NBA 2021: 3rd Time's the Charm

[Bourgeois Zee]

New thread since the last one hit 1000.

Boston loses a tough one to NOLA in overtime. NOLA's looked a lot better as a team playing through Zion instead of Ball. That'll be an interesting follow as the season progresses.

Tatum hit a super smooth 16-footer to put it into OT, but an Ingram three sealed the win for the Pelicans.

Boston's struggled pretty much all season. Most of that has to do with injuries and Covid, of course, but the lack of a center has really shown. They need a beefy guy down low, IMO.

[M2]

My take on the Celtics is they're a shooting team that's not hitting its shots (18th in eFG%). Some of that is a lack of interior scoring, but it's mostly their ball movement. They're 28th in assists per game and they just aren't moving the rock fast enough or creatively enough to yield good shots.

[texasdave]

I watched the final minute in regulation and all of the overtime in the Boston-N.O. contest, and I was thoroughly confused by the Celtics' strategy. Tatum sinks two baskets in the final 11 seconds of the fourth quarter, and ends regulation with 32 points. And then he almost completely disappears in OT. What is up with that? Yes, I listened to Doris Burke's unrelenting lovefest with Josh Hart continue ad nauseam. Barf. But if Josh Hart can shut down your All-Pro, then maybe your All-Pro isn't really an All-Pro after all. I just found it odd.

On a side note, Robert Williams' style of play reminds me a lot of Dennis Rodman.

[Kingspoint]

The Celtics really miss Marcus Smart. He establishes their identity and their identity is Defense and tenacity. That's missing without Smart.

[Kingspoint]

15 Free Throw attempts for Giannis against the Kings with Bagley and Holmes both having three fouls. All this was in the first half.

Never saw any of the game, but I'm not buying for one second that he was fouled more time than he traveled or fouled himself on both Offense and Defense (he has no fouls and three turnovers). Some of that is the disrespect that Sacramento is shown until they start winning as a franchise. They need to win for so many reasons, but this is one of them...no respect from the officials. The Officials are dictating the outcome of this game.

[Kingspoint]

Aminu Started tonight.

19 minutes, +12 +/-, 4 Steals (the rest of the players on the Magic had 3), 2 Blocks (the rest of the team had 6, which is fine). That minute restriction is going to remain, probably for a couple months, at least, but if he's starting, and then closing games, that's going to translate directly to wins.

Terrance Ross was the only reserve who wasn't at least a -5 in the +/- and he was a robust +8.

Fournier has come back on fire. Add this to Aminu and Vucevic in the Starting lineup and they are back to being the 7th seed that they were last year. When Gordon gets back, Aminu returns to the bench, but it would be great to have him in there closing games instead of Ennis.

[Kingspoint]

OMG!!!

Harden flopped bigtime against Kawhi on a tying basket and New Jersey upheld the call allowing Harden to flop.

[texasdave]

OMG!!!

Harden flopped bigtime against Kawhi on a tying basket by and New Jersey upheld the call allowing Harden to flop.

I cannot believe that Leonard didn't get the call, considering the Clippers were at home.

[Kingspoint]

Ryan Saunders fired.

If he wants to come to POR as an Assistant, I'd love to have him.

But, I can understand why they let him go.

[Kingspoint]

Ryan Saunders fired.

If he wants to come to POR as an Assistant, I'd love to have him.

But, I can understand why they let him go.

...and hiring Asst TOR Coach, Chris Finch, to a multi-year contract.

[Kingspoint]

MIN definitely has a culture issue, so I can see them trying to pull someone from TOR, who have a great culture there.

[M2]

Those Wizards just keep casting spells. Add the Blazers and Lakers to the list of victims in what's now a 5-game winning streak. Who are these guys??

I'm responding over here because the old thread is in danger of imminent shut down. The Wizlets found the light switch. All they need is a solid month and they should be in one of those top 10 slots.

[Bourgeois Zee]

I'm responding over here because the old thread is in danger of imminent shut down. The Wizlets found the light switch. All they need is a solid month and they should be in one of those top 10 slots.

They'll have to play a lot of good teams in that month. LA (twice), Denver, Boston, Memphis, and Minnesota in their next six (before the All-Star break).

They'll need to win at least four of those before I'm convinced this is anything other than a blip on the radar.

[M2]

They'll have to play a lot of good teams in that month. LA (twice), Denver, Boston, Memphis, and Minnesota in their next six (before the All-Star break).

They'll need to win at least four of those before I'm convinced this is anything other than a blip on the radar.

That Celtics games strikes me as a good barometer for where they're at. Boston keeps tripping over it's own feet. If DC is in a groove, that's a very winnable game. I don't know if they're for real, but I'm thinking a team can be highly surreal and still make the EC playoffs. Even with their terrible start, they're only 2 games out of 8th place (1 in the loss column).

[Kingspoint]

PHO showed last night the huge chasm that exists between them (UTA, LAL and LAC, too) and the rest of the league with teams at full strength. POR has to get both Nurk and C.J. back to reach that level.

BKN and PHI could both get there, with BKN needing the big three to play together more often, while PHI needs to figure out a 2nd Unit that's a bit more reliable.