part two of the nba 2020-21 anything but regular season

we al knew this day was coming

So my gf and I have grown to be big fans of Juan Toscano-Anderson, the Warriors' Oakland-born backup PF who has been playing with them on a two way contract since last season. He plays with a lot of hustle and has started to develop good chemistry with Dray and Curry and just has really cute puppy-dog eyes. We just ran across this amazing piece on his backstory, dude is impossible not to root for.

Love jta. One of the best things to come of this weird dubs season.

can even call them 'lagoons'

Let’s check in on the tankers

This final week is going to be amazing, @tankathon pic.twitter.com/YriM0Anm6g

— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) May 10, 2021

I don't get why Minny has suddenly started winning games lately. Don't they know their pick is only top 3 protected?

This is probably the craziest lotto ever. The possibilities for teams to get two top 5 picks and whatnot.

My understanding is that even with the worst record the Rockets only have like a 50/50 chance of keeping the pick

1-5th worst records the odds aren't all that different

Minnesota Timberwolves | Expected position: 3.8

Top pick: 13.9%

Top three: 40.0%

Top five: 90.5%

Make play-in: <0.1%

Houston Rockets | Expected position: 4.3

Top pick: 12.6%

Top three: 36.9%

Top five: 66.0%

Make play-in: <0.1%

Detroit Pistons | Expected position: 4.4

Top pick: 12.8%

Top three: 36.1%

Top five: 62.6%

Make play-in: 0.3%

Cleveland Cavaliers | Expected position: 4.4

Top pick: 12.5%

Top three: 36.5%

Top five: 63.2%

Make play-in: 0.4%

Orlando Magic | Expected position: 4.9

Top pick: 11.1%

Top three: 33.3%

Top five: 52.9%

Make play-in: 2.0%

(those standings are old obv)

the 4 - 6 spots in the east should be interesting. Heat and Hawks tied and the knicks are up one game on them. hawks have the easiest schedule remaining (esp w/ Beal out for the back-to-back vs DC)

the wolves should be tanking to ensure they have the best odds of getting a pick in this draft but also have a front office that prob feels the need to show proof of concept on the KAT/d'angelo partnership asap so they're in a bit of a pickle

wolves should be tanking in order to show proof of concept of edwards top 3 pick partnership

Bucks defense seem to be having a bit of an issue tonight

uh I’m on my silly little walk but I checked with Siri for the score and the blazers put 50 on the rockets… in the first quarter? seems excessive

maybe they will score 200 thats something i would like to see

uh oh!

Bradley Beal is going OFF on Kent Bazemore for these comments he made earlier today 😳 https://t.co/L2d4ZQlvT3 pic.twitter.com/KcPfwqSD71

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 11, 2021

uh oh!

Bradley Beal is going OFF on Kent Bazemore for these comments he made earlier today 😳 https://t.co/L2d4ZQlvT3 pic.twitter.com/KcPfwqSD71

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 11, 2021

uh oh!

haven’t checked the score but I give my personal guarantee that the blazers will score 200 points tonight

(checks score, looks at Clay, shakes head very slowly)

talk to me after the final buzzer has sounded friends, I have given my personal guarantee

quintuple OT would be awesome, though exhausting

wow 200 points exactly, i am vindicated

history was made - up with the Blazers!

weird

Report: Key deadline passes without Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore buying Timberwolves https://t.co/AwLTe44GSL

— Kurt Helin (@basketballtalk) May 11, 2021

haha who the fuck knows

too sad about bennifer reuniting

i was actually hoping that j-lo and a-rod would reconcile just to have a little extra side drama for the wolves

play in tournament starts in one week! the offs are upon us my friends

the ins

you gotta get in to get off

*frantically dials TNT's marketing department*

This dish from Jokic 👀 pic.twitter.com/Kn0aBmnwlg

— NBA TV (@NBATV) May 11, 2021

on a string

duncan robinson absolutely bamboozling the refs tonight with the classic randomly falling over routine

i would be stunned if it isn’t the most free throws he’s ever shot in one quarter in his career

just this one quarter might be the most he’s ever shot in a game

lol

Dubs beat Utah phx back to back nights alrighty then

That was a rough game for Steph, too

Small sample size, 4Q of the dubs - suns. The suns looked a bit confused + CP3 playing great, that can't be representative of their play this season, right?

big win lakers, big loss kincks. really intense and dramatic if not exactly well played game

brow looked kinda hapless offensively but he’s also playing with 4 guys you basically don’t need to guard so i’m not gonna judge him too harshly

meanwhile on the defensive end he had julius randle in a straitjacket for like 15 straight possession spanning the 4th and OT. it felt like randle could’ve gone at him 100 straight times and not scored

Pacers held Sixers to 32 pts in the second half (albeit without Embiid).

I just feel like the Sixers are the favorites to win it all and most likely contender to go out in the first round.

not a great sign when the pacers bigs are sabonis and oshae brisset (g leaguer) with mcdermott starting at sf. and yeah i have no confidence that embiids improved offensive efficiency will survive a playoff series

re: the pacers chatter far upthread - because no one actually watches the pacers or follows them closely the narrative around the team (like for many small market teams) is chosen at random. this season rumblings of bjorkgren being a shit coach will be accepted the reason for their record. truth is more that they have been so extensively injured that i doubt even pop could have got them to better than the 7th seed

lot of injuries all over this year seems like, havent seen any numbers tho

counterpoint: some pretty rough stuff in that bjorkgren article

yeah he should still be fired if half of the article is accurate. no one has really backed him up since either beyond the usual polite noises. and i think he was originally a nepotism hire due to "iowa connections" so who gaf