Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 783. (Read 918411 times)

It's also worth noting that Durant was just playing in under 30 minutes on his first game with the Suns, yet he still managed to contribute a good 23 points with 6 rebounds. It was a slow game for sure and a low scoring one but I think the Suns was just taking their time as this was their first game with KD. Overall, it was still a win for them.


C'mon mate The Lakers certainly deserved some credits for what they have done earlier because the Thunders was not the only team who got a handicap as the Lakers were also playing without D'Lo, AD and LeBron.

An injured Hornets team probably wasn't the best test but it was a good warm up with Durant.  Probably why they targeted this game instead of against the Bucks.  Durant played great but Booker was still the leader of the team out there.  I suspect that will slowly start to change but for now Booker is the one hoisting all the shots.  You can't look passed the fact that Durant in his first game back shot 66% from the field and looked good out there.  So strange seeing him shoot three pointers in a Suns uniform.  That's something I didn't really think I'd ever see but am happy that it's happening.  I need to take a look at the schedule and pick a game to see him live.

When Durant and Booker play together, the Suns can win the match very easily. Against the Hornets, I think they were pretty good. It's just that Durant's injury would be pretty bad for the team, that's what scares me. If he doesn't lose his health, the Suns could have a huge success in the playoffs this year.
Durant has been a pretty good basketball player for this team. I hope they get used to the team soon and they can play better together

What they did is they risked every thing just to get a title in the next 2-3 years.
If they will not win this season, there will be another opportunity for them next season, but people will look the Suns as a disappointing team. Way disappointing than the Nets way back when they have Pierce, Garnett, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson etc.

The West become stronger with Kyrie and KD being in that conference. The ones a strong conference already with the battles with the standings so tight are now a stronger conference already just because of the arrival of these 2 superstars. Hope that their chemistry will be build before the playoffs, and one thing more is that, I hope nobody will be injured before or until the playoffs.

Don't expect too much for the Trail Blazers.

Lillard has many chances of him being traded, but he opted to stay with Portland because loyalty is more important to him than championships. Their offense like you said is very predictable and we saw it against the Warriors a few days ago where the Warriors just locked in on Lillard, didn't let him touch the ball and the whole Blazers team crumbled and lost to them.

Grant and Simmons is trying to help like you said, but with Simons getting injured, it's like they don't have another option anymore. If opposing team lock on Dame again and Simons is currently injured, who will be the main scorer of the team? Grant obviously is one, but he can't do it alone. They need more players that will help in terms of offense. They need players that can step up offensively, and unfortunately they don't have that as of this moment. Currently, they are now at the 12th spot, but with how tight Western Conference is, a mere 3 or 5 game win streak might put them to the play-in spot.

I have to say today the performance of the Suns against the Hornets was good. Kevin Durant and Devin Booker performed well for the Suns. I believe they are trying to adapt to the situation. They are trying to adapt to the way the opponent is playing. It is a very effective tactic in my opinion. Every time playing to the strength that the team has is probably not going to be the best idea. And the biggest problem with that is eventually they become predictable.

So KD's debut is superb. It changes everything in the West after this performance by the Suns.

I am worried about the Portland Trail Blazers though. I watched the game carefully and I saw Damian Lillard being defended by Herb Jones of the Pelicans. It shut down their whole offensive power. This is not good for the team, somehow there should be someone who will step up his game after him. Simons was gone because of a foot sprain. Jerami Grant tried to help. Who else is next? It cannot be just 2 or 3 players as their options only.
They acquired Cam Reddish but I find it not really useful, yet. They got Thybulle and his impact is mostly from the defensive end.
Dame cannot run the offensive play over and over, it's too predictable. I don't think he will ever get that championship that he wanted unless he is traded.

Acquiring KD is really a good addition to the Sun we seen his presence today, and that's another star who can take anyone
to score with that classic jump shot, just give him little space and he will let you pay.

They are now back in terms of chasing the ring, with the way they play the game as if they are playing as a whole and no chemistry problem with all
the stars, I like that leadership from CP3, orchestrating the play. He knows well the capabilities of KD.

While Booker and Ayton are just doing the same way as it was, very well rotations and good blending of the players.

I don't know what Nets game you were watching.  Knicks were up 20 points in the 1st quarter and were up by 24 at half.  It never got close.  Knicks scored 81 points in the first half.  It was a wire to wire blowout.  There was no 4th quarter meltdown it was just the Knicks dominating end to end.

Yeah, it was the old and classic KD, shooting mid range even if someone is in front of him. And then Booker taking over the game and it was CP3 play making, dictating the tempo, Ayton too with another great rebounding night.

As for the Nets, it was always close, but then they really like melting in the 4th quarter. Maybe they got tired or something or their defense is not holding up. Unless Bridges is now on a break out as when he was transferred to the Nets, he has a good scoring average and could be potentially the new face of the Nets together with Spencer Dinwiddie and Cam Thomas.

Yeah, but even with that kind of offensive firepower, it was still a long scoring ball game that is not known for the Suns. I mean they used to be fast phased with CP3, but I guess in this game, they adjusted on how their opponents are playing and so they win with a huge lead.

But I do agree that with this kind of debut and with the way Durant is shooting the ball, as if he didn't get that injury in the first place.

So we will see in the next coming games but Durant has blended with the Suns style of play.

Classic Kevin Durant. The Phoenix Suns will be one of the teams that is difficult to defeat from now on. Even KD takes a rest, Booker will be there, then they have Warren, CP3, and Ayton. He just need someone who could space the floor more and let him do his isolation game. A very big catch by the Suns here and now they are on the discussions of a championship contender once again.
Brooklyn Nets on the other hand, (where KD came from) is unable to win another game after receiving Bridges and Johnson. 1 win in 7 games. It must be hard for them to create chemistry.

KD had a wonderful debut game with the Suns. He was unstoppable and could shoot from anywhere on the floor. With even a little opening, his accuracy is really high. I think the Suns will be a tough team in the playoffs. Even if they're not the favorites to win the championship, I would certainly bet on them if they have attractive odds.

The flow of basketball is very easy with Durant on the floor, which makes them unpredictable. Now, they have Durant and Booker, and of course CP3 can also score.

Right now they are really going to the NBA playoffs and expectedly be one of the teams to be at the top that will gonna compete to get to the NBA finals. I'm not closing the opportunity for the other team but we all know that they are already strong without KD and now that they have him and he is healthy, they are gonna be unstoppable until the NBA playoffs. If they can get passed against the Sacramento Kings easily in their next game, then their chance would be even higher. They will gonna be against the Bucks just a few more games before playoffs, they should take that opportunity to learn how to beat them in the NBA finals if they really managed to get to it.

Low scoring doesn't mean they're not dominant and slow. It's just the tempo of the game was slow. You're right, we're not get used to seeing below 100 games in todays NBA because of its fast paced games. Now, for the Suns case against the Hornets, they don't actually need to play faster as they obviously have the upper hand. If a slow game is necessary, so be it, as long as they secure the W and avoid injuries as much as possible.
Durant and Booker combo in the offensive end is unstoppable, that's what I have observed in this game.

Maybe not that impressive because they beat a team that's on the bottom right now, but a win is still a win and Congratulations to them.

I thought that Davis will play, but I didn't see him play. Overall, still a good win for the Lakers, and a very important win for them. I mean every win for them is very important for them to reach at least the play-in tournament. They are only 1 game behind 9th seeded team Jazz, and 10th seeded Pelicans, and only 2 games behind the 7th seeded Mavericks and the 8th seeded Timberwolves. With how the Mavericks are playing on their last games, I'm afraid they might go down from clinching to the playoffs to be in the play-in tournament.

Like Stephen A. I'm also optimistic with this Lakers team, and they have a high chance to clinch the play-ins or best the playoffs.

Good catch, but if you look at the first quarter score, it was slow but deliberate on the part of the Suns. And once they had control of it, they just go with the flow of their offense, and they only have 3 players scoring in 2 digits, but everyone that has been fielded has score 2-8 points, so very balance attack.

Lakers took a win, but it's not as impressive as they are facing a SGA didn't play in the side of OKC, and he is their leading scorer.

Dennis Schröder took the lead from the Lakers in the absence of Lebron and AD.

Well, the Lakers v Grizzlies game was interesting.
Morant, as expected, played extremely well, as for the Lakers, with the absence of LeBron James, I have no doubt that he left the Lakers more fragile, but even so, AD led the team (28 points and 19 rebounds).

In the OKC x Lakers game, Los Angeles team played well, and somehow managed to supply (even if superficially the absence of LJ and AD)
I confess that I'm liking how Schroder has been playing lately for the Lakers, in addition to being consistent (in games/score) he is also managing to lead the team if necessary

Suns game felt a bit "slow", we don't see many under 100 points these days in the NBA, this was one of the rare ones, I fully expected Suns to have a very powerful offense and score 120 or so per game, and this would be no exception. In any case they got the W and that's all that matters, they are not looking as dominant as people thought they would be, this was a win but it wasn't a clear win and I do not think that they look like a clear title contender even with Durant. But of course it was just one game, lets wait and see if they will look better in the future, maybe in a few games they will look better.

Knicks just stunting on the NBA right now.  They got a good rhythm.  Scored 81 in the first half tonight's.  Nets aren't a good team but regardless these games are encouraging.  I know there isn't many teams that are glad to see them on the schedule. 2 big away games against Miami and Boston again coming up.  Then a 4 game west coast swing.  Pivotal 2 weeks here.

Yes, easy 23 points for Durant, same here, just watch till the second quarter and it seems it was a blow up game for the Suns. And as just what they say, welcome to Phoenix.

Booker game high 37 points and Ayton adding 16/16.

So good first game for Durant and the expectation for the Suns is still there, the hype I mean.