Around the NBA - 23-24 Other playoff series

[enigmatics]

Dallas is quietly 4-0.

The rook Lively looks like a keeper and the rest of the additions are playing well. I was always a little surprised at how quickly people dismissed their offseason.

[Bogyo]

Dallas is quietly 4-0.

The rook Lively looks like a keeper and the rest of the additions are playing well. I was always a little surprised at how quickly people dismissed their offseason.

While nuthugging the Lakers offseason...

Although some of the Dallas "hate" is likely coming from the fact that Kyrie is a timebomb - much like Harden.

[sunsbg]

Dallas is quietly 4-0.

The rook Lively looks like a keeper and the rest of the additions are playing well. I was always a little surprised at how quickly people dismissed their offseason.

They have beat only average at best teams so far and not very convincingly. Luka started last season averaging 30+ppg in first ten games and we saw how they finished.

[bwgood77]

Dallas is quietly 4-0.

The rook Lively looks like a keeper and the rest of the additions are playing well. I was always a little surprised at how quickly people dismissed their offseason.

They have beat only average at best teams so far and not very convincingly. Luka started last season averaging 30+ppg in first ten games and we saw how they finished.

Still better than the team that went to the WCF. They still have Kleber, Powell, etc, but now added a better guy in Lively. Josh Green is getting better.

Derrick Jones Jr is an adequate replacement for DFS. And of course they added Kyrie since we played them. Grant Williams was a solid additon too. He hit 7 3s last night. They also still have Seth Curry.

So they run a solid 10 deep.

[sunsbg]

Dallas is quietly 4-0.

The rook Lively looks like a keeper and the rest of the additions are playing well. I was always a little surprised at how quickly people dismissed their offseason.

They have beat only average at best teams so far and not very convincingly. Luka started last season averaging 30+ppg in first ten games and we saw how they finished.

Still better than the team that went to the WCF. They still have Kleber, Powell, etc, but now added a better guy in Lively. Josh Green is getting better.

Derrick Jones Jr is an adequate replacement for DFS. And of course they added Kyrie since we played them. Grant Williams was a solid additon too. He hit 7 3s last night. They also still have Seth Curry.

So they run a solid 10 deep.

We'll have to wait and see. They are interesting mixture of washed, unpredictable, inconsistent, young role players and two stars who doesn't complement each other too well. As I said their wins were hard fought against not very good teams. Outside two 4th qtrs Suns have looked a lot better to me.

[bwgood77]

They have beat only average at best teams so far and not very convincingly. Luka started last season averaging 30+ppg in first ten games and we saw how they finished.

Still better than the team that went to the WCF. They still have Kleber, Powell, etc, but now added a better guy in Lively. Josh Green is getting better.

Derrick Jones Jr is an adequate replacement for DFS. And of course they added Kyrie since we played them. Grant Williams was a solid additon too. He hit 7 3s last night. They also still have Seth Curry.

So they run a solid 10 deep.

We'll have to wait and see. They are interesting mixture of washed, unpredictable, inconsistent, young role players and two stars who doesn't complement each other too well. As I said their wins were hard fought against not very good teams. Outside two 4th qtrs Suns have looked a lot better to me.

They did beat the Spurs though. And the Nets who ware pretty good Then they beat the Grizzlies, who haven't played well, but they are a good team. Beat them by 15 without Kyrie....and didn't have Kyrie against the Bulls either.

I don't know that I can say we look better at this point. We beat the Jazz pretty good on their 2nd half of a b2b...and barely squeezed out a win against the Warriors without Draymond.

[Revived]

Read on Twitter

Even 38 year old CP3 might be the best backup PG ever. I’ve watched a few Warriors games and he’s not getting killed defensively as much in Kerr’s system either.

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

Even 38 year old CP3 might be the best backup PG ever. I’ve watched a few Warriors games and he’s not getting killed defensively as much in Kerr’s system either.

He's not playing against many dudes who have the ability to isolate on him and put him in tough spots. He's still CP3 and he can still mostly hold his own defensively, still pass with the best of them and well his individual offense hasn't been there but his best asset (playmaking) is what they need him for and he's giving them that.

[Bogyo]

Read on Twitter

Even 38 year old CP3 might be the best backup PG ever. I’ve watched a few Warriors games and he’s not getting killed defensively as much in Kerr’s system either.

He's not playing against many dudes who have the ability to isolate on him and put him in tough spots. He's still CP3 and he can still mostly hold his own defensively, still pass with the best of them and well his individual offense hasn't been there but his best asset (playmaking) is what they need him for and he's giving them that.

Well, he is intelligent enough, his teammates are too and their coaching as well. He might be able to reign his ultra competitive NBA alpha psyche to the downside of his carreer so he has one last chance to win, and lenghten his career by 1-2 years if he wants to. Some of the most talented dudes were not able to do this becouse of their ego, so kudos to him!
On the flip side - and as others have pointed out - he is playing against bench players, so thats elevating his effectiveness as well, and meanwhile it seems like his legs are fully gone, as his shooting is just dissapeared, fell off the face of the earth, is on a milk carton, zero, zilch, nada. He is shooting 33,9% from the field and 4,8% (four point eight, not a typo!!!) from 3. While these numbers will come back some, I can pretty much guarantee that he will be around 40% from the field and 30% from 3 - which is less than optimal. Plus when they'll be in the playoffs the opposing benches will be a bit better as well - so they will be playing 4 on 5 on offense whenever he is on the court. Maybe they can work around that if Moody and Kuminga really do take a step forward, or CP plays with Klay and Wiggins a lot, but he would not be adequate starter anywhere and might be a worse bench player anywhere else.

[Bogyo]

Jesus this Toronto team has problems... Seems like they do NOT want to play together like this - maybe its time to trade Siakam, and hand it over to the young guys. If OG balls out they can re-sign him and be happy with it - while give more time to Grady to develop and tank them a bit (not fully unintentionally). If OG lays an egg and pouts then sign and trade him to the next believer, and get an even better draft pick.
Before the season I kinda thought they could trade OG and move all in (OG and Trent for Lavine?) - but I'm pretty sure now that is not the case.

[lilfishi22]

Read on Twitter

Even 38 year old CP3 might be the best backup PG ever. I’ve watched a few Warriors games and he’s not getting killed defensively as much in Kerr’s system either.

He's not playing against many dudes who have the ability to isolate on him and put him in tough spots. He's still CP3 and he can still mostly hold his own defensively, still pass with the best of them and well his individual offense hasn't been there but his best asset (playmaking) is what they need him for and he's giving them that.

Well, he is intelligent enough, his teammates are too and their coaching as well. He might be able to reign his ultra competitive NBA alpha psyche to the downside of his carreer so he has one last chance to win, and lenghten his career by 1-2 years if he wants to. Some of the most talented dudes were not able to do this becouse of their ego, so kudos to him!
On the flip side - and as others have pointed out - he is playing against bench players, so thats elevating his effectiveness as well, and meanwhile it seems like his legs are fully gone, as his shooting is just dissapeared, fell off the face of the earth, is on a milk carton, zero, zilch, nada. He is shooting 33,9% from the field and 4,8% (four point eight, not a typo!!!) from 3. While these numbers will come back some, I can pretty much guarantee that he will be around 40% from the field and 30% from 3 - which is less than optimal. Plus when they'll be in the playoffs the opposing benches will be a bit better as well - so they will be playing 4 on 5 on offense whenever he is on the court. Maybe they can work around that if Moody and Kuminga really do take a step forward, or CP plays with Klay and Wiggins a lot, but he would not be adequate starter anywhere and might be a worse bench player anywhere else.

It's definitely easier when you already have a HOF (top 15 player of all time) PG in the starting line up alongside one of the best playmaking bigs of all time while bringing another HOF PG off the bench. The major reason I didn't think it would work was because I assumed CP3 would be adamant about starting which hurts them more than it helps them. But his decision to come off the bench was both surprising given his ultra competitive nature and at the same time, a massive weight off the Warriors shoulders not having to deal with his ego and wanting to start.

I will give the Warriors and Kerr (and whoever else is involved) full credit for convincing him to come off the bench for the first time in his career.

[lilfishi22]

Jesus this Toronto team has problems... Seems like they do NOT want to play together like this - maybe its time to trade Siakam, and hand it over to the young guys. If OG balls out they can re-sign him and be happy with it - while give more time to Grady to develop and tank them a bit (not fully unintentionally). If OG lays an egg and pouts then sign and trade him to the next believer, and get an even better draft pick.
Before the season I kinda thought they could trade OG and move all in (OG and Trent for Lavine?) - but I'm pretty sure now that is not the case.

They should've blown it up the previous offseason. It's crazy the kind of price tags Masai is putting on his players.

[enigmatics]

Ayton vs. Biyombo tonight! lol

[spanishninja]

follow up on Harden's first game with the Clippers last night, not only did they lose to the Knicks, but apparently Mason Plumlee also got injured by Randle.

https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/la-clippers-player-suffers-injury-vs-knicks

video looks pretty rough. the clippers now have even less size than after the trade.

[bwgood77]

follow up on Harden's first game with the Clippers last night, not only did they lose to the Knicks, but apparently Mason Plumlee also got injured by Randle.

https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/la-clippers-player-suffers-injury-vs-knicks

video looks pretty rough. the clippers now have even less size than after the trade.

They're still pretty stacked. George had a bad game last night. Still can't believe they got Tucker in the trade too. I guess he's getting old but they have a lot of good wing defenders. They could definitely defend our 3 stars well, certainly when Harden and Westbrook are not on the court together, but Westbrook can be a solid defender when he tries, like in the playoffs, and could take Beal.

[spanishninja]

follow up on Harden's first game with the Clippers last night, not only did they lose to the Knicks, but apparently Mason Plumlee also got injured by Randle.

https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/la-clippers-player-suffers-injury-vs-knicks

video looks pretty rough. the clippers now have even less size than after the trade.

They're still pretty stacked. George had a bad game last night. Still can't believe they got Tucker in the trade too. I guess he's getting old but they have a lot of good wing defenders. They could definitely defend our 3 stars well, certainly when Harden and Westbrook are not on the court together, but Westbrook can be a solid defender when he tries, like in the playoffs, and could take Beal.

oh I am not specifically referring to them compared to us, but I think they have some of the same issues we do against the top teams in the West.

[lilfishi22]

follow up on Harden's first game with the Clippers last night, not only did they lose to the Knicks, but apparently Mason Plumlee also got injured by Randle.

https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/la-clippers-player-suffers-injury-vs-knicks

video looks pretty rough. the clippers now have even less size than after the trade.

They're still pretty stacked. George had a bad game last night. Still can't believe they got Tucker in the trade too. I guess he's getting old but they have a lot of good wing defenders. They could definitely defend our 3 stars well, certainly when Harden and Westbrook are not on the court together, but Westbrook can be a solid defender when he tries, like in the playoffs, and could take Beal.

Sixers just wanted to get off his salary. They seem pretty keen on making a splash in free agency or flip all those expiring deals from the Clips for a star.

Clippers were happy to oblige I'm sure. PJ is still a solid versatile player and Balmer is loaded.

[handsome salary]

Thank you Mikal and Nets for giving the Clips a loss. Scariest team in LA.

[bwgood77]

Thank you Mikal and Nets for giving the Clips a loss. Scariest team in LA.

Yeah, they will shape things up once they become acclimated. George had a bad game 2 games ago and Kawhi last night. Plus they can afford to miss one of those guys with Harden there since he can orchestrate a great offense.

I don't like Harden as a playoff player, but Kawhi is one of the best playoff players, if not THE best (outside of maybe Jokic's last year) and George is solid, so that should counter Harden choking. Unfortunately our stars have mostly choked in crucial playoff games when facing elimination.

[Revived]

Giannis has 50 pts in 29 mins early in the 4th qtr rn wow.