NBA Season/Playoffs 2025-26

[Who]

I do not understand CLE starting Dean Wade at SF. His offense is too limited for a big man nevermind a wing player.

[Roy H.]

Orlando doesnt have a true #1 scorer.  They have A LOT of 2 and 3's though.  That can get you a couple of wins, but it will be hard for them to win series against good teams without a true #1.  They just don't have the guy you can rely on in crunch time of close games and that will hold them back.  May have enough to beat Detroit, but I'd be stunned if they got by Cleveland.

I don't disagree, but there was a thread about who would you rather play, PHI or ORL.  Based on the first game of each series, it appears that we got the easier path by quite a bit.  Maybe ORL did plan this to avoid BOS, as was suggested above by celticinorlando who may have some inside info on this, based on the tag-name.

I agree that CLE should not be at risk of losing a series vs. ORL, but they may have to work for it.  Wouldn't hurt my feelings of CLE got beat up some by ORL.  CLE has two really good players plus Mobley is right up there.  The more worn down they are the better.

I don't think Orlando planned anything.  They're the same inconsistent team they've been all season.  They can look terrible (BOS, PHI) or great (CHA, DET).

Teams don't put themselves into elimination games to matchup hunt.

[Who]

Worst 3PT% shooting teams in playoffs

28th-27th (tie) = Orlando & Portland
23rd = Philly
21st = Toronto

Detroit are middle of the pack. Tied 19th-17th. A surprising one here - not in the playoffs but - GSW ranked 17-199th in 3PT% this season. Shocking to see a team with Steph so low. Shows how much shooting they have lost in the supporting cast around him.

Next middle of the pack teams are LAL, SAS, CLE, PHO who are 16th to 12th. DET were 35.6% with PHO at 36.1% so all huddled together.

BOS and OKC in 8th and 9th best place. Minny, ATL, NYK. CHA. Also a surprise - MIL ranked 2nd best in the league despite their horrid year. DEN topped the league.

Three Point Volume

HOU ranked 10th in percentage but low in attempts (28th). DET were actually 29th in attempts. I did not realize they took such few three pointers. That surprises me. Duncan Robinson, Tobias Harris, Huerter, Cade. Non-shooters in Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland though along with their two big men.

25th - TOR
24th - LAL (even lower without Luka & Reaves)

22nd - ORL
21st - PHI
20th - DEN (tops in percentage but below average volume)

17th - MIN
15th - SAS
13th - OKC
12th - NYK

MIL 10th in volume / 2nd in percentage. They had a lot of shooting around Giannis. It still surprises me that they struggled as much as they did while Giannis was available to play. I thought he should have been able to carry that team better than he did.

8th - ATL
7th - CLE

GSW topped the league. CHA 2nd. POR 3rd despite being tied 3rd worst for shooting percentage. That is a strange mixture. BOS ranked 4th so the highest volume three point shooting among top half of playoff teams. PHX 5th.

[Goldstar88]

Orlando doesnt have a true #1 scorer.  They have A LOT of 2 and 3's though.  That can get you a couple of wins, but it will be hard for them to win series against good teams without a true #1.  They just don't have the guy you can rely on in crunch time of close games and that will hold them back.  May have enough to beat Detroit (though I think Detroit still wins), but I'd be stunned if they got by Cleveland.

Banchero averaged 26ppg last season. He?s a number one. I don?t think the Orlando did a good job during the season when it comes to their offense. Paolo should have been getting the ball a lot more than he was. Attempts went from 20 per game down to 16.

[Vermont Green]

Orlando doesnt have a true #1 scorer.  They have A LOT of 2 and 3's though.  That can get you a couple of wins, but it will be hard for them to win series against good teams without a true #1.  They just don't have the guy you can rely on in crunch time of close games and that will hold them back.  May have enough to beat Detroit, but I'd be stunned if they got by Cleveland.

I don't disagree, but there was a thread about who would you rather play, PHI or ORL.  Based on the first game of each series, it appears that we got the easier path by quite a bit.  Maybe ORL did plan this to avoid BOS, as was suggested above by celticinorlando who may have some inside info on this, based on the tag-name.

I agree that CLE should not be at risk of losing a series vs. ORL, but they may have to work for it.  Wouldn't hurt my feelings of CLE got beat up some by ORL.  CLE has two really good players plus Mobley is right up there.  The more worn down they are the better.

I don't think Orlando planned anything.  They're the same inconsistent team they've been all season.  They can look terrible (BOS, PHI) or great (CHA, DET).

Teams don't put themselves into elimination games to matchup hunt.

I was not really being serious about the match up hunting, just piggy-backing on something in another post, intending to be making light of it.

I don't follow ORL all that closely, but in checking some season stats, F. Wagner only played 34 games and Suggs only 57 games.  The team had a much better +/- when one or both of these guys were on the floor.  I am guessing that having these guys on the floor creates some gravity to make things easier on Bane and Banchero.

We shall see if they can be consistent in the series vs. DET and beyond.  I have a feeling that they are going to be a tough out for DET if they keep everyone off the injured list.

[Vermont Green]

The Lakers gave up 23 2nd chance points (getting 6) and gave up 24 pts off turnovers (getting 5).  That is a net of -36 if my math is right.  How do you do that and still win the game?  HOU offense really suffered without Durant I guess.  They missed a lot of shots.

[RMO]

The Lakers gave up 23 2nd chance points (getting 6) and gave up 24 pts off turnovers (getting 5).  That is a net of -36 if my math is right.  How do you do that and still win the game?  HOU offense really suffered without Durant I guess.  They missed a lot of shots.

At halftime the lakers were shooting 65%, the Rockets 37% and the lakers were only up by two.  I watched a little in the second half but had to turn it off.  The rockets are tough to watch.

[Goldstar88]

Toronto hanging in there. Down 4 with 4mins to go till half.

[Phantom255x]

The Lakers gave up 23 2nd chance points (getting 6) and gave up 24 pts off turnovers (getting 5).  That is a net of -36 if my math is right.  How do you do that and still win the game?  HOU offense really suffered without Durant I guess.  They missed a lot of shots.

At halftime the lakers were shooting 65%, the Rockets 37% and the lakers were only up by two.  I watched a little in the second half but had to turn it off.  The rockets are tough to watch.

At some point you got to look at Ime. I get Durant was out, and it's probably the front office's fault they didn't acquire a true PG after Van Vleet got hurt before the season. But every year it's the same sort of issues, the offense has trouble running plays or scoring and then there's an overreliance on defense to try and get by.

It was also sort of the same with the Celtics. The 2022 run was fun, but even those Bucks/Heat series should have been done sooner but they played with their food, and then while I also acknowledge the drop coverage plan on Curry failed, they also had some games where they had trouble scoring. In fact I don't think they scored more than 97 in any of the final 3 games, and just 88 in Game 2. They had Tatum/Brown and some of it was on the players, but Ime had some flaws that I think are being exposed on the Rockets. The Rockets have talent, and in theory should be up there as one of the top teams in the West besides maybe OKC.

[Phantom255x]

There needs to be a real conversation about Risacher potentially being one of the biggest busts in NBA history. The guy was the #1 pick in 2024 yet he can't even get minutes on the Hawks, not even consistent minutes off the bench really. That's pretty wild. At least with some other busts it was self-inflicted, injuries, or they still were able to produce just not at a "transcendental" level. Risacher is basically like Bronny at this point.

[Who]

There needs to be a real conversation about Risacher potentially being one of the biggest busts in NBA history. The guy was the #1 pick in 2024 yet he can't even get minutes on the Hawks, not even consistent minutes off the bench really. That's pretty wild. At least with some other busts it was self-inflicted, injuries, or they still were able to produce just not at a "transcendental" level. Risacher is basically like Bronny at this point.

Risacher is a solid player. I do not understand why they are not playing him.

He is more of a Jeff Green level player. Even if he doesn't improve beyond where he is now, he should have a 10-15 year career as a solid starter to valued bench player.

They are playing Kuminga ahead of him. Personally, I'd rather have Risacher.

[Moranis]

Orlando doesnt have a true #1 scorer.  They have A LOT of 2 and 3's though.  That can get you a couple of wins, but it will be hard for them to win series against good teams without a true #1.  They just don't have the guy you can rely on in crunch time of close games and that will hold them back.  May have enough to beat Detroit (though I think Detroit still wins), but I'd be stunned if they got by Cleveland.

Banchero averaged 26ppg last season. He?s a number one. I don?t think the Orlando did a good job during the season when it comes to their offense. Paolo should have been getting the ball a lot more than he was. Attempts went from 20 per game down to 16.

it is more style of play than totals.  He isn't an elite shot creator.  He was actually way more efficient this year than last year.  I mean he took 3.8 more shots and only scored 3.7 more points last year.  That isn't good.

[Who]

Orlando doesnt have a true #1 scorer.  They have A LOT of 2 and 3's though.  That can get you a couple of wins, but it will be hard for them to win series against good teams without a true #1.  They just don't have the guy you can rely on in crunch time of close games and that will hold them back.  May have enough to beat Detroit (though I think Detroit still wins), but I'd be stunned if they got by Cleveland.

Banchero averaged 26ppg last season. He?s a number one. I don?t think the Orlando did a good job during the season when it comes to their offense. Paolo should have been getting the ball a lot more than he was. Attempts went from 20 per game down to 16.

it is more style of play than totals.  He isn't an elite shot creator.  He was actually way more efficient this year than last year.  I mean he took 3.8 more shots and only scored 3.7 more points last year.  That isn't good.

I'd call Banchero more of a low quality #1 option rather than a #2 or #3 because he lacks the skills (shooting, off ball offense) to play off of people.

[Who]

I hope Atlanta can get this win tonight. NYK are vulnerable. ATL could make this a long series.

[Phantom255x]

Raptors are putting up a great fight. Unfortunately they just don't have enough firepower