Topic: NBA Thread: Brought To You By The Tampa Bay Raptors Of Toronto

[BlackNMild2k1]

Warrior Talk - Curry returns after 3+ weeks off.... 10 3's for 39 points
Warrior offense FINALLY looking good again. Grizz had an offensive game of their own... probably best of the whole season. They ran with the Dubs, but just got out paced. was a good game.
Now everyone is back and everyone is looking good. Klay needs to find his shot, but with Curry back to cookin, he'll be making space for everyone again and hopefully Dubs start looking like their 2016 selves again.
(pre-post edit: Almost forgot to mention the bullshit 2nd tech that Dray ejected in the 1st quarter... I'm surprised that didn't get overturned, even if he didn't return to the game)

Rockets Talk - Harden with a pulled hammy, out in the end of the 4th.... Lakers should've won but rookies gonna rook. CP3 gets to pull the weight for the next 3 weeks now. Anyone care to guess how that will look? Harden is the #1 scorer and assister in the league right now. How will regular season Rockets perform w/o him?
Spurs and Timberwolves are right behind them in the win column, but the Rockets have played 2 or more less games than both of them. Can CP3 stay on the floor long enough to keep that 2nd place standing in the West?
(pre-post edit: almost forgot to mention the bullshit hook that Harden pulled on Hart that got Hart called for a foul. Harden literally hooked his arm and then in slo-mo spun around and then tried to fake a shot... meanwhile Hart is just standing there looking at the ref like "really...." then just as shocked as everyone else when the ref rewarded that with a whistle and a defensive foul - one of Hart's 6 fouls... :/ and he was playing good too)

Lakers talk - so many close loses.... they should've had that Rockets game, but Kuz decides a 40ft 3 with a few seconds on the clock of a tied game is the shot to take.... take that **** inside my man. Nothing to lose, get the bucket, get fouled, get a much closer shot... anything but a 40ft shot with time left on the clock. there's some potential on this team, but this year is not their year. The only team they are doing better than is the Atlanta Hawks, but there are a lot of games the Lakers have been playing that they could've won, and for whatever stupid decision by players or coaching, they lost.
(edit: I have to admit that I've only watched a few select Laker games, and they all happen to be where the Lakers actually had good games <i.e. vs Warriors, Rockets, and 2-3 other teams> so I may have just seen them at their best... which wasn't good enough, as I think they still lost most the games I saw. lol)

[BlackNMild2k1]

All-Star Fan Voting has begun





Lonzo Ball has more votes than Al Horford and 10 other players above him.
Lonzo has to be the Zaza of this years fan voting. No Way he makes the cut. LOL

Just remember that the 2 winners (1 East, 1 West) become team captains and get to chose their roster from everyone else selected to be an All-Star this year.
That's gonna make things intersting.

Team KD v Team Lebron... how do you see the potential starting 5 looking like.

[nickmitch]

Would be really interesting to see if KD snubs Westbrook or if he picks Westbrook only to have him say, "You're still a bitch".

[BlackNMild2k1]

You all missed some DRAMA last night. When does Bleacher Reports Game of Zones return? I think the opening drama for that went down last night.

But before I get to that... the Warriors Cavs game was good for the 1st 3 qtrs.
I think all Cavs fans should be a little concerned though. IT may not be 100 right now, but Cavs are not playing well... last night withstanding though. They did have a few highlights with some alleyoops from IT to Lebron that were pretty damn nice if I might say so myself. But even though the Cavs got to eat last night Chef Curry was only serving up L's to the competition.
Cavs retaliated by shutting off the hot water.... again. Cold Showers for ALL the visitors.


Westbrook got double T'd (in a matter of seconds) last night as well and ejected. OKC still beat the Kings though.

But the real drama of the night was CP3's return to L.A. to face the Clippers last night. Whooo boy did the **** go down. (I didn't watch the game, but caught the breakdown)
First Blake was taking it to CP3 physically, shoulders, elbows, etc etc etc. CP3 tried to laugh it off
Blake took it physically and verbally to Coach D'Antoni (gave him a quick elbow).... CP3 comes verbally at him, Ariza pushed him off physically... I believe Blake and D'Antoni or Ariza got a tech for this
Blake was body bumped out of bounds by Gordon, so Blake jumped up, and damn near chucked the ball at Gordons head so it would be out on him. (looked like it was still out on Blake as it touched him last)
Austin Rivers (sidelined w/ injury) got into it verbally with Ariza, so Blake got in the middle... they both (Blake and Ariza) got ejected
and at the end Gerald Green was barking at a ref.

but the best comes last
After the Rockets lost the game, they devised a plan to go confront the Clips in their locker room.
CP3 sent Capella up to the front locker room door, only to have it ultimatelly shut in his face.
But while that distraction was happening, CP3 led a small squad of Harden, Ariza and Gerald Green through a secret back hallway entrance to the Clips locker room to confront Blake and Rivers face to face.
Security got involved and the LAPD was in the mix too. and they were all separated before anything serious went down.

But Bleacher Report should have fun on Game of Zones with this one. Sounds like a season opener to me LOL

edit: Here's a Rocket Clippers recap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8T_d2qs7vs

edit 2: TWEETS!!!






edit 3: ESPN Article!!
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22116253/houston-rockets-push-la-clippers-locker-room

LOS ANGELES -- In the aftermath of a cantankerous loss, Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza and stars Chris Paul and James Harden marched through a back corridor and into the LA Clippers' locker room late Monday night, suggesting that they wanted to confront Clippers players Austin Rivers and Blake Griffin, league sources told ESPN.

Rockets guard Gerald Green joined Ariza, Paul and Harden through the connecting hallway and breached the entrance of the home team's locker room.

Stunned Clippers players, celebrating a 113-102 victory, leaped to their feet upon the realization that four seething Rockets players had come calling for them, sources told ESPN.

For a few fleeting moments, several Clippers dared the Rockets to come farther into the room, sources said. Security and team officials soon converged on the Rockets, pushing them out the door and back toward the visiting locker room, sources said. Ariza was described as the first one through the door, with Paul lingering in the back, witnesses told ESPN.

EDITOR'S PICKS

CP3 draws mixed reception in return to L.A.
The boos for Chris Paul weren't the reason it was a disappointing return to L.A. for the former Clippers star, with his Rockets falling 113-102 at Staples Center on Monday night.

Clippers beat Paul, Rockets 113-102 for 5th win in a row
Lou Williams scored 31 points, Blake Griffin added 29 before his ejection, and the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Houston Rockets 113-102 on Monday night in Chris Paul's heated return to Staples Center against his old team.

"It was classic NBA," one Clippers witness told ESPN. "None of these guys were going to fight."[/]

[nickmitch]

Wow. Hysterical.

[BlackNMild2k1]

New News in the NBA....

Warriors play Celtics tomorrow, but Marcus Smart will be out with "lacerations" to his hands suffered during some off-court incident.
What could have happened!?
Well.... apparently Smart knocked up some hood rat, who is posting on IG that he is now paying all her bills, and that he apparently hates her and that she has him all "fucked up right now". She is apparently threatening to release their porno's.... and suddenly, Smart has "lacerations" to his hands suffered during an off-court incident. Could be a coincident... but I think we all know what it's related to.

and in other Terrible News...
Boogie Cousins helped lead the Pelicans to another win against the Rockets, but unfortunately didn't get to see the end of game because he tore his achillies with 8.1 seconds left in the game. He will miss the rest of the season... (maybe even some of the next?).
This is a contact year for Boogie, he has been playing exceptional bball, the Pelicans were finally gelling, he was all but guaranteed to make it to his first playoff series, and was selected as an All-Star.
It's never a good time for an injury, especially one like this, but this is a terrible time for it to happen. Hopefully he makes a full recovery.

I'm also thinking that PG13 will take his All-Star slot on Team Lebron, so now Brodie and his moth eaten fashion can settle down as PG will not only be in the AS game, but on the same team as him.

[Adrock]

That’s awful about Smart. If all of that is true, I wonder why he felt the need to go after a “hood-rat.”

Shame about Cousins as well. Considering how young he is, he’ll probably bounce back closer to six months than 10. Who knows when/if he returns to form? His contract situation will be interesting this summer. If Wesley Matthews could secure a four-year, $70 million contract with a still torn achilles, Cousins should still do well. Even if there’s some regression to his game, his skills and fundamentals are so good that he’ll still be effective. Who offers Cousins the max though? I feel like the Pelicans have to if the organization hopes to retain Anthony Davis past 2020. If the team disrespects Cousins with a lowball offer, that sends a terrible message. Before the injury, the max was always Cousins’ to turn down. This injury puts the Pelicans is a tough spot. Take a chance and offer Cousins the max with the hope he’s anywhere close to his pre-injury form. Or whiff, alienating the team’s franchise player by telling him the team won’t take care of its players, and there are no concrete plans to get better. With that in mind, Davis either grumbles until he’s traded or walks once his contract is up. Kyrie Irving forced a trade with two years left on his contract. The Cavs did not get equal value. I think there’s a chance we can see this again over the summer.

Westbrook will never settle down. He’s new-Kobe. And I still think Paul George leaves at the end of the year. The Thunder are not an elite team, and Westbrook’s super-max contract makes it that much harder to improve especially with a front office known for penny pinching (e.g. this team should still have James Harden). At the same time, no one is touching Golden State in the playoffs. The team gets bored in the regular season. The rest of the NBA is just hoping and praying Klay Thompson leaves next summer. This relates to George in that no team he can realistically sign with will win championships as long as the Warriors stay together. His choices are either lose on a small market team with no path to improving or lose on a different team that may have a chance at improving. If George signs in a larger market than Oklahoma City (the bar of which is very low), he’ll get all the residual benefits from that.

[Soren]

Holy **** the Clippers just gave up.


Blake Griffin to Detroit for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, Boban and some picks.

[Adrock]

Can’t blame the Clippers. They weren’t going anywhere with the team as constructed. I read the Clippers are probably making a run at LeBron James and/or Paul George.

Elsewhere in Los Angeles Magic Johnson is sweating bullets.

[Adrock]

Magic Johnson just got fined $50,000 for tampering. In an interview with ESPN, he drew parallels between himself and Giannis Antetokounmpo:

With his ball-handling skills and his passing ability. He plays above the rim I never could do that. But in his understanding of the game, his basketball IQ, his creativity of shots for his teammates. That's where we [have the] same thing. Can bring it down, make a pass, make a play. I'm just happy he's starting in the All-Star game because he deserves that. And he's going to be like an MVP, a champion, this dude he's going to put Milwaukee on the map. And I think he's going to bring them a championship one day.

Weirdly, Johnson didn’t get fined last year for the winking-at-Paul-George joke on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and even though it was clearly in jest, I expected a tampering fine. The Lakers eventually got fined for Rob Pelinka’s not-tamerping-but-totally-tampering emails. Saying Antetokounmpo will bring the Bucks a title then getting docked on tampering is some bullshit. I could understand if Johnson said he’d love to have Antetokounmpo on his team (and honestly, get in line as there are 28 other teams in the league that would too).

Ultimately, the NBA hasn’t been consistent in handling tampering.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Magic Johnson just got fined $50,000 for tampering. In an interview with ESPN, he drew parallels between himself and Giannis Antetokounmpo:

With his ball-handling skills and his passing ability. He plays above the rim I never could do that. But in his understanding of the game, his basketball IQ, his creativity of shots for his teammates. That's where we [have the] same thing. Can bring it down, make a pass, make a play. I'm just happy he's starting in the All-Star game because he deserves that. And he's going to be like an MVP, a champion, this dude he's going to put Milwaukee on the map. And I think he's going to bring them a championship one day.

Weirdly, Johnson didn’t get fined last year for the winking-at-Paul-George joke on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and even though it was clearly in jest, I expected a tampering fine. The Lakers eventually got fined for Rob Pelinka’s not-tamerping-but-totally-tampering emails. Saying Antetokounmpo will bring the Bucks a title then getting docked on tampering is some bullshit. I could understand if Johnson said he’d love to have Antetokounmpo on his team (and honestly, get in line as there are 28 other teams in the league that would too).

Ultimately, the NBA hasn’t been consistent in handling tampering.

I agree with that, but I guess the rule is that Front Office personnel cannot talk about active NBA players not on their team.... it's stupid, but Steve Kerr just recently defelcted such a question about Lebron taking a meeting with the Warriors by stating that "should I just pull out my check book now and make it out to Adam Silver!? I'm not answering that question...."

In other news.... #TeamLebron may have yet another replacement on the way.
Kristaps Porzingis may be hurt, and might w/d from AS Game for precautionary reasons....

(Personally I think Lebron is using voodoo/hoodoo on his All-Star Teammates to steal their health and preserve his own health to help lead him to the team of his choice in the off-season)

Most likely replacement at this point is Kemba Walker from the Hornets.
but could be Ben Simmons, "rookie" from the 76ers.
(stay safe KD that curse on #TeamLebron seems legit)


----Also the Cavs had a 9pt 4th qtr (5pts scored in final minutes.... :/) in a big loss to the Orlando Magic. The entire Cavs team is imploding and they FO is no longer consulting LBJ on FO matters...
The team is out of sync, playing terribly and not getting along on or off the court. I'm pretty sure if things don't shape up post ASB, not only will the Cavs be struggling for those bottom playoff spots in the east, but Lebron will be shopping for his next team.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Cleveland making MOVES!!!!!

They just Traded IT and Frye (both on expiriing contracts) and their protected 1st round pick, to the Lakers for Nance Jr. and Clarkson.
also made a trade with Utah and Sac for Hill and Hood, getting rid of Shumpert, Crowder and Derrick Rose.

This clears room for Lakers to pursue to Max Contracts in the off-season (Bron and PG?)
this gets IT out of Lebrons hair, and this also adds some decent youth and scoring to the Cleveland roster.

Oh ****... I'm still playing catch up, but Cleveland also trading Dwayne Wade to the Heat for a heavily protected 2nd round pick. LMAO

still, breaking, will update when I'm caught up!!!
NBA is the best reality TV for the last 2 seasons.

[Soren]

The real miracle here is how JR Smith survived all these moves.

Also I want to know how LeBron gets to the Finals with Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr, Rodney Hood and George Hill.


I think Cleveland just straight up gave Wade back to Miami, no questions asked.

[BlackNMild2k1]

The real miracle here is how JR Smith survived all these moves.

Also I want to know how LeBron gets to the Finals with Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr, Rodney Hood and George Hill.


I think Cleveland just straight up gave Wade back to Miami, no questions asked.

Sheer will, determination and a little more of that #TeamBron hoodoo.


What I'd like to know is will the Cavs have a roster for tomorrow's game?
Did Atlanta just get the gimmie game of the year?

edit: LMAO - this is from last nights game.
https://twitter.com/MaxKellermanJr/status/961651099114631168

Kyrie after todays trade news:
https://twitter.com/SInow/status/961655855564447744
https://twitter.com/bycycle/status/961661300492460033

[nickmitch]

I suspect Dwayne Wade wants to retire and do it from Miami.

His wife is very happy about the news:
https://twitter.com/itsgabrielleu/status/961665217523601409

[Adrock]

These moves may get the Cavs out of the East, but they still aren’t enough to beat the Warriors or Rockets. It's especially weird that one of their major trades involved the Lakers. "Let us take those contracts off your hands so you have the cap space to sign Lebron James. Also, here's a (top three protected) draft pick."

In any case, the Cavs apparently asked Dwyane Wade if he'd be okay getting traded to Miami, the only fanbase that still treats him like royalty. If Cleveland cut Wade, couldn't another team claim him off waivers? Instead, he gets to go back to the Heat. The front office didn't have to do that so that's a pretty cool story.

[Adrock]

Lonzo Ball is releasing his debut album, “Born 2 Ball,” next week.

I’m disappointed it isn’t titled “Ball’s Deep.”

[BlackNMild2k1]

Rockets head into the All-Star break w/ the NBA's #1 record

Warriors had a helluva game against the Trailblazers though, but Steph and Klay couldn't get it going, yet Lillard and McCollum were just ON FIRE!!!! KD also had 50. it was a good game.
Hopefully the dubs come back from ASB with that fire in their eyes going to take back the #1 seed.
I know we play Portland at least 2 more times in the remainder of the season too... gonna be some good ones, but I think most of our worst is behind us.

[nickmitch]

I don't think they need the #1 seed to advance to the finals.  They might be better off not gunning for it and burning the team out.

[BlackNMild2k1]

I don't think they need the #1 seed to advance to the finals.  They might be better off not gunning for it and burning the team out.

#1 seed or not, they need to shake some of these defensive bad habits and focus in. You ain't getting the bench in Playoff mode coasting into the playoffs. The starters and returning role players may be on the level when the times comes, but some of the bench need to develop those things that haven't been present for more than minutes during the regular season so far.

[broodwars]

Meanwhile, the Jazz are on an 11 game winning streak & have somehow shot back into Playoff Contention.

[Soren]

https://deadspin.com/gregg-popovich-on-kawhi-leonard-ill-be-surprised-if-h-1823209934

I didn't think Kawhi's relationship with the Spurs was that bad. But it looks like it is.

Woj has a report on ESPN that cites sources who say that Leonard has been medically cleared to return from his right quad injury. However, he has so far chosen not to return to the active roster.

[BlackNMild2k1]

https://deadspin.com/gregg-popovich-on-kawhi-leonard-ill-be-surprised-if-h-1823209934

I didn't think Kawhi's relationship with the Spurs was that bad. But it looks like it is.

Woj has a report on ESPN that cites sources who say that Leonard has been medically cleared to return from his right quad injury. However, he has so far chosen not to return to the active roster.

Wait.... so Kawhi chose not to play?
I heard he wanted to play, but the team wouldn't let him....

If he is sitting out on his own request... that is really concerning for his future w/ the Spurs.

edit:
Hmmmm twitter says Kawhi could be back next month....
ESPN reporting with @mikecwright: Spurs star Kawhi Leonard has returned to San Antonio to resume working out with team. There's hope of a March return. http://es.pn/2HNNfUp

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/968256157960851457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%23968256157960851457

[Adrock]

Resuming workouts with the team doesn’t necessarily mean the issues still aren’t there. Even a player who requests a trade will still workout with his team (not saying Kawhi Leonard requested a trade). ESPN suggested Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson (who is also his business manager) may be causing the rift. I expect the Celtics to make a run for him this offseason. Not sure of the fit, but if you have a chance to land a top 3-5 player in the league, you make that move every time and figure it out later.

Anyway, Dwyane Wade hit another game winner. I tend to appreciate players more as they get closer to retiring. Same thing happened with Michael Jordan. I didn’t think about it until end then it hit me, “Man, I’m never going to see this guy play again.”

[Adrock]

RIP Wesley Johnson