2024 NBA Season and Playoffs

[Vermont Green]

Interesting game NYK vs. CLE.  NYK already doesn't have Randle, Anunoby, or Robinson.  They lose Brunson after 1 minute, and CLE still can't beat them in CLE.

Both these teams are hard to peg.  Either COULD be good, a tough out in the playoffs.  But will either team be that?

If Embiid is back and able to play full games at full speed (doubtful), PHI will be the #2 team to beat in the East.  But it is hard to rank the rest.  Either CLE or NYK, if they get it together, health and otherwise, could be better than MIL.  I can't imagine anyone is too worried about ORL or IND, but MIA is always a concern.  Butler and Adebayo are a great 1-2 punch.

[celticinorlando]

Let's not forget Miami benefited last year with Giannis getting hurt immediately in the series. If he is healthy, Miami doesn't get out of round one.

[bdm860]

For a while I felt Philly was the 2nd best in the East and our biggest threat since they have a much better coach now + a deep bench. Then Embiid got hurt. But combine the deadline additions + Embiid likely returning in late March and they could be that team again. They have looked like they are figuring it out lately without Embiid.

I’m a little confused by this. Before the hard fought win against the hornets they have lost 4 of 5 including 3 by double digits. What are they figuring out?

Or are you just referencing today’s game? Cause they are playing well today.

You're not wrong. But they have had a few impressive wins over Cleveland recently and played Miami close in a loss. Looking great today and only 0.5 back of NY for the 4 seed. This is all without Embiid. I'm just saying if/when Embiid returns, Sixers might be the true #2 in the East.

This is a real stretch. Playing the heat for a close loss without butler and rozier at home is pretty weird to view as a positive imo.  Today would be a good win and the win against Cleveland was also nice, but they have been pretty bad aside from that.

Clay, I'm not saying Philly is the "team to beat", I'm just saying that some of the pieces are starting to get better and figure out their roles better (even in the losses) and if Embiid comes back, they could still be the 2nd best team in the East with a better coach (Doc to Nurse) and deeper bench. Of course if Embiid isn't able to come back or decides not to, it's a completely moot point. Boston is still without a doubt the team to beat but I am looking at potential paths to the Finals based on seedings/matchups. Philly won't be an easy opponent IF Embiid returns.

The Cavs are the current 2 seed but they've looked shaky since the Break. So have the Knicks. Bucks have a tough schedule coming up, we'll see how they do in it.

I agree with you I wouldn’t want to play them if Embid was health as an 8 seed. However I don’t think there is a very high chance of that. Embid struggles to be in shape in the playoffs when he has been playing. I’m not sure how he could be in any kind of shape if he did come back in very late March or April. I’m also not sure how much getting hield moves the needle. I actually think trading away bev was a slight loss for them.

It’s nearly impossible we play the Sixers with a healthy Embiid as the 8th seed.  That would mean they lost the 7-8 play-in game with a healthy Embiid, which really shouldn’t happen if Embiid is truly healthy.  Either Embiid is healthy and they’re the 7th seed or better, or he isn’t healthy and they’re the 8th seed or worse (lose in the play-in).  Its not the old days where we’d play the team with the 8th worst record.

They could lose a 1 off game to the Pacers or Heat with a healthy Embiid.

Quite simply, a Philly team that loses a one-off to the Pacers is not a real threat.  They’ve been just as bad as Philly over the last month, and aren’t missing any of their star players.  (I know you said “or Heat” but the Pacers and Heat are headed in opposite directions — Indy isn’t getting to the 6th spot to avoid the play-in, not with the 7th most difficult remaining schedule and more road than home games, while Miami has the 2nd easiest schedule and more home games than road games.  And Orlando’s schedule is about the same as Miami’s — Indy is a play-in lock.  Philly with a healthy Embiid won’t lose to them.  Guaranteed.

1 off games are interesting.  I mean Miami last year lost the 1 off game for the 7th seed (and lost badly 116-105) and nearly lost the 1 off game for the 8th seed (down 3 with 3 minutes left), then promptly beat the top seed in 5 games on their march to the Finals.

Also that LAL/MIN play-in game last year was terrible, it looked like neither team belonged in the playoffs, yet the Lakers rolled all the way to the conference Finals.

Some of our own quotes about that game:

God, what awful basketball this is lol

So bad, but so entertaining.

Holy crap. This is junior high level basketball right now. Turnover after turnover after turnover, and that's sandwiched in between awful shot selection. It almost appears that Minny is purposefully tanking this game.

This game set the NBA back a few years haha

No one deserves to win this game.

True.

This Fakers TWolves games is like a comedy of errors

Good Lord. What a shameful performance by both teams.

[Donoghus]

This is pretty wild but I just read that only three #1 East seeds have made the Finals since 2003. 

'08 BOS
'13 MIA
'16 CLE

[Who]

This is pretty wild but I just read that only three #1 East seeds have made the Finals since 2003. 

'08 BOS
'13 MIA
'16 CLE

Probably LeBron's Cavs in 2009 and 2010. Then D-Rose's Bulls in 2011 and 2012. I wonder who finished ahead of Miami in 2014. Maybe Indiana. Then older LeBron's coasting Cavs tenure until 2019.

Those seasons make sense to me. LBJ's early Cavs and D Rose's teams were regular season warriors playoff pretenders. His older Cavs teams were playoff titans regular season coasters. So a lot of years where the top seed doesn't make it to the Final. 

Edit: Ahh, 60 win Hawks squad in 2015. IT's Celtics in 2017. Raptors in 2018 with Celtics 2nd. Those were all LeBron's Cavs teams making the Finals. Bucks in 2019 with Raptors winning the title. 2020 was Bucks with Miami losing to LAL in the bubble. Philly 2021 with Bucks winning title. Miami in 2022 with GSW beating BOS in the final. MIL last year with Heat making final.

Miami had a nice four year run there. Defeated Finalist in 2020. Lost first round to MIL in 2021. Top seed in 2022 and lost in Gm 7 of ECF. Defeated Finalist in 2023. I am watching a lot of early 90s Blazers game recently. Pretty similar run. POR Finals in 1990 and 1992 with a WCF in 1991.

[celticinorlando]

Donovan Mitchell out the next 3 games with a knee injury

[Who]

Wemby has played 27 games since Jan 1st. His averages are:

28mpg - 23ppg 10.2rpg 3.9apg 3.7bpg 1.4spg

49.8% FG% on 16.6 FGAs
37.7% 3PT% on 5.1 3PTAs
83.2% FT% on 5.5 FTAs
TS% 60%

He does have 3.6 turnovers per game which is high.

Those are crazy stats. Huge production on short minutes. Efficient scoring. Those block numbers are massive. Like a 90s center when the game was still played in the paint.

[radiohead]

Steve Kerr and Erik Spoelstra were just announced as coaches of the month for February. It’s good to know Joe beat both of them soundly in the past few days. Spo went 8-3 and Joe 9-1 (the Lakers loss) in Feb. Spo probably got the nod because the Heat were battling injuries? I still think Joe had a better month.

[Donoghus]

Adrian Wojnarowski
@wojespn
·
6m
ESPN Sources: Clippers guard Russell Westbrook underwent surgery on his fractured left hand on Monday and the hope is that he will return before the start of the playoffs.

[Celtics2021]

Olynyk signed a 2-year, $26.25 million extension with Toronto.  He’s now a 2026 buyout target.

[Who]

Olynyk signed a 2-year, $26.25 million extension with Toronto.  He’s now a 2026 buyout target.

Nice. I like that 1-2 punch of Poeltl and Olynyk at center. Polar opposites. Can play alongside one another too.

[celticinorlando]

The narrative now that the bucks are a better team under doc rivers is laughable

[Roy H.]

The narrative now that the bucks are a better team under doc rivers is laughable

Coach: Adrian Griffin (30-13), Joe Prunty (2-1), Doc Rivers (8-7)

We will see where they end up, but as of now it's a silly take.

[celticsclay]

The bucks rotation tonight is one of the oldest I remember seeing.  Gallo, Lopez, crowder, lillard, Beverly are all knocking right on the door of mid 30’s if not already in them. Obviously any team is going to be weird down two starters but still kind of wild to see all those guys. Crowder and Bev started

[celticinorlando]

Pat Beverly needs to be punched in the face