Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 429. (Read 920378 times)

Crappy loss for the Milwaukee Bucks.
Is Khris Middleton even there? 54 points for Giannis, a damn monster. But Haliburton is a monster too. 29 points and 10 assists but his last three-pointer was so crucial that the Pacers badly needed it to sink in and it did.
That trade for Lillard was really a double-edged sword. Once he is injured it's like the Bucks are not a special team anymore unlike their past roster where they have deeper bench players.

How about the Orlando Magic versus the Atlanta Hawks? A very close game too in Mexico City and the fans are loving it.
Paolo Banchero, if he hit that last shot, he will be a hero.   A big mistake for Jonathan Isaac though, after that offensive rebound he should've called for a timeout and not thrown the ball outside, they still have one timeout left and I think he forgot because of the heat of the game and the rowdy crowd.

Yes, He's the main alpha even in his rookie year, the expectation is too high as fans and viewers wanted more from this young guy, unlike
with other rookies being number 1 really being eyed by both criticism and complements.

He can't please everyone but with how he's showing his game seems that there's really something special about him, aside from his height which really
gives him that extra edge, but his skills and knowledge about the game that are really going to be interesting if he will keep on improving it all.

That's a disappointing loss, especially when Giannis made huge buckets to score 54 points, but they ended up losing the game. However, I think it's okay for Giannis. I remember in an interview, he was asked what's more important to him, his personal stats or winning a championship, and he responded that winning a championship is more important. That's why they have a good chance now with Lillard on the team.


There was no clear status as to when Lillard will come back, as of now, here's the only information we have.

https://www.foxsports.com/nba/damian-lillard-player

54 big points for the big fella, unfortunately it was not enough as the Pacers is very though with Haliburton as their leader specially that dagger 3 that put them up with 1 point and then they played hard defense of Giannis. Also Giannis touch the ball, they are putting a lot of pressure on him, yeah he was really tired putting that huge numbers and then he didn't got any help except for Middleton.

They really missed the services of Dame here, it could be a different outcome if he might be in the game. Giannis might not get that 54 points though, but what's important is that they needed a win to keep them at least at the top of East.

And with their lost and Hawks winning, they are tied with them 5-3 apiece.

You're right, he is very inconsistent when he moved to Bucks. In his first game we like seem a prime Lillard beating a tough Sixers team. But after that he is like hot and cold. But to be fair he didn't play against the Indiana Pacers.


He try to carry his team, but he looks like very tired, committing errors in the last minute or so. A err missed to Lopez and then when he was in the paint, his ball was stolen. Middleton try to be his old self as well, but he also missed some crucial shots down the lane.

But trying to rub it in, but it seems that the chemistry has been disrupted with new coach and new team mates for Giannis.

Dame is a double edge sword since he got traded to Bucks, He can carry the team in one and turn to completely useless once on the next game when he can’t contributed score since he as an awful defense.

Giannis is a monster if he knew that he doesn’t have anyone to rely on heavy scoring like Lillard. I’m not sure if this duo will be effective in long term but it seems that they are giving each other the spotlight on who will lead the team that’s why they are struggling. Not to mention that Bucks defense becomes awful due to this trade probably they are thinking too much about offense and leave defense poorly that’s why most of their win is just a few points lead.

Sad! but the Splash Brother had a shooting slump in the 1st half that gave the Denver Nuggets so much edge on the game but for sure with the 2nd unit now think that the team could last even with that over time and if that shooting slump will change with a much great shooting I guess it will be the Golden State Warriors that would win this game even though Jamal Murray is with the team,

Now the Chicago Bulls could have gotten this opportunity of winning now that Devin Booker is injured but the Phoenix Suns managed to make it through with Grayson Allen's help and Jusuf Nurkic's rebounding that made this game a help for Kevin Durant to win this game against the Chicago Bulls,


Yup! I agree it is pretty much unusual but if we look at their last game the Los Angeles Lakers had a hard time against the Miami Heat so the players for the Lakers would surely need a breather for most players on the Lakers were beaten up from their last game and it was an away game both the Miami Heat and Houston Rockets game so I think that was this and adding to this was Anthony Davis having an injury and can not play the game so I think that is the reason,

Is it really surprising? Lillard's suffering from right calf soreness, thus he didn't play.

The Bucks are just awful in defense that's why they lost. From one of the top last season in defensive rating to near bottom currently. Giannis had the opportunity to carry the team, but the problem is there is no 2nd player who can help him... or there is. It's just that the underrated Pacers lead by Haliburton really worked hard to win. Last season, I said that the Pelicans are considered the "Dark Horse" of the league, but they played miserably since Zion got injured. This season, it seems like the Pacers are the ones who will surprise us because of how good they are currently. 6-3 is already a good start for them. I just hope it will continue.

I see 2 reasons why the Sixers are playing better at the start of the season despite Harden not on the team anymore.
1. Maxey really stepped up pretty well.
2. They got an underrated player who's an efficient scorer as well in Kelly Oubre Jr.

Many (including me I guess) already said before the start of the season that the East will be a battle of Celtics, and the Bucks, but it seems like we need to add the Sixers to the conversation. I mean they're 6-1 currently, and it's only the start of the season, but they're playing pretty well already. I hope that Maxey will continue to play like this all throughout the whole season. Maxey, and Embiid is a good offensive duos.

It was surprising that Lillard didn't play after carrying the Bucks in their previous game. The Bucks had a chance to win, but Giannis got really tired in the end after putting in a massive effort and scoring 54 points. It was still a good game, but for bettors, the Pacers won, and I think a lot of them lost on this one.


Yeah, the Sixers and Celtics have always been consistent. It's no surprise for the Celtics, but I'm pleasantly surprised with the Sixers. They've improved this season, especially after letting go of James Harden. They should be strong contenders for the championship.

Though loss for Bucks. Especially when it was Giannis' career night. He couldn't break his career high record, he was too tired in the last period. Bucks could only score 8 points in last 7 minutes, besides last 3-point which is meaningless. Pacers played the ending better and won. Turner and Mathurin helped Haliburton for this win. Mathurin made a career high with 26 points.
I haven't watched Damian Lillard with Bucks jersey yet but I could imagine how good they would be without injuries. I also liked Pacers tonight but I guess Sixers and Celtics are in better shape than these teams in the East.

Yeah, that performance by the Lakers players was pathetic. However, it's premature to draw any conclusions based on just one bad performance by the Lakers. Personally, I think the Lakers still have a good chance to finish the season above .500. Of course, this will only be possible if Davis and LeBron are not seriously injured and are healthy throughout the season.

There certainly is a huge pressure on him because he's the #1 pick on this class and the Spurs have got all of those picks that he's following with.
He's being groomed and taken care properly by the team and that's why people's expectation on him is high.
But yes, give him a break as he's still a rookie but look at how he's like the main guy on the team now while he's still on his very first year on his team.

Ouch, that is a huge odds but damn those Clippers team went from nothing with that James Harden trade, LOL. But I will say that give it to the Nets, they could be one of the dark horse team for this season.

For the Lakers lost, it's huge but there's no AD so they take advantage of it like Jalen Green going inside as there are no rim protector. And it's only Lebron and Rui who had a good game for them, the rest are at a lost. Reaves is very inconsistent right now as compare to last year and then D'Lo as well. And if you look at the body language of Lebron, he is very frustrated on that game.

It's not even the mental toughness the physical side too.  Big mitch had him in a vice all game.  The knicks game the Spurs multiple different looks on offense and defense.  He really didn't have a shot at getting it going.  As a knicks fan glad to see another win but I wanted to see a little more out of the kid, he looked lost at times.

Yep, it seems that the Rockets has finally found the missing pieces in Fred VanFleet, they took a huge gamble by offering him one of the biggest contract this season, but it's paying off. Remember that they are also considering James Harden as per report. And it's good that they have choose VanFleet and not Harden. Jalen Green is coming to his age right now and so is Sengun, very simply player but very effective.

And then they have the muscle in Dillon Brooks if they needed a player to stop the opposing team's main weapon. He even guarded Steph Curry during their games. But here it was his old nemesis in Lebron James. But it doesn't matter if Brooks is with a different team not, all he wanted is to play defense whoever is in front of him. They also have a lot of good role and young players coming off the bench to give their starters a good rest and then they just continue their momentum in this game and not allowing the Lakers to make a comeback just like what they do on their previous games, catching up and then stealing one. But it's not going to happen at Houston's homecourt.

I am pleasantly surprised how better Rockets is this season so far. VanVleet is indeed a very valuable player and especially a player like him was needed by the Rockets. He and Dillon Brooks improved the overall team quality and elevated every other player, especially Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green. Also the change of coach was obviously very needed and Rockets is much better with the new coach.

But the Lakers were especially too horrible. I didn't expect them to be this bad. Last season also, Rockets beat them even during their bad season but this time Lakers were like high school team against pros, especially defensively. It is too early to predict but maybe Rockets will be above Lakers in the season, maybe Rockets will be over .500

Lakers losing to Rockets by a big margin is not normal, they should be able to play a lot better and their squad is not that terrible this time around, they are just not making the system fit all that well.

I think if they could just simply go out with D'lo-Reeves-Lebron-AD-Wood five, and then play the backup players of Rui and Prince and Vanderbilt etc etc during the second unit, that should be a lot better for them, they could have gotten a second unit commander to get the floor gel together better, but in the end they do have a good quality roster if you ask me, better than having these results. Rockets should not be a game they should be losing this easily, instead they should have won this game a lot more easier.

Well, that one is a pretty good performance by the Rockets and a usual Laker problem. This has been goin on since they won that championship in 2020.
3 straight Ls and they lost AD this time, that have messed up their plays and rotation. This has always been the problem for the Lakers. They have changed all their supporting role players and all, but still same outcome. And of course AD fragile as usual lol.
I wonder how long they are going to stick with Darvin Ham.

Let's forget about CP3 since they let him go; he shouldn't be part of the discussion. Without CP3, they've got Beal, who is still young and a superstar in his own right. The first game against the Suns was a comeback win, with Durant carrying the team, especially when Booker and Beal were sidelined due to injury issues. In the second game, Booker did play, but the Spurs dominated from the early quarters and managed to hold on for the win. Those two wins against the Suns generated quite a bit of hype for the Spurs. However, looking at them now, they're on a three game losing streak which is quite dissapointing to the fans.



It's too early to make a final judgment. You're right, Wemby is still a rookie, and he already shows great potential. With more maturity, experience, and some added muscle, I believe he has the potential to become a dominant player. Giannis wasn't a dominant player when he started, but look at him now.

It’s not that Spurs is performing bad but rather most of their recent opponents is pretty solid compared to Suns and Rocket that they get win. Suns is struggling with their current line-up now that they don’t have cp3 and good center which Wemby capitalize the paint on that game.

Wemby is still a rookie in the presence of solid team with strong center. Wemby is play style is like Jokic but he lacks shooting accuracy and power that makes him poorly performance against team that can defend him.