Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 873. (Read 919094 times)

Last year was very different though, I think there is more drama, we have noises in the background like Ben Simmons, which I think has settled down nicely with the Nets. So we are not surprised for them to have a 11 game losing streak that time.

But this season is very different, they seems to gel very good even if there is still some distraction specially Kyrie.

So I don't see them having a losing streak that long even if Durant is going to be absent.

Injuries really spoil a team. Just look what happened to the Nets when Durant got injured and Irving had this vaccine mandate issues a few years ago. A once top seeded team had a huge downfall and they ended up 7th in the standings.

However, if you are a Nets fan, I guess there is nothing to worry about. 2 weeks might be long but with the momentum that the Nets got in their winning streak, I believe that there will be somebody in the team that will also step up offensively. I mean they have role players that are performing well this season like O'neal, Watanabe, Warren, Curry and they have Irving as well that can just explode with 30 or even 40 points if needed.

Overall, no need to worry right now I believe. Just worry if they will perform very poorly in these 2 weeks that Durant is out. Hoping for him to recover and come back to normal.

The good thing is Durant will be back in less time compared to the expected one month of being sidelined according to the report. The only thing that is left is for them to make up for the 30pts that Durant makes every game. When Durant was out last season, they had an 11-losing streak. Hope they find their rhythm without Durant this time since they are doing very fine this season. It means they have put down the drama.

Clarkson is becoming hot-headed; I do not think he was like that before. Squaring up is becoming his default stance lately. He should not let other players get into his head, it will ruin his game. He is having a stellar year given the situation. He will have player options next season and after that, he is free agent. This kind of attitude during the game will ruin his chance to get better contract in the future.

I hate to say this, but it seems that load management is the only answer to keep them superstar healthy, especially the injury-prone ones. Hopefully, when he gets back, they won sit him down every other games but just limit his minutes on the court. I think fans are being short-changed when star players are benched for load management.

Let us view this as an opportunity for Ben Simmons to step up and fill up the void that Durant will leave for a while. He should really step up since he is the third superstar on the team.

Injuries really spoil the good rally of a team. That was unfortunate to happen now that the team is getting a good winning streak and this is the first time, that their drama stars are working together as a team with no issues or drama or what.

Good thing though that it happened this elimination and not in playoffs.

In the meantime, expect that Irving will do his job in covering what Durant will miss.

Zach LaVine's name was put on the rumor list during the time the Bulls were not performing well and LaVine itself is having inconsistency in his game.

Now that out of nowhere, he regain his confidence and began doing monster stats during their recent games, I'm not sure if that changed the decision of trading him (if there's really an original plan of trading him).

If that is so, if there's any trading plan, not just for LaVine, I don't want DeRozan to be traded as he was the most consistent player on their roster so far, winning or losing a game. Well then, let's wait until the trade deadline.

I second that this will be the most entertaining game of the night ( of course NBA game, as the NCAAF National Championship game is going on and should be quite entertaining).  As a Bulls fan, I'm looking forward to this game as they've been finally playing quite well and as you've noted Lavine has been balling.

I'm not sure there's any chance the Bulls actually trade their max-contract player, but that certainly would be interesting.  If they were to do this, I of course would hope that they traded Demar / Vuc etc.

I really think that Kyrie Irving is really sincere in his words that he really wants to make up for the team and for the wrong things he has done to be fixed I think he even make up for Kevin Durant and with that, it is showing with their performance in the court right now even though their winning streak was cut by the Chicago Bulls they eventually win 2 consecutive times again but with their next game this will surely be a hard game for the Nets and this is against the Boston Celtics, that will be on January 13,


I have also commented and have realized that Thomas Bryant is really versatile with the Los Angeles Lakers In that time his name really intrigued me back then and because he is on the Los Angeles Lakers I was really curious about lumping him having a relationship with the late NBA star Kobe Bryant but it goes to show that they are not blood-related and it was a coincidence that he is playing for the Los Angels Lakers as well,

But yeah Thomas Bryant can become a future NBA star if given proper importance by the team but the kid just got a heart for playing Basketball, Bryant was drafted 42nd overall in the 2017 NBA draft by the Utah Jazz, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers then later Assigned Bryant to the G-league affiliate the South Bay Lakers, then to the Washinton Wizards then back again to the Los Angeles Lakers,

Let's see if Bulls' Zach Lavine will continue his good numbers against the Boston Celtics. It's been notable that Bulls fans are really happy with his recent performance where he joined the Steph Curry 3-point party after establishing 11 3s last game. Although LaVine is playing like that, others want to work him on making defense as purely focusing on offense won't take them always to win. But for me, if he's really not good at that, let them focus on his specialty and trust his teammates to do what's lacking for him. It's a team effort, by the way, to win.

But according to rumors, that doesn't change the fact that LaVine has the chance to still get traded before the trade deadline.

As far as the rumor list is concerned, his name is still hot there and not until the trade deadline ends, we can ruled out that possibility.

Durant misses at least two weeks, that would be a huge loss to BKN. They rather choose losing to Miami than losing Durant. Just when he broke another record and went up one more place in all time top scorers list, he could've gone one more place next game. I hope he'll return healthy soon.
Kyrie is playing great lately so I don't expect many losses from Brooklyn in this period. Sure Kyrie will use the ball more and Simmons should take more responsibility. T.J. Warren and Watanabe will get more playing time. Coach Vaughn will find a way to win games, Nets have a good squad. I don't think they'll go down just like Suns.

Yeah they were rolling, this is just going to be a fact of life for him.  Tall bodies as they age never tend to age well.  Their goal should be to get into the playoffs and limit his minutes when he gets back and then unleash him for the playoffs.  Might be worth betting on kyries per game point totals from here on out.  My guess is that he gets 30+ shot opportunities a game with Durant out.

Yeah, the time Jokic clotheslined Cameron Payne due to frustration but there's a big difference, Jokic didn't fight and ended it by apologizing to Payne before he exits the game due to a flagrant 2 automatic ejection. He knows it's his fault, while on Clarkson side he won't admit it and even had the guts to raise his fists.
Trash-talking had been part of the game for decades, and that cannot be changed, it's part of trying to irritate an offensive or defensive player to lose their footing and leads to turnovers. Trash-talking back is the only solution for it and let the referee decide if you two are going far.

We have 6 games later.
Washington Wizards vs New Orleans Pelicans
New York Knicks vs Milwaukee Bucks
Boston Celtics vs Chicago Bulls
Memphis Grizzlies vs San Antonio Spurs
Denver Nuggets vs Los Angeles Lakers
Sacramento Kings vs Orlando Magic

Celtics vs Bulls might be the best entertaining game of all. Two offensive teams, expecting a high scoring game.
All home teams are the favorites today except for Knicks vs Bucks which are almost tied on odds.

Just saw this news and felt bad for him and for the team. When they're soaring and dominating currently, this has happened.
But we'll see how the other players will have to react on the court with their upcoming game against Celtics. We'll see for sure some adjustments that they'll have to do and that's going to make them take some spotlight since Durant has to take a rest and out of the upcoming games as you've said, for around 2 weeks.

Durant is going to be re-evaluated in 2 weeks. He has a suspected MCL sprain in his right knee. A shame because the Nets were just starting to get it together. They lean pretty heavily on Durant so the next couple of weeks are going to be rough on them. Hopefully Simmons and some of the other guys will be able to step up and score some baskets, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Yes, hopefully the rumors are true that it was not that serious injury.


Both are in a winning streak, it will be on the Celtics home court so that is big, they have 15-5 record at home so let's see. Key for Bulls to win is that they shouldn't allow the Celtics to get wax hot early in the first quarter and took a big lead. They should make it close as they can.

And then let Zach Lavine and DeRozan match up with Tatum and they should take the scoring load as well.

Nothing is certain as of now because the trade talks are still on going and some are still mere speculations, until the trade deadline arrives where we will definitely find out which team will be participating in the trade and who are they getting, and what are they getting from it. So far, I'm not seeing anything from LaVine's position that will get the Knicks interested, just like what you said, it's not what they needed.

To be fair, Nets will not be playing well with him or without him. Sure they had a good stretch for a while, but Lakers did too, and nobody thinks they will win. Durant being the best scorer we have ever seen, doesn't mean that they are going to win. Look at last year and how they lost even with Durant on the floor, because one guy is not enough usually (well maybe except Lebron).

So all in all, Nets with him or without him will be a bad team, and he should relax and recover properly and not rush back into playing. If he rushes back to make it to playoffs and try to win, the likely chance would be them not winning anything anyway while Durant injuring himself a lot worse.

No fresh news yet but there are rumors it won't be a major injury and this fact itself gives me hope.

Oh man , Celtics vs Bulls tonight and I just had a teeth extraction so I might just head to sleep for a couple of hours and then be awake , ready and fresh for this game and maybe even trow a small bet of 5$ on it as I don't use to gamble as much as I did before ...because tough times lately but this game should be a banger and a spectacle to watch.

They are improving though, 40 games into the season. They are starting to look like a team right now. Their future this season really depends on two things: the health of their superstars and the acquisition of a reliable role player. They are on a winning streak with AD still on the sideline. They will be a lot better when he comes back. His dominance was interrupted by his injury.


A quality center will do good for the Lakers. AD will be able to go back to the PF position. He did mention before that he is more comfortable in that position than being the center. It will also lessen the opportunity of getting banged up in that position. There is not much noise lately on who the Lakers will get lately. Hopefully, they get it right.


There is no update yet but I do hope it is not a major injury. They are currently on a roll and finally living up to the hype they get since KD and Kyrie teamed up together. No drama lately and just pure basketball. They are finally ready to play ball and this happened to KD. Hopefully, we see him play soon.

Nobody saw that coming for sure and I can't even notice where did the heat started which made JC raised his fist towards Desmond Bane. I agree, it was too unprofessional from his part to do that because he is not a first timer in this league, so he should know what to do in instances like these and not make the situation much bigger. Recently, JC has becoming more dramatic and suddenly resorts to a provoking actions, it's not good because the Jazz will suffer afterwards as they will be undermanned, hence why they lost against the Grizzlies after the altercation.