Cavs lose to the Nets!

[Surferdad]

Does anyone find the irony in this.   Danny Angie is the man!   Lol

Indeed.  Since Cavs have their pick, they had extra incentive to beat them.

[Androslav]

Lebron Jedi backstabbed the Cavs since he is leaving. With the TD to make it less noticable.
Go Nets! Make the playoffs!

[SHAQATTACK]

Nets gots a good coach .   They only need more talent.

[Moranis]

Keep in mind, the Nets beat the Celtics twice (and played us hard in one of the two we won) in 2015-16 when we owned their pick, they had no incentive to tank and ended up with just 21 wins (resulting in us getting Jaylen Brown as the #3 pick).

In other words, I wouldn't take much meaning from this.

Yeah Nets probably won't have the worst record only because there are so many eastern teams tanking as well.

I wonder if losing Lopez won't hurt them as much as I thought just because he didn't fit the team's style and now they can all in on the smaller quicker game.

That has been my thinking since they announced the trade.  I actually thought it would make them better in large part because Lopez is just so bad defensively.  The Nets are much better served playing smaller and up tempo. 

[Ogaju]

Keep in mind, the Nets beat the Celtics twice (and played us hard in one of the two we won) in 2015-16 when we owned their pick, they had no incentive to tank and ended up with just 21 wins (resulting in us getting Jaylen Brown as the #3 pick).

In other words, I wouldn't take much meaning from this.

This. The Nets did beat the Celts when the roles were reversed. LOL !!! Now what happens when the Celts play the Nets .... is there a reverse tank?

[tstorey_97]

I'm sure this is momentary, but, the Cavaliers will not improve over the course of the season. They are a veteran team that will have to manage their injuries.

The Celtics, on the other hand, will improve a great deal and, post Hayward, already have.

Nets have some promise and maybe will be similar to the Celtics of Steven's first year. All hustle and less talent.

I thought Philly beating the Rox was bigger news in the, what the heck? category last night.

[mef730]

Yes, I know we're only five games in, but Brooklyn is in first place in the division, as is the Magic.

This is going to be a weird year.

Mike

[D Dub]

I'm sure this is momentary, but, the Cavaliers will not improve over the course of the season. They are a veteran team that will have to manage their injuries.

The Celtics, on the other hand, will improve a great deal and, post Hayward, already have.

Nets have some promise and maybe will be similar to the Celtics of Steven's first year. All hustle and less talent.

I thought Philly beating the Rox was bigger news in the, what the heck? category last night.

Rockets actually pulled that one out, 105 - 104

That said, I think Cleveland will certainly improve once IT returns.  They are deep enough to still sleepwalk thru the east again this year on the back of an ageless Lebron.  Wouldn't be shocked if they end up matched against the Nets in round one.   

[Moranis]

I'm sure this is momentary, but, the Cavaliers will not improve over the course of the season. They are a veteran team that will have to manage their injuries.

The Celtics, on the other hand, will improve a great deal and, post Hayward, already have.

Nets have some promise and maybe will be similar to the Celtics of Steven's first year. All hustle and less talent.

I thought Philly beating the Rox was bigger news in the, what the heck? category last night.

Rockets actually pulled that one out, 105 - 104

That said, I think Cleveland will certainly improve once IT returns.  They are deep enough to still sleepwalk thru the east again this year on the back of an ageless Lebron.  Wouldn't be shocked if they end up matched against the Nets in round one.   

you wouldn't be shocked if the Nets make the playoffs?

[celticsclay]

I'm sure this is momentary, but, the Cavaliers will not improve over the course of the season. They are a veteran team that will have to manage their injuries.

The Celtics, on the other hand, will improve a great deal and, post Hayward, already have.

Nets have some promise and maybe will be similar to the Celtics of Steven's first year. All hustle and less talent.

I thought Philly beating the Rox was bigger news in the, what the heck? category last night.

Rockets actually pulled that one out, 105 - 104

That said, I think Cleveland will certainly improve once IT returns.  They are deep enough to still sleepwalk thru the east again this year on the back of an ageless Lebron.  Wouldn't be shocked if they end up matched against the Nets in round one.   

you wouldn't be shocked if the Nets make the playoffs?

I guess I think there is like a 4% chance the Nets make the 8 seed as a sub .500 team.

The Knicks look absolutely horrible, even worse than I expected.
Bulls and Hawks look at least as bad as I expected.
Pacers look pretty meh and now have Turner with a concussion. It wouldn't surprise me to see that linger. Does it make sense for them to offload Young, Collision and Bogs and go full tank/rebuild?
If Embiid gets injured which is definitely possible the 76ers are suddenly back to tanking.
Then a team like the Pistons certainly has more talent but you could see that team imploding and Van Gundy getting fired. It doesn't seem like the pieces.

You would need like 12 things to break right for the Nets but I do actually think this year there will be more intentional tanking than some other years for a variety of reasons.

[Ed Hollison]

May I present for your consideration the 1999-2000 Orlando Magic, a team with virtually nobody that won 41 games. Their leader in terms of points and minutes that year was Darrell Armstrong (16ppg). They had a bunch of young, motivated, scrappy players and Doc Rivers in his coaching prime.

Let's put it this way: This year's Nets team is closer to that than they are to being the worst team in the league.

[liam]

Nets gots a good coach .   They only need more talent.

Kenny Atkinson is a good coach. I think the Nets might over achieve a little this year if they stay healthy...