11/16 - NBA on TNT | Thursday Game Thread

[LoneyROY]

LeBron and Harden is a great fit if it's just them two...but adding Chris Paul would be very redundant when they're all on the court together.

I'd much prefer:

PG: Harden
SG: Gordon
SF: LeBron/Ariza/Mbah Moute
PF: Anderson/Tucker/Mbah Moute
C: Capela

Add some bench guards and that team can compete against Golden State.

Thing is, you don't have to have all 3 on the court very often. Plus Harden and Paul are good shooters. You can put the ball in LeBron's hands at the end of the game and have some nightmare scenarios for the opposing defense. You have to worry about LeBron driving, you have to worry about Paul and Harden behind the arc, and you have to worry about secondary drives when LeBron kicks it out to Harden. When LeBron is on the court you want shooters, Paul and Harden being able to create is a bonus not a negative.

One of the guys would be severely underutilized...in that case, it would be CP.

Just Harden and LeBron together surrounded by Eric Gordon, Capela, Tucker, Ariza, and Mbah would maximize their capabilities better.

Besides the Rockets can't afford CP and LeBron.

[grumpysaddle]

My comments are strictly as an NBA fan, not because the logo under my avatar. Suns were generally awful tonight, Rockets couldn't miss in the opening half. There's been terrible officiating in most games I've watched, Suns or not.

[gmoney411]

LeBron and Harden is a great fit if it's just them two...but adding Chris Paul would be very redundant when they're all on the court together.

I'd much prefer:

PG: Harden
SG: Gordon
SF: LeBron/Ariza/Mbah Moute
PF: Anderson/Tucker/Mbah Moute
C: Capela

Add some bench guards and that team can compete against Golden State.

Thing is, you don't have to have all 3 on the court very often. Plus Harden and Paul are good shooters. You can put the ball in LeBron's hands at the end of the game and have some nightmare scenarios for the opposing defense. You have to worry about LeBron driving, you have to worry about Paul and Harden behind the arc, and you have to worry about secondary drives when LeBron kicks it out to Harden. When LeBron is on the court you want shooters, Paul and Harden being able to create is a bonus not a negative.

One of the guys would be severely underutilized...in that case, it would be CP.

Just Harden and LeBron together surrounded by Eric Gordon, Capela, Tucker, Ariza, and Mbah would maximize their capabilities better.

Besides the Rockets can't afford CP and LeBron.

Who cares if CP3 is underutilized. He is still a great 3 point shooter that can do much more when needed.

They most certainly can afford all 3. Anderson+Gordon is $34MM. We already know the asking price for Anderson dumping is two firsts and that was with an extra year on his deal. Gordon will probably get you something in return. And that's just one possibility. They could also do an Anderson/Tucker/Clint type deals to get it done depending on who they value the most.

[ken6199]

Goodness - the Suns are just awful...I feel bad for every one of those guys. What's their goal - keep tanking for another pick so they can get another talented young guy who can join their bad team, play video games with them and not get any better?

IMO they need to completely blow it up - trade all those young guys for some talented vets - cause this team is on a perpetual tank treadmill as is. They literally said they play NBA 2K together every night for bonding/team building - that is completely whack if you ask me - just not something that should be part of developing into a professional NBA player. It's like they are a bunch of young dudes enjoying their millions that don't give a crap at all about winning or getting better. No wonder Bledsoe wanted out.

And Jackson was a huge fool for not working out for the Celtics.

The worst part is, if they continue to tank, they will draft another 'potential future franchise guy' who will join the competition and eat up their minutes and field goal attempts and usage rates. Look what happened to Clarkson after they got DeAngelo, or DeAngelo after they got Ingram, or Ingram after they got Ball. You can only have 1-2 corner stone type of players on your team to build around, and if too many guys want to 'showcase themselves to be that guy' by playing selfish and not playing winning team ball, the whole team looks bad, and the franchise will continue to search for the next guy (and they really don't have another chance).

The perfect scenario is you get your minutes, you play well, your team also play well, with an awesome coach, and the guys in front of you went out for the season in game 1 so the stage is all yours. And your team is winning so you are having all the fun in the world. Yeah, Tatum and Brown.

[jirrit]

Sorry, man. The Warriors broke the league by stacking the deck to an unfair, unprecedented level. Downplaying them is not going to make them look more sympathetic to the average fan outside of the Bay Area.

Right, because when a really good team emerges the rest of the league just stays dormant in terms of talent. Players don't improve, teams don't learn to gel, new talents don't present themselves. Everything conveniently stays the same.

No other team has improved anywhere near to the level of that Warriors roster. Frankly, it's not even possible with the salary cap and the players available.

Improving exists. Team spirit can go down too. I'm not saying anyone is at the GSW-level at all and will be this season or next but improvement can happen. There can be troubles in paradise too. Never say never.

[ken6199]

Why hold on for the last shot when you can take a highly contested turnaround fadeaway coming off a dead sprint?

Why would you ever hold for the last shot when you're down 2?

Risk/Reward:
if you shoot early: you make that shot, celtics get another chance to win, you miss, game over

you hold it and make the shot: either win or OT, miss the shot: same result as if you took it early.

Pretty simple

It's different. If you shoot early, even if you miss you get yourself another chance to foul and gamble on your opponent missing at least one FT - then it's still a one possession game (or you get an offensive rebound straight up, no foul is needed). If you hold and shoot at the end, you lose that opportunity.

[wassuphomeboy]

cp3 looking sharp having not played in a month

To be fair, everyone looks sharp against the Suns.

Can you not continue to not be negative, like the other night?
viewtopic.php?p=60131717#p60131798

I you love his comment now, wait till cp3 comes back and we drop a game. It's gonna be Christmas over here.

Don't mind him too much. Even if the Rockets win the next few titles (as I think they are well on their way to doing, for a variety of reasons, reasons that will cause a lifetime's worth of regret for me personally as a Clippers fan) he will still find a way to discredit CP3, even inventing ways if necessary.

[steefP2]

Not to rain on the Celtics parade here but I swear every time I watch them, the opponent just misses wide open shots/make a lot of careless unforced turnovers.

This post is why defense gets no respect.

I give defense a ton of respect.

Did you watch the game? Curry/Klay shot the ball terribly but many of their shots were clean looks. Boston's 3rd Q was really good but other than that I didn't see them do much to win the game, more-so the Warriors just played terribly

Stats say 80% of shots by both teams were contested, so what you think might be clean looks, they werent.

I mean sure, both teams missed makeable looks and yes you'd expect GSW to hit more then the Celts because they're obviously better shooters, but it's not like there were a TON of good open looks.

Golden State also rushed a ton of shots, you could see the Celts closing out a bit quicker then expected, having slightly less space then they were used to. Not saying we fully locked them down and the Celts get all the credit but we clearly bothered them.

[jason bourne]

I just finished watching the game. It reminded me of their first game and home opener against the Rockets. Both games were important because a Warriors win would mean they could win the games they want to win. It would send a message that the Warriors are the team to beat and tough to beat. A few more games like this would have fans question their heart and toughness. That said, the Celtics played good D inside and was able to come back. This will be a loss that sticks with me. The Warriors need to play better D inside or they won't be regarded as tough. Kudos to the Celtics and winning streak. They are hot!!!

[spacemonkey]

Kind of hilarious that Marcus Smart took 7 shots, missed them all, then did an offensive goaltend, removing Kyrie's bucket.

He was literally -1 for 7.

[MR28]

The Refs really are just randomly calling ****.

aggressors get the calls 9/10. stop complaining.

What kind of dumb ass logic is that?

Run at the hoop > Get foul shots.. That's a good way to officiate...

[Prizah]

Is Jordan Bell injured??
Seems like he would be an ideal defender vs Boston attack...

[Duffman100]

The Refs really are just randomly calling ****.

aggressors get the calls 9/10. stop complaining.

What kind of dumb ass logic is that?

Run at the hoop > Get foul shots.. That's a good way to officiate...

It's the way the NBA has been forever. Not your 'run at the hoop' line, but the team that attacks the bucket more tends to get more calls.

[K_chile22]

Why would you ever hold for the last shot when you're down 2?

Risk/Reward:
if you shoot early: you make that shot, celtics get another chance to win, you miss, game over

you hold it and make the shot: either win or OT, miss the shot: same result as if you took it early.

Pretty simple

It's different. If you shoot early, even if you miss you get yourself another chance to foul and gamble on your opponent missing at least one FT - then it's still a one possession game (or you get an offensive rebound straight up, no foul is needed). If you hold and shoot at the end, you lose that opportunity.

Then, if your lucky, the best case is OT. It doesn't make sense to not hold the ball.

[inquisitive]

Is Jordan Bell injured??
Seems like he would be an ideal defender vs Boston attack...

i don't know. harden lit him up when they played. not so sure he would've done better against kyrie.

[ken6199]

Risk/Reward:
if you shoot early: you make that shot, celtics get another chance to win, you miss, game over

you hold it and make the shot: either win or OT, miss the shot: same result as if you took it early.

Pretty simple

It's different. If you shoot early, even if you miss you get yourself another chance to foul and gamble on your opponent missing at least one FT - then it's still a one possession game (or you get an offensive rebound straight up, no foul is needed). If you hold and shoot at the end, you lose that opportunity.

Then, if your lucky, the best case is OT. It doesn't make sense to not hold the ball.

You hold and shoot, or you shoot early and defend, offense wise it's really pretty much the same. You either get a 2 or 3, depending on what the defense gives you. If you make the 3, then you have 100% chance at winning (if you hold and make the buzz beater), or 90% chance at winning (if you make the go-ahead and defend with a couple secs). The best case for both are really the same.

But I am willing to sacrifice that 10% to earn me a chance for another shot, in case I miss my first one. Hence no hold.

[MR28]

aggressors get the calls 9/10. stop complaining.

What kind of dumb ass logic is that?

Run at the hoop > Get foul shots.. That's a good way to officiate...

It's the way the NBA has been forever. Not your 'run at the hoop' line, but the team that attacks the bucket more tends to get more calls.

I understand that, but I'm not just going to be happy that's how the games are called because they've been doing it forever.

[Shady Franchise]

Warriors win in blowout fashion

Show the NBA and Celtics who runs the league

Everyone then realizes no one is ever beating the warriors

And with that said big bet on Warriors -7 for me

Welp! Hope you didn't bet too big. Weird, I lost both GS over and spread, but won NFL over and spread.

[RightToCensor]

Oh my God

This was Chris Paul's most unbelievable play from last night that made me say oh my god


https://streamable.com/hq850

[NBAFan93]

Lol at Curry's comments after the game - "well see what happens, I hear the weather is nice here in June"...trash talkin'......

Gosh - Jaylen Browns best friend committed suicide last night and he still played. Like another IT situation. What's the deal w/ all these awful things happening to Celtics players and/or those close to them?