NBA 25-26 - And so it begins..

[Kingspoint]

Charlotte being Charlotte.

They waive former 1st Rd pick Nick Smith, Jr.

He comes to LAL on a 2-way immediately.

He starts last night because of all of the injuries after being on the inactive list the night before.

POR could do nothing to stop him. He looked as good as Austin Reaves in every facet of the game, except he was a lot quicker than Reaves is. He fired up his team. He was even ill and threw up at halftime. Couldn't miss a shot.

There's something inanely wrong with the Hornets franchise as they continue to be unable to recognize NBA talent, even when it's in their own backyard.

What a great pickup by the Lakers. Surprisingly, the Lakers are loaded with talent right now. When LeBron comes back, they are going to be 11-deep in talent.

[Kingspoint]

Hope the Desmond Bane fit improves drastically between now and January. 2 of the 3 wins for Orlando have come with him minimally involved. I still think a Suggs/Bane/Paolo/Franz/WC lineup could contend for the east if they gel.

Yeah, I don't know what's going on, but it's early. There's a major adjustment to be made with ORL. Wagner and Banchero have taken turns in their careers (much of it due to injuries) having the ball go through them (I think they are much better when it goes through Wagner than Banchero). Now, it's going through Bane. That's a major adjustment, and I've yet to see Banchero adjust well when the ball isn't going through him. Seems like he pouts to me and just goes through the motions piling up stats, but not doing what it takes to win. Making others around him better has never seemed to be important to him. Haven't seen that team-oriented Championship attitude from him, yet, in his career, that you can see in Bane and Wagner. Banchero is easily the most talented, but it's going to have to be Banchero that makes the biggest adjustment of anyone here. Wagner is a pro. He'll adjust to anything.

[SteelSD]

If you're up by 24 and miss 11 straight shots to end the game, you really should lose two games for that, not just one. That is all.

[Stray]

It's been a couple years since I've played NBA contests, but jumped back into NBA DFS and took home 2nd tonight in the DK 4-point play Felt like the vet finding out he still has his fastball.

[texasdave]

How does a team score 75 points in the first half, and then just 36 in the second half?.

Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey? Now, there's a trade for you. Can you even imagine OKC with Josh Giddey still on it?

[SteelSD]

How does a team score 75 points in the first half, and then just 36 in the second half?

You stupidly run Maxey/Embiid isolation plays ten times in a row, where everyone else gets locked out of the offense.

Embiid scored some points in the first half, but looked gassed in the fourth. Wish I could say that he just needs to get back into game shape, but his knees look shot.

Oh, and Grimes was awful last night. Not even so much the missed shots, but his passing led to multiple turnovers.

It was really a perfect storm of suck in that fourth quarter all the way around.

[Kingspoint]

How does a team score 75 points in the first half, and then just 36 in the second half?.

Alex Caruso for Josh Giddey? Now, there's a trade for you. Can you even imagine OKC with Josh Giddey still on it?

Falling in love with the jumper. Ir's an old story I've already seen POR do 3 times this season.

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You stupidly run Maxey/Embiid isolation plays ten times in a row, where everyone else gets locked out of the offense.

Embiid scored some points in the first half, but looked gassed in the fourth. Wish I could say that he just needs to get back into game shape, but his knees look shot.

Oh, and Grimes was awful last night. Not even so much the missed shots, but his passing led to multiple turnovers.

It was really a perfect storm of suck in that fourth quarter all the way around.

CHI also leads the NBA in most passes per posession. They will gas you.

[texasdave]

Bad news for the Jazz. Walker Kessler out for the year due to shoulder surgery.

[SteelSD]

Falling in love with the jumper. Ir's an old story I've already seen POR do 3 times this season.

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CHI also leads the NBA in most passes per posession. They will gas you.

That's not really what happened.

[Kingspoint]

That's not really what happened.

Looked like they were running past the Sixers in the 2nd Half and that PHI was standing still.

[SteelSD]

Looked like they were running past the Sixers in the 2nd Half and that PHI was standing still.

No, that's not what happened.

[Kingspoint]

No, that's not what happened.

I'll go with what you saw, of course. I only saw highlights.

[Kingspoint]

What a great win by the Blazers over the Thunder. Down 22 pts in the first after OKC was 6-7 from "3" and POR shot 25% from the floor, they never gave up.

Jrue Holiday is really good. OKC is even better. Ended a 16-game losing streak to the Thunder.

[Kingspoint]

5-3, POR already has wins against OKC, LAL, GSW and DEN (& UTA). Their losses are MIN, LAL, LAC. That's only good enough for 6th in the West or the East. Blazers head East 3000 miles tomorrow to begin another long road trip, miles they've had the most of every season since the Sonics left Seattle.

[Kingspoint]

OKC, LAL and DEN have a combined 20-5 record. 3 of those losses are to POR.