NBA Season 2024-25

[Donoghus]

East is set

CLE v play-in
BOS v play-in
NYK v DET
IND v MIL

MIA @ CHI
ATL @ ORL

[Goldstar88]

East is set

CLE v play-in
BOS v play-in
NYK v DET
IND v MIL

MIA @ CHI
ATL @ ORL

Playoffs are going to be so good this year. 

[Who]

East is set

CLE v play-in
BOS v play-in
NYK v DET
IND v MIL

MIA @ CHI
ATL @ ORL

Indiana vs Milwaukee looks like the only competitive series in the East.

[Who]

Why does Morant spend so much time off the ball late in the game? Get him the rock. Why are Kennard and D Bane running PnRs with Morant in the corner?

[Phantom255x]

East is set

CLE v play-in
BOS v play-in
NYK v DET
IND v MIL

MIA @ CHI
ATL @ ORL

Indiana - MIL and NY - DET are gonna be awesome.

I really hope we face ATL first round, not ORL. Gonna root hard for the Hawks Tuesday 

[Goldstar88]

DENVER -- Nikola Jokic will average a triple-double for the season, making the Denver star the third player in NBA history to pull off such a feat.

It became statistically certain Friday night when Jokic got his fourth assist in the Nuggets' game against the Memphis Grizzlies. That assist was his 700th of the season -- so, even if he doesn't get another before the end of the regular season Sunday, which would be his 70th game, he is assured of averaging no worse than 10.0 assists.

The other players to average a triple-double for a full season: Russell Westbrook, Jokic's current Denver teammate, and Basketball Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson.

[Who]

Devin Carter is an impressive defensive guard.

Even more impressive given he is a rookie.

[Who]

DeMar DeRozan just passed Reggie Miller for 25th all time in scoring. He passed Jerry West before Reggie. Steph is just ahead of DeRozan then Alex English.

Impressive accomplishment for DeRozan.

[Who]

The Clippers have taken this game away from Sacramento with their defense.

I do not understand how this team is this effective on the defensive end of the floor.

* They got 1 elite defensive guard in Kris Dunn
* One above average physical defensive forward in Kawhi
* One above average finesse defensive forward in Derrick Jones Jr
* A bunch of guys who are not known for their defense. Norm Powell had not played defense consistently for 5+ years. Bogdanovic has never been a defender. Harden is somewhat capable but generally puts in sub-standard effort.
* Zubac is solid but nothing special as their sole interior defender / shot blocker / rim protector. They do not have a real backup center. They play Ben Simmons there who is solid defensively.

Yet, the effort they are getting out of these guys is ... sensational. They are positionally sound. They know exactly what they want to do and execute it well.

Is this the Jeff Van Gundy effect?

[Vermont Green]

East is set

CLE v play-in
BOS v play-in
NYK v DET
IND v MIL

MIA @ CHI
ATL @ ORL

Indiana vs Milwaukee looks like the only competitive series in the East.

I think NYK - DET will be a good series also.  Is MIL going to have Lillard?  I don't believe so, at least not in the first round.  Giannis is good and can carry the team, but this seems like advantage IND.  Unless Lillard is back and 100%, I rather CLE have to play IND, and maybe even if Lillard is back.

As to the NYK DET series, probably NYK prevails due to experience but DET is scrappy and could give them some trouble.  I hope that which ever team prevails has to work for it.

[Who]

East is set

CLE v play-in
BOS v play-in
NYK v DET
IND v MIL

MIA @ CHI
ATL @ ORL

Indiana vs Milwaukee looks like the only competitive series in the East.

I think NYK - DET will be a good series also.  Is MIL going to have Lillard?  I don't believe so, at least not in the first round.  Giannis is good and can carry the team, but this seems like advantage IND.  Unless Lillard is back and 100%, I rather CLE have to play IND, and maybe even if Lillard is back.

As to the NYK DET series, probably NYK prevails due to experience but DET is scrappy and could give them some trouble.  I hope that which ever team prevails has to work for it.

The expectation is for Lillard to return for the 1st round. He is due to return to full contact practice in the next few days. They are unsure if they will play him immediately to start the series but expect him to rejoin early in the series if not Game 1 itself.

[Who]

I don't think DET vs NYK will be a good series.

Well, I expect DET to make the games competitive but not the series. I expect a short series with NYK victorious.

DET is not built for the playoffs. They are a regular season team. They are much improved this season because they finally rounded out their rotation. They have 8-10 solid rotation players for the 1st time in Cade's career. But they have only 1 star. They are the weakest team in the entire playoffs in terms of top end talent.

A team with role players and one star can be dangerous when that star is an MVP candidate but Cade is not that. Cade is an All-Star. One All-Star plus role players is a first round and out type team. They will have a much harder time in the post-season than the regular season. Their opponents will be better rested and less reliant on weak benches. Their opponents will have more time to prepare and try to limit Cade which given the lack of quality offense around him should be an achievable goal.

I do not like this DET's team playoff chances. They were a gimme team for whoever in the East got them in the 1st round. They are not ready for what is to come next.

DET = regular season warrior, playoff pretender.

[perks-a-beast]

I don't think DET vs NYK will be a good series.

Well, I expect DET to make the games competitive but not the series. I expect a short series with NYK victorious.

DET is not built for the playoffs. They are a regular season team. They are much improved this season because they finally rounded out their rotation. They have 8-10 solid rotation players for the 1st time in Cade's career. But they have only 1 star. They are the weakest team in the entire playoffs in terms of top end talent.

A team with role players and one star can be dangerous when that star is an MVP candidate but Cade is not that. Cade is an All-Star. One All-Star plus role players is a first round and out type team. They will have a much harder time in the post-season than the regular season. Their opponents will be better rested and less reliant on weak benches. Their opponents will have more time to prepare and try to limit Cade which given the lack of quality offense around him should be an achievable goal.

I do not like this DET's team playoff chances. They were a gimme team for whoever in the East got them in the 1st round. They are not ready for what is to come next.

DET = regular season warrior, playoff pretender.

Yeah, a team whose 2nd leading scorer is Malik Beasley probably isn't destined to make it too far. BUT the Knicks have been shooting themselves in the foot against tough teams and in close games all season long, so I think this series may end up being closer than youre thinking.

[Donoghus]

Not sure it means anything but Pistons won season series 3-1. 

[Who]

Not sure it means anything but Pistons won season series 3-1.

Looks like 2 of those wins came when the Knicks were short-handed. No Towns or M Robinson for one of them so they were playing J Sims and P Achiuwa as their center. A recent win for DET while the Knicks were without OG Anunoby & Josh Hart. Looks more like a 1-1 season series when they are healthy. The Knicks win came early in the season when DET were still finding their footing.

--------------------------------------

I was watching an ESPN segment and Perk was saying that Jalen Brunson is not healthy. Or that he is not sure that Brunson has recovered yet from the injury. That he is playing through an injury and has not yet recovered his top form.

The whole ESPN segment, all 4 people, arguing that Towns is the guy that needs to lead NY. I found that odd. Towns over Brunson. But Perk was arguing that Brunson is not healthy enough and that is why Towns needs to lead.

If that is the case, that is not good for NY.

Series on if Brunson is not playing at a high level. If they are relying on Towns to lead them, I trust Cade more than Towns.