2024 NBA Season and Playoffs

[Phantom255x]

That was an awesome game!

Big win for Dallas too considering play-in scenarios. Suns, Mavs and Kings pretty much tied between 6-8. Warriors and Lakers are pretty much together in the 9-10 bracket.

Did anyone see the game?  They held Jokic to 16 pts on 16 shots.  What was the scheme against him?  It seemed to work.  Or was Jokic just off?

Great question! Anybody know?

Jokic might have been a little off, but I will say Gafford has been an excellent addition for Dallas. Him and Lively certainly made things tough inside. That's something Dallas hasn't had in a while and it's why I could see them having a better shot at making a run than previous years when it was just Luka/Kyrie. Felt like Jokic had to get rid of the ball a lot and pass it to others, which he did well but it limited his own impact in terms of scoring.

[Who]

Ayton has played 21 games since Jan 1st. He missed some time. So 21 games.

He has averaged 18.8ppg on 61% FG%. He has only gotten 1.3 FTA per game which is ridiculous for an athletic seven footer. 1.3 FTA against 14.4 FGA. Terrible number. Under 10% FTr.

Ayton has also added 11.4rpg in just 33.1mpg which is strong. Only 1.7apg which is poor but only 1.4 turnovers per game. So a non-passer but also avoids turnovers. 1 steal per game and 1 block per game.

Portland has won 6 games and lost 15 games over this stretch.

[Who]

Ayton has played 21 games since Jan 1st. He missed some time. So 21 games.

He has averaged 18.8ppg on 61% FG%. He has only gotten 1.3 FTA per game which is ridiculous for an athletic seven footer. 1.3 FTA against 14.4 FGA. Terrible number. Under 10% FTr.

Ayton has also added 11.4rpg in just 33.1mpg which is strong. Only 1.7apg which is poor but only 1.4 turnovers per game. So a non-passer but also avoids turnovers. 1 steal per game and 1 block per game.

Portland has won 6 games and lost 15 games over this stretch.

That is a decent stretch. I was wondering how it compared to his 2023 games. He played 24 games during this time.

Ayton averaged 13.1ppg on 55% FG%. Again, he only averaged 1.5 FTA per game (terrible) against 10.9 FGA. A FTr of around 14%. Again, terrible. Terrible for any player. Even a 6 foot guard. Nevermind an athletic seven footer.

Ayton also averaged 10.8rpg in just 31.7mpg. Again a strong number. 1.6apg versus 2.1 turnovers per game. So low assist numbers as usual for Ayton. A non-passer. A little more turnover prone probably as he adjusted to new teammates and a new system. A negative AST:TOV ratio. You'd like your center to be 1:1 or better. 1.2 steals per game and 0.7 blocks per game. So similar stocks of 1.9 per game.

Ayton's scoring efficiency at 55% FG% but with a low FTA would have had him as a below average scorer efficiency wise compared to being an above average scorer efficiency wise post Jan 1st. Not sure the exact number but roughly 2% below league average to 4% above league average before and after Jan 1st.  Also a major increase in scoring volume from 13.1ppg to 18.8ppg. So a vastly improved performance as a scorer and overall offensive player.

[Celtics2021]

That was an awesome game!

Big win for Dallas too considering play-in scenarios. Suns, Mavs and Kings pretty much tied between 6-8. Warriors and Lakers are pretty much together in the 9-10 bracket.

Did anyone see the game?  They held Jokic to 16 pts on 16 shots.  What was the scheme against him?  It seemed to work.  Or was Jokic just off?

Great question! Anybody know?

Jokic might have been a little off, but I will say Gafford has been an excellent addition for Dallas. Him and Lively certainly made things tough inside. That's something Dallas hasn't had in a while and it's why I could see them having a better shot at making a run than previous years when it was just Luka/Kyrie. Felt like Jokic had to get rid of the ball a lot and pass it to others, which he did well but it limited his own impact in terms of scoring.

It’s also worth noting that the major issue was with Jamal Murray, who went 5-15 from 2, rather than his usual 50%+.  The Nuggets were still +10 in Jokic’s 39 minutes, and -12 in his 9 minutes off the court.  I’m not sure the Mavs did anything that was terribly successful against Jokic, in that sense.  Lively and Gafford might have chewed up Nnaji better than average, however, and that plus Murray’s off-day made a difference in the non-Jokic minutes, in which the Nuggets had a -75.8 net rating, compared to a +12.7 when he was on the court, which is actually better than his season average of 10.7.

[SparzWizard]

That was an awesome game!

Big win for Dallas too considering play-in scenarios. Suns, Mavs and Kings pretty much tied between 6-8. Warriors and Lakers are pretty much together in the 9-10 bracket.

Did anyone see the game?  They held Jokic to 16 pts on 16 shots.  What was the scheme against him?  It seemed to work.  Or was Jokic just off?

Great question! Anybody know?

Jokic might have been a little off, but I will say Gafford has been an excellent addition for Dallas. Him and Lively certainly made things tough inside. That's something Dallas hasn't had in a while and it's why I could see them having a better shot at making a run than previous years when it was just Luka/Kyrie. Felt like Jokic had to get rid of the ball a lot and pass it to others, which he did well but it limited his own impact in terms of scoring.

It’s also worth noting that the major issue was with Jamal Murray, who went 5-15 from 2, rather than his usual 50%+.  The Nuggets were still +10 in Jokic’s 39 minutes, and -12 in his 9 minutes off the court.  I’m not sure the Mavs did anything that was terribly successful against Jokic, in that sense.  Lively and Gafford might have chewed up Nnaji better than average, however, and that plus Murray’s off-day made a difference in the non-Jokic minutes, in which the Nuggets had a -75.8 net rating, compared to a +12.7 when he was on the court, which is actually better than his season average of 10.7.

Yeah I think if we do square up with the Nuggets again later this season, we need to focus more on neutralizing Murray, MPJ, and maybe Aaron Gordon. This is similar to deploying that LeBron strategy when we out schooled his 2010 Cavs. Make their best player beat us but their support guys get shut down or held off.

[Moranis]

I feel like the Nuggets winning or losing basically hinges on Murray.  If he plays well, they win, if he doesn't, they lose.  That is mostly because Jokic almost always plays well and doesn't have near the variability in how good he is. 

[Vermont Green]

I feel like the Nuggets winning or losing basically hinges on Murray.  If he plays well, they win, if he doesn't, they lose.  That is mostly because Jokic almost always plays well and doesn't have near the variability in how good he is.

Murray was 15-21, 35 points in the game in Boston we lost by 2 points.  Oddly enough though, his +/- was -7.  Jokic had 34 points and was +1.

I agree that we can probably win if Jokic gets his 30 points but not if Murray gets his too.  Seems like between Holiday and White and even Hauser, we should be able to slow down Murray.

[Goldstar88]

Deandre Ayton says part of slow start this season was due to sleeping on air mattress 'for quite some time'

Earlier in the season, Deandre Ayton played far less aggressively. At the time, Ayton said on Thursday, he was feeling his way through the offense and playing with new players. But there was more to his struggles. “My body wasn’t just my body,” he said. “People forget the humane difference of me adjusting to everything.” That included something as routine as getting proper sleep. “Just being comfortable in waking up,” he said. “I didn’t have a bed for quite some time. I was on an air mattress. Just trying to figure this out.” – via Oregonian

Why is a guy who has made $100m (with another $70m on the way) sleeping on an air mattress?

LeBron James allegedly spends $1 million per year taking care of his body. DeAndre Ayton spends $59.

I didn’t know they made air mattresses for 7 footers. Maybe he has to put two of them together? 

[Celtics2021]

Deandre Ayton says part of slow start this season was due to sleeping on air mattress 'for quite some time'

Earlier in the season, Deandre Ayton played far less aggressively. At the time, Ayton said on Thursday, he was feeling his way through the offense and playing with new players. But there was more to his struggles. “My body wasn’t just my body,” he said. “People forget the humane difference of me adjusting to everything.” That included something as routine as getting proper sleep. “Just being comfortable in waking up,” he said. “I didn’t have a bed for quite some time. I was on an air mattress. Just trying to figure this out.” – via Oregonian

Why is a guy who has made $100m (with another $70m on the way) sleeping on an air mattress?

LeBron James allegedly spends $1 million per year taking care of his body. DeAndre Ayton spends $59.

The best defense for him I’ve got is that because he’s really tall he needed to order a custom bed when he moved after being traded, and something went wrong with the order.

Most likely “quite some time” was a week and he’s fishing for excuses.

[Phantom255x]

It’s crazy that the Nets are 26-42 and technically just 4 back of a play-in spot. Not that I expect them to overtake Atlanta but still crazy

[Who]

Interesting number comparison particularly the net efficiency

[CelticsWhat35]

It’s crazy that the Nets are 26-42 and technically just 4 back of a play-in spot. Not that I expect them to overtake Atlanta but still crazy

That was the whole point of the play-in.  Keep fans interested because the majority of teams will have a shot at the playoffs throughout most of the season

[W8ting2McHale]

Interesting number comparison particularly the net efficiency

Heat are fading. It took a desperation shot from Bam to beat the Pistons their last game and now they are looking terrible against the 76ers. They are 5-5 over their last 10 games, but 3 of those wins were against Detroit and they lost to Washington.

[Celtics2021]

Putting it down here now: The Bulls will be the 8th seed (as in, come out of the play-in rounds, not be in the 8th position at the end of the regular season).

[celticsclay]

Putting it down here now: The Bulls will be the 8th seed (as in, come out of the play-in rounds, not be in the 8th position at the end of the regular season).

They are a very gritty team that seems well coached and to have good chemistry. That being said I have no idea they are doing