fewer points in the Paint than any other team but maybe one. The return of Harkless' game, upped to another level over last season, combined with a league-best at PF from Aminu, good Defense from both Lillard and McCollum this season, the elimination of the Defensive-challenged Crabbe for the getting better every day play of Connaughton, and very good Defense of Napier and Turner, and the Blazers have the 5th best record in the NBA because they are around 5th Defensively in the league. They hang their hats on their Defense this season.

Portland's rebounding is among the league's best. This earns them more posessions than their opponents. Combine that with their turnover differential and they get even more posessions than their opponent.

The elephant in the room is their league worst ball movement, last in the league in Assists and their refusal by Lillard, Turner and C.J. to fast break...dead last in the league at 7 points per game. But, Harkless' return to the starting lineup has changed this, doubling their fast break points because of his steals, blocks, deflections, switches, pressure on the ball, pressure on their best Offensive player, and insistance on pushing the ball up the floor. Harkless alone has changed the pace of the Blazers creating easier opportunities with more fast breaks. With Harkless starting now, they can be a Top-10 Offense, and instead of 18 Assists per game, 24 is the norm, an increase of 33%. It also puts Turner with Napier, Connaughton, Ed Davis and Zach Collins, a group that can extend leads, and not give them up.

There are many more Defensive areas Portland excels at, such as forcing opponents off the three-point line. They are normally Top-5 under Stotts, but are down a bit this year, mainly because Nurkic won't come out on a pick-and-pop. Zach Collins can and will.

[Kingspoint]

Great road win for the Pacers over Washington.

Philadelphia passes Washington with a road win @ Milwaukee, where they started on fire hitting 9 of 10.

[Kingspoint]

New Orleans looks like they'll keep pace with Portland, cruising easily over the Mavericks tonight. Pelicans will pass Minnesota tonight for 4th in the West.

Clippers look to add another win as they catch up in games played. Clippers are tied with Minnesota, Denver and Oklahoma City in the loss column and only one behind San Antonio.

Utah is like a shark waiting outside an overflowing lifeboat waiting for someone to fall overboard. They know multiple bodies will be coming their way very soon. Their stomach is growling. They can smell the blood.

[SteelSD]

Dario Saric is having the quarter of his life- 15 points on 6-6 shooting (2-2 from deep) and a block. Simmons has 8 Assists.

At 4+ min left in the first...

[SteelSD]

The Sixers have absolutely turned the ball over too often, but what a disgraceful show by the officials. In the third quarter, the Sixers had the Bucks in the penalty for over 8 minutes and the officials just flat out ate their whistles while the Bucks were able to hold, reach, grab, and slap at anything and everything. Flat out awful.

[Kingspoint]

The Sixers have absolutely turned the ball over too often, but what a disgraceful show by the officials. In the third quarter, the Sixers had the Bucks in the penalty for over 8 minutes and the officials just flat out ate their whistles while the Bucks were able to hold, reach, grab, and slap at anything and everything. Flat out awful.

The Sixers have been among the league leaders in getting to the free-throw line. I imagine that changed some for the 2nd half? Giannis is not allowed to be touched, nor does he get called for the 25 fouls he commits per game. He gets away with a ton of holding (like Westbrook, but worse), and some of that flows over to the other players. At least that's what I've observed from the small sample size I've watched of the Bucks this season. They had been playing well post-Kidd, bit then ran into a tough stretch of games where they lost them all.

[Kingspoint]

Just looked at the 26 Turnovers, but did the Sixers allow the non-calls to distract their focus and concentrate more on the officials instead of the Bucks? Didn't see any of it, so I'm asking. Young teams can fall victim to that.

[Kingspoint]

A road game the Sixers almost pulled out. Even when the Sixers have lost over the last two months, they've been in the game. They are a tough matchup for everybody every night.

Don't look now, but Sacramento has the correct people getting minutes and they are playing well. I mentioned in the pre-season that Skal should start al season. He's finally getting the minutes and he's producing. Fox is producing. Bogdanovic and Mason and Hield are producing. Cauley-Stein is out tonight, but he just needs to keep getting minutes. He's much better now than he was at the beginning of the year. Josh Jackson, The Elder, has been disappointing, but his age will allow him to improve quickly next season if he puts in the work this off-season. All the Sacramento players (non-veterans, bit Koufos should stick around) need to spend the entire off-season together in Sacramento practicing with the Coaches and teammates. That's how they could improve the quickest. Giles will make Koufos expendable, which is why Koufos should stick around if he wants a job there.

[SteelSD]

Just looked at the 26 Turnovers, but did the Sixers allow the non-calls to distract their focus and concentrate more on the officials instead of the Bucks? Didn't see any of it, so I'm asking. Young teams can fall victim to that.

Basically, what began happening after the Bucks were down big is that they started grabbing and holding the Sixers' three-point shooters coming off screens and hacking Embiid when double-teaming him. They were allowed to do that for the entire second half. Many of the turnovers looked like passes thrown right into the hands of Bucks defenders, but a big cause of that was the lack of timing and the need to make absolutely pin-point passes through almost no window as the shooters were being held. By the way, that is the M.O. of teams looking to beat the Sixers- hold and grab Reddick and Belinelli off screens and hope the officials don't see it. If it's not being called, they just continue as they did tonight with impunity.

Don't get me wrong- the Bucks have great length even with their rotation players off the bench. But it was brutal. The Bucks didn't go on a 21-0 run to end the third quarter just because they turned up their defensive "intensity". They were in trouble and got bailed out big time. The Sixers appeared to begin to get frustrated during the third, but then realized there was nothing they could do about it.

[Kingspoint]

OK, I just saw a blurb about the three billboards in Cleveland paid for by Sixers fans trying to lure LeBron to Philly next year, Simmons' response, "He's smart. He's got a high I.Q. He knows what's going on here (the quality of play and upsurge of Sixers basketball and that it's a recipe that should work for him)", and LeBron's response that he hadn't seen it. As plugged in as James is to social media, I guarantee he received a picture of the billboards with 30 minutes of them being put up.

Very interesting concept. Never even thought about it, but Philly would become the favorites instantly if he joined them, over Golden State and Houston, and Toronto and Boston. Though only slight favorites as these are four great teams Philly would be competing against.

Would love to see five contenders over the two we have been having. I think we have four now, with Cleveland not being one of them,.....yet. Let's see how they look in 20 games.


Of course, I'm looking for Portland to get to the Conference Finals this season and lose. You have to crawl before you can walk. Dame has made the 2nd Round twice, once with this group. It's time to make the 3rd Round. Do that first, and we can talk about winning the Conference Title next season. LeBron is different. Add him to the Sixers, and the reality becomes a Title because of his experience and that he's still the greatest player in the world.

[Kingspoint]

Just read (what you were alluding to) that Philly had Milwaukee in the penalty one minute into the 3rd. That they consciously made that effort, and then logic would dictate they would follow that up with more posting and drives. Refs had to swallow their whistles as it is the only thing that makes sense. How else would Simmons avoid a single free throw attempt for the first time in six weeks?

There's been some really bad officiating all season.

Saturday, Nurkic gave Adams a bump that should have been a Flagrant-1 or a Flagrant-2 with ejection, but on review, was only a common foul. Westbrook shoved Nurkic and had to be given a "T" for that. But, the bad part is that the refs let it get to that point in the first place. So, instead of making the correct call on Nurkic, they take it out on the Blazers, immediately calling an Offensive foul on Portland on a flop by OKC (you could see the flop and the refs' reaction coming before it happened). Then Nurkic is called for 3 seconds in the key (that call always requires at least six seconds, and Nurkic was there for 2.5 when they blew the whistle taking away a basket). They then called Nurkic for a foul at the other end where he only touched Adams in a normal way where two bigs begin to feel where the other is going to try to get to. They put OKC at the free throw line for four free throws, took a basket and a posession away from Portland, and by themselves turned a 10 point lead into a 3-pt lead. The refs are not supposed to decide outcomes.

Stotts pulled Nurkic out for the rest of the game after the foul call, his 4th, and never put him back in. Part of that was due to it not being acceptable what Nurkic did (unlike the idiot Jimmy Butler who doesn't understand how wrong it was for Teague to lose his cool doing the same thing to Rubio), and the other that it was clear what the refs were doing.

There has been some terrible officiating this season that needs to get addressed this Summer.

[Kingspoint]

Key games this week, though as tight as these races are, every game from here on out is on a 70% to 80% on the must-win scale (or must lose scale if you're tanking):

Today (Monday):

MIL @ IND (Unbelievably, Nate and Pritchard are definitely in the running for end-of-season awards. Milwaukee is trying to incorporate a ton of changes, Head Coach, Parker, Bledsoe, etc., that may be contributing to their recent plunge in the standings)

POR @ LAL (Both teams have winning streaks. LAL have won: vs DAL, @ SAC, @ ATL, @ MIA, and @ Aldridgeless-SAS. No matter who the opponent, four in a row on the road is impressive. LAL have lost 13 straight to POR. Their task is daunting. POR have won: vs GSW, @ UTA, @ PHO, vs SAC, vs MIN, vs OKC. They are winning with Defense. Ut began in Los Angeles against these Lakers on Dec 23rd when Moe Harkless got a spot start, was easily the best player on the floor for both teams. It took six weeks for Harkless to get back into the starting lineup permanently, but he's here to stay. Stotts may hold him out tonight (strained patellar tendon) on the first night of a back-to back, but would play him, then give him time off until they face the Warriors Friday. POR is only favored by two tonight, trying for their 18th road win of the season. These young Blazers play with the savvy of Veterans.)


Tuesday:

MIA @ WAS (MIA has flipped their momentum thanks to the return of Wade, while Beal looks to bounce back from a terrible shooting night against Indiana. If Beal takes that many shots, they may as well go back to Wall. WAS has been winning because they've shared the wealth.)

HOU @ OKC (Rockets go for 16th in a row, while OKC tries to avoid falling further in the West standings. My money is on the Rockets. UTA, DEN and LAC are rooting for HOU.)

NOP @ LAC [Jordan vs Davis is a great matchup. NOP looks unstoppable right now. These two franchises are the biggest surprises in the West this season. LAC have fewer losses than OKC with a win tonight (assuming an OKC loss) and only one more loss than POR and NOP. Should be a dandy. Too bad most of the nation will be asleep and miss it.]

Wednesday:

UTA @ IND (The turtle game of the week. First team to 90 wins. Actually, quality play will be on display from both teams. Two teams, red-hot. Something's gotta give. UTA is itching to get tied with one team ahead of them in the West and don't want that 31st loss until they get there. Indiana has their eyes on home-court in the first round. Anal Nate will get them to slow this one down and try to avoid turnovers against the defensively strong Jazz. Driving against Gobert is unlike anything else in this league, as Oladipo will remember from his time with OKC.)

HOU @ MIL (MIL should not be able to compete in this game continuing their downward march through the standings. Who can stop the Rockets?)

CLE @ DEN (CLE could not compete with them in CLE ths weekend. They certainly won't in DEN)


Have to stop. That's just Monday through Wednesday. NCAA Conference tournaments get great Thursday through the weekend.

[texasdave]

Brandon Ingram will be out at least a week with a sore left groin injury.

[texasdave]

Stick a fork in the Pistons. They are done.

[M2]

Stick a fork in the Pistons. They are done.

They have come undone like Weezer's sweater.

SVG surely can't survive this. Wonder if Chauncey Billups gets the GM gig there? Or maybe Jalen Rose?

[Kingspoint]

Lillard is amazing. He just flips a switch and goes back-to-back-to-back-to-back 3's, with an average distance of 30+ feet, including half a dozen drives, all in the 4th.

No player in the NBA has played that well, any game of any year the way Lillard just placed himself in other-worldly status tonight.

Lillard overcame his own teammates tonight and the Lakers.

[Kingspoint]

The Portland Trailblazer franchse has been waiting for rim-protection, it seems like since Walton left. Give this franchise that and they become relevant as a Title Contender. I believe you have to lose a particular playoff round before you can win a particular round, so that places Portland 2-1/2 years away from winning a Title if all things go right (Lose Conference Finals this year, Win Conference Finals, but Lose NBA Finals next year, and win the NBA Title in 2019-2020).

Portland leads the NBA in Opponents FG% in the Paint this season. Their Paint Defense is a team stat, but it's players who weren't here for much of last season (Turner-broken hand, Davis-torn shoulder, Nurkic-20 games, then hurt for the playoffs, Harkless-entered starting lineup post All-Star game last year, Collins-best big man and rim-protector in the draft).

Blazers are #1 in Defensive Efficiency in the NBA over last six games.

Blazers missed Moe tonight. Heavy foul trouble for Blazer bigs tonight amplified Moe's absence. He'll probably miss tomorrow, too.

Lillard personally willed this team to victory. He's had to save them their last two road games, which is concerning. Harkless's knee needs to get healthy by Friday. Longterm, Portland isn't going anywhere without Harkless. He's critical for their Defense.

[Kingspoint]

Randle was killing Portland tonight,...in the paint (pushing off with his right arm on every play, but if they aren't going to call it, keep going to that well); but, KCP, Thomas and Ball shot the Lakers out of the game. Randle got one shot in the 4th. Lakers self-destructed to give Lillard a chance to display his MVP-caliber performance.

Lillard and C.J missed 8 Free Throws tonight. That's never happened before and will never happen again.

[Kingspoint]

Pacers win another key game. This is becoming habit.

[dubc47834]

The Portland Trailblazer franchse has been waiting for rim-protection, it seems like since Walton left. Give this franchise that and they become relevant as a Title Contender. I believe you have to lose a particular playoff round before you can win a particular round, so that places Portland 2-1/2 years away from winning a Title if all things go right (Lose Conference Finals this year, Win Conference Finals, but Lose NBA Finals next year, and win the NBA Title in 2019-2020).

Portland leads the NBA in Opponents FG% in the Paint this season. Their Paint Defense is a team stat, but it's players who weren't here for much of last season (Turner-broken hand, Davis-torn shoulder, Nurkic-20 games, then hurt for the playoffs, Harkless-entered starting lineup post All-Star game last year, Collins-best big man and rim-protector in the draft).

Blazers are #1 in Defensive Efficiency in the NBA over last six games.

Blazers missed Moe tonight. Heavy foul trouble for Blazer bigs tonight amplified Moe's absence. He'll probably miss tomorrow, too.

Lillard personally willed this team to victory. He's had to save them their last two road games, which is concerning. Harkless's knee needs to get healthy by Friday. Longterm, Portland isn't going anywhere without Harkless. He's critical for their Defense.

I give your Blazers some credit, they are playing extremely good basketball right now. Unfortunately tho, they don't even make the Western Conference Finals. Honestly, I think that as long as Golden State and Houston stay in their current roster construction, Lillard's greatness will be a waste...unfortunately, because he has turned himself into a really good player!

[Bourgeois Zee]

Can we all just agree that the officials have it out for everyone's favorite teams and players and leave it at that?

There isn't really a need to complain about officials with virtually every post, is there? Isn't that beating that particular subject to death?

[Kingspoint]

How good has Dame been? This good (the same greatness he was post All-Star last season).....

http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nba/78324/196/stats-dame-springs-forward

Also in this article, how bad Westbrook really is, how great an impact Crowder has had in Utah, how bad San Antonio is, how happy Washington is without Wall, how bad Detroit has been with Griffin, how good Ball has been Defensively for the Lakers, and why Stotts loves playing Napier, Dame and C.J. together (likes to do it when he's behind and needs an Offensive punch).

[Chip R]

The NBA may let kids straight from high school back into either the league or the G League.

https://sports.yahoo.com/report-nba-planning-go-business-high-school-players-201124663.html

[Kingspoint]

Can we all just agree that the officials have it out for everyone's favorite teams and players and leave it at that?

There isn't really a need to complain about officials with virtually every post, is there? Isn't that beating that particular subject to death?

I don't agree one bit that the officials are just "against your favorite team". I've always disagreed with you about this. You have never subscribed to what I feel is obvious, the cheating and rigged outcomes of NBA games, it's WWE mentality, or that the officials/NBA have over the last 40 years given super-preferential treatment to whoever it wants to sell their jerseys, despite the fact that they have been caught, multiple refs have admitted it, most people I find knowledgeable of the league or not knowledgeable of the league find it blatantly obvious. I think you have your head in the sand on this subject and are just one of those people who refuse to believe that institutions can be corrupt, in spite of your vast knowlege of the sport (and others). I know that a lot of people simply refuse to come to a conclusion about corruptness in institutions, and that you seem to be one of these. The evidence is so overwhleming in the NBA that the common fan has quit watching over the last 40 years. Fortunately for the NBA, there are enough "rubes", to use the carnival term, to more than make up for them and justify the marketing strategy that involves heavily favoring the jerseys of choice.

The officiating has been so bad this season, something separate from the star treatment, that the players themselves are in an uproar about it.

The NBA has made the bad officating topical. Refusing to discuss it doesn't make it go away, nor does refusing to recognize the corruptness behind it.

As someone who wants to see the quality of play improve, I'm going to publicly call out the NBA and it's officiating so that it does get discussed, as this is the only way things will change for the better. By talking about it on public forums, the impact has already been felt numerous times, from the fiasco in Sacramento, to referees going to jail, to retired refs speaking about vendettas, to the NBA's mafia being outed about how they have put pressure on employees who publicly speak negatively about them.

Talking about it works. Ignoring the obvious does not.

[Revering4Blue]

They have come undone like Weezer's sweater.

SVG surely can't survive this. Wonder if Chauncey Billups gets the GM gig there? Or maybe Jalen Rose?

:thumbup: for the Weezer reference! It certainly fits.

IMHO, ownership is the biggest obstacle in the Motor City for quite awhile now, as they never fully embraced a rebuild after falling from grace after '07.

Thanks to the late Bill Davidson's directive, as he was desperate for another championship before he passed, bad, short-sighted deals occurred under GM Joe Dumars's reign, for example: 1)The ghastly Billups trade to Denver for Iverson, who never fit in. 2)The '09 overcompensation of free agents, Charlie Villeneuva and Ben Gordon.

Then, following a five year period of half-arsed rebuilding, SVG is hired by Tom Gores (Current Owner, and much, much younger than Davidson circa '09) to essentially reprise the role of Dumars by winning now at all costs. Thus, the trade for Griffin, which, to be fair, was consummated with next season in mind, as well - without Reggie Jackson, they have/had no realistic playoff path, anyway. When this team was healthy before the Griffin deal, they were winning games -- most notably, on the road in Boston and Oakland.

As for the players sent to LA in the Griffin deal, Bradley is a free agent following the season, Harris, likewise following next season and Marjanovic, though productive, wasn't receiving minutes in Detroit with 14 million still owed to him over the next two seasons. So, given the fact that high-profile free agents aren't exactly knocking on Detroit's door, I'll still stand by my original take on this trade: No matter what happens THIS season, a player of Griffin's caliber was acquired relatively cheaply. The Pistons will likely be rebuilding during the latter two years of Griffin's deal, anyway. Drummond's deal only runs for three more seasons, FWIW.

That isn't to say that SVG is without flaws as a GM: 1)His drafting has been "meh" so far. 2)Too many resources allocated to secondary players below or around replacement level (read:Leuer and Galloway), who aren't really contributing. His coaching is what really should be questioned, as he doesn't play/develop the youngsters (again, this may be a by-product of an above directive). If it were up to me, I'd give SVG one more season upstairs but go in another direction coaching-wise, but can certainly understand if he's dismissed altogether.

[Revering4Blue]

The Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of the 4 Cavalier's starters not named LeBron James are as follows: Osman (10.6), Smith (8.3), Thompson (13.7) and Hill (10.9). 15.0 is considered the average for the league. I hope James has a strong, strong back.

That may change when Love Returns and if Thompson is Wally Pipped by Nance Jr., as he should be. Smith shouldn't be logging meaningful, extended minutes on a championship caliber team. It's also long past due -- as last night proved -- to see what you have in Zizic, who may well outperform TT per minute moving forward.

[Tom Servo]

No matter what happens THIS season, a player of Griffin's caliber was acquired relatively cheaply. The Pistons will likely be rebuilding during the latter two years of Griffin's deal, anyway.

This is how I feel as well, it's not as though they mortgaged their future.

I also agree that I'd give Stan Van a little more rope, though the odds aren't looking to good he'll get it.

[Rojo Rijo]

This is how I feel as well, it's not as though they mortgaged their future.

I also agree that I'd give Stan Van a little more rope, though the odds aren't looking to good he'll get it.

He deserves to at least be able to coach the team next season with a healthy Reggie Jackson to go along with Blake and Drummond. Its just too bad they don't have any cap room to go and get a shooter to space the floor better for their offense. Imagine how much more dangerous that lineup could be with say, JJ Reddick alongside Jackson in the backcourt, and Drummond, Griffin, and Johnson in the frontcourt.

[Revering4Blue]

This is how I feel as well, it's not as though they mortgaged their future.

I also agree that I'd give Stan Van a little more rope, though the odds aren't looking to good he'll get it.

Exactly.

IMHO, too many are already declaring this a loss due to this narrative of Jerry West doing no wrong as an executive. I get it; he's a legend with a record that speaks for itself, but no executive is perfect, and he's no exception, as the following bad deals will illustrate:

Lakers

1993 - Traded Sam Perkins to Seattle for Benoit Benjamin and Doug Christie

1998(Draft Day) - Traded Nick Van Exel to Denver for Tyron Lue and Tony Battle, and compounded that bad deal by sending Battie (a starter for two early aughts Celtics teams) to Boston for Travis Knight. Who?

1999 - Traded Elden Campbell and Eddie Jones to Charlotte for Glen Rice, J.R Reid and B.J Armstrong.

Grizzlies

2003(Draft Day) - Traded Marcus Banks and Kendrick Perkins to Boston for Troy Bell and Dahntay Jones.

To those who declare the Griffin trade a victory for the Clips for the simple reason of removing an "albatross" contract off the books, I present the following question: If Griffin's deal is so prohibitive, why did West re-sign him to those terms in the first place if the team planned to reboot?

SVG, as of now, hasn't lost a trade as a Pistons executive. Now, some will state that the Celtics have received more from Marcus Morris than the Pistons have from Avery Bradley. But one should consider that Bradley and a 2019 second rounder received from Boston in said deal (likely one of the final picks in said draft) were both sent to LA in the Griffin deal. ANY GM would do just that in a second.

Any way you slice it, the addition of Griffin places the Pistons in a much better position to climb higher than treadmill status than the status quo, which includes drafting positions around 12-15 every year.

[Revering4Blue]

He deserves to at least be able to coach the team next season with a healthy Reggie Jackson to go along with Blake and Drummond. Its just too bad they don't have any cap room to go and get a shooter to space the floor better for their offense. Imagine how much more dangerous that lineup could be with say, JJ Reddick alongside Jackson in the backcourt, and Drummond, Griffin, and Johnson in the frontcourt.

If Luke Kennard can at least approximate a poor man's J.J Redick (or live up to the J.J Redick comparison), he will help immensely in that regard as a cost-controlled asset. It's kind of baffling as to why he doesn't see the floor some nights, though.

[M2]

SVG, as of now, hasn't lost a trade as a Pistons executive. Now, some will state that the Celtics have received more from Marcus Morris than the Pistons have from Avery Bradley. But one should consider that Bradley and a 2019 second rounder received from Boston in said deal (likely one of the final picks in said draft) were both sent to LA in the Griffin deal. ANY GM would do just that in a second.

The Celtics also got Bangers (Aron Baynes) in that deal. That's two effective rotation players for a guy they had to dump to work out their salary cap. I'd say both sides got something from the deal, but the Celtics seem to have gotten more. Bradley struggled during his time with the Pistons.


Any way you slice it, the addition of Griffin places the Pistons in a much better position to climb higher than treadmill status than the status quo, which includes drafting positions around 12-15 every year.

I'm not sure SVG is the guy to figure out how to put a team around Griffin and Drummond with only a limited budget to make changes. He certainly doesn't seem to know how to get his current mix to work. SVG the coach might be undercutting SVG the GM.

[Rojo Rijo]

The Celtics also got Bangers (Aron Baynes) in that deal. That's two effective rotation players for a guy they had to dump to work out their salary cap. I'd say both sides got something from the deal, but the Celtics seem to have gotten more. Bradley struggled during his time with the Pistons.



I'm not sure SVG is the guy to figure out how to put a team around Griffin and Drummond with only a limited budget to make changes. He certainly doesn't seem to know how to get his current mix to work. SVG the coach might be undercutting SVG the GM.

Hard to judge SVGs ability when he’s been without Reggie Jackson since December. They’ve gone 10-21 since he went down. They were 19-14 before.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[texasdave]

The Warriors went on a 25-0 run against the Nets tonight, and still trailed at the half. That's hard to do.

[Kingspoint]

39 Assists on 46 Buckets for the Pelicans tonight at the Clippers. New Orleans just won't lose. Dame, C.J. and Shabazz were all watching the end of this game in the film room before they showered. I switched right over to th NOP @ LAC game, too, as I couldn't make the game tonight at the MODA Center. Pelicans just won't lose.

Lillard 8-11, C.J. 5-7 & Blazers 20-33 from "3" tonight. They'll need to score a ton to beat the Warriors Friday. Can't make another game until end-of-March due to other commitments. Tough one to miss.

- - - Updated - - -


The Warriors went on a 25-0 run against the Nets tonight, and still trailed at the half. That's hard to do.

Jordan Bell was a +24 in 10 minutes.

[Kingspoint]

If Luke Kennard can at least approximate a poor man's J.J Redick (or live up to the J.J Redick comparison), he will help immensely in that regard as a cost-controlled asset. It's kind of baffling as to why he doesn't see the floor some nights, though.

Kennard is as pure of a shooter as one can get. He also will be a better Defender than Reddick. That was a great pick for Detroit.

[texasdave]

I have a bad feeling about the Denver Nuggets. They finished in ninth place, just one game out, last season. And it could well happen again. You cannot lose to a team that is tanking. Just can't do it. The Rockets used to finish in 9th place all the time. It's not a good feeling. If the Nuggets do, indeed, finish in ninth again, there is one positive aspect: My nephew is a huge Denver fan. LOL. I won't hardly mention it to him, except for every time that I see him. And the occasional text message, email, etc.

[Boston Red]

I have a bad feeling about the Denver Nuggets.

It's weird, but as a Jazz fan I actually have a really GOOD feeling about the Nuggz. :)

[BuckeyeRed27]

It's weird, but as a Jazz fan I actually have a really GOOD feeling about the Nuggz. :)

Couple of big if's, but if the Jazz beat the Pacers tonight and the Cavs beat Denver, Utah will have finally moved back into the playoff spots.

[Revering4Blue]

The Celtics also got Bangers (Aron Baynes) in that deal. That's two effective rotation players for a guy they had to dump to work out their salary cap. I'd say both sides got something from the deal, but the Celtics seem to have gotten more. Bradley struggled during his time with the Pistons.



I'm not sure SVG is the guy to figure out how to put a team around Griffin and Drummond with only a limited budget to make changes. He certainly doesn't seem to know how to get his current mix to work. SVG the coach might be undercutting SVG the GM.

Baynes was a separate free agent signing. That doesn't make it any less of a solid acquisition (as well as a loss for Detroit's bench), though. The impetus for the Bradley trade was to clear cap space to sign Hayward. The fact that Morris has been instrumental ,along with Rozier and Smart, in anchoring the second unit is a huge bonus.

Looking back, SVG robbed Phoenix blind --The Suns were clearing cap space in '15 to woo LaMarcus Aldridge -- netting both Morris and Bullock for a mere future second rounder. So it is possible to improve the roster one way or another. Prime example: After Cousins went down for the season, many (including yours truly) left the Pels and much-maligned GM Del Demps for dead. Yet, with supposedly no assets, he landed Mirotic and shrewdly signed Emeka Okafor.

The chief arguments from Pistons fans for a coaching change in Detroit are: 1)SVG is coaching as if this were the pre-Pace-and-space NBA (Not buying that). 2)He's not developing youngsters(I addressed that earlier). 3)He's lost the team.

Point #3 is a concern, for sure. But I believe that Rojo Rijo summed it up best regarding the absence of Jackson. Also, SVG was one of (if not the first) to employ a true stretch four in Orlando, as he surrounded Howard with shooters.

[Revering4Blue]

The Warriors went on a 25-0 run against the Nets tonight, and still trailed at the half. That's hard to do.

And that was accomplished after blowing a 21 point first half lead. Unfortunately, Jordan Bell sustained an ankle injury, and I tend to agree with BZ that he's a key if the Warriors hope to return to the finals, much less repeat as champions.

[texasdave]

Rockets beat the Bucks in a roadie back-to-back. 17 straight now. Friday night they travel to Toronto, which hardly ever loses at home.

Raptors and Pistons are heading into overtime. DeMar DeRozan has been spectacular. Toronto pulls it out 121-119 on a last second jump shot by Fred Van Vleet that was on fleek. =)

Pelicans laying the wood to Sacramento. How can a franchise (the Kings) be that bad for that long? They have averaged just 26.4 wins a season over their last 9 seasons. They will have to go some to reach that number this year.

[texasdave]

Couple of big if's, but if the Jazz beat the Pacers tonight and the Cavs beat Denver, Utah will have finally moved back into the playoff spots.

Yes and no. Technically, they would still be percentage points behind the Clippers.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Yes and no. Technically, they would still be percentage points behind the Clippers.

Ah you’re right and I think Denver has that tie breaker too.

Jazz did take care of business quite effectively in Indy tonight.

[M2]

Wilson Chandler just goaltended himself.

[Kingspoint]

Key Games for the rest of this week:

Thursday:

PHI @ MIA (Tie-breaker implications,...Sixers eyes are still on 3-seed,...Miami trying to establish a winning formula before playoffs begin while trying to reach the 5th seed and avoid TOR/BOS/CLE,...MIA must win to tie season series)

BOS @ MIN (Timberwolves in freefall,...Smart is to Boston as Green is to Golden State)

SAS @ GSW (Anticlimatic game as Spurs have empty chambers in their weapons. GSW should win by 20+,...wouldn't be surprised to find Pop letting Ginobili and Parker Coach this one.)


Friday:

HOU @ TOR (The best game of 2018 before playoffs begin. These are the two teams playing the best basketball over the season, over the last two months and over the last two weeks.)

WAS @ NOP (Both teams found new formulas for winning over the last three weeks. Both move the ball extremely well. 124-123 Final? A.D with 45/18/6/3/5?)

GSW @ POR (GSW remember well that their last loss was to Portland. Lillard turns it up two notches when he plays them, but are there any notches left? GSW resting Iggy vs SAS so he can play in this game. Harkless missed last three games, but probably plays.)

CLE @ LAC [What a Friday Night tilt of games! (LAL @ DEN, too.) LAC just missed knocking off the Pelicans. They are playing better than CLE. LeBron may be seeing his future home tonight (so many possible places for him to go)]


Saturday:

WAS @ MIA (Another night, another pivotal game, another tie-break scenario)

SAS @ OKC (One team continues to fade, while the other stops the bleeding for at least one game, and a tie-break scenario, of course)


Sunday:

GSW @ MIN (Where is Minnesota going to find a win before they're sitting in the 8th, 9th or 10th spot? If GSW loses @ POR Friday night, there could be a hangover effect here giving the T-Wolves a chance to win.)

UTA @ NOP (Two teams on fire. What a great playoff series this would be!)

IND @ BOS (Pacers looking for their second win of the season vs the Celtics. They match up well with them.)

CLE @ LAL (This is Showtime at it's finest. Scalpers' Paradise.)

[Kingspoint]

SAC fighting hard against the Pelicans. Down 11, but forced a NO timeout.

Denver has to find a way to come back and win in the second half after blowing last night's game in embarassing fashion to the Mavericks.

[Kingspoint]

Denver has to find a way to come back and win in the second half after blowing last night's game in embarassing fashion to the Mavericks.

The King had other ideas.

[BuckeyeRed27]

The King had other ideas.

Locked in Lebron is so fun to watch. The last 2 shots he hit were ridiculous.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Yes and no. Technically, they would still be percentage points behind the Clippers.

So the Cavs did win, so LAC, Denver and Utah are technically tied for the 8th spot, but the Jazz would be 10th. So since January 24th Utah is 16-2 and have technically been the 10 seed the entire time. I think that ends this weekend finally.

[Kingspoint]

So the Cavs did win, so LAC, Denver and Utah are technically tied for the 8th spot, but the Jazz would be 10th. So since January 24th Utah is 16-2 and have technically been the 10 seed the entire time. I think that ends this weekend finally.

And those two losses were Portland and Houston, excusable.

San Antonio and Minnesota are going the wrong direction, too. Utah and the Clippers could pass Denver, OKC, San Antonio and Minnesota all within 10 days.

[Kingspoint]

This is interesting (from a Revering4Blue post at time of trade):

Additional Rubio trade info per Wolves insider tweet: T'Wolves get OKC's 1st rd pick that is lottery protected '18 through '20 then = 2 2nd rounders.

OKC might keep that pick this year, pushing collection on Rubio out another year.

[texasdave]

Houston is 6-0 so far on what is essentially an 8-game road trip. They have won at Denver, at Utah, at the Clippers, back home for one game versus Boston, at OKC and at Milwaukee. They play at Toronto Friday and at Dallas on Sunday.

[texasdave]

Strange ending to the Lakers-Magic game last night. .06 seconds to go and Orlando is inbounding the ball. They start the clock too soon and the horn goes off while the inbounds pass is still in the air. Just put .06 seconds back on the clock and try it again, right? That would be wrong. Refs call for a jump ball at center court. The Magic loses any chance at all of winning the game. It was highly unlikely that they would have prevailed, but any chance at all was taken away from them with this bizarre ruling.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22685140/aaron-gordon-says-orlando-magic-feel-cheated-clock-malfunction-loss-lakers

And just for the record, the clock did not malfunction. It was a timekeeper error.

[Kingspoint]

Houston is 6-0 so far on what is essentially an 8-game road trip. They have won at Denver, at Utah, at the Clippers, back home for one game versus Boston, at OKC and at Milwaukee. They play at Toronto Friday and at Dallas on Sunday.

It's been crazy impressive. Paul is the perfect fit for Harden, who took his game to another level this year.

- - - Updated - - -

Minnesota signs Derrick Rose.

Yeah. That's gonna stop the bleeding.

You can put a fork in the T-Wolves season. They're done.

[Kingspoint]

From the "5-year-old-who-says,-"I-don't-want-cookie"" department...

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Draymond Green said the Warriors aren't going spend the rest of the season fighting for the No. 1 seed.

"If it happens, it happens," he said. We'll find out just how much the No. 1 seed means to the Warriors this week with a back-to-back set tonight and Friday. Tonight is a national game, so it makes more sense that they'd sit players against the Blazers tomorrow. Fantasy owners will want to check back tomorrow.

Source: John Dickinson on Twitter


Rotoworld has it wrong. They are sitting several (at least three) players tonight because they really want to beat the Blazers Friday. Durant scored 53, Draymond was great, Igoudala was exceptional eight games ago and it still wasn't enough to get by the Blazers.

Houston's tremendous focus and effort are too much for Green as he sees that Golden State probably won't catch them, so he says, he don't want it, anyway. Keep telling yourself that Draymond. Get another technical tonight. Get one against Portland and start losing gamechecks. Tell us more about how tough it is to motivate yourself during these meaningless regular season games. It's why it's so difficult to do what the Bulls did, Lakers and Celtics of the 80's did, the Spurs under Pop have done. None of the key players from these franchise dynasties ever said the #1 seed wasn't important. Just ask Wilt's and West's Lakers how important it is to have Game 7 in your House is?

The immaturity of Draymond never fails to deliver something new every week.

[Tom Servo]

No, Seriously This Time: Is This the End of the Spurs’ Dynasty? (https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/3/8/17095658/san-antonio-spurs-end-of-dynasty-kawhi-leonard)


Has kind of the same feel of the various "Is this the end of the Patriots dynasty" takes throughout the last 15 years but it presents some good points. It will be very interesting to see how Pop handles the adversity.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

An MRI on Anthony Davis (ankle) revealed a sprain and he is doubtful to play on Friday against the Wizards.

The MRI was negative for any ligament damage, and he's only day-to-day. This is good news for the Pelicans after AD rolled his ankle as he stepped on Kosta Koufos' foot and he was unable to return on Wednesday. The Pelicans have a huge game coming up against the Jazz on Sunday, so the team may choose to be careful on Friday. If he's out, we'll see more Darius Miller, Emeka Okafor, Ian Clark and Cheick Diallo. Jrue Holiday and Nikola Mirotic will get more shots, too.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter

[Kingspoint]

It's really scary what just happened to Jaylen Brown.

[M2]

Steph turned an ankle tonight and the Warriors seem lost without him.

[Kingspoint]

Steph turned an ankle tonight and the Warriors seem lost without him.

Durant put his cape on.

[Kingspoint]

Steph turned an ankle tonight and the Warriors seem lost without him.

Can't say I'll be disappointed if he misses Friday Night in Portland.

[Kingspoint]

Can't say I'll be disappointed if he misses Friday Night in Portland.

He's already been ruled out Friday in Portland and Sunday in Minnesota.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Great night of NBA tonight. Found a pretty good deal on Clippers/Cavs tickets so I'm heading down to check that out later.

[texasdave]

It is quite possible that both Houston and Golden State fall tonight. Houston plays at Toronto, a very strong team which almost never loses at home. And Golden State, minus Steph Curry, travels to Rip City to take on the white-hot Portland Trailblazers.

[Revering4Blue]

This is interesting (from a Revering4Blue post at time of trade):

Additional Rubio trade info per Wolves insider tweet: T'Wolves get OKC's 1st rd pick that is lottery protected '18 through '20 then = 2 2nd rounders.

OKC might keep that pick this year, pushing collection on Rubio out another year.

Also, Minnesota still owes Atlanta a first round pick (lottery protected through '20) for the '15 deal for Adreian Payne. So, if both OKC and Minnesota miss the playoffs this year, they'll keep their original picks.

For those scoring at home, the Hawks could potentially end up with:

- Their own very high lottery pick this year.

- An additional mid-first pick from Minny this year.

- The pick from Cleveland (Kyle Korver trade) that is top 10 protected in '19, then unprotected. Who knows what will happen with LeBron after this season.

[Kingspoint]

OKC will lose most tie-breakers for the playoffs, too.

[Kingspoint]

Great night of NBA tonight. Found a pretty good deal on Clippers/Cavs tickets so I'm heading down to check that out later.

This is one of those nights you want four TV's. Radio Shack had a VCR in the mid-80's (they were so advanced for their time) that allowed you to have up to 9 screens simultaneously on your TV with full control of switching sound and channels on all 9 screens. It was really cool. Large TV's was the issue then, as a 27" was considered big.

In 2002-2004 NFL seasons, I would pull out two more TV's and with the NFL package had 3 football games running simultaneously. I was really into it then, rewatching every single Bengals game in slow-motion.

Sometimes, you just can't get enough of sports.

[Kingspoint]

Iggy (wrist) is out vs Portland tonight. That's huge, as he's a terror against everyone every time he's on the floor. He's everything Marcus Smart is, but with more experience.

No Bell, no West, no Curry and no Igoudala. It's hard to say "The Warriors" is a trap game, but it is. Blazers players will naturally breathe a sigh of relief, but they should remember instead the 53 Durant put on them just 8 games ago and some of the monster games Green has put on them. Then there's Portland-raised Klay Thompson who can drop 50 himself anytime, McGee, whom Portland has never contained, Golden State's NBA best-ever ball movement, and Portland better be prepared to bring their "A-game" tonight, play Defense for 48 minutes (and still give up 112+), and score 120+ themselves just to make sure they have enough points at the end to win.

[Kingspoint]

Frank Mason III is going to get a run of minutes with Fox nursing a multiple-game injury. Mason could really use Cauley-Stein back (out again, back) just to get used to playing together. Skal has been dynamite, while Jackson needs to be turning in good performances every night now. Koufos has played well in WCS's place.

- - - Updated - - -

Monk, who has had a forgettable Rookie season (fell in the draft for good reasons), will get substantial minutes now with MCW out for the year.

[Kingspoint]

Porter is a game-time decision tonight vs Pelicans, who would catch a huge break if he misses and New Orleans likely missing A.D.

[Kingspoint]

Great news for Pacers...

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Darren Collison (knee) will play against the Hawks on Friday.

He has been expected to return all day and he was optimistic at practice on Thursday. Collison said conditioning is the last hurdle for him, and there's a good chance he comes off the bench.

Source: Pacers on Twitter

[Tom Servo]

It's a throwback but this is a great read from Steve Francis telling his story


https://www.theplayerstribune.com/steve-francis-i-got-a-story-to-tell/

[Kingspoint]

Porter is playing.

AD still not decided.

[M2]

Iggy (wrist) is out vs Portland tonight. That's huge, as he's a terror against everyone every time he's on the floor. He's everything Marcus Smart is, but with more experience..

Smart's way dirtier. If he could get away with it, he'd be tying shoelaces together.

[Tom Servo]

Gotta admit I've been skeptical that we were truly seeing a different Toronto team than in the past but knocking off the Rockets was very impressive.

[Kingspoint]

Gotta admit I've been skeptical that we were truly seeing a different Toronto team than in the past but knocking off the Rockets was very impressive.

So, I didn't notice, having watched Toronto only twice, that they had completely revamped their Offensive style this season. So hard to do with the same Head Coach and same star players. But, Lowry and DeRozen bought into it (they must all love Casey), and everyone else follows.

The new Offense is simple: share the ball. Play like the Warriors, like LeBron, like the Wizards without Wall, like Lillard, like Chris Paul, like the Pacers (five players hit at least 7 buckets tonight), like the Clippers now, like Butler, like Boston.

What I've espoused my whole life and coached it (using a triangle offense long before Phil Jackson was ever a Coach), is that even the very worst Offensive Player can be an effective Offensive player if the ball goes through his hands each posession (if possible). Ball movement (flow) leads to higher percentage looks, and a high percentage look by a bad shooter is better than a lower perecentage look by a good shooter. The latter leads to discouragement from the other role players on the floor and poorer effort on the Defensive end (as Rod Strickland matter-of-factly agreed with me tonight), but the former leads to full effort defensively from all the role players, thus the high Defensive ratings from Houston, Toronto, Golden State, Portland, Indiana (10+ Steals in 6 of last 7 games), Boston, but we have a problem in Cleveland. Players don't want to play Defense with LeBron. While he clearly tries to get his teammates involved, he also clearly isolates them Offensively and doesn't treat them with enough respect. They won't play hard for him.

Golden State, despite missing Iggy, Bell, West and Curry, were the first team in this 9-game streak to put enough pressure (others tried and failed) on Lillard (picking him up with double-teams, and Golden State rarely double-teams, at the 30-ft mark) to make other Blazers have to beat them tonight. Lillard led both teams with 8 Assists and had contested shots most of the night. He made the right decisions all night. Portland's bench outscored the Warrior's 46-18.

Ed Davis was the star of the night. Portland led the NBA in Rebounding since the break going into the game. They are now 20-3 at Home when they out-rebound their opponent and 10-6 when they do it on the Road. At one point, Portland was out-rebounding Golden State 20-3 (that's not a misprint). They finished 46-33. Ed Davis personally out-rebounded the entire Warriors team on the Offensive glass 7-6, and all 7 were different posessions. Ed had 4 Assists, 15 boards, 10 points, 1 Block and 1 Steal in 26 minutes. Zach played 26, too, hitting 4-5 shots, three 3-pt plays, pulling Green away from the paint leaving Davis alone in control of the paint. Portland closed the game on a 48-25 run, with Davis and Collins getting all of that time.

Stotts is coaching differently this season. He's closing games based on who he feels is playing best that night, deserves it based on the night's play and how the matchup's are working. Davis and Zach hardly played 9 games ago in the win vs Golden State. It was Aminu and Nurkic. Turner was excellent tonight. His +22 led all players.

Durant scored 40, but was a -11. 90 points in two games with two losses.

[Rojo Rijo]

I've been telling people, LeBron is going to have to cape up big time (like averaging 30/15/10 big time) to get past Toronto in a playoff series. They're talented, they're experienced in the post season, and they're deep.

[Kingspoint]

Great news for Pacers...

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Darren Collison (knee) will play against the Hawks on Friday.

He has been expected to return all day and he was optimistic at practice on Thursday. Collison said conditioning is the last hurdle for him, and there's a good chance he comes off the bench.

Source: Pacers on Twitter

Collison takes an already balanced lineup and makes it more balanced. He was great last night. He had them running again.

- - - Updated - - -


So, I didn't notice, having watched Toronto only twice, that they had completely revamped their Offensive style this season. So hard to do with the same Head Coach and same star players. But, Lowry and DeRozen bought into it (they must all love Casey), and everyone else follows.

The new Offense is simple: share the ball. Play like the Warriors, like LeBron, like the Wizards without Wall, like Lillard, like Chris Paul, like the Pacers (five players hit at least 7 buckets tonight), like the Clippers now, like Butler, like Boston.

What I've espoused my whole life and coached it (using a triangle offense long before Phil Jackson was ever a Coach), is that even the very worst Offensive Player can be an effective Offensive player if the ball goes through his hands each posession (if possible). Ball movement (flow) leads to higher percentage looks, and a high percentage look by a bad shooter is better than a lower perecentage look by a good shooter. The latter leads to discouragement from the other role players on the floor and poorer effort on the Defensive end (as Rod Strickland matter-of-factly agreed with me tonight), but the former leads to full effort defensively from all the role players, thus the high Defensive ratings from Houston, Toronto, Golden State, Portland, Indiana (10+ Steals in 6 of last 7 games), Boston, but we have a problem in Cleveland. Players don't want to play Defense with LeBron. While he clearly tries to get his teammates involved, he also clearly isolates them Offensively and doesn't treat them with enough respect. They won't play hard for him.

Golden State, despite missing Iggy, Bell, West and Curry, were the first team in this 9-game streak to put enough pressure (others tried and failed) on Lillard (picking him up with double-teams, and Golden State rarely double-teams, at the 30-ft mark) to make other Blazers have to beat them tonight. Lillard led both teams with 8 Assists and had contested shots most of the night. He made the right decisions all night. Portland's bench outscored the Warrior's 46-18.

Ed Davis was the star of the night. Portland led the NBA in Rebounding since the break going into the game. They are now 20-3 at Home when they out-rebound their opponent and 10-6 when they do it on the Road. At one point, Portland was out-rebounding Golden State 20-3 (that's not a misprint). They finished 46-33. Ed Davis personally out-rebounded the entire Warriors team on the Offensive glass 7-6, and all 7 were different posessions. Ed had 4 Assists, 15 boards, 10 points, 1 Block and 1 Steal in 26 minutes. Zach played 26, too, hitting 4-5 shots, three 3-pt plays, pulling Green away from the paint leaving Davis alone in control of the paint. Portland closed the game on a 48-25 run, with Davis and Collins getting all of that time.

Stotts is coaching differently this season. He's closing games based on who he feels is playing best that night, deserves it based on the night's play and how the matchup's are working. Davis and Zach hardly played 9 games ago in the win vs Golden State. It was Aminu and Nurkic. Turner was excellent tonight. His +22 led all players.

Durant scored 40, but was a -11. 90 points in two games with two losses.

I forgot to say, like the Sixers, too.

[Kingspoint]

Sacramento looked good again. Hopefully Skal is OK.

[Kingspoint]

AD made his greatest case for MVP last night.

[Cooper]

Cavs looked like they were tired or didn't care last night. They iso LBJ and he holds the ball forever -no movement on offense except for Nance on high screen and rolls. Defense it was worse --no rim protection -no rotation.

He's the King so things actually turn out ok most of the time but if they run the same offense during the playoffs i can't imagine it would work. Love coming back may help with ball movement.

[Kingspoint]

I really respect Irving and his game since he left Cleveland.

I don't see how it is anything but a 7-game Eastern Conference Final between Boston and Toronto. Cleveland has no chance against those two. Indy, Philly and Washington could all beat Cleveland, while a renewed Miami with Wade, great rim protection, and scorers all around, could beat them, too. Milwaukee stumps me. Unbelievable talent all around, but too unbalanced and too many weak areas.

[Kingspoint]

No Curry, Iggy, West, and now Cook is out against Minnesota on Sunday. I assume Bell is also out.

[Kingspoint]

Ed Davis got whacked on the right hand (no call) by Pachulia on a layup attempt. He pit a brace on his hand at halftime and played a phenomenal 2nd Half. Tough as nails.

That $12M Trade exception we got for Allen Crabbe will allow Portland to resign Davis this Summer, if he's interested, which I know he'd love to stick around, while Lillard has publicly stated he needs Davis on the team. Davis is currently 4th in the NBA in Offensive Rebound percentage. Aminu's contract ends next season, so Power Forward minutes will open up eventually for Swanigan, a 1st Round pick Portland has control over for 8 years.

[Kingspoint]

A lot of life has happened since the last time the Spurs had a losing record on the Road at the end of the season.

Karl Malone was MVP. Allen Iverson was Rookie-of-the-Year. Chicago Bulls were NBA Champs. The Utah Jazz led the league in scoring at 103.1 per game. It was still a very physical game. Each night, each player took a pounding. Cleveland averaged 87.5 points per game and had a winning record.

76ers lost 60, Celtics lost 67, Raptors were last in the Central (only two Divisions in each Conference), Grizzlies lost 68, Spurs lost 62, Nuggets lost 61, Warriors were last in the Pacific Division.

Bulls beat the Jazz 4-2 after beating Miami 4-1 in Conference Finals and Jazz beat Rockets 4-2.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 11 points with seven rebounds, an assist and a steal across 26 minutes in Saturday's 104-94 road loss against the Thunder.

This was San Antonio's 21st loss on the road this year, so that means the Spurs will have a losing record away from home this season. This snaps a streak of a winning record on the road since the 1996-97 season before Tim Duncan was drafted, which is the longest streak in NBA history. The Spurs will be back out on the road Monday in Houston to kick off a four-game week.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Kawhi Leonard (quad) could return as early as Thursday's game against New Orleans, according to ESPN's Lisa Salters and Adrian Wojnarowski.

First off, make sure he's not on your waiver wire. Leonard is not on the trip for the three-game stretch right now, and an additional report from the San Antonio Express News adds "there is gathering hope he might be able to return in the middle of this month." He'll obviously have a minutes limit, but this is awesome news for basketball fans and fantasy owners.

Source: Adrian Wojnarowski on Twitter

[texasdave]

Solid win for Toronto. Hats off. They will make it tough on any team they face in the playoffs. They still aren't cutting down any nets though.

[texasdave]

Utah has now won 18 of 20 games, and gotten nothing for their efforts. It's only a matter of time though. San Antonio is now just 1/2 game away from losing a playoff spot.

[Kingspoint]

Indy now in 3rd.

Towns took over against Golden State.

San Antonio loses to Houston tomorrow.

[Kingspoint]

Another game, another ridiculous Assist total for the Sixers...33 on 50 buckets with 8 in Double figures.

Rubio-30, Mitchell-27, AD-10 Blocks, in same game where Utah wins again. Anthony Davis had not lost in 11 games. Impressive by Utah, and it was another Road win for the Jazz...12th straight?

[Kingspoint]

Impressive performances today:

Julius Randle
Marcus Smart
Ersan Ilyasova
Robert Covington
Joel Embiid
Darren Collison
Victor Oladipo
Nikola Jokic
Myles Turner
Andrew Wiggins
Eric Gordon
Willy Cauley-Stein
Jrue Holiday
Chris Paul
Nemanja Bjelica
Taurean Prince
Draymond Green
Bobby Portis
Every Toronto Raptor

Dud of the night: What is Minnesota thinking adding Derrick Rose? Plays 3 minutes in 1st and 4 minutes in the 2nd, and almost led them to their 4th straight loss with a -17. Never sniffed the 2nd half and Minnesota comes back and wins the game.

[Boston Red]

Utah has now won 18 of 20 games, and gotten nothing for their efforts. It's only a matter of time though. San Antonio is now just 1/2 game away from losing a playoff spot.

I know no one really looks at divisional standings anymore in the NBA because they're kind of pointless, but the Jazz are actually in last place in the Northwest. That's pretty crazy.

[texasdave]

Anthony Davis with his first career triple-double. I would have bet a bunch of money that he had never had one until yesterday. And lost. I like stats as much as the next person, but this is getting a little ridiculous.


He is the first player to record a triple-double with blocks on a birthday since blocks became an official stat in 1973-74, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

[Revering4Blue]

Brandon Jennings will sign a 10-day contract with his original team, the Bucks, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The Bucks do not have an open roster spot, which means the team will need to waive a player to make room for Jennings.

Jennings, 28, signed a G League deal on Feb. 13 and was promptly signed by the Bucks’ affiliate, Wisconsin Herd. In five games with the Herd, Jennings showed flashes of his past success, averaging 20.4 PPG, 8.0 APG, and 4.8 RPG in 37.4 minutes per contest.

“Blessed and grateful for a second chance coming from a franchise where it all started,” Jennings said to The Undefeated (Twitter link).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Trail Blazers have filled the open spot on their 15-man roster, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the club has signed Wade Baldwin to a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract.

Baldwin, who will turn 22 later this month, signed a two-way contract with the Blazers back in October, shortly after he was waived by the Grizzlies. A thumb injury kept him on the shelf for several weeks near the start of the season, but he has since returned to the court and played well in the G League.

Portland now has 16 players under contract in total — Baldwin will be the 14th on a standard, full-season NBA deal. The Blazers are also carrying Georgios Papagiannis on a 10-day contract and C.J. Wilcox on a two-way pact.


1) Nice collection of low-risk (cost-wise) / high-reward recent former first round picks for the Blazers, even if none impact the current NBA team.

2) Who do the Bucks wave to make room for Jennings? Also, one has to wonder what shape the Pistons would be in today if not for the awful, pre-SVG trade for Jennings, in which both Brandon Knight and Kris Middleton were sent to Milwaukee.

[Revering4Blue]

A lot of life has happened since the last time the Spurs had a losing record on the Road at the end of the season.

Karl Malone was MVP. Allen Iverson was Rookie-of-the-Year. Chicago Bulls were NBA Champs. The Utah Jazz led the league in scoring at 103.1 per game. It was still a very physical game. Each night, each player took a pounding. Cleveland averaged 87.5 points per game and had a winning record.

76ers lost 60, Celtics lost 67, Raptors were last in the Central (only two Divisions in each Conference), Grizzlies lost 68, Spurs lost 62, Nuggets lost 61, Warriors were last in the Pacific Division.

Bulls beat the Jazz 4-2 after beating Miami 4-1 in Conference Finals and Jazz beat Rockets 4-2.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 11 points with seven rebounds, an assist and a steal across 26 minutes in Saturday's 104-94 road loss against the Thunder.

This was San Antonio's 21st loss on the road this year, so that means the Spurs will have a losing record away from home this season. This snaps a streak of a winning record on the road since the 1996-97 season before Tim Duncan was drafted, which is the longest streak in NBA history. The Spurs will be back out on the road Monday in Houston to kick off a four-game week.

I remember that '96-'97 season well.

IIRC, Popovich took over that mid-season. David Robinson went down for the season very early, and, IIRC, Dominique Wilkins (on his last legs) was their leading scorer.

Notable '97 draft boo-boos with Tracy McGrady still on the board: 1)Grizzlies select Antonio Daniels #4 overall. 2)Warriors selected Adonal Foyle #8 overall.

The Raptors, of course, grabbed McGrady at #10, and added Vince Carter in '98. I've often wondered how scary the early aughts Raptors would have been with Damon Stoudamire, Carter and McGrady if they hadn't idiotically dealt Marcus Camby to the Knicks in "98.

[Rojo Rijo]

Solid win for Toronto. Hats off. They will make it tough on any team they face in the playoffs. They still aren't cutting down any nets though.

Do they cut down nets in the NBA? I thought that was just a college thing.

[Kingspoint]

The Raptors, of course, grabbed McGrady at #10, and added Vince Carter in '98. I've often wondered how scary the early aughts Raptors would have been with Damon Stoudamire, Carter and McGrady if they hadn't idiotically dealt Marcus Camby to the Knicks in "98.

No doubt. It's hard to think of McGrady and Carter as underrated, but they were. Carter is still playing. That's crazy. Stoudamire was highly underrated. He's the only Oregon product Paul Allen was ever willing to bring to the Blazers. His dislike for all things Oregon shows itself there. His heart is all Seattle, and that means disliking Oregon if you have a competitive spirit. Think Boston/NewYork. Stoudamire was disrespected by the Blazers, too. When we were up 20 in the 4th in Game 7 in L.A., Stoudamire was the only player for Portland with the ice in his veins getting it done. 4th Qtr baskets in Game 7's are the most difficult in basketball. Dummy Dunleavy pulls Stoudamire because he wasn't a Starter, and we lose. We win easily and win the Championship, Pippen's 7th and Sheed's 1st, and Arvidas' only one if he leaves Damon in. Stoudamire is enjoying himself Coaching Pacific right now.

[Kingspoint]

A lot of playoff teams get to take a breath tonight against non-playoff teams.

We aren't going to get the juggernaut clash of Titans we had this week, but here are the key games Monday-Wednesday.

Monday:

SAS @ HOU (There may be nothing left to save when Kahwi gets back, supposedly three games after tonight.)

MIA @ POR (No Whiteside or Wade, definite trap game. I'll miss it in person, but I'll still get a good look at Adebayo, whom I wanted to get in the draft with Jordan Bell and Iwundu, only because I thought Zach Collins wasn't a possibility. It turns out that Collins and Swanigan were the perfect picks.)


Tuesday:

MIN @ WAS (Wolves got back to winning and Towns became their leader,...finally. WAS should be feeling internal pressure knowing Wall is getting close, having practiced with them in 4 on 0 drills.)

IND @ PHI (This could easily be a matchup of the 3 & 4 seeds.)


Wednesday:

WAS @ BOS (Boston is very banged up in this one.)

[Kingspoint]

Sacramento shooting 29%, but are down only 6 at halftime @ OKC. They hit a few shots in the 2nd half and they could pull the upset. Fox and WCS returned from injury last game.

[Boston Red]

With the tiebreaker, the Jazz are in (finally) and the Spurs and Nuggz are out. For now.

[BuckeyeRed27]

With the tiebreaker, the Jazz are in (finally) and the Spurs and Nuggz are out. For now.

Finally!!

Now gotta get to that 6 spot or it’s a short stay in April anyway.

[Tom Servo]

Brandon Jennings will sign a 10-day contract with his original team, the Bucks, tweets Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. The Bucks do not have an open roster spot, which means the team will need to waive a player to make room for Jennings.

Jennings, 28, signed a G League deal on Feb. 13 and was promptly signed by the Bucks’ affiliate, Wisconsin Herd. In five games with the Herd, Jennings showed flashes of his past success, averaging 20.4 PPG, 8.0 APG, and 4.8 RPG in 37.4 minutes per contest.

“Blessed and grateful for a second chance coming from a franchise where it all started,” Jennings said to The Undefeated (Twitter link).

He had himself a game! I can't believe I'm feeling nostalgia for the early 2010s because it doesn't seem that long ago but Jennings was one of my favorite young guys to watch at that time, so it's great to see him back and possibly even over that brutal achilles injury.

[Kingspoint]

He had himself a game! I can't believe I'm feeling nostalgia for the early 2010s because it doesn't seem that long ago but Jennings was one of my favorite young guys to watch at that time, so it's great to see him back and possibly even over that brutal achilles injury.

What a phenomenal story. He had one practice with them and plays like he's been their starting PG for five years. He may be that piece that's been missing.

[Kingspoint]

#3 Seed Portland has a 4-game lead over #4 Seed OKC in the loss column, having won the tie-breaker (ahead 3-0).

#3 Seed Indiana takes on #6 Seed Philadelphia tonight.

[goreds2]

SIXERS Facts:


@DerekBodnerNBA
24 hours ago

12 of the #sixers final 17 games come against teams with sub .500 records. 9 of those 12 are more than 10 games under .500. Every time I look at this stretch, it gets easier and easier for the Sixers.



Derek Bodner
‏

@DerekBodnerNBA
24 hours ago

On top of that, 11 of 17 are at the Wells Fargo Center, where they haven't lost in 80 days.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Utah's next 5 games: Detroit, Phoenix, Sacramento, Atlanta all at home and then at Dallas. That's tasty.

[texasdave]

No Kawhi Leonard return on Thursday. What an odd situation. Bye, bye, Spurs if he doesn't return. And soon.

- - - Updated - - -

Wes Mathews is one tough hombre.




Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Wesley Matthews will be sidelined for the rest of the season due to a broken leg, sources said. The team said that he sustained a fracture to his right proximal fibula during first quarter of Saturday's win over the Grizzlies but played the rest of that game. The Mavericks did not give a timetable for his return.

[Kingspoint]

No Kawhi Leonard return on Thursday. What an odd situation. Bye, bye, Spurs if he doesn't return. And soon.

- - - Updated - - -

Wes Mathews is one tough hombre.

Iverson and Matthews are the toughest of the last 20 years I've seen.

With the return of the Big Man, like we haven't seen in the last 30 years, and ball movement we haven't seen in the last 30 years, and people can shoot like never before. The NBA game looks good to watch again.

It needs one tweak: Make it physical again. Get rid of touch fouls, flopping. Let big men bang. Let people earn free throws. Call technicals on whining.

[Kingspoint]

Reddick was fouled on the game-tying "3" attempt.

Towns put Minnesota on his back again, but Teague, Tyus Jones, Bjelica and Wiggins were all great. Fantastic follow-up to the home win vs GSW. What made this win great for them was the great Defensive effort team-wide. That was a playoff-caliber effort on the road against a team playing well. Dominated the 4th Quarter when it mattered.

[Kingspoint]

Tough loss for Philly. Indiana gets another great win, this time ending Philly's 11-game Home winning streak. They buy another breath of separation for that #3 seed. Coach-of-the-Year should still be Casey in a landslide, but McMillan should get 2nd in a landslide, too.

As mentioned by another, the schedule now favors Philly to go on a 13-3 finish. Em-"Beast" was phenomenal again.

[Kingspoint]

Toronto's only loss in their last 17 was a 3-pt OT Loss at WAS. They travel to Indiana next (THU), where they lost earlier in the season.

[Kingspoint]

Batum (20/5/8/4/3) and Howard almost knocked off the Pelicans, but Holiday, Rondo and AD were just too strong at the finish.

[Kingspoint]

Jazz and Spurs aren't messing around tonight. Jazz just crush teams over their last 21. That last Portland loss was a blowout where the Jazz didn't even play well and still blew them out, their only loss in Portland since December.

[Revering4Blue]

He had himself a game! I can't believe I'm feeling nostalgia for the early 2010s because it doesn't seem that long ago but Jennings was one of my favorite young guys to watch at that time, so it's great to see him back and possibly even over that brutal achilles injury.


What a phenomenal story. He had one practice with them and plays like he's been their starting PG for five years. He may be that piece that's been missing.

Practically an embarrassment of riches in the backcourt assuming Jennings continues to shine on a per minute basis and Brogdan returns with no issues. With Bledsoe's length, you could pair him with Jennings if need be. Dellavadova may be hard-pressed to gain significant minutes. Also, this would free Tony Snell to possibly spend some time at SF behind Middleton. Heck, the Greek Freak is practically position-less.

Up front, Thon Maker is missing in action due to the sophomore slump. Between Maker and D.J Wilson -- not that it's an either-or situation, as they could be paired together at times -- it will be interesting to see down the line which one is ultimately the better player. It will also be interesting to see if another team outbids the Bucks for RFA-to-be, Jabari Parker (his hometown Bulls?) at season's conclusion.

[texasdave]

It looks as if OKC, New Orleans, Minnesota, Utah, San Antonio, Denver and LAC are all going to win tonight. No change in the Western Division standings.

EDIT: I may have jumped the gun calling the game for Denver. Time will tell.

[Kingspoint]

DeAndre Jordan: 29 points on 12 shots, 18 Boards, 5 Assists, 2 Blocks, 1 Steal, only 2Turnovers vs Chicago.

Triple Doubles for Westbrook and James.

[Kingspoint]

It looks as if OKC, New Orleans, Minnesota, Utah, San Antonio, Denver and LAC are all going to win tonight. No change in the Western Division standings.

A get-healthy night for most of them, but impressive win for Minnesota.

[Revering4Blue]

Tough loss for Philly. Indiana gets another great win, this time ending Philly's 11-game Home winning streak. They buy another breath of separation for that #3 seed. Coach-of-the-Year should still be Casey in a landslide, but McMillan should get 2nd in a landslide, too.

As mentioned by another, the schedule now favors Philly to go on a 13-3 finish. Em-"Beast" was phenomenal again.

Oladipo and Bogdanovic were a combined 5-32 from the field.

Myles Turner, despite putting in 25 points, did not record a blocked shot.

Given the above, and given that it was a road game against a quality opponent, it's amazing that the Pacers were even competitive in that game, much less victorious.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Lakers are going to beat Denver and all the other west contenders won. Denver is in trouble. They have a 7 game road trip coming and are 11-21 on the road this season.

[Kingspoint]

Oladipo and Bogdanovic were a combined 5-32 from the field.

Myles Turner, despite putting in 25 points, did not record a blocked shot.

Given the above, and given that it was a road game against a quality opponent, it's amazing that the Pacers were even competitive in that game, much less victorious.

Good teams find a way to win when they aren't playing well and/or their stars aren't making shots. 21-9 TO difference, 22-7 Fast-break difference....one leads to the other. Glenn Robinson III a +16 in 12 minutes, while Oladipo was involved in those Turnovers turning into easy baskets with a +14 in 33 minutes. Getting GRIII and Collison back makes this team 10-11 deep. Sixers reserves struggled tonight, while Em-"beast" and Saric combined for 13 Turnovers. If the refs give Reddick the call, they maybe go to OT, and Philly might win their 12th in a row at home. This was definitely playoff basketball.

Someone who doesn't know they are in a playoff race is the Denver Nuggets.

Utah, the "Shark", just gobbled up the sharkbait Nuggets, who fell out of the boat and couldn't get back in. Portland has the gun and is in charge of the water. Utah, just ate one of San Antonio's legs. They have a Clippers foot in their jaws. Minnesota had one leg in the water, but got back in and grabbed an oar. New Orleans and OKC also have an oar.

[Kingspoint]

Only one game of interest Wednesday,...WAS @ BOS. Gotta favor WAS here with Boston banged up and Washington coming off a tough loss to a very good Pelicans' team.


Games of note the rest of the week:

Thursday:

TOR @ IND (IND won the last matchup here, but the Raptors are playing at another level right now. This is a battle of the two best Coach-of-the-Year candidates. Interesting to watch the machup of these two benches.)

LAC @ HOU (I can't believe the Clippers are relevant. Jordan is really good. He makes good players change their games. Lou Williams has not played well since his 0-17 shooting against Portland. Utah passes the Clippers into 7th tonight.)

NOP @ SAS (Spurs already have lost a leg. Do they lose another tonight? They can't match up against anyone in this game and should thus lose by double-digits. Spurs say to LeBron, "please,...Pops needs you". Hollywood beckons a louder and brighter beacon.

CLE @ POR (Last year Portland won by 30 without Dame against them. Cleveland looking for effort and identity while everyone on Portland is in 1st Round mode and knows their roles. It's still concerting that Tuesday vs Miami, Portland was a +25 with Dame on the floor, and a -9 the 11 minutes he wasn't on the floor. They are in danger of relying on him too much. Cavs should fall to 39-30, tied with the Sixers in the loss column.)


Friday:

LAC @ OKC [Thunder's string of three straight patsies comes to an end. Stand-up Comedian Steven Adams (seriously, dude is funny, like most Aussies) should try to return as they will need him versus Jordan. I hope the refs let Jordan play and don't call him for fouls against Westbrook where it's Westbrook who should be getting the Offensive foul.]


Saturday:

IND @ WAS (Didn't we just see this movie? Indy has got to be spent with one tough game after another. Wall has got to be close. He gets traded this Summer if he maks them worse the rest of the way. He needs to fit in with them, and if he doesn't understand this, their season is over. First Round Sweep. If Wall is back, IND wins. If Wall is not back, WAS wins.)

HOU @ NOP (Must-see TV!)

MIN @ SAS (Towns has taken his game to a playoff level. SAS is looking to punch a lottery ticket. $100M question: Is Leonard ready?)


Sunday:

OKC @ TOR (OKC is the only team this season that blew out the Raptors. Toronto has been in every other game with a chance to win. That's the difference Roberson makes. With Roberson, the Thunder would be fighting for the #3 seed and be a legitimate threat to win it all. Without him, they are 1st Round playoff fodder, who could get passed by the Jazz after tonight. Raptors coming off an emotional game vs Indiana, but remember well their blowout loss to OKC earlier. They will be seeking redemption.)

BOS @ NOP (Both teams could be looking to get back on the winning track, so desperation and effort should be no problem.)

HOU @ MIN (Get to find out how broad those shoulders are of Towns. He'll get a ton of help from Bjelca, Gibson, Teague, Jones, Crawford and Wiggins. Chris Paul has been getting himself in playoff mode, though.)

POR @ LAC (Last time down here, Lou Williams missed his first 17 shots.)

[Boston Red]

I like that KP. It means that if the Jazz take care of bidness vs. the dregs, they'll have no choice but to finally move up a bit with all the teams above/tied with them playing each other.

[Kingspoint]

Klay Thompson could miss weeks, Curry could miss regular season, Thies done for year, Brown banged up, Smart getting 2nd opinion, ....Green banged up,...many more injuries for Boston and Golden State.

Both Boston and Golden State are .500 teams right now,...not even Top-8 in either Conference,..not with this many injuries.

The #2 Seed is suddenly possible for the Pacers, while a bumpy ride is where the Warriors are at, and I always said it would be internal pressure that would destroy the Warriors this season or next. Looking forward to playing them in the 2nd Round, if they make it that far. They still have to beat OKC, MIN, NOP or LAC in the 1st Rd. UTA will get 4th Seed, Blazers 3rd Seed.

[Kingspoint]

Change that. I think Klay Thompson misses the rest of the regular season. Bell returns tonight, but it's not enough. Lakers will dispatch the Warriors as Iggy is downgraded to questionable.

Disaster has struck the Warriors. Clouds are parting in the Western skies for the other cities.

[Kingspoint]

Utah is close to getting Exum back....going to G-League to rehab.

- - - Updated - - -

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Al Horford (illness) has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Wizards.

Kyrie Irving (knee), Jaylen Brown (concussion), Marcus Smart (thumb) and Daniel Theis (knee) will be joining Horford on the sidelines tonight, so Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum (back) figure to be extremely busy on offense. There will also be more opportunity for guys like Marcus Morris and Greg Monroe. This will be Horford's second straight game on the sidelines due to the illness, but maybe he'll be able to get back out there for Friday's game in Orlando.

Source: Boston Celtics on Twitter

[BuckeyeRed27]

Klay Thompson could miss weeks, Curry could miss regular season, Thies done for year, Brown banged up, Smart getting 2nd opinion, ....Green banged up,...many more injuries for Boston and Golden State.

Both Boston and Golden State are .500 teams right now,...not even Top-8 in either Conference,..not with this many injuries.

The #2 Seed is suddenly possible for the Pacers, while a bumpy ride is where the Warriors are at, and I always said it would be internal pressure that would destroy the Warriors this season or next. Looking forward to playing them in the 2nd Round, if they make it that far. They still have to beat OKC, MIN, NOP or LAC in the 1st Rd. UTA will get 4th Seed, Blazers 3rd Seed.

GS has had a lot of injury luck over the past 3 or 4 years. Not so much this season. A broken hand for a shooter like Thompson could be a big deal even after he comes back.

Boston has a 6 1/2 game lead on for the 2 spot right now and 15 to go. I just looked at their schedule and they have 6 games against bad teams, so they should still be safe for that spot.

[Kingspoint]

GS has had a lot of injury luck over the past 3 or 4 years. Not so much this season. A broken hand for a shooter like Thompson could be a big deal even after he comes back.

Boston has a 6 1/2 game lead on for the 2 spot right now and 15 to go. I just looked at their schedule and they have 6 games against bad teams, so they should still be safe for that spot.

No doubt.

I wasn't sure about that lead when I posted it.

[Kingspoint]

Utah is close to getting Exum back....going to G-League to rehab.


Guess they figured he was ready.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

The Jazz recalled Dante Exum.

He went through a closed practice with the G League team as part of the last stage of his rehab. It was his second rehab practice this week and he'll be questionable to play on Thursday against the Suns. Leave Exum on the wire, but this is great to see he's getting close to a return.

Source: Jazz on Twitter

- - - Updated - - -

Both Powell and Sabonis are out for Thursday's elite matchup.

[Boston Red]

Great news on Exum. Would be great if they could get him some run in the next three against scrubs at home.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Guess they figured he was ready.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

The Jazz recalled Dante Exum.

He went through a closed practice with the G League team as part of the last stage of his rehab. It was his second rehab practice this week and he'll be questionable to play on Thursday against the Suns. Leave Exum on the wire, but this is great to see he's getting close to a return.

Source: Jazz on Twitter

- - - Updated - - -

Both Powell and Sabonis are out for Thursday's elite matchup.

I really hope Exum can get on the court and stay healthy. He looked like he was starting to get it at the end of last year and he is so athletic. The Jazz back court is a little thin right now anyway so this could be a solid boost.

[Kingspoint]

I really hope Exum can get on the court and stay healthy. He looked like he was starting to get it at the end of last year and he is so athletic. The Jazz back court is a little thin right now anyway so this could be a solid boost.

Exum gives them a different look at Guard they can throw out there.

They had almost no weapons against Golden State in last year's playoffs. They have half a dozen now, while Rubio's passing makes everyone a weapon.

[Kingspoint]

That they even had to do an MRI is concerning, but this is good news/bad news for the Celtics. Yes, the MRI came back good. Bad, that they still don't know what's wrong. As was mentioned by Ainge, it's just something he and they will have to deal with, but he'll be fine.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

An MRI came back clean on Kyrie Irving's sore left knee, and he might be able to return to the court for Sunday's game in New Orleans.

Irving is out tonight, but he'll travel with the team for their two-game road trip, and while he's unlikely to play Friday it sounds like he has a real shot of getting back out there on Sunday. In the meantime, Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum will run the show on offense, and Shane Larkin should see a larger role in the rotation.

Source: Scott Souza on Twitter

[Kingspoint]

I didn't watch it, so I don't know if Milwaukee was leaving them wide open or what, but Augustine and Simmons were 13-20 from "3", which will usually lead to a win having two players that hot.

Milwaukee is consistently inconsistent.

[Kingspoint]

Bad Defense by Boston on the closing play lets Washington hit a "3" and send this good game to Overtime.

[M2]

Bad Defense by Boston on the closing play lets Washington hit a "3" and send this good game to Overtime.

And now a second OT. Celtics have been playing without Kyrie, Horford, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. (Just noticed you posted about this earlier today.)

[Kingspoint]

And now a second OT. Celtics have been playing without Kyrie, Horford, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart.

...and Thies

Just shows, as with Golden State, they can plug and play anyone in their system. They have matched Pops with quality of system.

Unbelievable game.

[texasdave]

And now Kevin Durant knows how LeBron James feels. Starting alongside Durant tonight were Kevon Looney, Zaza Pachulia, Quinn Cook and Nick Young.

[Kingspoint]

Igoudala and Bell returned to the lineup tonight. These are two special players.

[Kingspoint]

Fox is going to change the prospects of the Kings.

[Rojo Rijo]

Fox is going to change the prospects of the Kings.

I'm still interested in what Harry Giles will be able to do when he gets back next season. If he can stay healthy, and yeah, that's a massive IF, he could be something special with his size and skills. He's supposedly been healthy all year but the Kings have decided its not worth the risk to have him play in games when the team isn't even close to the playoff hunt.

If I had to guess I'd say the Kings are about 2-3 years from finally being turned around. If that young core of PG Fox (20), SG Hield (24), SF Jackson (22), PF Giles (19), and C Cauley-Stein (24) can gel, along with another top 10 pick this summer, they could be building something special.

[BillDoran]

I'm still interested in what Harry Giles will be able to do when he gets back next season. If he can stay healthy, and yeah, that's a massive IF, he could be something special with his size and skills. He's supposedly been healthy all year but the Kings have decided its not worth the risk to have him play in games when the team isn't even close to the playoff hunt.

If I had to guess I'd say the Kings are about 2-3 years from finally being turned around. If that young core of PG Fox (20), SG Hield (24), SF Jackson (22), PF Giles (19), and C Cauley-Stein (24) can gel, along with another top 10 pick this summer, they could be building something special.

Not a difficult thing to do, foreseeing Kings failure, but I don't see a lot of promise in that starting five. They're young, but it seems Hield could be in Europe just as easily as he could be a main cog. Jackson's a purported 3 & D guy that neither 3s nor Ds at this point. Giles is a complete wild card. And Fox feels like the classic PG without a shot. He could certainly develop one, and boy does he seem to have the clutch gene, but he strikes me as a guy that will get figured out by the league relatively quickly and level off in his production. Also, Vlade is running the show. He'll surely botch things.

They also don't have their coach yet, which seems to be an underrated element in the NBA. The best, most stable organizations in the NBA also have the best coaches - Stevens, Kerr and Popovich - and that isn't noise. Not sure what that second tier of coaches looks like; possibly Casey, Stotts and Snyder. I'm not giving D'Antoni any respect until he wins in the playoffs. The Rockets run feels a lot like the Nash-era Suns; a lot of buckets, a lot of fun equaling little playoff success.

[goreds2]

Fox is going to change the prospects of the Kings.


Kings 123, Heat 119: De’Aaron Fox has ice in his veins
86
Fox came up clutch again!

[Kingspoint]

Indiana just put 57 on Toronto in the 1st Half. That's impressive because Toronto has only been giving up about 45 per half for a long time now. They've done it with turnovers transitioning to fast-breaks.

[Kingspoint]

Cleveland's last four trips to Portland since LeBron moved back to Cleveland:

2016-17: Blazers WIN 102-86
2015-16: Blazers WIN 105-76
2014-15: Blazers WIN 101-82
2013-14: Blazers WIN 108-96

[Kingspoint]

Indiana just put 57 on Toronto in the 1st Half. That's impressive because Toronto has only been giving up about 45 per half for a long time now. They've done it with turnovers transitioning to fast-breaks.

Toronto turns up the D and holds Indiana to 42 2nd Half points with 10 seconds left and a 7-pt lead.

[Kingspoint]

CLE is 35-0 when tied or leading at the end of three.

[Kingspoint]

Cleveland's last four trips to Portland since LeBron moved back to Cleveland:

2016-17: Blazers WIN 102-86
2015-16: Blazers WIN 105-76
2014-15: Blazers WIN 101-82
2013-14: Blazers WIN 108-96

2017-18: Blazers WIN 113-105

[BuckeyeRed27]

2017-18: Blazers WIN 113-105

Not a bad effort from the Cavs though. I still think once Love comes back they will be a contender.

Blazers about to put a choke hold on the 3 seed.

[Kingspoint]

Not a bad effort from the Cavs though. I still think once Love comes back they will be a contender.

Blazers about to put a choke hold on the 3 seed.

Cleveland made a great run to make it close. Clarkson nailed some big shots.

So, yesterday, McHale said Willy Cauley-Stein isn't even in the equation as a future piece of the Kings.

[Kingspoint]

I can't wait for the first round and Portland kicks whoever's butt it is that thinks they can compete with them, Minnesota with Butler, OKC with their Big-3. I truly hope it's one of these two as it will give me great pleasure to send these two home....OKC, because I don't like Westbrook and is the most over-rated player in the NBA, and Minnesota, because so many "experts" think they are better than the Blazers with Butler.

It's so hard to get the respect here because nobody sees the games, as they are in bed by the time they start. Over the last three years Post-All-Star break, the Blazers have the most wins and the best +/- in the NBA. They knocked off the Clippers three years ago, led the Warriors for 75% of the series three years ago, lost only to the Warriors the last three years, lost Nurkic for the playoffs last year, and in the most competitive Western Conference ever, have dominated post-all-star to take full control of the 3rd seed, and have done it against good teams and bad. They've won 17 of 18 at home, 17 of 21 overall, have the 5th best record in the league, and are doing it with Defense as their Offense has been average all season. They take care of the ball like no other team, rebound like monsters, shoot the three as good as any team, and they keep their cool under pressure.

Nothing matters unless we can get past Golden State.

As C.J. comically stated, he (and Turner) gets his respect every 15 days.

[Kingspoint]

Not a bad effort from the Cavs though. I still think once Love comes back they will be a contender.

Blazers about to put a choke hold on the 3 seed.

It doesn't get any easier with a back-to-back this weekend with DET, then @ LAC, and Lillard could miss @ LAC, as his first child is due that day, and he may have to fly back to Portland.

Houston Tuesday.

[Kingspoint]

Doc Rivers had a valid point tonight.

[Kingspoint]

It's sad to see how bad the other players on the Cavs are that LeBron has to carry on his back.

One man, even him, can't carry that load.

[Kingspoint]

Aldridge was excellent tonight,...decided to play Defense.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Rudy Gobert scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal in 34 minutes against the Suns during a 116-88 win over the Suns on Thursday.

The Jazz look almost unbeatable now and it all starts with Rudy Gobert coming back. They've went an incredible 20-2 in their last 22 games, and not surprisingly Gobert has been a monster. In that span, Gobert averaged 15.6 points, 11.6 boards, 1.6 assists, 2.2 blocks, 0.9 steals and 1.6 turnovers on 62.4 percent from the field and 71.1 percent from the line with a +18.0 net rating. Gobert has been a top-15 player for total value in standard leagues in that stretch, and it's time we start considering him for Defensive Player of the Year despite missing time.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Myles Turner goes down.

Turner initially sprained his left ankle towards the end of the second quarter and went back to the locker room. He didn’t start the second half, but checked back into the game a few minutes into the third quarter. He attempted just two shots on the night and wasn’t moving around very well, and things took a turn for the worse when he re-aggravated the injury late in the fourth quarter and was quickly ruled out.

The official diagnosis was a high-ankle sprain which is just brutal news for the Pacers and for Turner’s fantasy owners because he was in the midst of his best stretch of the season, averaging 21.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 0.8 steals and 2.3 triples in his previous four games. It’s at least encouraging that Turner tried to play through the injury at first, but based on the diagnosis and coach Nate McMillan’s post-game comments, I’d expect him to miss at least one game on Saturday. “There was a lot of swelling at halftime. Tried to go. Came out third quarter and was able to play,” McMillan said. “Re-aggravated it and couldn’t return.”

[Kingspoint]

Durant out, West & Green return, Skal back for tonight's SAC vs GSW matchup. Good to see Labissierre back after the scary injury.

Labissiere was trending up before his injury, averaging 11.8 points, 6.6 boards, 2.4 dimes, 1.8 blocks and 0.4 steals in his March games.


Smart out 6-8 weeks. This severely weakens the Celtics during the playoffs. I don't think they get out of the 1st Round now. Besides Irving, he's the most important person on the team during the playoffs. Irving is so good though, he could still take ovsr 4th Quarters and final fie minutes of close games getting Boston out of the 1st Round.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Jaylen Brown could start progressing in the concussion protocol, and he'll be reassessed early next week, according to coach Brad Stevens.

"His headache was resolved yesterday," Stevens said. "There’s a chance that he’ll now start a physical part of the progression back." He almost certainly won't be back for Tuesday, but next Friday is a possibility. There's little incentive to stash him while Terry Rozier, Shane Larkin, Jayson Tatum and Marcus Morris will get some extra run.

Source: Celtics on Twitter

Horford returns after missing two games.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Kawhi Leonard (quad) will not play on Saturday night against the Wolves.

Just when it looked like Kawhi had a chance to come back on Thursday, that report will now be off by at least two games. The Spurs keep secrets better than any team in the league, so it's anyone's guess when Kawhi will be back out there. If you're in a tight fantasy playoff matchup, holding Kawhi could be a detriment right now.

Source: Paul Garcia on Twitter

[Kingspoint]

"Cap'n, we need more power!"

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Ryan Anderson (hip) said he hopes to return to game action and play about 10-15 minutes Saturday vs. the Pelicans.

Anderson has not played since February 25th, but appears to be on the cusp of his return. Coach Mike D'Antoni should be able to provide some clarity when he addresses the media after Saturday morning's shootaround. However, even if Anderson is cleared to play, his fantasy value is limited. In his last five games prior to the injury, Anderson was averaging just 9.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 treys in 21.8 minutes.

Source: Mark Berman on Twitter

- - - Updated - - -


From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Myles Turner goes down.

Turner initially sprained his left ankle towards the end of the second quarter and went back to the locker room. He didn’t start the second half, but checked back into the game a few minutes into the third quarter. He attempted just two shots on the night and wasn’t moving around very well, and things took a turn for the worse when he re-aggravated the injury late in the fourth quarter and was quickly ruled out.

The official diagnosis was a high-ankle sprain which is just brutal news for the Pacers and for Turner’s fantasy owners because he was in the midst of his best stretch of the season, averaging 21.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, 0.8 steals and 2.3 triples in his previous four games. It’s at least encouraging that Turner tried to play through the injury at first, but based on the diagnosis and coach Nate McMillan’s post-game comments, I’d expect him to miss at least one game on Saturday. “There was a lot of swelling at halftime. Tried to go. Came out third quarter and was able to play,” McMillan said. “Re-aggravated it and couldn’t return.”

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Myles Turner (left ankle) said that he has a low ankle sprain and is hopeful he will be able to play Saturday vs. the Wizards.

This is terrific news for Turner owners. Speaking with reporters after Friday's game, coach Nate McMillan said Turner had a (dreaded) high ankle sprain. Turner confirming that his sprain is of the low-ankle variety is a huge sigh of relief. Turner was limited in practice on Friday, but there was reportedly no limp or gimp. He told reporters that he was "pleasantly surprised by the lack of pain." We should have another update on his status after Saturday morning's shootaround.

Source: Pat Boylan on Twitter


From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Domantas Sabonis (ankle) has been ruled out of Saturday's game vs. the Wizards.
This is simply confirmation, after the team announced on Thursday that Sabonis will be re-evaluated next week. Myles Turner (left ankle) is listed as questionable for Saturday, leaving the Pacers thin at forward/center. Thaddeus Young, Al Jefferson and Trevor Booker will all see an uptick in minutes this weekend.

Source: Pacers PR on Twitter

[texasdave]

Kevin Durant has a cracked rib. He will miss a couple of weeks.

[Kingspoint]

Kevin Durant has a cracked rib. He will miss a couple of weeks.

Going to be very interesting.

As of now, I see the 1st Round as:

WESTERN CONFERENCE

8-SAS @ 1-HOU
5-NOP @ 4-UTA

7-MIN @ 2-GSW
6-OKC @ 3-POR

EASTERN CONFERENCE

8-MIL @ 1-TOR
5-CLE @ 4-PHI

7-MIA @ 2-BOS
6-WAS @ 3-IND


In this scenario, Toronto gets a tougher bracket than Boston, while Houston gets a tougher bracket than Golden State.

If Leonard doesn't come back, Denver might slip in at #8 over San Antonio.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Joel Embiid scored 24 points and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds with four assists, one steal, two blocks and one triple in Friday's 120-116 win over the Nets.

Not a bad way to celebrate his 24th birthday. Embiid's shot wasn't falling and he finished just 6-of-23 from the field, but he ended up making all 11 of his free throws. Coach Brett Brown said he wants Embiid to take 6-8 triples per game which is basically double of what he has been doing (he was at 3.4 attempts per game prior to Friday), so that will be quite an adjustment because Embiid leads the league with 9.9 post-up plays per game. If there's a takeaway here, it's that his 3-pointers could go up but it will likely be at the expense of his field goal percentage.

[Kingspoint]

I remember the play Durant got hurt. Just a normal play where he went in for a layup and Towns met him on the way. They met chest to chest at an angle and Towns is so strong that Durant got the worst of the collision. It wasn't even a hard foul, just normal inside contact. That's why Towns needs to stay inside and not fall in love with moving towards the 3-pt line, like most big guys do over their careers. Towns is just too strong to be challenged inside.

[Kingspoint]

Tha game-clinching block by WCS was a "How you like that, McHale!"?


From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Buddy Hield scored 22 points with seven rebounds, seven assists and five 3-pointers in 30 minutes against the Warriors on Friday.

He was hot for the first half and got to 19 points in the first three quarters. Hield has seemed to found a home off the bench and he's now scored 20 points in consecutive games for the first time this season. He'll look to keep it going against the Jazz on Saturday and he probably should be owned in standard leagues.

[Kingspoint]

Fox is showing he's got ice in his veins. 0-5 in the game, not really playing well, Joeger sticks with him and he goes 3-3 down the stretch of a close game and gives them the lead.

[Kingspoint]

Another 30 Assists for the Sixers. Only 5 Turnovers!

[Kingspoint]

I've never seen a Coach look so intimidated than whenever I see Tyron Lue on the sidelines. It's embarassing. I know Lebron is the greatest, but he's got this franchise messed up.

[Kingspoint]

Steven Adams: 5 Blocks, 3 Steals, 10 Offensive Rebounds, 18 Points....and against DeAndre Jordan

[Kingspoint]

Draymond Green scored 14 points with 10 rebounds, seven assists, four steals, two blocks and three 3-pointers in 34 minutes against the Kings.


Just a reminder that he's really good.

[Kingspoint]

Isaiah "I ain't no bench guy" Thomas, was 1-9 off the bench in a 1-pt home loss to the Heat.

[M2]

Isaiah "I ain't no bench guy" Thomas, was 1-9 off the bench in a 1-pt home loss to the Heat.

See? He was right.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Thaddeus Young (illness) has been added to the Pacer's injury report as questionable for Saturday's game vs. Washington.

Domantas Sabonis (ankle) has already been ruled out and Myles Turner (left ankle) is also listed as questionable, so the Pacers could end up being extremely shorthanded up front on Saturday night. Trevor Booker and Al Jefferson could in line for a huge uptick in minutes, depending on what happens with Young and Turner. We should have an update shortly.

Source: Pacers PR on Twitter


Denver needs to put a winning streak together or they are going to be in no-man's land again. They compounded the problem last year by trading away Memphis' pick to Portland and then their pick to Utah (Mitchell).

Gary Harris (right knee) has been ruled out of Saturday's game vs. Memphis.

Harris injured his knee after landing awkwardly following a dunk attempt on Thursday night. The X-ray's came back negative, but we are still awaiting the results of the MRI. We'll pass along an update on Harris' status moving forward once they are available. Fantasy owners will have to sit tight until then. Will Barton and Jamal Murray are the primary beneficiaries with Harris sidelined, as they will see a spike in their usage rates. Devin Harris and Malik Beasley should see an uptick in minutes off the bench as well.

Source: Chris Dempsey on Twitter


Former NBA player Glen "Big Baby" Davis was arrested on drug charges in Maryland in February.

According to court records, Davis was arrested at a Hampton Inn, where police recovered 126 grams of marijuana and "a briefcase that contained 92,164 dollars of U.S. currency along with a ledger that contained language which is consistent with someone involved in the sale and distribution of narcotics." Davis was attempting an NBA comeback last year, but now has far more significant concerns.

Source: NBC Sports

[Kingspoint]

There's games you should win, but some superior teams simply struggle against certain inferior teams. For Portland, that has been Phoenix for many years, and Detroit has beaten them five straight times. With Phoenix it's been their Guard play, but with Detroit, it's been inside play. Portland has done a good job, 26-6, I think, against sub-.500 teams, of beating those they should, but in March/April you need to win 100% of them.

The formula is simple: Don't give inferior teams extra chances. Avoid Turnovers (under 14) and keep them off the Offensive glass (under 8), and victory should be a double-digit win if that is done, irregardless of Portland's shooting percentage. It's a must win tonight with a game @ LAC, possibly without Lillard, tomorrow Night and Houston Tuesday. Don't want a 3-game losing streak. Take care of business tonight.

[Kingspoint]

I think tonight's IND/WAS matchup is a Round 1 preview.

[Kingspoint]

Jazz now #5.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Ricky Rubio scored 14 points with nine rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block and one 3-pointer in 34 minutes against the Kings on Saturday.

He continues to be Mr. +/- with a +27 during this win. In Utah's last 23 games, Rubio has an unbelievable +21.3 net rating over a massive sample of 617 minutes. He did have a knee issue and was questionable, but Rubio looked fine.


Rudy Gobert went off yet again during a 103-97 win over the Kings on Saturday, scoring 22 points with 13 rebounds, four blocks and one turnover in 39 minutes.

He made 7-of-8 from the field and 8-of-10 from the line for this tidy 20-10. That's now three straight 20-10s for Gobert and he also has multiple blocks in five straight games. The Jazz are by far the best defensive team in the league over their last 23 games with their 21-2 record and their team net rating of +13.1 leads the NBA in that span. Gobert has been an absolute monster this month and no player with two eye brows has been better than him since Mar. 1 for total fantasy value.

[Kingspoint]

I haven't seen the game and especially the last 45 seconds, but I want to see it. DeRozan, Ibaka and Casey all get tossed in the last 15 seconds while Carmelo gets a "T" with 2 minutes left (DeRozan missed it). Westbrook charges (like Giannis) on 50% of his drives and Westbrook (and Giannis) gets the call. Would like to see Westbrook's layup with 39 seconds left to put OKC up by 2.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting Sunday, to go with three rebounds, three 3-pointers, five assists and just one turnover in 33 minutes.

DeRozan struggled to get his shot to drop through the first half of action, but he turned it around after halftime with Kyle Lowry hitting the bench early in the third due to foul trouble. As a team, the Raptors struggled with foul trouble which is perhaps why tempers flared late when DeRozan felt he was fouled by Corey Brewer on a layup attempt, resulting in DeRozan picking up a double tech with eight seconds left and getting ejected, along with Serge Ibaka and his head coach Dwane Casey.


Huge win by OKC. Westbrook, George, Anthony, Brewer and Adams all stepped up. They swept the Raptors.

Too many Turnovers by Toronto and Raptors could not keep Thunder off the Offensive Boards.

[Kingspoint]

Impressive Stat-of-the-Year:

Pacers are 10-1 in games decided by 3 points or less.

[Kingspoint]

OKC pulled the upset over Toronto.

See if MIN can do the same against HOU (Towns is amazing right now), LAC can do the same over POR (no word, yet on the birth of Dame, Jr.), and NOP can do the same over Boston, though I favor New Orleans with Rondo back. They missed him against Houston, whom they punted against with today's game being the first of 5 in 6 days. That's brutal this time of year.

[texasdave]

The Clippers are getting close to must-win time. Should be an excellent contest.

[texasdave]

Harkless looking at some serious money if he can keep his 3-point percentage up. From basketballreference-com:


Having reached 100 three-point attempts on the season, Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless is now eligible to receive a $500K bonus for his three-point shooting percentage, tweets ESPN’s Bobby Marks. Harkless will receive the bonus if his percentage is greater than 35%; he’s shooting 37.6% from the beyond the arc.

[texasdave]

Gerald 'Bump Stock' Green in for the Rockets. Never met a shot he didn't like. First two times he touched the ball, it went airborne.

James Harden is not the best player in the league, but I don't think anyone can object too strenuously if he takes home the Podoloff Cup this season. 6 points, 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in the first quarter tonight. Rockets up by 15 over the Timberwolves. Jimmy Butler needs to hurry back.

[Kingspoint]

Harkless looking at some serious money if he can keep his 3-point percentage up. From basketballreference-com:

He hit that last year, and with the Blazers not being able to change their seeding on game 82, Harkless didn't take any "3"'s, finishing at exactly .350. He has more cushion this year, as I think he's at about .372 (didn't see the br stat).

First time I saw Harkless, I saw that he not only had good form on his shot, but he had ice in his veins as he felt no pressure, being willing to take and make important shots. 90% of the fans around here are stupid, believing that he couldn't consistently hit a "3", believing he was a sub-.300 shooter because that's what his basketball card said when he got here. I can't even talk to anyone about basketball around here. It's like talking to Lakers or Warriors fans. My closest friends, I can, but Blazer fan sites are as bad as the Blazer announcers.

Aminu, another they and others continue to say can't shoot, is above .390 from "3".

Turner is above .400 the last two months.

[Kingspoint]

Rose finally had a good game today. Yesterday was a -21 in 15 minutes.

[Kingspoint]

Nice 2nd half effort by Minnesota. They have six cake games coming up, so they'll be fine.

- - - Updated - - -

OKC has turned it up a notch.

Going to be a fun run with UTA, OKC, MIN, NOP & SAS fighting for 4-8.


DeRozen is really whining!!! He got gamed by OKC, and doesn't want to admit it.

[Kingspoint]

So, here's something new for Portland fans:

In the NBA, teams that have a reputation for playing Defense have always gotten away with more holding and grabbing as "defensive-oriented" players have gotten that benefit from the refs, too.

It's always been hard for Portland fans because their reputation has never been one for Defense and have always been on the wrong end of calls.

But now that Portland has been a Top-7 Defensive team for the last 82 games, they are now being allowed to grab and hold and get away with it. It's certainly the first time in Stott's 10-year Coaching tenure, and it was never the case with the players and team under Nate's, Cheek's or Dunleavy's tenure. It's weird, and Stan Van Gundy had a justifiable rant last night.

Portland has paid it's dues, but I'd much rather see refs call things equally at all times. I hate refs giving favoritism based on their opinion of a player. They call what they think has happened rather than what has happened.

Let's face it. Portland has always been known as soft. That's not the case. That's pretty good considering they have the 2nd youngest roster in the NBA.

- - - Updated - - -

Lillard is playing tonight.

[Kingspoint]

Sam Mitchell summed it up well tonight. Nobody is losing because of officiating. The NBA has the best officiating of any league in the World. Every game has an ex-referee sitting in the stands grading every play. That is gone over with the Officials after every game. They are then graded by their superiors. No league has their referees scrutinized more. The entire group is going through a transition where old Officials have been replaced by young ones. This will take time for them to learn how to officiate. But, he agrees with Casey that it can't be where they are talking about it. Three Coaches got fined $15K each for their comments Saturday.

I agree with Gentry, though. The Officials have to stop guessing about calls. There's way too much guessing going on. I sat next to one of those "graders" two years ago, and he was brutally honest with me, saying "he missed that call", or "he should have made that call". After that game, I gained a huge respect for how difficult their job is. It also showed me that it's very political as guys like Steve Javy could do what he wants, token women refs like Violet Palmer could guess at everything because she was unfirable, and I wondered how much the NBA gets to dictate instructions to the Referee Organization, a completely different entity from the NBA.

Doc "I don't normally complain about the officials" Rivers complains once a week, and it's hilarious. He's only ticking off the refs.

[Kingspoint]

Harkless looking at some serious money if he can keep his 3-point percentage up. From basketballreference-com:

Harkless (21-pts), Aminu (16-pts) and Turner (7-pts) were a combined 8-13 from "3" tonight. That is great shooting from the Wings. Harkless has shot 47% from "3" since Thanksgiving.

[Kingspoint]

Key games Monday through Wednesday:

Monday:

MIL @ CLE
DEN @ MIA
GSW @ SAS


Tuesday:

OKC @ BOS
LAC @ MIN
HOU @ POR


Wednesday:

TOR @ CLE
LAC @ MIL
IND @ NOP
WAS @ SAS

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld:

Jose Calderon and Ante Zizic will return to the bench for Monday's game against Milwaukee. Kyle Korver (personal) and Kevin Love (hand) are back, so the Cavs will roll out a starting five featuring George Hill, Korver, Jeff Green, LeBron James and Love.


Al Jefferson will return to the bench on Monday vs. the Lakers. Myles Turner (ankle) is making his return tonight, but Domantas Sabonis (ankle) is out for the next two games. Big Al may have some low-end value in a 4-game week as the backup center, but standard-league owners should be able to do better. Sabonis could be back later this week as well.


Kyrie Irving (sore left knee) and Jaylen Brown (concussion) will remain on the sidelines for Tuesday's game against the Thunder. Brad Stevens said on Sunday that Irving was "feeling better," but they've made it clear that they won't bring him back until he's clearly 100%, so Tuesday will mark his fourth straight game on the sidelines with a sore knee. It's also not a great sign that he's getting ruled out a full 24 hours in advance. Terry Rozier and Jayson Tatum will be very busy on the offensive end while these guys are out, and Greg Monroe will see some more minutes and shots falling his way. Irving's next opportunity to play will come Friday in Portland.

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Shabazz Napier (left big toe) is questionable to play Tuesday vs. the Rockets. This is the same toe issue that forced Napier to miss a game back in February, but we'll have a better idea on his status for tomorrow's game based on his activity level at shootaround. If Napier is forced to the sidelines, Evan Turner would likely pick up the majority of his minutes. Stay tuned.

Source: Casey Holdahl on Twitter


This would hurt as we need all hands on deck to beat the Rockets. We probably need to score at least 114, and that might not be enough. After a 3-month absence, we finally got back Passing-Shabazz last night with his 8 Assists, instead of Shooting-Shabazz who gives us under 2 Assists per game. Passing-Shabazz makes the whole team better, while Shooting-Shabazz makes his teammates worse.

- - - Updated - - -

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Quinn Cook (right hand contusion), Andre Iguodala (shoulder), Kevon Looney (jaw contusion) and Zaza Pachulia (shoulder) are all available on Monday vs. the Spurs.
We'd probably save a lot of time by listing all the players without injuries. Cook is going to be a popular streaming option tonight and has been a stud in his last two games, averaging 26.5 points, 3.5 assists, 2.5 steals, 5.0 triples and just 1.5 turnovers in that span. Keep in mind that Stephen Curry (ankle) could return later this week and the Warriors have a total of three games.

[Kingspoint]

I've never seen a Coach look so intimidated than whenever I see Tyron Lue on the sidelines. It's embarassing. I know Lebron is the greatest, but he's got this franchise messed up.

From Rotoworld with Rotoworld comments:

Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue has taken a leave of absence because of health issues. Lue has been dealing with chest pains and a lack of sleep all season but it's only gotten worse. "I am going to use this time to focus on a prescribed routine & medication, which has previously been difficult to start in the midst of a season," Lue said. "My goal is to come out of it a stronger and healthier version of myself so I can continue to lead this team to the championship" We wish Lue all the best and hope to see him back on the sidelines soon. Associate head coach Larry Drew will hold down the fort in the meantime.

Source: Shams Charania on Twitter

[Boston Red]

Being the head coach of a professional team is one helluva grind.

[texasdave]

I labored for decades under the misconception that a contusion was a cut. Turns out it is a bruise. I was a victim of contusion confusion. In any event, Draymond Green has one, and is out for the rest of the game tonight.

[Kingspoint]

I labored for decades under the misconception that a contusion was a cut. Turns out it is a bruise. I was a victim of contusion confusion. In any event, Draymond Green has one, and is out for the rest of the game tonight.

12 minutes, 0 points.

Don't remember seeing this before, but MKG was a -40!,...in 29 minutes vs Philadelphia tonight.

[Kingspoint]

Being the head coach of a professional team is one helluva grind.

I could see the anxiety on Lue's face enough to make a post about it. He's looked like he was ready to cry all the time. He can probably thank Love for stepping forward and bringing out in the open that it's OK to try to take care of yourself, even in this testostrone-laden work environment.

[Kingspoint]

Sometimes getting a key player back is a bad thing.

Denver has played much worse since Milsap returned. They couldn't make it work mid-season.

I remember when the Blazers were playing well, 2nd or 3rd in the Western Conference, Trader Bob gets Rod Strickland, and the Blazers went into a tailspin they couldn't get out of. Season over.

Season's over for Denver.


San Antonio has stopped the bleeding. Minnesota has an easy schedule. Utah can't get caught. OKC has turned it up a notch. New Orleans is the only team that has a chance of being caught, but it would be by the Clippers, not the Nuggets.

[Kingspoint]

Houston @ Portland Tuesday Night, 10:45 EST start.

1st of two to close out the season. Portland @ Houston April 5th. Houston will have the #1 seed clinched by then and could rest Starters. Tuesday's game will be the good one, especially because Houston would like to end Portland's 13-game winning streak.

Houston is 4-1/2 pt favorites tonight.

[Kingspoint]

James Johnson was phenomenal against Denver. He hit clutch shot after clutch shot after clutch shot. Miami should have a good rhythm going by the time the 1st Round begins.

These playoffs are going to be fantastic. Every series of every round.

[texasdave]

I think Portland and Houston split their 2 remaining contests, each winning at home. The race for the top spot in the West is over. The Rockets are up by 4 games in the loss column with 12 to play, and they own the tiebreaker. You are right about the playoffs, every team is scary to me.

[goreds2]

Houston will have the #1 seed clinched by then and could rest Starters.

Does the NBA have a rule on resting starters now? Forget when but wasn't there an issue when Lebron took time off a few years back?

[Kingspoint]

Does the NBA have a rule on resting starters now? Forget when but wasn't there an issue when Lebron took time off a few years back?

They just threw down a mandate two weeks ago, aimed at Chicago. They fined Cuban for saying publicly that more losses would benefit the team.

This is the last year of the lottery the way it is in a deep draft, so it may not be an issue next year.

[Kingspoint]

I think Portland and Houston split their 2 remaining contests, each winning at home. The race for the top spot in the West is over. The Rockets are up by 4 games in the loss column with 12 to play, and they own the tiebreaker. You are right about the playoffs, every team is scary to me.

They have a 4-game lead on Toronto, too. Portland still has a 4-game lead on OKC, owning the tie-breaker.

[BuckeyeRed27]

https://sports.yahoo.com/sources-left-knee-not-improving-celtics-kyrie-irving-plans-get-second-opinion-221013103.html

Kyrie still out and "getting a second opinion" on his knee. That doesn't sound good.

[Kingspoint]

I was able to change my schedule and am going to the game tonight (not in my seats).

[M2]

The Celtics beat the Thunder tonight behind the combined might of Jayson Potatum, Marcus Morris, Greg Monroe, Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin. The young Mr. Larkin is quickly becoming a cult hero in Boston.

[Kingspoint]

The Celtics beat the Thunder tonight behind the combined might of Jayson Potatum, Marcus Morris, Greg Monroe, Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin. The young Mr. Larkin is quickly becoming a cult hero in Boston.

Wow! I stopped checking the score when the Thunder were up 6 with 27 seconds left.

[Kingspoint]

Outstanding game. Houston played really well. They did a great job on Dame and C.J. denying them looks. 8 different rockets hit a "3", with Harden and Paul nailing clutch ones. Houston was 19-36 from "3". Portland held them to 7 fewer looks from "3" than they normally take. Portland outscored them by 10 in the paint as Nurk was tremendous defensively and offensively, but foul trouble limited him. Aminu and Harkless shot great. Portland and Houston limited turnovers. If Portland gets a rebound at the end, they have a chance to win.

Boston next.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Sad story. Kyle Korvers 27 year old younger brother passed away tonight from kidney failure.

[texasdave]

Combined, Portland (13), Utah (9) and OKC (6) had won 28 straight. They all 3 lost last night.

[Boston Red]

Can't believe the Jazz lost to the Hawks. Geez. I was prepared for them to lose to Dallas on the road, but not the Hawks at home.

[Kingspoint]

Can't believe the Jazz lost to the Hawks. Geez. I was prepared for them to lose to Dallas on the road, but not the Hawks at home.

I don't know what that was about. Didn't see that coming. Looks like Utah's Guards struggled.

Houston was 7-10 from "3" in the 4th, while Portland was 0-5. Dame and C.J. combined for 9-32. Chief, 6-8 from "3", didn't score in the 4th. Portland still covered the spread. Houston played well. Portland played well. Good game.