Can't count them out. They're still missing Markkanen and Porter Jr and have only been almost totally healthy for, what? One or two games?
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Should you bet the Jazz to win the NBA title after historic start?
https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/21...historic-start
Even though I expect them to get the #1 seed in the West, I'd place those odds at about 1,000 to 1, even with the #1 seed. I think it's almost impossible for a team to learn how to win a 1st Round Series, a 2nd Round Series, a Conference Championship Series until they first learn what it takes to lose one. Same goes for an NBA Championship Series. What's UTA learned how to do? They've learned how to lose a 2nd Round Series, which makes their ceiling a Conference Championship Series, which they should lose, unless their opponent has a major injury to their best or 2nd best player right before the CCS begins or during the first three games of it. And then to get that lucky for the NBA Championship Series, too? Isn't going to happen.
On this thinking, based on how far these teams have recently progressed with the majority of personnel they have, the ceilings of the Western Conference Teams:
UTA: CCS loss
LAL: NBA Champion
LAC: CCS loss
POR: NBA Finals loss
PHO: 1st Rd loss
SAS: NBA Finals loss
GSW: NBA Champion
DEN: NBA Finals loss
MEM: 1st Rd loss
DAL: 2nd Rd loss
SAC: 1st Rd loss
NOP: 1st Rd loss
HOU: 1st Rd loss
MIN: Lottery team
UTA, at least this core of players, is always one of the Top-4 teams in the NBA in the 2nd half of the season (until the playoffs start), so they are definitely going to get the overall #1 seed. COVID-19 and it's variants will cause there to be more fans in the stands in UTA, than in the more liberal cities in the West (POR, LA, SF, DEN), so that could work to their advantage with home court, as the other teams' home courts won't be as much of an advantage with fewer fans in the stands.
Btw, when the Sixers lost the game last Thursday against the Blazers after leading going into the 4th Quarter?,.....that was the first time a team that had Danny Green playing that had lost a game when leading going into the 4th Quarter since March of 2019.
I'm self-instituting a policy of dropping all Jr.'s and III's unless the player had relative with the same name play pro sports. Like, Gary Trent Jr. is a real junior. I don't need to know what Otto Porter's father's name is. Turns out Marvin Bagley has a grandfather who played in the NBA and also was a #2 overall draft pick. His name is Joe Caldwell. I hereby drop the III from Marvin's name. And don't even get me started on Marcus Morris and that Sr. nonsense. Just no.
Master Jamal Murray, Jr. III (he's Canadian) is 21-25 from the floor. He's shot 10 three pointers and hit eight of them. He's not shot a free throw the entire game. (I don't know whether to be impressed or a bit perplexed. I'll stick with my usual both.) He's got 50 points right now, with two minutes remaining.
Jokic has a triple double as well.
He got on fire the other night in the 4th Qtr and you could see that he's back to that elite level. DEN now has him and Jokic firing on all cylinders. They are also getting some of their key role players healthy, so DEN's set for a run.
ORL has really had an infusion of health with both Fournier and Chief (Aminu) returning to the rotation. Terrance Ross has his Offense rolling while MCW gets to concentrate on what he needs to, Defense, with Ross hitting and Fournier hitting shots. Vucevic just keeps rolling. ORL is at the beginning of a roll for them. Okeke was super for them. ORL now has a very good bench with Fournier back in the lineup as a Starter, and it looks like they can survive until Aaron Gordon gets back. If only they had their best player, Jonathan Isaac.
CHI's bench is doing well against PHI's, as expected, and might just be able to pull this one out.
MEM is ahead at HT over PHO, who had their 7-game winning steak snapped last game, though they are still winners of something like 12 of 14 going into this game. BOS just smoking ATL.
How about Saddiq Bey getting EC POW?
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It has to be the first time ever someone has reached 50 without a Free Throw. Usually, there's at least 10 involved. I find it disturbing that someone that hot hasn't been accidentally, and even intentionally, fouled. Can't imagine the refs are getting this one right.
PHI needs to close out the game with EmBiid taking every shot and then two Sixers hitting the Offensive glass.
Happy for him. Hope he gets many more. Though I believe James Harden has something to say about it.
https://media.giphy.com/media/3oAt2d...Gc0g/giphy.gif
Harden has been great....phenomenal....much better than Bey was over the voting week.
Jerry West had a 20-FG game his life....once. That is the most difficult thing to do in the NBA. Only Hofer's can do it, so we can see what's in Murray's future.
Wisely, Rivers had Embiid close every posession and PHI ends this thing.
Rivers is doing a great job there.
PHI will add someone to their 8-man rotation over before the trade deadline. It needs to be a scorer from outside.
Congrats to Embiid's 50. I'm pretty certain that he does that two more times before this season is over.