Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 189. (Read 902459 times)

And that would also say a lot how strong the Miami Heat is, it's not only their dominant win because they also dominated the Cavaliers by 37 points. .. But them making a history for the franchise, that was insane. I am now convince that the Miami heat is still a championship team, though they might struggle in the NBA finals as they failed twice already (not even close) but in the East, the Celtics have to be prepared for them, or the Bucks.

The Miami Heat beating the Portland Trail Blazers by sixty is crazy. The largest win in franchise history. A lot of the damage was done by their bench too. I guess you can say the Damian Lillard trade hasn’t quite paid off for the Trail Blazers, who have struggled pretty bad this year. Even Ayton who had been playing well didn’t do much tonight.

If they manage to get that many wins, it would be quite successful for them. The only remaining games that look easy are the jazz games. We can also count Portland. Because all the other teams have the possibility of being in the playoffs. So I wouldn't be surprised if they only get 3 wins in the last 10 games, even though they are such a fired up and fit team and they are having a great streak. Rockets did amazingly lately but it cannot go forever. If Jalen Green continues to play at this level, my level of respect will be very very high.

Also add Spencer Dinwiddie into the mix, he was really a great catch by the Lakers after the trade deadline. He somewhat embraces his role as well, being their defensive guy for guarding the 1 and 2 position and then there are games that he was their scorer as well.

But the most important with this recent winning streak is that Anthony Davis is healthy, and not that fragile and then Lebron James still very much as his "almost" prime version even at this age. Wolves or Thunder, will be a great match up for them in the first round and it will be series that bettors might go with the Lakers as a huge underdog.

Yes, another upset by the Hawks against the top seed. This game was very important for the Hawks to remain in contention in the East.


And it indeed create a lot of ripples for NBA bettors as the Celtics was a huge favorite. Not that the Celtics deliberately lose this game, but the Hawks are much a better game going into this game. They've beaten the top seed back to back. And in this game, the Celtics might have to think very hard as well getting into the playoff. Teams are much harder to beat specially it's going to a series.

Dejounte Murray played a great game and was the game winner. The Atlanta Hawks surprised again and won the game in overtime.
As I said, it was a difficult game to predict, many people who bet on this game may have lost because of this game.

I couldn't help but agree with you, because the pieces are also falling together in favor of the Lakers, Russell is hooping like primetime D'Lo, and Gabe Vincent return too is imminent, coupled with the defensive attributes Cam Reddish and Prince brings to the table, the Lakers are going to be a really hard to figure out team come the post, in as much as these role players can stay healthy enough for the team, they've got a highly prospective post season ahead of them.

Right, I think they can surely make the play-in, with the way they are playing lately, they are also in a 5 game winning streak and everyone is healthy including AD and just like the Rockets, it seems that they have flipped a switch or something to really play this good and position themselves.

I don't care who they are going to face in the playoffs though, it's a 7 game series, so even if they got the best team in the West, whether Denver of SGA lead OKC, the Lakers are going to be hard to sweep and will give that team a run for the money.

I really like what the Houston Rockets are cooking in here. They hire a good coach, which is Emeka. Even though he has some issues with Boston, Houston has taken the risk of hiring him to run, build, and create a culture there in Houston after James departure. I think Emeka is one of the reasons why James' comeback to Houston is voided, since he wants to create something, a culture, so, if you think about it, signing Fred makes much more sense than signing Harden. Harden might become a diva to the time and might chuck all the shots and may steal the spotlight from the young players. With Vanvleet, he can be the veteran guard that can help the young players develop and be the voice in the locker room. They also sign Brooks, which can be an energizer for the team; he can add shooting and defense for the team.
 
Adding these veterans really boosts their roster because one of the reasons the Rockets sucked too much last season is that they don't have a veteran presence that can say what the wrongs and rights of the young players are. This season, Vanvleet and Brooks can call them out and discipline them.

Lakers definitely guaranteed a place at play-in there is nothing wrong with that. However, they have been on a roll lately and there is a possibility that they can be 8th seed as well, if that happens then they will face easier chance to get there. I am pretty sure that they will want that, it would mean a first round possibility easier.

8th seed plays against 1st seed come playoff time, so that is going to be of course tough there is nothing easy about that but they have Lebron, so if they go to playoffs then they will always be a tough team. I am not sure what they will do in the end, but they do look like they figured something out in the end there, and doing much better thanks to that, whatever it is, they should keep doing it.

Zion Williamson and CJ performed well for the Pelicans. For the Bucks Giannis, Lillard and Beasley performed well but they did not get enough support from the other players of the team. And I think that is the reason why they have not been able to win the game in the end. The Bucks actually lost the game in the second quarter. They were actually never able to recover from that situation. They were able to get more points in the next two quarters. But that was never going to be enough for them to win the game.

I agree. I don't really like how the Clippers are playing, it's like they are not a team there. Those 4 wins out of the 10 recent are like lucky wins. They are not that dominating at all like all the teams who are winning at 0.500 and above. I mean the Lakers are actually playing more like a team to them because of the chemistry they are showing and they are truly entertaining to watch.

About those three, Denver might actually be in trouble if Jamal Murray is unhealthy. They won the championship last year because of him and Jokic playing at their best. But we saw how they lost against the Phoenix Suns without him. The energy was not there for the Nuggets and Jokic was always frustrated with the broken plays that he set up. They will be playing like the Nuggets when Jamal was injured and we all saw how bad was it.
Timberwolves on the other hand already proved they can step up their game without KAT. I think they will have a better chance to make it to the last round of the West.

Murray transformed into "Kobe Bryant" (RIP) on that game. Scoring 44 points in 45 shots, and hitting the game winner to upset the Celtics not once, but twice.
Now the problem with the Celtics is slowly appearing. They don't have somebody that can make better decisions at the end of the game. TBH, with this lose, I'm starting to have doubts with the Celtics right now. I mean how they can lose twice to an undermanned Hawks? How they can compete in the playoffs if they play like this.

As for the Knicks, they are only 1.5 games behind the Bucks, and they don't even have Anunoby and Randle on the team because of injuries. I guess it's good that Hart, and DiVicenzo started to step up offensively. In times Brunson needed help on offense, these 2 players stepped up. Credits to Coach Thibs. I hope that both of them will play like this during the playoffs as well.

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I just want to bring up how the LA Clippers are in a doom even though they're in the 4th spot. Just so you know, the Clippers are 1-9 against playoff teams since Feb. 6th. In their 10 remaining games, 6 of those are against playoff teams. They are only 0.5 games above the 5th seeded Pelicans, and only 2.5 games above the Suns. If the so-called "Clippers curse" continues, they might be in trouble. I just hope that their lose streak against playoff teams will be over because they need to have a better standing come playoffs.

I guess we can all stay that the top 3 spots from the West will be a fight between Denver, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota.

There is still a chance for them to not make it but by the way it looks right now , I think it's safe to say that Lakers will catch play-in tournament.

Yep , finishing 8th or 9th this season should be an achievement for them because a few months ago , Lakers really struggled to get wins. But as soon as they make the play-in , I can't see Lakers having a deep run this year at all.

There are only nine games left in the regular season. So yeah, I also think the Lakers have already guaranteed themselves a spot in the play-in tournament. They'll probably finish the season in 8th-9th in the standings. There is even a small chance that they can compete for the 6th spot in the remaining games because the difference in winning percentage between the Lakers and teams like the Kings, Suns, and Mavs is quite small.

Some surprising type games last night.  What is up with the Celtics losing a prime time game against an undermanned Hawks team??  I know they can lose any game but that one was bad.  They lose weird games

And tonight the Knicks play and keep rolling.  Sitting in the 3 hole with the Bucks losing there is a real shot they can take the 2 spot.  Weirdly enough if they won the first round I'd rather they faced the Celtics in the second round then the Bucks (assuming they both won).  Knicks could never figure out how to contain giannis and its a bad matchup.  Either way excited for the last but of the season to wrap up.

The Rockets was one of my favourite team during T-mac days. Though they were doing great lately, but I think it would be more interesting if Sengun was not injured. Looking at the teams they will play against in the next 5 games, it looks like they have a good chance of continuing their streak.
They're only down 2 games against the Warriors, but the Warriors will have to play against 2 weaker teams in the West, so the Rockets would need to continue that streak.

I'd say it's more on the coach, because before coach Ime Udoka got kicked out from Celtics, he was already building a championship team and that's what the Rockets have probably using, I mean the system. They figure out how to win and now they can't lose, this streak I believe will continue and the Warriors are a high risk of getting replace.

Even with experience players but without a great coach, nothing will happen to a team, that's why when a coach is not delivering as expected, it will likely replace the sooner but Ime Udoka is still with the team and might get an extension due to what he has achieved for this young team so far.

Yes, the experienced of both Fred and Dillion gives them that matured approach on how coach Ime wants the system to work for the entire teams, we seen respect and trust with all the players who are inside the court, with that good development, this young team might continue to developed and their quest for being a playoff contender might be shaping now, I like the way they are bringing the competition and with all the players are contributing with the roles that they are being assigned, we will see more good games from this team, and maybe the chance of taking the last spot for the play-in still on the process.

For me it's a combination of factors, like you said, Ime Udoka bring his experience in this organization coming from Celtics (which he brought them to the Finals but lost eventually). And then Brooks, who could lead and probably this is what he is doing right now and doesn't want to create anymore distractions. And Jalen Green, highly touted coming in the NBA and supposedly should win the Rookie of the Year. But now everything is working out with them. The experience of Fred VanFleet and Dillon Brooks to lead the not so experience team right now.