2024-25 NBA Thread: “you’ll never let me down like the team does” sad Heat fan says to giant pile of cocaine (24 Viewers)

[Moe.]

61-10-10 for Joker lol. I know the mvp has been decided already for some reason but insane to me he’s not the favorite.

Well maybe not insane because SGA is so good but still.

I don't think we'll look back at this like a Nash v. Shaq thing but wow, what a season for the big guy. I'd still give it SGA just to share the wealth and because they're far and away the best regular season team.

This is what makes the MVP vote bad to me. The award isn't Most Valuable Player Who Hasn't Won One Yet. There's no one that can convince me that there's anyone more valuable to their team than Jokic. Nuggets would be garbage without him.

Edited to add: That's how Jokic lost to Fraud Embid. Jokic should have 5 after this year, no doubt. And then people will use the fact that he "only has 3 MVPs" to diminish his career once it's all said and done.

Being far and away the best team in the league weighs heavily. It's more about that than who hasn't won yet. If SGA was on the Wizards we wouldnt be having this discussion.

Say what now?

They are 2.5 games up on Cleveland, who just had a 4 game losing streak. Yes their net rating is possibly historic, but this isn't a 70 win team.

SGA has played some extra unnecessary minutes, also. More than was needed to pad his stats. Jokic does no such thing. His team can't win without him on the floor but once it's decided he sits.

You know they can still get to 70 right? They are having an historic regular season, one of the best ever. That’s not really an opinion and there is no other way to slice it.

The stat padding comment is nonsense. SGA and the Thunder bring it every single game, that’s all.

Yes, I know it's possible bit they'll have to win out.

I hope they try.

We will see. With Chet’s injury they still kinda need time with everyone available to get different lineups out there. The bench is so good if a couple guys rest it doesn’t really matter outside of Shai. That said, their next 3 are at Houston and two against the Lakers in OKC, they’ll probably drop one of those. They finish on the road in Phoenix, Utah, and New Orleans so even if they rest they’d have to try and lose those.

 

[msudaisy26]

61-10-10 for Joker lol. I know the mvp has been decided already for some reason but insane to me he’s not the favorite.

Well maybe not insane because SGA is so good but still.

I don't think we'll look back at this like a Nash v. Shaq thing but wow, what a season for the big guy. I'd still give it SGA just to share the wealth and because they're far and away the best regular season team.

This is what makes the MVP vote bad to me. The award isn't Most Valuable Player Who Hasn't Won One Yet. There's no one that can convince me that there's anyone more valuable to their team than Jokic. Nuggets would be garbage without him.

Edited to add: That's how Jokic lost to Fraud Embid. Jokic should have 5 after this year, no doubt. And then people will use the fact that he "only has 3 MVPs" to diminish his career once it's all said and done.

Being far and away the best team in the league weighs heavily. It's more about that than who hasn't won yet. If SGA was on the Wizards we wouldnt be having this discussion.

Say what now?

They are 2.5 games up on Cleveland, who just had a 4 game losing streak. Yes their net rating is possibly historic, but this isn't a 70 win team.

SGA has played some extra unnecessary minutes, also. More than was needed to pad his stats. Jokic does no such thing. His team can't win without him on the floor but once it's decided he sits.

I don't equate the records in the East on the same level. Kinda JV over there.

We'll see in the Finals. Boston is still likely the best team at full strength in a 7 game series. They've been tweaking things and resting guys all season, just coasting their way to 60 wins and the best road record in the league.

I mean, they get to coast because they are in the East

While that is a little true, it would be dishonest to think they wouldn't be second if they played in the West by a wide margin.

 

[msudaisy26]

Standings in the West are nuts, everyone is so bunched together. Should be interesting final few weeks.

IF the Warriors win tonight against the Lakers then who knows what will happen. If the Lakers win then I think it settles down a bit and the Warriors, T Wolves, Clippers and Grizzles battle for 6 through 8.

 

[Anarchy99]

I mean, they get to coast because they are in the East

IMO, BOS would be the 2 seed in either conference. . . and could have done so by coasting some of the time. They have a .745 winning % against the East and a .724 winning % against the West. At that rate, Giving them 52 games against the West instead of 30, they would still end the season with 60 wins. That would put them 10 games up on HOU. The C's goal for the regular season was to end the season healthy, keep guys fresh, and give some non-starters more minutes to grow and develop. The real season starts in a few weeks.

I expect one thing may come into play for teams like CLE or OKC. Their guys don't have much experience playing an extended season and playing a lot more games in a deep playoff run. The Celtics have multiple guys that are used to playing a lot of games with deep runs . . . Tatum (had years playing 100, 99, 94, 93, 88, 85 games), White (102, 98, 92), Brown (95, 90, 89, 88, 87), Horford (92, 92, 91, 89, 86), Holiday (90, 88) . . . even reserves have seen a lot of time Prichard (101, 95), Hauser (98).

I remember seeing an interview with Donovan Mitchell after the Cavs lost to the Celtics last year. He said one of the issues by the end of the year was fatigue. They gave 110% in every game and every practice. They had something to prove and wanted to win every game. There motto was play hard for 48 minutes, no matter what the score or situation was. But he admitted that by the end of the season, they were drained, and that mindset actually wore them down. Jumping ahead to this season, Mitchell has already played 10% more minutes than last year with 6 games to go (will end up with 15-20% more minutes played unless they sit him). I don't think he's stopped giving 110%.

The point being, for CLE to win series after series in the post season, they will have to play in a lot more games than their players are used to. Obviously, the Thunder have been spectacular and are a young team. But they don't have guys that have gutted out 90, 95, 100 games in a season. Maybe that matters, maybe it won't. But it certainly could be a factor. How much? Who knows?

 

[Major]

Standings in the West are nuts, everyone is so bunched together. Should be interesting final few weeks.

IF the Warriors win tonight against the Lakers then who knows what will happen. If the Lakers win then I think it settles down a bit and the Warriors, T Wolves, Clippers and Grizzles battle for 6 through 8.

Told you not to count out my Rockets facing the Grizz

 

[msudaisy26]

Standings in the West are nuts, everyone is so bunched together. Should be interesting final few weeks.

IF the Warriors win tonight against the Lakers then who knows what will happen. If the Lakers win then I think it settles down a bit and the Warriors, T Wolves, Clippers and Grizzles battle for 6 through 8.

Told you not to count out my Rockets facing the Grizz

That is wild. The way the Grizzlies are playing right now it wouldn't shock me jf they lost both play in games.

 

[Yo Mama]

Standings in the West are nuts, everyone is so bunched together. Should be interesting final few weeks.

IF the Warriors win tonight against the Lakers then who knows what will happen. If the Lakers win then I think it settles down a bit and the Warriors, T Wolves, Clippers and Grizzles battle for 6 through 8.

Told you not to count out my Rockets facing the Grizz

Grizzlies would have to beat one of Min/LAC in the play-in to get the 7 spot. If they drop out of the top 6, I think it’s more likely they end up in the 8 spot (assuming they would beat whoever comes out of the Kings/Mavs/Suns morass).

 

[Kev4029]

You guys are all giving the Nuggets too much credit right now. They are only 2.5 up on the play in and play the Warriors-Pacers-Kings-Grizz-Rockets to close out the season.

 

[thecatch]

The Kings totally quit on the season. It's been gross the last few weeks. Back into basketball hell.

 

[Anarchy99]

This is interesting . . .

According to NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN, the Brooklyn Nets rejected the Boston Celtics offer of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and a first-round pick for Kevin Durant in 2022.

 

[msudaisy26]

Standings in the West are nuts, everyone is so bunched together. Should be interesting final few weeks.

IF the Warriors win tonight against the Lakers then who knows what will happen. If the Lakers win then I think it settles down a bit and the Warriors, T Wolves, Clippers and Grizzles battle for 6 through 8.

Told you not to count out my Rockets facing the Grizz

Grizzlies would have to beat one of Min/LAC in the play-in to get the 7 spot. If they drop out of the top 6, I think it’s more likely they end up in the 8 spot (assuming they would beat whoever comes out of the Kings/Mavs/Suns morass).

I agree, but it wouldn't be that crazy if they lost to anyone of those bottom trio.

 

[msudaisy26]

You guys are all giving the Nuggets too much credit right now. They are only 2.5 up on the play in and play the Warriors-Pacers-Kings-Grizz-Rockets to close out the season.

Yeah, but if the Lakers win tonight they are basically up three games with five games left. The last three games for the Nuggets are the Kings, the Grizzlies who are horrible right now, and then the Rockets who will probably be locked into the end seed and resting everyone.

 

[Major]

The Kings totally quit on the season. It's been gross the last few weeks. Back into basketball hell.

I really feel for you and SAC fans. So much promise but that whole Light The Beam thing ended up being a huge tease.

 

[thecatch]

The Kings totally quit on the season. It's been gross the last few weeks. Back into basketball hell.

I really feel for you and SAC fans. So much promise but that whole Light The Beam thing ended up being a huge tease.

Definitely not regretting the exorbitant amount I spent on tickets to take my son to a playoff game a couple years ago; he'll probably be out of the house before the Kings make it back.

 

[Yo Mama]

Ok let’s do this. West 2-8 predictions:

Hou - okc, @gs, @lac, @lal, den = 1-5
LAL - gs, no, @okc, @okc, @dal, hou, @por = 4-3
Den - @gs, ind, @sac, Mem, @hou = 3-2
GS - @lal, den, hou, @pho, sa, @por, lac = 5-2
Min - @bkn, @PHI, @mil, @mem, bkn, uta = 5-1
LAC - dal, dal, sa, hou, @sac, @gs = 4-2 (maybe 5-1)
Mem - @mia, @det, @cha, min, @Den, dal = 2-4

Projected standings:
1 - OKC
2 - Hou (51-32)
3 - LAL (50-32)
4 - Den (50-32) - LAL has tiebreaker
5 - GS (49-33)
6 - Min (49-33) - GS has tiebreaker
7 - LAC (48-34)
8 - Mem (46-36)
9/10 - probably Dal and Sac

Not sure who would have the tiebreaker in a GS/Min/LAC 3-way tie if LAC went 5-1.

 

[Jayrod]

ANT with a potential injury?

 

[Zow]

ANT with a potential injury?

Yeah but he came back in and looked good.

 

[scoobus]

Ja

 

[Harry Frogfish]

Shaq has had one of the most charmed lives an athlete could ever dream of and it would be impossible to ever feel bad for him.

But watching him try and sit through this TNT show -- and wonder who picked these three pigeons (stealing that from Ja) they've got perched up there next to him -- well, I feel bad for Shaq. It's that bad.

He's suffering. I'm thinking about doing a gofundme page for him.

 

[identikit]

Oh no...

 

[SayWhat?]

Ja

As a Minnesota fan, I feel blessed that we have Ant as the face of our franchise. He actually plays (and plays HARD) almost every night, his teammates love him, he has an infectious personality that resonates with fans, and he isn’t a completely clueless a s s hat like this guy is. Would hate to feel like I needed to root for that guy.

 

[Kev4029]

Ja

As a Minnesota fan, I feel blessed that we have Ant as the face of our franchise. He actually plays (and plays HARD) almost every night, his teammates love him, he has an infectious personality that resonates with fans, and he isn’t a completely clueless a s s hat like this guy is. Would hate to feel like I needed to root for that guy.

I love Edwards the player, but Edwards the person is quite the asshat as well, it seems. He's had his share of off the court issues.

 

[SayWhat?]

I love Edwards the player, but Edwards the person is quite the asshat as well, it seems. He's had his share of off the court issues.

The child support situation? Yeah, not ideal. Or something else?

I guess my point is that he’s not beating up teenagers and threatening them with guns, rolling deep into malls to intimidate Foot Locker (or whatever it was) employees, getting suspended for flashing guns in Insta videos, and then continuing on two years later using repeated finger guns in games. On top of that, he’s playing the victim card like everyone is hating on him for no reason. No, people are hating on your because you’re a clown show with zero self-awareness. Anthony Edwards, by all appearances, doesn’t appear to be that.

 

[Capella]

Ja

As a Minnesota fan, I feel blessed that we have Ant as the face of our franchise. He actually plays (and plays HARD) almost every night, his teammates love him, he has an infectious personality that resonates with fans, and he isn’t a completely clueless a s s hat like this guy is. Would hate to feel like I needed to root for that guy.

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[SWC]

anteater was pretty good last night he is all right at a basketball take that to the bank bromigos

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Correct me if I am wrong, but is the draft lottery now set up that no team drops more than 2 spots from where they otherwise would pick? Meaning if your record earned you the 5th pick, that the worst pick you could have is #7?

TIA

 

[Yo Mama]

Correct me if I am wrong, but is the draft lottery now set up that no team drops more than 2 spots from where they otherwise would pick? Meaning if your record earned you the 5th pick, that the worst pick you could have is #7?

TIA

They draw for the top 3 picks so technically a team can drop 3 spots.

 

[Zow]

anteater was pretty good last night he is all right at a basketball take that to the bank bromigos

Making a run at KG for best Wolf ever...

 

[SWC]

anteater was pretty good last night he is all right at a basketball take that to the bank bromigos

Making a run at KG for best Wolf ever...

anteaternintendo is giannis not your guy who owes a million in child support take that to the bank bromigo

 

[msudaisy26]

That is a really big win for the Warriors last night and after OKC, and Houston I am not sure what seed anyone gets.

Maybe the Warriors are contenders that weren't just beating up on a soft part of their schedule. I am conflicted because rooting for Butler and Draymond feels wrong.

 

[Frostillicus]

Ant has his share of off the court drama - babies, baby mamas, and some homophobia.

Some of the kid stuff doesn't sit right with me but he does seem to have settled down with one lady and one kid now (most of the stuff you hear about is related to older drama) and he apologized, made donations, and generally handled things the right way about this homophobic remarks and there hasn't been a repeat of this behavior.

He's a great teammate, everyone who knows him seems to like him, and generally seems to be a good, yet immature, human being. Sky is the limit on and off the court, but it could have been for Ja as well. Hopefully this version of Ant is what we see going forward with continued growth.

 

[Frostillicus]

The Timberwolves are 12-3 in their last 15 games. The Warriors are 12-3 in their last 15 games. The Clippers are 12-3 in their last 15 games.

 

[Major]

The Timberwolves are 12-3 in their last 15 games. The Warriors are 12-3 in their last 15 games. The Clippers are 12-3 in their last 15 games.

and the Rockets are 13-2

 

[Jayrod]

Oh no...

I missed the game.

Is he still at the hospital?

 

[GOB]

Ant has his share of off the court drama - babies, baby mamas, and some homophobia.

Some of the kid stuff doesn't sit right with me but he does seem to have settled down with one lady and one kid now (most of the stuff you hear about is related to older drama) and he apologized, made donations, and generally handled things the right way about this homophobic remarks and there hasn't been a repeat of this behavior.

He's a great teammate, everyone who knows him seems to like him, and generally seems to be a good, yet immature, human being. Sky is the limit on and off the court, but it could have been for Ja as well. Hopefully this version of Ant is what we see going forward with continued growth.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

 

[MAC_32]

I mean, they get to coast because they are in the East

IMO, BOS would be the 2 seed in either conference. . . and could have done so by coasting some of the time. They have a .745 winning % against the East and a .724 winning % against the West. At that rate, Giving them 52 games against the West instead of 30, they would still end the season with 60 wins. That would put them 10 games up on HOU. The C's goal for the regular season was to end the season healthy, keep guys fresh, and give some non-starters more minutes to grow and develop. The real season starts in a few weeks.

I expect one thing may come into play for teams like CLE or OKC. Their guys don't have much experience playing an extended season and playing a lot more games in a deep playoff run. The Celtics have multiple guys that are used to playing a lot of games with deep runs . . . Tatum (had years playing 100, 99, 94, 93, 88, 85 games), White (102, 98, 92), Brown (95, 90, 89, 88, 87), Horford (92, 92, 91, 89, 86), Holiday (90, 88) . . . even reserves have seen a lot of time Prichard (101, 95), Hauser (98).

I remember seeing an interview with Donovan Mitchell after the Cavs lost to the Celtics last year. He said one of the issues by the end of the year was fatigue. They gave 110% in every game and every practice. They had something to prove and wanted to win every game. There motto was play hard for 48 minutes, no matter what the score or situation was. But he admitted that by the end of the season, they were drained, and that mindset actually wore them down. Jumping ahead to this season, Mitchell has already played 10% more minutes than last year with 6 games to go (will end up with 15-20% more minutes played unless they sit him). I don't think he's stopped giving 110%.

The point being, for CLE to win series after series in the post season, they will have to play in a lot more games than their players are used to. Obviously, the Thunder have been spectacular and are a young team. But they don't have guys that have gutted out 90, 95, 100 games in a season. Maybe that matters, maybe it won't. But it certainly could be a factor. How much? Who knows?

Mitchell averaged 35-36 mins / game his first 2 seasons with the Cavs. He's scaled back to ~31 mins / game this year. The variance is not there in the raw #'s because he was not healthy post ASB last year, missing some games, playing unhealthy in others. This has been intentional since before the start of the season, it was the first lever Kenny Atkinson pulled to help unlock a new level with this team. A similar dynamic is there with Garland (lowest mins / gm of his career) and Allen (lowest mins / gm as a Cav). He also tasked Mitchell with being less of an alpha, do so selectively, instead of all game every game. It's not just to empower Mobley, but that was initiative #1, with mostly successful results. They've also smashed the brakes on practicing. I think doing so has contributed to more disjointed efforts in recent weeks, but they had their first practice in Cleveland earlier this week since early Feb and I believe they've only scheduled a couple while on the road. The purpose has been to keep them fresh, even though an unintended consequence is they've been less crisp.

I have no idea how that will play out come mid-May and hopefully beyond, but I share that because I am way more concerned about playoff experience than I am fatigue.

 

[Frostillicus]

Ant has his share of off the court drama - babies, baby mamas, and some homophobia.

Some of the kid stuff doesn't sit right with me but he does seem to have settled down with one lady and one kid now (most of the stuff you hear about is related to older drama) and he apologized, made donations, and generally handled things the right way about this homophobic remarks and there hasn't been a repeat of this behavior.

He's a great teammate, everyone who knows him seems to like him, and generally seems to be a good, yet immature, human being. Sky is the limit on and off the court, but it could have been for Ja as well. Hopefully this version of Ant is what we see going forward with continued growth.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

Exactly.

 

[Frostillicus]

Nice win for the Rockets.

 

[scoobus]

Nice win for the Rockets.

Yup, might be a 2 seed clinching win.

 

[Jayrod]

61-10-10 for Joker lol. I know the mvp has been decided already for some reason but insane to me he’s not the favorite.

Well maybe not insane because SGA is so good but still.

I don't think we'll look back at this like a Nash v. Shaq thing but wow, what a season for the big guy. I'd still give it SGA just to share the wealth and because they're far and away the best regular season team.

This is what makes the MVP vote bad to me. The award isn't Most Valuable Player Who Hasn't Won One Yet. There's no one that can convince me that there's anyone more valuable to their team than Jokic. Nuggets would be garbage without him.

Edited to add: That's how Jokic lost to Fraud Embid. Jokic should have 5 after this year, no doubt. And then people will use the fact that he "only has 3 MVPs" to diminish his career once it's all said and done.

Being far and away the best team in the league weighs heavily. It's more about that than who hasn't won yet. If SGA was on the Wizards we wouldnt be having this discussion.

Say what now?

They are 2.5 games up on Cleveland, who just had a 4 game losing streak. Yes their net rating is possibly historic, but this isn't a 70 win team.

SGA has played some extra unnecessary minutes, also. More than was needed to pad his stats. Jokic does no such thing. His team can't win without him on the floor but once it's decided he sits.

You know they can still get to 70 right? They are having an historic regular season, one of the best ever. That’s not really an opinion and there is no other way to slice it.

The stat padding comment is nonsense. SGA and the Thunder bring it every single game, that’s all.

Yes, I know it's possible bit they'll have to win out.

I hope they try.

We will see. With Chet’s injury they still kinda need time with everyone available to get different lineups out there. The bench is so good if a couple guys rest it doesn’t really matter outside of Shai. That said, their next 3 are at Houston and two against the Lakers in OKC, they’ll probably drop one of those. They finish on the road in Phoenix, Utah, and New Orleans so even if they rest they’d have to try and lose those.

Welp, 70 is out of reach.

 

[Major]

Nice win for the Rockets.

Yup, might be a 2 seed clinching win.

I still can't believe they'll likely be a 2 seed. Such an amazing turnaround under Ime. Definitely one of the weaker 2s in recent memory but I'll consider the season a success if they can make it out of the first round. These young bucks are going to realize playoff basketball is a completely different thing than what they're accustomed to in the regular season.

 

[Yo Mama]

Man the Warriors are looking scary good right now.

 

[Gr00vus]

This season in the West is a counter point to the whole the season is too long and there are too many meaningless games narrative. For the teams fighting for playoff spots, every game matters, its been fun to watch. I figure you'd almost rather be the 6 seed than the 4/5 to stay away from OKC as long as possible.

 

[msudaisy26]

This season in the West is a counter point to the whole the season is too long and there are too many meaningless games narrative. For the teams fighting for playoff spots, every game matters, its been fun to watch. I figure you'd almost rather be the 6 seed than the 4/5 to stay away from OKC as long as possible.

In reality you want the 7 seed. Houston is good, but the NBA has proved over the decades that the team that is the least experienced is the team you want.

 

[Major]

Man the Warriors are looking scary good right now.

Yep, as a Rockets fan they're the last team in the West I want to face. OKC is a close second. I am feeling good on the leap I took and odds I got for GS to win the West before the Butler trade was announced

 

[Major]

This season in the West is a counter point to the whole the season is too long and there are too many meaningless games narrative. For the teams fighting for playoff spots, every game matters, its been fun to watch. I figure you'd almost rather be the 6 seed than the 4/5 to stay away from OKC as long as possible.

In reality you want the 7 seed. Houston is good, but the NBA has proved over the decades that the team that is the least experienced is the team you want.

From an entertainment perspective, I'm hoping for the Wolves in Round 1. It will go 7. Pretty sure Frosti and Woz can attest to their regular season games being quite chippy and fun to watch. I also really enjoy seeing Sengun run circles around Gobert in the paint.

 

[msudaisy26]

If you had to rank the West right now by tier. I would go like this, not in any order in the actual tiers.

Tier one - OKC
Tier two- LAL, Golden State
Tier three - Houston, Denver, Minnesota
Tier four - LAC
Tier five - Memphis
Tier six - the other three teams that could be in the play-in

 

[Yo Mama]

If you had to rank the West right now by tier. I would go like this, not in any order in the actual tiers.

Tier one - OKC
Tier two- LAL, Golden State
Tier three - Houston, Denver, Minnesota
Tier four - LAC
Tier five - Memphis
Tier six - the other three teams that could be in the play-in

Good list. I’d probably put Denver in tier two and Clippers in tier three if I were ranking them.

 

[Frostillicus]

Crazy that the 3-8 seeds in the West are all still up for grabs this late.

 

[msudaisy26]

If you had to rank the West right now by tier. I would go like this, not in any order in the actual tiers.

Tier one - OKC
Tier two- LAL, Golden State
Tier three - Houston, Denver, Minnesota
Tier four - LAC
Tier five - Memphis
Tier six - the other three teams that could be in the play-in

Good list. I’d probably put Denver in tier two and Clippers in tier three if I were ranking them.

I had Denver in the second tier until Kev's post the other day. He knows them better than anyone and it made me drop them a tier.