NBA Season 2025-26

[Goldstar88]

Is the Lakers team right now better than the Mavs team that Luka lead to the finals against Boston?

[Phantom255x]

Is the Lakers team right now better than the Mavs team that Luka lead to the finals against Boston?

Yeah I think so, but not by a huge margin and I think the Mavericks frontcourt might be slightly better than the Lakers even though I was never super high on Lively/Gafford. And idk, can Ayton keep it up consistently? If not, it's back to Hayes and relying on Lebron playing center for prolong stretches. I still think good centers can give the Lakers fits in the West, and we even saw it last year vs. Minnesota (Gobert)

[Phantom255x]

Long game to go, but Nets up double digits on the Knicks

[Moranis]

The Chief should be at the game in Orlando tomorrow. The league could do a nice pregame for him.  It would be a nice touch. 

[Goldstar88]

Is the Lakers team right now better than the Mavs team that Luka lead to the finals against Boston?

Yeah I think so, but not by a huge margin and I think the Mavericks frontcourt might be slightly better than the Lakers even though I was never super high on Lively/Gafford. And idk, can Ayton keep it up consistently? If not, it's back to Hayes and relying on Lebron playing center for prolong stretches. I still think good centers can give the Lakers fits in the West, and we even saw it last year vs. Minnesota (Gobert)

2nd and 3rd options went from Kyrie and PJ Washington to LeBron James and Austin Reeves. I think Ayton (if motivated) is better than the bigs in Dallas.

Smart, Reeves, Luka, LeBron, and Ayton is a strong starting 5. Kennard, Rui, and LaRavia would round out the playoff rotation. I still think SAS and OKC are a tier above everyone else in the West, but I?d put the Lakers at the top of that next grouping. They are in 3rd place in the west for a reason.

[Goldstar88]

Long game to go, but Nets up double digits on the Knicks

Knicks won by a point. Old friend Josh Minott finished with 22pts/5rebs/2ast/2blks/1stl on 8-13 shooting, 6-9 from 3pt. Probably should have kept him..

[Neurotic Guy]

Long game to go, but Nets up double digits on the Knicks

Knicks won by a point. Old friend Josh Minott finished with 22pts/5rebs/2ast/2blks/1stl on 8-13 shooting, 6-9 from 3pt. Probably should have kept him..

I didn?t understand Joes benching of Minott after his stint as a starter.  He did get hurt and his production fell a bit (I guess that explains it), but I thought he looked pretty good on the court and he didn?t just lose the starter role, but was relegated to DNP status. Same happening to Walsh now. 

I have to admit that as Scheierman has had his opportunity he has steadily improved, but I thought Joe didn?t stick with Minott and now Jordan long enough - not as starters necessarily but as back of rotation pieces, even if 8-10 mpg. I think they?ve both been minutes worthy players. I get there are few minutes to spare now that JT is back, but last night when the starters were floundering v the Grizzlies I thought was a perfect time to insert Walsh, but another DNP for him.  Good luck to Minott - hope he does well but if he does it?s going to hurt a little.

[SparzWizard]

Dang, Ivica Zubac suffered a fractured rib and is out for the rest of the season.

[Moranis]

Long game to go, but Nets up double digits on the Knicks

Knicks won by a point. Old friend Josh Minott finished with 22pts/5rebs/2ast/2blks/1stl on 8-13 shooting, 6-9 from 3pt. Probably should have kept him..

I didn?t understand Joes benching of Minott after his stint as a starter.  He did get hurt and his production fell a bit (I guess that explains it), but I thought he looked pretty good on the court and he didn?t just lose the starter role, but was relegated to DNP status. Same happening to Walsh now. 

I have to admit that as Scheierman has had his opportunity he has steadily improved, but I thought Joe didn?t stick with Minott and now Jordan long enough - not as starters necessarily but as back of rotation pieces, even if 8-10 mpg. I think they?ve both been minutes worthy players. I get there are few minutes to spare now that JT is back, but last night when the starters were floundering v the Grizzlies I thought was a perfect time to insert Walsh, but another DNP for him.  Good luck to Minott - hope he does well but if he does it?s going to hurt a little.

whose minutes last night are you cutting to get Walsh time?

[Neurotic Guy]

Long game to go, but Nets up double digits on the Knicks

Knicks won by a point. Old friend Josh Minott finished with 22pts/5rebs/2ast/2blks/1stl on 8-13 shooting, 6-9 from 3pt. Probably should have kept him..

I didn?t understand Joes benching of Minott after his stint as a starter.  He did get hurt and his production fell a bit (I guess that explains it), but I thought he looked pretty good on the court and he didn?t just lose the starter role, but was relegated to DNP status. Same happening to Walsh now. 

I have to admit that as Scheierman has had his opportunity he has steadily improved, but I thought Joe didn?t stick with Minott and now Jordan long enough - not as starters necessarily but as back of rotation pieces, even if 8-10 mpg. I think they?ve both been minutes worthy players. I get there are few minutes to spare now that JT is back, but last night when the starters were floundering v the Grizzlies I thought was a perfect time to insert Walsh, but another DNP for him.  Good luck to Minott - hope he does well but if he does it?s going to hurt a little.

whose minutes last night are you cutting to get Walsh time?

Idk. I missed the first half and as I was watching the Cs struggle to keep pace with a massively depleted Memphis team I thought that a change of pace would help.  So could have been anyone - probably other than Brown.  It?s an offhand comment really. I just don?t see why Walsh (prior to JTs return) was tossed from the rotation.  Yesterday?s game seemed to be a game where the typical rotation wasn?t working. 

[Phantom255x]

Is the Lakers team right now better than the Mavs team that Luka lead to the finals against Boston?

Yeah I think so, but not by a huge margin and I think the Mavericks frontcourt might be slightly better than the Lakers even though I was never super high on Lively/Gafford. And idk, can Ayton keep it up consistently? If not, it's back to Hayes and relying on Lebron playing center for prolong stretches. I still think good centers can give the Lakers fits in the West, and we even saw it last year vs. Minnesota (Gobert)

2nd and 3rd options went from Kyrie and PJ Washington to LeBron James and Austin Reeves. I think Ayton (if motivated) is better than the bigs in Dallas.

Smart, Reeves, Luka, LeBron, and Ayton is a strong starting 5. Kennard, Rui, and LaRavia would round out the playoff rotation. I still think SAS and OKC are a tier above everyone else in the West, but I?d put the Lakers at the top of that next grouping. They are in 3rd place in the west for a reason.

There's no question right now the Lakers are trending upwards and look dangerous, while Denver for some reason is trending the opposite direction. Cam Johnson hasn't worked out for them at all and Murray has been too inconsistent. I don't take the Rockets seriously. Timberwolves are without Ant for the forseeable future. It very well could be OKC + SAS Tier 1, then Tier 2 which is headlined by LAL, with DEN and MIN behind them.

There could be a path too where LAL avoids both of DEN/OKC until the WCF if DEN is in the 4-5 bracket. That might be their best chance. They'd still face SAS in the 2nd round but SAS is a bit inexperienced in the postseason. Meanwhile DEN always gives OKC trouble too, they took them to 7 games last year with a much worse bench.