2021-22 NBA "REGULAR" SEASON THREAD

they haven't had their full lineup available until just this game. Brook in particular seems to be pretty important, they just don't look the same without him

brook is a good player but idk

the thing with the bucks which has been true throughout their run as contenders and continues to be true is their offense is just pretty stoppable, its obvs been well documented that if you can prevent giannis from dunking on your head he doesnt really have a counter, and then their other two guys are very good players but are not like huge demanders of double teams, they got stopped a lot in last years playoffs but snuck through on great defense, and this year they just havent been that good, i mean maybe theyre taking it easy getting healthy but theres nothing about them that says this is a team that thats about to romp, i think if they make it through the east it will be a grind again, its just kinda their way

...wld be more interesting if rob williams didnt get injured tho

clippers came back from down 25 in the 3rd to take the lead w 2mins left

pg is doing things

donovan mitchell just pulled a chris webber lol

jazz falling apart!

lol beautiful, game was over anyway, but still

The last time the Utah Jazz played the LA Clippers here in LA, they blew a 25-point second-half lead and lost.

In their first game vs. Clippers in LA since that Game 6 collapse, the Jazz blow a 25-point second half lead and lose.

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) March 30, 2022

pg 34-6 with 4 steals 1st game back after missing ~50

great vibes to go into a make or break playoffs with lol

also how is it possible that the jazz didn’t play in LA vs the clippers until there was like 8 games left in the season

wonderful stuff

i wish the warriors got hartenstein

the thing with the bucks which has been true throughout their run as contenders and continues to be true is their offense is just pretty stoppable, its obvs been well documented that if you can prevent giannis from dunking on your head he doesnt really have a counter, and then their other two guys are very good players but are not like huge demanders of double teams, they got stopped a lot in last years playoffs but snuck through on great defense, and this year they just havent been that good, i mean maybe theyre taking it easy getting healthy but theres nothing about them that says this is a team that thats about to romp, i think if they make it through the east it will be a grind again, its just kinda their way

― lag∞n, Wednesday, March 30, 2022 12:17 AM (forty-one minutes ago)

i think giannis is a better offensive player esp w/ free throw shooting, but his game has looked more varied to me this year. he hit a mid range jumper in crunch time tonight that is basically indefensible bcuz of how you have to play him. middleton has been whatever this year by his standards but his ability to get his shot off on anyone is one of the most important playoff skills.

there was def some ugly rock fight games in the nets series last year but i do think that was a make or break mental hurdle series for them and they were able to get past it. i'm gonna put aside the east finals bcuz of the giannis injury and then in the finals the bucks scored 105, 108, 120, 109, 123 and 105 w/ giannis averaging 35-13-5. so idk, i think they've demonstrated that their offense can get to that level in the playoffs.

i don't think they will roll thru the playoffs like the 01 lakers but if they make the finals w/o seeing a game 7 i wouldn't be surprised

phx v mil rematch would honestly be p dope

who is the second most likely team to come out of the west right now… i have nothing

MEMPHIS

i believe in the power of ja

also they are winning HELLA games

the lakers i still believe

Ja is hurt and no one knows how serious it is yet. Also they rely on fast-breaks and speed quite a bit, two things that are generally stifled in the playoffs.

I’d say warriors but there’s a handful of things needing to break right for them, curry and Dray have to be 100% healthy first and foremost.

I’d prob still put my money on them but … not a lot

If I’m kawhi I’m thinking long and hard about making an early return

an interesting argument to be made for the mavs

for real, spottie

i think i’d prob still say the warriors. we’ve seen their peak this year & it’s been better than any other team in the league aside from phoenix. but yeah my second pick would be…… dallas?? but only if they can get third from the warriors bcuz i don’t see them beating phoenix in the second round. but let’s say they can get to the west finals by beating a denver team that still isn’t right and then the grizz?

i’ve heard ppl say that dallas likes their match up with memphis bcuz the game will slow down in the playoffs and they’re confident in their half court D against memphis in the half court

my biggest concern is dray. he sounded very defeated in his post game presser the other night, admitting the team is worse when hes playing right now. he was a top 15 player this season up until his injury. im just hoping it comes back somehow, hope he has lebrons miami connection.

re mavs i just dont see their role guys stepping up enough to win 4/7 games from the grizz. but they are a completely different team post zinger so i guess them making the wcf wouldnt be completely asinine. that would be a fun series. dubs vs grizz would be fun too cos theres some rivalry stuff thats been brewing there for a couple years.

Donovan Mitchell: I don’t know what to say….this is the same shit….this is literally the same thing as last year…

— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) March 30, 2022

dubs def have the highest ceiling of the non suns and ultimately of the suns but getting anywhere near that this year seems impossible their whole team is injured

stats

The Pistons have a better record (7-11) and net rating (-0.6) than the Warriors (6-11, -1.0), Bulls (6-11, -5.9), and the Lakers (4-13, -7.5) since the All-Star break.

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) March 30, 2022

jazz gonna trade gobert but does anyone want gobert jazz gonna trade mitchell no jazz gonna do the same shit until mitchell leaves

if they could get some better perimeter defenders that could be a way forward i guess

the gobert and conley contracts are pretty rough

gobert $46m in 25/26 lol

ask him to do a basketball move

it's not a team i would want to be a fan of for the next 5 years

the jazz have had a pretty amazing run from stockton/malone into d will/kirilenko/millsap into mitchell and gobert. maybe they’re just a charmed franchise and can generate another new era but mitchell & gobert were basically miracle picks. their future is def concerning. and the new ownership throws everything into question, the guy seems kinda involved on the basketball side and they have this weird partnership between ainge and the GM.

ainge was kinda losing his fastball towards the end there in boston too particularly around some of the lesser details midlevel signing and so forth that you really have to stay on top of to make things work

having a quasi retired successful guy whos maybe not paying attention to the league with quite the focus he used to in the mix seems pretty dicey

the fact that he was out the door within a year of signing tristan thompson gives me faith in the celtics org lol

yeah agree with all of that, ainge can still spot talent, but the management of the roster got really poor and it's a discouraging hire by the new owner since it is transparently about a personal connection they have.

mitchell just doesnt seem like he wants to be in utah. hes destined for the knicks. maybe something around a randle/mitchell trade could be worked out.

the bidding war for him would be crazy and i wonder if because he is still on a long deal whether he would be able to dictate where he went. i don’t see why the jazz would acquiesce to him. all these star trades lately have been so heavily pick based & i can’t even keep track of which desirable franchises even have have enough ammo left. you’d have to be an idiot to want to be traded to the knicks tho

you’d have to be an idiot to want to be traded to the knicks tho

depends on what you want out of your career and which options are realistically open to you. consider that he's currently in SLC on a bad vibes team that underachieves in the playoffs.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/33631986/facing-potential-playoff-games-toronto-boston-celtics-philadelphia-76ers-decline-say-teams-fully-vaccinated

jaylen brown & al horford unvaxed?

it's a very personal decision you see

Jazz are helped by being the only pro team in town

jaylen brown & al horford unvaxed?

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, March 30, 2022 6:17 PM (forty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

has been reported that they are vaxxed before fwiw feel like espn might be making a think out of teams declining to comment which could just be some privacy policy thing

Boston may also be without big man Al Horford for the team’s regular season opener as he awaits clearance from the NBA health and safety protocols after a positive COVID-19 test earlier this week. Jaylen Brown is expected to be cleared in time to play next Wednesday after testing positive for COVID-19 last Friday. League sources indicated to MassLive.com that both Horford and Brown suffered breakthrough cases and are vaccinated.

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2021/10/payton-pritchard-likely-broke-his-nose-celtics-guard-will-travel-back-to-boston-for-evaluation.html

+toronto game they were clearly just taking as a rest, took em to overtime without their guys too!