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Topic: 2019 NBA Pre-Season - page 921. (Read 919129 times)

hero member
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December 12, 2022, 03:07:07 AM

There have been huge significant improvements to Westbrook performance since he's been coming off the bench compared to when he was always in the starting lineup, while Anthony Davis have been Lakers most consistent player this season, I just hope he stays healthy enough down the stretch because it will only get tougher as the regular season start approaching its end every team is trying to secure a slot in the post season, Lebron is known to be conditioning very well and he is usually available down the stretch, but he'll be needing all the help and supports he can get from Anthony Davis, because If Anthony Davis isn't going to be available, I doubt Lakers would be able to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament let alone a spot in the top seed.

Constant adjustment is the key until they find the right rhythms for him with this team and look how successful they are in giving him chance to play in different roles rather than putting him where he cannot find himself playing like how he used to be. Though it's hard for Westbrook not to have the best play he once had in OKC, he is doing all he can to help the Lakers to be a contender team that will gonna be a playoff team in the coming months. Also, Davis and LBJ are doing their very best to keep them winning and to take advantage to win from a weaker team and also trying their best to win from a contender team and that will be tried once more in their upcoming game against the Boston Celtics.
sr. member
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December 12, 2022, 02:36:06 AM
The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.

There have been huge significant improvements to Westbrook performance since he's been coming off the bench compared to when he was always in the starting lineup, while Anthony Davis have been Lakers most consistent player this season, I just hope he stays healthy enough down the stretch because it will only get tougher as the regular season start approaching its end every team is trying to secure a slot in the post season, Lebron is known to be conditioning very well and he is usually available down the stretch, but he'll be needing all the help and supports he can get from Anthony Davis, because If Anthony Davis isn't going to be available, I doubt Lakers would be able to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament let alone a spot in the top seed.

Yeah, the changes was very effective, they don't need to put Westbrook in the starting lineup because it will only mess up their offense. Now, with limited attempts and more on facilitating the ball, his role has become more effective, though he will not be a triple-double guy anymore winning more games for the team is more than enough to still consider a valuable player of the team.
copper member
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December 12, 2022, 02:17:14 AM
The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.

There have been huge significant improvements to Westbrook performance since he's been coming off the bench compared to when he was always in the starting lineup, while Anthony Davis have been Lakers most consistent player this season, I just hope he stays healthy enough down the stretch because it will only get tougher as the regular season start approaching its end every team is trying to secure a slot in the post season, Lebron is known to be conditioning very well and he is usually available down the stretch, but he'll be needing all the help and supports he can get from Anthony Davis, because If Anthony Davis isn't going to be available, I doubt Lakers would be able to clinch a spot in the play-in tournament let alone a spot in the top seed.
hero member
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December 12, 2022, 01:23:23 AM
^I’m glad the Pelicans just spammed the Suns again. Hometown team or not, I can’t hope for a team to win if I don’t respect their players. Glad Chris Paul got hammered all game and Zion smashed everyone. It needed to happen. The Suns are way too high off their Finals appearance still. They’re acting like they’ve won multiple championships or something. I’m ready to blow up this roster and give the team to Ayton.

Hahaha..They beat the Suns two in a row, and that's because they can't stop Zion. This team is legit, they are at the number 1 spot now, and they deserve respect so I don't know if the Suns have a shot of beating them once they'll face off in the playoffs. No Ingram, no problem. To be fair, Booker did not play so.... still the Pelicans are the better team.

Zion has taken it personally, it will be fun once the playoffs come. I'm pretty sure that the Pelicans will be able to make it to the playoffs as long as Zion stays healthy, and from now on, I think betting on the Pelicans is the best idea, I mean they are the hottest team in the West, so no way I would bet against them.
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December 12, 2022, 12:52:13 AM
^I’m glad the Pelicans just spammed the Suns again. Hometown team or not, I can’t hope for a team to win if I don’t respect their players. Glad Chris Paul got hammered all game and Zion smashed everyone. It needed to happen. The Suns are way too high off their Finals appearance still. They’re acting like they’ve won multiple championships or something. I’m ready to blow up this roster and give the team to Ayton.

Hahaha..They beat the Suns two in a row, and that's because they can't stop Zion. This team is legit, they are at the number 1 spot now, and they deserve respect so I don't know if the Suns have a shot of beating them once they'll face off in the playoffs. No Ingram, no problem. To be fair, Booker did not play so.... still the Pelicans are the better team.
hero member
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December 12, 2022, 12:24:27 AM
The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.
Apparently, Lakers is progressing
For the last few days, it looks like the Lakers are consistently winning.
Even coming back from injury, AD scored 34 points, 15 rebounds.
I confess, Walker is being a supporting player and helping the Lakers, because lately he has been standing out, and that is good for the Lakers.
The same with Reaves, he is also stepping up his game although it cannot be seen in the stats. He is always there to defend, start a transition play or a fast break and to put more spacing in the floor as he is also a threat outside and we have seen it tonight putting a dagger to end the Pistons hope of getting back on a 1 possession game.
Anthony Davis is their main core now, without him this Lakers team will have a hard time to win unless they can step up their game more.
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December 12, 2022, 12:05:37 AM
The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.
Apparently, Lakers is progressing
For the last few days, it looks like the Lakers are consistently winning.
Even coming back from injury, AD scored 34 points, 15 rebounds.
I confess, Walker is being a supporting player and helping the Lakers, because lately he has been standing out, and that is good for the Lakers.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 10:49:36 PM
The Pelicans are in the lead with under 6 minutes left in the game. It is just a six-point lead but all the Pelicans have to do is maintain that lead. I guess the Suns will lose back-to-back against the Pelicans. They were not able to give a payback to what Zion did to them in the last game.
I'm surprised they let it go to overtime, Zion needs some rest but the 2nd unit will have to keep the castle defended if they want a better chance to close the game in regulation.
Ayton fouled out, and CP3 fouled out, this is all thanks to Zion nonstop attacking the painted area. He keeps on proving now why he is the number 1 pick, he should never stop.
^I’m glad the Pelicans just spammed the Suns again. Hometown team or not, I can’t hope for a team to win if I don’t respect their players. Glad Chris Paul got hammered all game and Zion smashed everyone. It needed to happen. The Suns are way too high off their Finals appearance still. They’re acting like they’ve won multiple championships or something. I’m ready to blow up this roster and give the team to Ayton.
Hahaha.  Cheesy
They will meet again on Suns territory on December 18. I wish the results will be the same.
There's good news too, B.I. might be back soon and he will be able to play on that day.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 10:33:02 PM
The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.
I wonder how Coach Ham is feeling right now because he really made some good adjustments with the team already.
He somehow asked Davis to be the starting Center of the team, a role that he doesn't want, but Davis embraced the role and is very efficient to it. Another thing is the Westbrook-Beverley beef in the past. He also makes sure that they will build a chemistry with one another. The chemistry of the team is already starting to build up already.

The only problem that I see until now is that, even though the Lakers are doing a decent job winning 6 of their last 10 games, they are still on the 12th spot. In a tight battle like in the Western Conference, every win is very important to each of them. They might be doing a great job, but it wasn't enough still.

On the other hand, some great things happened tonight.
- Hawks' AJ Griffin's turnaround hoop to win the game with 0.5 seconds remaining.
- The Rockets beat the Bucks. This surprised me TBH.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 09:28:53 PM
^I’m glad the Pelicans just spammed the Suns again. Hometown team or not, I can’t hope for a team to win if I don’t respect their players. Glad Chris Paul got hammered all game and Zion smashed everyone. It needed to happen. The Suns are way too high off their Finals appearance still. They’re acting like they’ve won multiple championships or something. I’m ready to blow up this roster and give the team to Ayton.

Yeah, just watched the entirety of the game and it's good that Zion and the Pelicans are no longer intimidated with CP3 antics. And it's a good call to challenge the Zion foul on CP3 because obviously Paul is baiting him to get a foul. And it's the momentum shift, Pelicans just leading 3 points in the OT. And if they didn't challenge it and let CP3 hits 3 FT it will be tie and the Suns might win with CP3 still around. And the acquisition of CJ is really paying off as he hits 2 clutch shots to take the lead to 7 points and that's it. The Suns without CP3 was in a disarray and can't score a basketball until it was almost over.

That was a good challenge, hit two birds with one stone. They avoided the foul on Zion and the 3 free throws of Chris Paul and also fouled out Chris Paul. Without Chris Paul inside the court, the Suns lost their anchor. Chris Paul has been dictating the phase of the game in the fourth quarter that enabled them to catch up and eradicate the lead of the Pelicans. And when he fouled out, that is when the Pelicans really took over in the overtime and won the game.

I like this rule that they call an offensive foul on the offense who baited the foul, just like what happened when CP3 extended to his foot to make contact for a foul. I think they were not called that before and it is good that they are calling that now.

The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.

It is an easy game for the Lakers. The Piston is at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and with AD, Lebron and Westbrook on the floor, I do not think the Pistons even stand a chance against them.
hero member
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December 11, 2022, 08:18:09 PM
^I’m glad the Pelicans just spammed the Suns again. Hometown team or not, I can’t hope for a team to win if I don’t respect their players. Glad Chris Paul got hammered all game and Zion smashed everyone. It needed to happen. The Suns are way too high off their Finals appearance still. They’re acting like they’ve won multiple championships or something. I’m ready to blow up this roster and give the team to Ayton.

Yeah, just watched the entirety of the game and it's good that Zion and the Pelicans are no longer intimidated with CP3 antics. And it's a good call to challenge the Zion foul on CP3 because obviously Paul is baiting him to get a foul. And it's the momentum shift, Pelicans just leading 3 points in the OT. And if they didn't challenge it and let CP3 hits 3 FT it will be tie and the Suns might win with CP3 still around. And the acquisition of CJ is really paying off as he hits 2 clutch shots to take the lead to 7 points and that's it. The Suns without CP3 was in a disarray and can't score a basketball until it was almost over.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 07:46:56 PM
The energy between Westbrook and LeBron today is very good. Westbrook is making great assists, both to LeBron and AD. Lonnie Walker also contributed significant points by scoring a good percentage. The lack of experience and leading players is evident in Detroit. Bojan Bogdanovic alone carries the team on his back. Jaden Ivey is willing but can't get play the balls right. Despite all this, the difference is still very close. There is no Cunningham, but it wouldn't have changed much had he been. Detroit is holding up well, but the Lakers haven't lost much of the lead. Antony Davis still find easy buckets.
donator
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December 11, 2022, 06:32:57 PM
^I’m glad the Pelicans just spammed the Suns again. Hometown team or not, I can’t hope for a team to win if I don’t respect their players. Glad Chris Paul got hammered all game and Zion smashed everyone. It needed to happen. The Suns are way too high off their Finals appearance still. They’re acting like they’ve won multiple championships or something. I’m ready to blow up this roster and give the team to Ayton.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 06:09:05 PM
They're already losing on that very last seconds of the quarter, why it feels like it's a disrespect on them? is there an unwritten rule if it's like that?

Yes, in almost the entire league in the world, there's an unwritten rule about that in basketball once the team is already a sure win, please don't make any attempt to bring down much the losing team by doing "unnecessary shots" where the game is already called.

If it happened in the Suns' home, the Pelicans will surely react the same.

It now depends on who's team will ignore that sh*t and just walk off the court without showing any reaction.
We're in the modern days now, and they should just give it as a showtime for Zion or anyone who can have that slam dunk fest.

Well, I might feel bad for them too but just give it to him. The crowd cheered for Zion when he took the flight and went in. It may be feeling bad to them but just had to accept the fact that it's already a lost.

And if ever they get along again with Pelicans, they can do the same and return it to Zion and the team.

Nothing we can do about it as that unwritten rule during garbage time was already taking place for a long time.

We can't just say that teams should do this, do that, do, etc. Lots of concerns were already being raised regarding that unwritten rule.

Phoenix Suns clearly just overreact during that game and in fact, they didn't realized that they also did those kinds of unnecessary plays too before where the game is already settled but still they are still trying to do extra damage to the losing team that was already called it good.

Simply, they don't know how to react to tasting their own medicine. Cheesy
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 05:38:59 PM
The Lakers said they’ll be holding LeBron and Anthony Davis out of back to back games for the rest of the year. That should help keep them healthy I would think. It’s still early in the season but they do need to make sure the playoff race doesn’t slip out if their grasp. With the way Davis has been playing lately though it seems like they won’t have any problems so long as he can keep himself on the floor.

Can they afford that though? Currently, they are the 13th seed in the Western Conference and 3 games behind the 10th seed Dallas Mavericks. They need all the wins they can get to at least have a shot for the 10th seed for the play-in. Without AD or Lebron in the lineup, they are having a hard time winning games. Sure, Lebron and AD will be healthy but it will be harder for them to get to playoffs considering how tough the competition in the west is. At this point, it may be hard for them to qualify for the play-in tournament.

They will be having their rematch in less than 2 hours from now and the Pelicans are still hosting the game. It will be an interesting game for sure and we'll see what will be the Suns response.

The Pelicans are in the lead with under 6 minutes left in the game. It is just a six-point lead but all the Pelicans have to do is maintain that lead. I guess the Suns will lose back-to-back against the Pelicans. They were not able to give a payback to what Zion did to them in the last game.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 05:14:48 PM
I saw a post in Facebook, saying that Zion do it deliberately because Phoenix eliminated them last year's playoff when he was not around.

So maybe he was just sending a message that it will be very different if this two will face each other again in the first round. Not sure though if this is the way it should be played. I mean they are already doing some trash talking themselves, CP3 and Booker in the side of the Phoenix. The thing is that they can't back it up just like the in Mavs series last season. Anyhow, yeah, NBA might be evolving, teams competitive fire are higher this early.

I think people made big fuss about that, it's not that deep. It's an unwritten rule to not play the last ball but CP3 also used that to layup so I don't understand why Suns players pissed off too much. In general I prefer to see every second to play instead of waiting for a final whistle, at least we Europeans learned that way.
That was a nice dunk by the way, people want Zion to participate this year's Dunk Contest. I hope we can see him there.

Right or wrong it's a respect thing, once the game is finalized most teams hold the ball to the final whistle and in the same respect the defense doesn't go hard fouling a team at the very end of the game.  Just one of those unwritten rules.  I mean I get it, big deal but imagine if someone went and fouled him hard, everyone from the Pelicans would flip out too because why play defense when it doesn't matter right?  That's why the mutual ypu don't do it we won't either and it breaks that rule.  Protects guys all around from getting unnecessarily hurt.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 04:50:27 PM
I saw a post in Facebook, saying that Zion do it deliberately because Phoenix eliminated them last year's playoff when he was not around.

So maybe he was just sending a message that it will be very different if this two will face each other again in the first round. Not sure though if this is the way it should be played. I mean they are already doing some trash talking themselves, CP3 and Booker in the side of the Phoenix. The thing is that they can't back it up just like the in Mavs series last season. Anyhow, yeah, NBA might be evolving, teams competitive fire are higher this early.

I think people made big fuss about that, it's not that deep. It's an unwritten rule to not play the last ball but CP3 also used that to layup so I don't understand why Suns players pissed off too much. In general I prefer to see every second to play instead of waiting for a final whistle, at least we Europeans learned that way.
That was a nice dunk by the way, people want Zion to participate this year's Dunk Contest. I hope we can see him there.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 04:12:10 PM
I saw a post in Facebook, saying that Zion do it deliberately because Phoenix eliminated them last year's playoff when he was not around.

So maybe he was just sending a message that it will be very different if this two will face each other again in the first round. Not sure though if this is the way it should be played. I mean they are already doing some trash talking themselves, CP3 and Booker in the side of the Phoenix. The thing is that they can't back it up just like the in Mavs series last season. Anyhow, yeah, NBA might be evolving, teams competitive fire are higher this early.
The interesting thing is that, beating a team is not like a personal thing where you do it to spite them or anything. Suns did beat Pelicans, but that has nothing to do with Pelicans, didn't just eliminated them to make them angry or something, it was to go further stages, weird, what should have they done, lose?

I would understand if last time they faced each other, someone from Suns did something similar, so this would be a response, but elimination? Really? That is a very loser type of reaction, if you were good then you would beat them, you were not good enough and that is why you lost, simple as that and this move is just a big loser moment for pelicans and zion.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 03:58:22 PM
Keep AD healthy, that is their key to win every game. Rest him if they think their opponent can be handled by the other players.
Make him the VIP of the team as it is a fact that he is the only one who could bring them more wins than any players. Yes, that includes Lebron and Westbrook.

Yes, they should at least give Davis some rest if they will be facing a much easier opponent or an opponent that they seem they can defeat without getting Davis plenty minutes. The other guys could handle that kind of scenario given that Westbrook is also getting a hold of his new role and LeBron is still remarkable contributing decent numbers per game, and well, they also got Walker and Reaves for that job.

The last two names stated needs a lot more exposures so that they will be much more reliable when the game becomes more intense before the qualifiers, they are good now but the team needed an improvement because time will come that Davis and Lebron's numbers won't guarantee to keep them afloat.

Good point in terms of giving Walker and Reaves that exposure. They needed to feel that pressure as early as now to make them ready if ever that they move up to the next round.

Davis, if he can get that rest, is also good. They have Bryant to take care of the boards. They just need to give
him that minutes and let him touch the ball, he can contribute if Lakers will also let him play to give
more minutes for Davis to rest.
legendary
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December 11, 2022, 03:56:40 PM
The Suns vs Pelicans had an interesting ending. Look it up on Twitter. Zion got the ball and did a 360 windmill dunk on a fast break after the win was already secured. This made the Suns pretty angry and nearly started a brawl. I think the Suns are a little full of themselves all the sudden. Devon Booker and Chris Paul are a couple of the biggest prima donnas in the NBA now. I don’t like it…

Dunk away Zion! Nobody in the NBA can do shit to you. Smiley

One of those unwritten Bush league rules.  All of the drama is just jockeying for the next time they play.  No one likes getting smashed in the face.

It's always funny to see how the losing team reacts to moments like that. Of course, Zion's dunk could be seen as disrespectful to the opponent, and it clearly hurt the ego of the Suns' players. However, I think any losing team shows its unprofessionalism by making ridiculous altercations because of it. At moments like this, they look more like kids on the playground rather than NBA players.


They forgot that they still need to entertain their audience and it's really acceptable considering that it was the New Orleans Pelican's homecourt and most of the audiences are their own fans. I don't know why are they so riled up because Zion dunked it in the remaining seconds and viewed that act as a disrespect to the Suns, truth is, it's the Suns ego are the ones who got hurt.

They will be having their rematch in less than 2 hours from now and the Pelicans are still hosting the game. It will be an interesting game for sure and we'll see what will be the Suns response.

Probably there is this unwritten rule between team and players, about show boating and stuff when obviously you have the lead and win the game already.

Nevertheless if the Suns feels disrespected then they should try and get it back tonight although it will still be in the homecourt of the Pelicans. So if the Suns take this personal, then give us a good show and see if they can level the score with a great victory at the Pelicans own home court. Otherwise, Pels have the numbers on them. Looking for more trash talking here early from Booker hehehe.
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