Around The NBA: 2019-20 RESTART

[mtron32]

I watched Philly/Bos last night- it was a close game until the very end, although BOS lead most of the way. But Philly was without their second best player, and they still played them tight. They have some talent on that team- Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, Al Horford. Add Simmons to that mix, and I'd like to see how they fare v. Boston, or other top teams in the East.

It's frustrating as hell watching Embiid, sometimes I think he could be the greatest ever and then other times he's hiding on the perimeter scared to go in the paint.

[Dresden]

I watched Philly/Bos last night- it was a close game until the very end, although BOS lead most of the way. But Philly was without their second best player, and they still played them tight. They have some talent on that team- Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, Al Horford. Add Simmons to that mix, and I'd like to see how they fare v. Boston, or other top teams in the East.

It's frustrating as hell watching Embiid, sometimes I think he could be the greatest ever and then other times he's hiding on the perimeter scared to go in the paint.

Agreed. I thought they looked just as good last night when he was on the bench. He turns it over a fair amount, and also clogs up the paint. But he did give BOS fits inside and on the glass. He looks like he could get in better shape though. Kind of reminds me of Demarcus Cousins- the talent is enormous, but it doesn't necessarily look like he uses it to his team's advantage.

[mtron32]

I watched Philly/Bos last night- it was a close game until the very end, although BOS lead most of the way. But Philly was without their second best player, and they still played them tight. They have some talent on that team- Tobias Harris, Josh Richardson, Matisse Thybulle, Al Horford. Add Simmons to that mix, and I'd like to see how they fare v. Boston, or other top teams in the East.

It's frustrating as hell watching Embiid, sometimes I think he could be the greatest ever and then other times he's hiding on the perimeter scared to go in the paint.

Agreed. I thought they looked just as good last night when he was on the bench. He turns it over a fair amount, and also clogs up the paint. But he did give BOS fits inside and on the glass. He looks like he could get in better shape though. Kind of reminds me of Demarcus Cousins- the talent is enormous, but it doesn't necessarily look like he uses it to his team's advantage.

He has about one quarter of high energy and then he's jogging has his head down the rest of the game, his conditioning is way off.

[ImSlower]

Man, I freely admit that Carmelo Anthony has at times been one of my least favorite players in the league. I also thought he was so broken he was ready to just retire. I'm happy to eat crow, the dude is straight throwing himself on the ground like a 22 year old. Go **** Blazers man

[Grodoboldo]

Dame is **** awesome!

[MrSparkle]

OmG.

Well, I’m happily eating crow. I thought Lakers would blow Portland out in G1. This team is playing their hearts out. 7 man rotation..

[ImSlower]

Not to mention it was 8 on 5 on court for much of the game.

[Southpaw]

Reveals that he lost his grandma to COVID before the game, goes out there and puts up 21/21/6/2/2 to put his team in the playoffs.

Much respect to Jusuf Nurkic.

I always liked Nurkic's game. Old school type C on offense but is pretty mobile on defense. Glad he's come back strong.

Nurkic fits in really well with the Blazers culture. If they can just get one more guy to develop in Simons or Little, they will be dangerous.

Agreed, they need 3nD wings badly. Nurk is a competent rim protector but their perimeter D is just terrible. They have a good mix of vets in Lillard, McCollum and Melo plus young guys like Nurk, Collins and Trent Jr.

[Dresden]

It would be so fantastic if the great Lebron were to get bounced out in the first round. Whatever team he's on, it's like watching the same replay over and over again- James dribbling, James bulling his way into the lane, throwing elbows and traveling, James throwing passes to teammates all waiting on the 3 pt line. Rinse, repeat, repeat, repeat.

[dumbell78]

I love Dame, just full of heart. Solid win tonight going 5 vs 8.

[kodo]

It's hard to imagine getting better games from Lebron or AD and they still lost. It's hard to win without some volume 3 point shooting. You just can't keep up 2 points at a time even at the rate at which Lebron and AD can score.

[wonderboy2]

I’ll say this and people might not agree, but Hassan Whiteside side was a major reason the Trailblazers won that game. He just has different presence in their. He grabs the tough boards and he alters everything in the paint. He had the Lakers shook honestly.

[dougthonus]

It's hard to imagine getting better games from Lebron or AD and they still lost. It's hard to win without some volume 3 point shooting. You just can't keep up 2 points at a time even at the rate at which Lebron and AD can score.

Can't really look at that though, AD only shot 33% from the floor, he definitely could have a bigger game. Also hard to imagine the Lakers shoot 15% from three for the series, but sure, if they do, they will lose. If they shot 28% in this game (still below their season average), they would have won.

At the same time, Portland's offense wasn't all that good outside of Lillard tonight and could easily be better next game.

[dougthonus]

I love Dame, just full of heart. Solid win tonight going 5 vs 8.

I thought this was really well illustrated by the replays.

Carmelo's replay doesn't get overturned due to inconsequential contact on the forearm while hitting straight ball on a block. LeBron's charge gets overturned even though he only has one foot down and his right foot is still sliding the before, during, and after contact.

Letter of the law neither of them should have been overturned, and I probably wouldn't overturn either of them. They were both calls that could have gone either way live, but if you need conclusive evidence to overturn then I don't know how you say LeBron's charge/block was conclusive when we hear a million times a game how both feet have to be set and he very clearly did not have one foot set. No way you can argue that is clear and conclusive.

[dougthonus]

Damian Lillard this year has been as good as Steph Curry ever has. If Lillard had Curry's cast the past five years, we'd be talking about him as an MVP.

[othawhitemeat]

Not to mention it was 8 on 5 on court for much of the game.

Yeah, NBA trying to help out Bronny. AnthonybDavis gets every frickin foul call too. Good thing Dame is tough.

[dougthonus]

Man, I freely admit that Carmelo Anthony has at times been one of my least favorite players in the league. I also thought he was so broken he was ready to just retire. I'm happy to eat crow, the dude is straight throwing himself on the ground like a 22 year old. Go **** Blazers man

I don't know how much crow you really need to eat here. He's just become a viable role player at this point. Last night, he hit a key shot, but he was just 3/11 on the night. He's definitely not "back" or a "star" anymore.

That said, I'm also impressed with what he has done. He's clearly dedicated himself to his body and getting into the best shape he can at his age (and looks leaner than ever in his career by a huge margin). He's completely shifted his mental state and has accepted his role and isn't thinking of himself as a star but is just trying to fit in.

By doing those things, he's become a useful NBA rotation player again. He's probably a guy worth 4-5M a year right now, but that's awfully good given that it seemed like he was done.

[Andi Obst]

Damian Lillard this year has been as good as Steph Curry ever has. If Lillard had Curry's cast the past five years, we'd be talking about him as an MVP.

Still think 2016 Curry was at a higher level, but Lillard is coming closer and closer to that every season it seems.

[dougthonus]

Damian Lillard this year has been as good as Steph Curry ever has. If Lillard had Curry's cast the past five years, we'd be talking about him as an MVP.

Still think 2016 Curry was at a higher level, but Lillard is coming closer and closer to that every season it seems.

2016 Curry was certainly a bad ass. If Lillard had as much help though, he might have had a pretty similar season. He doesn't have the same level of threats around him to generate space. They seem so similar though, both get off ridiculous threes with no space at all and will shoot from 30+ feet out. Either way, tough to make a case against 2016 Curry.

[TheSuzerain]

Curry is a significantly better shooter than Lillard and a better passer as well.

Prime Curry is way ahead of current Dame.