2023-24 NBA Season Discussion

[GSP]

Bucks had the most fortunate injury luck for a title ever in 21 and since then they havent had a healthy playoff run. Cruel twist of fate.

21 playoff injuries

Jaylen
Jimmy
Kyrie
Harden
Trae
Kawhi
Ad
Murray

Cp3 and Embiid were injured too but theyre always injured in playoffs so no point in mentioning them since its expected

[ronnymac2]

Bucks had the most fortunate injury luck for a title ever in 21 and since then they havent had a healthy playoff run. Cruel twist of fate.

21 playoff injuries

Jaylen
Jimmy
Kyrie
Harden
Trae
Kawhi
Ad
Murray

Cp3 and Embiid were injured too but theyre always injured in playoffs so no point in mentioning them since its expected

But you mentioned Kawhi?!

[MartinToVaught]

Bucks had the most fortunate injury luck for a title ever in 21

Giannis himself had one of the most brutal-looking injuries in recent memory in those playoffs. The actual injury luck merchants that year were the Suns.

[LukaTheGOAT]

I dont know if I should be pumped or worried that Derrick White has been our best playoff performer. Jayson has a lousy series offensively and Heat w/o Jimmy will be the worst defense by far that we see these playoffs unless Pacers somehow make Ecf

Of course we should be worried. We have multiple years of Tatum in the PS, and his limitations offensively are largely still the same. He's still a fringe top 10/probably not top 10 offensively guy, and we will need great camaraderie to continue to foster great offensive results, which is less needed for other teams that have true offensive anchors. Now with Porzingis out and not knowing how he will look when he gets back, it puts more onus on Tatum to provide efficient scoring that Porzingis generally provided.

[OhayoKD]

Embid has been crazy impressive considering how hampered he is

[OhayoKD]

Refs really don't want new york to be one and done huh

[GSP]

Bruh **** the Pg ranking talk Brunson might be the best player in the East.................

Brunson has been the best player in the East this year. Wild i knew he was legit when he outplayed Mitchell in 2 different series and teams and outplayed playoff Jimmy but this is insane...........

[GSP]

Bucks had the most fortunate injury luck for a title ever in 21 and since then they havent had a healthy playoff run. Cruel twist of fate.

21 playoff injuries

Jaylen
Jimmy
Kyrie
Harden
Trae
Kawhi
Ad
Murray

Cp3 and Embiid were injured too but theyre always injured in playoffs so no point in mentioning them since its expected

But you mentioned Kawhi?!

Touche..........but weve at least seen Kawhi complete finals and conference finals runs healthy

[itsxtray]

He doesn't get flack for it but Brunson is just as much of a foul grifter as their is in the league. The NBA supposedly banned that jump backwards into the defender thing but Brunson has gotten that call all seires.

[rk2023]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=_HOjrsiLtTYaVpOZxyl7Iw

Watching the games definitely was in line with the stats here.

[GSP]

Read on Twitter

?s=46&t=_HOjrsiLtTYaVpOZxyl7Iw

Watching the games definitely was in line with the stats here.

One of the best series Ive ever seen. Cant remember the last one this good w/ wire to wire games, comebacks in damn near every game. Maybe 09 Celtics Bulls?

[TheGOATRises007]

Embid has been crazy impressive considering how hampered he is

He was a monster, but he averaged .8 rebounds in the 4th quarter in the series.

That is simply deplorable. Injured knee or not.

[The-Power]

That must have been one of the best turnarounds within a series I have ever seen with Brunson. Horrible first two games, followed by four excellent ones. I don't like the foul-baiting but I can certainly appreciate his talent and what he has been able to do at his size, especially on a team that lacks another strong offensive punch.

Tough loss for the 76ers. But with the way Embiid has behaved this series – in addition to the Knicks leaving it all on the court at all times – I can't help but be cheerful about the outcome. Curious to see where the 76ers go from here, though.

[MartinToVaught]

Embid has been crazy impressive considering how hampered he is

There are some pretty gigantic caveats: his fourth-quarter disappearing acts, regular-season-style whistle and egregious dirty plays/lack of discipline. I think his counting stats looked a lot more impressive on paper than his actual play this series was.

[rk2023]

I don’t think Embiid choked in fourth quarters per-se, there are just some very clear skill gaps (injured or not) in his game that don’t make him the best performer in playoff higher-leverage minutes.

In aggregate, I thought he played great. And (dirty : reckless antics aside), I did gain a lot of respect for him making it through this series with the numbers he put up.

These were the 2nd/3rd best East teams imo.

[Fundamentals21]

Maxey, Embiid and Brunson all played great.I don't think Embiid was about to conquer a 2nd seed anyway, so I am not too surprised by end result.

[Dutchball97]

I don’t think Embiid choked in fourth quarters per-se, there are just some very clear skill gaps (injured or not) in his game that don’t make him the best performer in playoff higher-leverage minutes.

In aggregate, I thought he played great. And (dirty : reckless antics aside), I did gain a lot of respect for him making it through this series with the numbers he put up.

These were the 2nd/3rd best East teams imo.

I still think the Bucks with a healthy Giannis would've been the biggest challenge to the Celtics in the east but this version of the Bucks without Giannis and with a hobbled Dame doesn't really come close to what the Knicks and Sixers showed.

[GSP]

Maxey, Embiid and Brunson all played great.I don't think Embiid was about to conquer a 2nd seed anyway, so I am not too surprised by end result.

"Conquer a 2nd seed"

Sixers were the series favorites and Knicks only got to 2 b/c Embiid missed 40. Their record w/ him even after be returned from injury said it all and they were only 3 games behind despite Joel missing 40. Bucks also has their injury issues which prevented them from getting the 2 seed

Knicks were missing their star forward Randle and Bojan had a series ending injury. Embiid also intentionally injured Robinson having him miss a game he was +7 in as well as the next one

This was hardly some David Vs Goliath "2 vs 7". Embiid was expected to win and most were picking Philly he just came up short as per usual. I mean what is even the best team Embiid beat in playoffs? His track record is as bad as it gets for an Mvp and hes def never beaten a team w/ an opposing star anywhere close to Brunson

[ronnymac2]

Bill Walton is best known for three things (ITO playing career): UCLA dominance, a title in Portland, and being a Sixth Man of the Year for the GOAT-level 1986 Boston Celtics. But from 1980-1985, he played 169 total games for the San Diego/Los Angeles Clippers. Stop and start, year after year. They built their team with plans of him being the centerpiece, and they accomplished nothing.

LA languished for decades before Blake Griffin and Chris Paul changed their fortunes. They went from laughingstock to going toe-to-toe in all-time epic battles with in-era juggernauts like San Antonio and Golden State. Lob City was exciting and a legit draw. I've been critical of CP3 in the past, but even I cannot deny how popular he was given his skillset, height (relatability to young student-athletes), and success.

Now, 40 years after the Walton era, LA is mired in something far worse: the Kawhi Leonard era. And it's sad to see given the franchise's Lob City success less than a decade ago.

From 2020-2024, Leonard has played 257 total games for the Los Angeles Clippers. They've accomplished nothing of consequence. They supposedly assembled their squad around four great players. I see 1.5 great players. James Harden is still great, and Russell Westbrook in (rightly) a diminished role is still dangerous.

But Paul George, who was never a great offensive player, has declined further, yet his ego desires his younger version's primacy.

And then there's Leonard, the most selfish, boring prima donna of the modern era. What a shameful decision to put him on the U.S. Olympic Team when there are plenty of young men who work hard and actually have love for the game.

Is Zubat only starting due to injury? He's below-average as a bench C, let alone a starter. They gutted this whole team and filled it with guys who have no business playing 24 minutes in an NBA game to give huge contracts to PG-13 on the wrong side of 30, and Leonard, the worst-drawing "star" of the social media era. They're paying Leonard $50 million per season for the next three seasons. This is without question the worst contract in the league.

Clipper fans are amazing fans, probably because they have a better appreciation than other fans for when things are good. They don't take it for granted. I remember those houses rocking during those playoff games when Paul would feed DeAndre for an alley-oop or Redick would drain a three or Crawford crossed a defender up. Now, I feel for the fanbase.

[ronnymac2]

First Round Highlights:

Anybody who at any point this season thought Phoenix or either LA team would be any sort of threat in the playoffs needs to go work for ESPN or something. I saw a headline that actually said PHX is going to fire their coach and keep their GM...the same GM who thought "I've got super scorer Kevin Durant on one wing and super scorer Devin Booker on the other wing. You know what will even my team out? Bradley Beal!" PHX is fried for the next five years, which really sucks, because I was fortunate enough to attend a Suns game in March 2023, and those fans are awesome. Great stadium. Honestly, great city.

LeBron continues to amaze. He's so far removed from his prime level now, but in all honesty, he impressed me so much in these playoffs, especially defensively. It's possible he's played more professional basketball possessions than any human ever has, and he still has a great basketball body, diminished as it is (and understandably so, 70K minutes in or whatever). Just magnificent. But his team is so pedestrian. They never had a chance.

It sucks that Zion was hurt again. I think with him healthy, that is the best 1st Round West series. Instead, OKC cruises.

Minnesota crushing PHX is not impressive in the slightest. However, when I evaluate the Wolves...that team might honestly be the second most probable team to win the title this season. Edwards, SGA's cousin, and McDaniels form what is IMHO the best triumvirate of wings in the NBA today. They are complete, they know their roles, and they have young legs. I'm not sure anybody is more solid and professional than Mike Conley. I always have love for KAT. I think Gobert is an extremely overrated player and just a dork overall, but I'll give him his due as a great paint defender, which compliments those long wing defenders extremely well. They are an extremely dangerous team.

Denver vs. Minny could turn out to be a classic. Can't wait to see what Jokic has up his sleeve. He's currently the best player in the game.

I know he tried to hurt my team's players with dirty plays, so I won't defend him vigorously right now, but people need to not talk so much smack about Joel Embiid. He played very big minutes and has been hurting for at least two seasons now. All you can ask is that guys compete. Unlike some "superstars" in the NBA today, Embiid at least makes the walk.

Much respect to Tyrese Maxey. What a stud. I feared that man as a fan. Gave me flashbacks to Darius Garland in the first round last year. Maxey's improvement mapping his options and making plays for others made him IMHO a deserved MIP winner. And this kid Oubre. Where did he bounce from? GSW? PHX? People doubted him, but aside from the all-stars, Oubre was the only other guy I feared in this series. Kid made plays on both ends. Much respect to him. Can't wait to see more.

Cleveland vs. Orlando Game 7 should be cool.