Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 771. (Read 918366 times)

To bad he got injured on a warm up and know suns will got a problem for his absence again. He became injury prone recently and to bad for a team contending for playoffs. Hopefully this is not serious injury because if he's out due to this injury to play offs maybe their team will struggle to advance on finals.

I don't see as a bad luck but maybe rather his health condition.

Here we go again. Durant out .

Media already writing headlines like: https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/nba/suns/2023/03/08/kevin-durant-could-miss-remainder-of-regular-season-with-ankle-sprain/69988033007/ .

Let's see what the Suns will do with him.

But, how often is guy getting injured? Is it just bad luck or is it age? The fact the teams still trade a lot of picks/players for 1 guy that is injury prone (KD) or straight up a little bit crazy  and disloyal (Kyrie) is mind boggling.

Too bad, no one really wants that to happen and because of the intensive plays in these remaining games before the NBA playoffs, they are practicing more seriously unlike their other past games. Luckily they still managed to win this game with the help of Booker and maybe that injury is not that serious and he might return back just before the NBA playoffs. he can just rest assured that they can actually hold their current spot because they just need to win more games in their last 16 games remaining this season and that would still be easy for the Phoenix Suns without KD.

Earlier I woke up seeing a clip on Facebook of Kevin Durant slipping on the floor while warming up against OKC. I thought it won't become a major issue until I heard updates that he is not playing against OKC. It was supposed to be the first game of KD as a Suns in Phoenix. No update on his injury yet but hopefully it isn't that bad. Phoenix Suns are on fire right now with a 4 game winning streak. They'll be in trouble if KD isn't back as their next 3 games are against the Kings, Warriors, and Bucks. Imagine if it is once again a season-ending injury. Booker and CP3 are bad luck. **peace**

Source: https://www.nba.com/news/kevin-durant-ankle-slips-during-warmups-misses-home-suns-debut

We also have the Mavs losing against the Hornets, Brandon Ingram twisted his ankle and decided not to come back because they have a big lead. Luka had a bad shooting night but he keeps on adding assist until he also had sort of limping about a shot. But then the Mavs make a huge comeback in the 4th to close the gap between the two.

But it was CJ wo take over the last 6 minutes for the Hornets to score a team high 32 points, inching closer for a spot in the playoff.

That may be the worst Nuggets game that I have seen.
Jokic forcing a three, I had never seen him play like this. Mostly, he will try to go inside using the post-up game but tonight, he just stayed outside.
Then there's Jamal Murray shooting really bad registering 4/15 field goals and 1/7 in long-distance shots. Chicago Bulls played better, there's no doubt about that, but at least there should be a fighting chance for the Nuggets but I have never seen it.
Finally, the Murray dunk that didn't go in. Off night maybe? But Coach Malone could've done something, they have a deep roster, use them.
That type of impatience of Jokic to shoot three is unacceptable, it almost looked like he is throwing the game. He ain't Steph.

What about the NBA itself? What will the NBA do with the incident? Is there any announcements or any sanctions that the NBA has been given to him?

I remembered the late David Stern who is a very strict Commissioner, and if he's the current NBA Commissioner right now, after a day or 2, there will already be sanctions given to Morant already. Well, the good thing though is that we will see Morant playing again in the playoffs because I thought that this incident might cause him not to play indefinitely.

Anyway, he's fine in the West like he said in an interview. Let's see how the Grizzlies perform in the remaining games of the season and in the playoffs.

He is lucky that Denver is not going to charge him in this case, maybe it's because he is a "prominent basketball player" as per their report? nobody knows. It might be the question on how Ja got the firearms in the first place.

But he has to missed 4 more games though as the NBA is still not yet concluded their investigations.

Memphis though is in a losing streak and maybe the team is also affected by this news because it's their leader under fire right now.

Just some update regarding Ja Morant's situation. The latest tells that he's not going to be charged as there's a lack of evidence as to what's filed against him. It's said that he's still out for quite a few games which were said in the article and in the quote.

If we take a look at Memphis Grizzlies games when Ja Morant is out, last season and this season, the Grizzlies do have a good winning percentage. They are even better as a team when Morant is out honestly. I see that Grizzlies can keep up with the competition even though Morant is out.

But Steven Adams is an important piece because of his role and position. Grizzlies can cover the role of Morant but not with Adams.

Washington Wizards - Atlanta Hawks

Wizards come to this game with 31 wins and 34 losses, and a very unstable performance, even though in their last game they won against the Pistons, in 10 games the Wizards had 5 losses and 5 wins, and Monte Morris is missing. the Wizards were lucky in the victory against the Pistons, meanwhile their opponent the Atlanta Hawks comes to this game with 32 wins and 33 losses, also an unstable performance, being that in 10 games they also had 5 losses and 5 wins, in their last game they lost against the Heat, but the difference was only 2 points, I see this game as being a very balanced game, both teams are unstable, so I don't see a big favorite in either team

Boston Celtics - Portland Trail Blazers

Celtics come into this game with 45 wins and 21 losses, but despite having a large number of wins they have had bad results in the last few with a streak of 3 losses, makes the team arrive at this game unmotivated, still lacking Robert Williams III and players in doubt like Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Payton Pritchard, meanwhile their opponent the Blazers arrive for this game with 31 wins and 34 losses and have a sequence of 2 wins, despite this positive moment that the team is going through they have many embezzlements like Jusuf Nurkic, Anfernee Simons, Ryan Arcidiacono, Justise Winslow and Ibou Badji

New Orleans Pelicans - Dallas Mavericks

Pelicans come into this game with 31 wins and 34 losses, and they have been performing poorly in the last 10 games, reaching the point of having a sequence of 2 losses, without Zion Williamson, Jose Alvarado and Larry Nance Jr. while their opponent arrives for this game with 34 wins and 32 losses, well the Mavericks in their last game had a victory against the Utah Jazz, the difference in points was not a very big difference, they have the disadvantage of Reggie Bullock and of JaVale McGee. this will be a well balanced game

Denver Nuggets - Chicago Bulls

Nuggets comes to this game with 46 wins and 19 losses, coming from a sequence of 4 wins, the team is in a good phase, and is missing Zeke Nnaji and Collin Gillespie. meanwhile their opponent the Bulls comes into this game with 29 wins and 36 losses, they have a streak of 2 losses

Phoenix Suns - Oklahoma City Thunder

Suns come to this game with 36 wins and 29 losses and in the last 10 games they had 7 wins and only 3 losses, and they have 3 consecutive wins. while their opponent the Oklahoma City Thunder comes to this game with 31 wins and 34 losses, and also has 3 consecutive wins, this will be a very disputed game, both teams have been doing well in the last

Los Angeles Clippers - Toronto Raptors

Clippers comes to this game with 34 wins and 33 losses, in their last 10 games the team has been bad to the point of having 7 losses and only 3 wins, but they are coming from a win, they have Norman Powell missing. meanwhile their opponent the Raptors arrive for this game with 32 wins and 34 losses, in their last 10 games they managed to get 6 wins and 4 losses, and in their last game they had a defeat

It is more because AD is back. And now, they have a decent team because their role players are better now than when Westbrook is in the Lakers. The Lakers did good moves before the trade deadline. Now. they have a flicker of hope to be included in the play-in tournament.


It will be hard to have a consistent win while Adams and Morant is out. But once Steven Adams is back on the court, they will have a better chance to win games. Morant may take more time out because of the investigation and everything, but if he gets back in the playoffs, that will be a good thing for the team.

It was a moment that's full of emotion. It's like even if Pau won't say a thing but by just looking at him, we know what he's thinking of.

Not just all about the retirement of his jersey but also how he's reminiscing the moments that he has spent together with Kobe. Legends have been made by that team and memories that will last a life time.

Really shows how he misses him a lot. What a moment, it was touching on how his jersey is next to Kobe's, it truly means a lot for him and we can imagine of another what if if Kobe is there.  

I do agree, Kobe are really close and Kobe himself admitted that he won't win those championships without "brother" Pau as his wing man. And it's just so fitting that Gasol will be recognized by the Lakers franchise and his jersey retired next to Kobe Bryant.

So much respect for Gasol, Butler was seen in the building carrying Pau's Lakers Jersey with him and then hugging the Gasol.

Tatum set to return for the C's, they need to win this one against Portland tonight.

@wheelz1200 - Yes, Kobe setting the tone on that game, the thing is Kobe knows that play as he tells everyone what will be their 1st play and he will go to Pau's chest without any hesitation and again show everyone that even though they are brothers in Lakers, it's the Olympics, and Lebron, Wade and others shows what leadership means to Kobe.

I always envisioned kobe's jersey hanging alone.  He was a loner and his own person thought symbolically that would be cool, like no one comes close to kobe.

My favorite kobe/Pau moment of all time has to be in the Olympic semifinals US vs Spain.  If anyone has not scene the clip from the opening play where kobe absolutely annihilated Pau ypu have to see it.  Mamba in full force that day.

Pretty emotional scene at Pau Gasol’s jersey retiring ceremony. Plenty of tears in the house seeing Pau’s Jersey hanging next to Kobe’s. The picture of Pau looking up with tears in his eyes is enough to put a lump in anyone’s throat. I’m glad that their jerseys get to hang next to each other forever. They were great friends and it still shows.

I don't think it's directly related to Westbrook. I think LeBron made a team speech about how important to play in play-off and the team do their best. Anthony Davis came back strong, Schröder and Reaves play great. D'Angelo Russell will return soon. They are already in play-in bracket. I believe they'll stay inside and make play-off. A couple of weeks earlier that looked hard but now it's very possible. The luck is also on their side as other teams constantly lost games. Playing against Grizzlies when Morant is out etc. there were too many small factors.

I think the spacing also helped a ton as well. Westbrook is famous for being either a ball hog who goes inside and dishes out, or someone who just waits standing still while others have the ball, he doesn't even run off-ball to get open.

So that type of clogging definitely hurt the team so much, and Lebron isn't and hasn't ever been a guy who just spots up as soon as he gets the ball, even when he shoots a three, he dribbles the ball, so him being wide open is not really a question, considering he is Lebron freaking James, he rarely ever gets open anyway. With this method, the ball spreads around more, nobody hogs the ball, and that is how they are winning games.

Yes mate, the league has become really unpredictable since the season started and being a heavy team does not guarantee that they can always win their games against a much low-tier teams. But why aren't you getting any luck these days? Perhaps you should explore other betting options to have a less risky wager, spreads does help mate even if the odds are not that attractive, as long as we win, it's still a profit on our side.

That is almost inevitable for the Grizzlies side because aside from Ja Morant's absence, the team has been struggling already because Steve Adams has been away for quite some time already and they needed his presence inside the paint.

Well they make a lot of moves lately, and majority says that it was a good one, getting rid of Westbrook and getting a lot of role players, now, it's Rui Hachimura, before it was Vanderbilt and then D'Lo before getting injured did share his best game with the Lakers.

So they are improving with this new roster that they have and then AD leading them with another big game against the Memphis.

Hopefully when Bron comes back, it won't disrupt the chemistry though,