NBA Season/Playoffs 2025-26

[Phantom255x]

Denver was missing Gordon, but even then for some reason the Wolves just seem to have their number. Somehow, even Gobert of all people turns into Hakeem against them lol, did you guys see the hook shot he made?

I always felt the Wolves were a dark horse. They kind of remind me of the late 2010s/early 2020s Celtics who would make some deep playoff runs, and sometimes get bored in the regular season but then would turn it up in the postseason. Ant and the Wolves feel similar, and feel due. And frankly, if they can beat Denver this series I wouldn't rule out them beating the inexperienced Spurs especially if Wemby is compromised in any way.

[Moranis]

Gobert is one of the best interior defenders of all time.  He can't defend the faster perimeter oriented big men, but that is not Jokic.  Jokic is the type of big man Gobert excels at guarding. That is why he is so successful against him and why Minnesota finds such success against the Nuggets.  I picked the Nuggets in 7 because I thought Edwards would be more limited than he has been.  If I would have known Edwards was going to look like normal Edwards, I would have picked the Wolves to win the series.  They just matchup so well against the Nuggets with Edwards at full speed. 

[Who]

Doesn't Jokic have a history of cooking Gobert?

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Here are Jokic's splits against Minnesota since Gobert joined the T'Wolves to begin the 2022-23 season.

* 2026 = 4 regular season games = 35.8ppg 15.3rpg 11.3apg 65.3% FG 78.3% TS

* 2025 = 4 reg season games = 35.3ppg 7.5rpg 9.5rpg 59.3% FG 70.6% TS

* 2024 = 4 reg season games = 33.3ppg 11.8rpg 4.3apg 58.4% FG 64.2% TS

7 playoffs games = 29.0ppg 11.4rpg 7.9apg 51.7% FG 59.6% TS

* 2023 = 3 reg season gms = 25.0ppg 10.0rpg 12.7apg only 30.7mpg 60% FG 65.7% TS

5 playoff games = 26.2ppg 12.4rpg 9.0apg 48.5% FG 59.5% TS

[Moranis]

Ah but in 2024, Jokic on the season had a TS% of 65 and was 58.3% from the field.  He had 12.4 rpg and 9.0 apg with 26.4 ppg in 34.6 mpg.  In the series he played 40 mpg, shot much worse, grabbed less rebounds, dished out less assists, and even scored less points per minute while playing more minutes.   Jokic is a great player, he is going to get his, but he got less in the 7 game series they lost in 2024 than he got in the regular season.  Even in 2023, his production was less in the playoffs than it was in the regular season.  Gobert does just enough to tilt the series when Edwards is at full strength to carry the offense they need. 

[Redz]

Minnesota is battle tested.  They?ve shown they can hang with anyone and beat most in the playoffs.  They?re like the Bucks in the 80?s. 

[Moranis]

Minnesota is battle tested.  They?ve shown they can hang with anyone and beat most in the playoffs.  They?re like the Bucks in the 80?s.

Except they have Edwards who is a guy that is clearly good enough to be the best player on a title team and who is in his prime.  The Bucks had a lot of really good players (Moncrief, Pressey, Bridgeman/Cummings), but no one at that level (Lanier and Tiny were at the very end when they joined the Bucks for that 84 season).

[Redz]

Minnesota is battle tested.  They?ve shown they can hang with anyone and beat most in the playoffs.  They?re like the Bucks in the 80?s.

Except they have Edwards who is a guy that is clearly good enough to be the best player on a title team and who is in his prime.  The Bucks had a lot of really good players (Moncrief, Pressey, Bridgeman/Cummings), but no one at that level (Lanier and Tiny were at the very end when they joined the Bucks for that 84 season).

True.  I meant more in the sense that they are a good playoff team, but happen to playing in an era where there are a couple better teams. I guess they should have handled Dallas. 

[Who]

Minnesota is battle tested.  They?ve shown they can hang with anyone and beat most in the playoffs.  They?re like the Bucks in the 80?s.

Except they have Edwards who is a guy that is clearly good enough to be the best player on a title team and who is in his prime.  The Bucks had a lot of really good players (Moncrief, Pressey, Bridgeman/Cummings), but no one at that level (Lanier and Tiny were at the very end when they joined the Bucks for that 84 season).

True.  I meant more in the sense that they are a good playoff team, but happen to playing in an era where there are a couple better teams. I guess they should have handled Dallas.

I expect Minnesota to fall short this season as well.

They have a great team. They are close to being a Championship caliber team ... but ...

I don't think they have the guard play around Ant that they need to win a title. They need more ball-handling and passing. Strong defensive teams can cause too many problems for their limited offense due to their lack of guard play + Ant being more of a scorer than a point forward type like LeBron / Harden.

Oh and Randle needs to show up consistently as a #2. He was more inconsistent this season than I liked. Plus he had his no-show against OKC last year. So he is more of an X-Factor than a reliable #2 which isn't good for Minny's offensive issues.

[Who]

I still like Denver to win the series.

No A Gordon the other night. Jokic an uncharacteristically terrible game. J Murray had one of his stinkers. They usually lose on those nights (J Murray no-show) anyway. So 3 huge problems all combining together. Plus neither C Braun or Cam Johnson showed up either.

I will be worried about Denver if A Gordon can't come back though. I'd favour Minnesota over Denver in that case. Assuming A Gordon comes back for Gm 4, I am sticking with Denver.

[Phantom255x]

I still like Denver to win the series.

No A Gordon the other night. Jokic an uncharacteristically terrible game. J Murray had one of his stinkers. They usually lose on those nights (J Murray no-show) anyway. So 3 huge problems all combining together. Plus neither C Braun or Cam Johnson showed up either.

I will be worried about Denver if A Gordon can't come back though. I'd favour Minnesota over Denver in that case. Assuming A Gordon comes back for Gm 4, I am sticking with Denver.

Same. The only series that I probably would switch and will end up being wrong on was the Rockets-Lakers. Had Rockets in 6, looking a lot like LAL in 6 or even 5. Still think the Nuggets win in 7. As much as I'd love for ATL to pull it off, I ultimately think that series goes 7 too and NY having more experience + homecourt will make the difference. Spurs-Blazers could get a little interesting depending on how long Wemby is out, especially if POR can split the next two at least. But I obviously still got Spurs, though probably in 6 now 

[SparzWizard]

Lol, Durant out for Game 3 with a sprained left ankle.

Might as well throw in the towel

[slamtheking]

Lol, Durant out for Game 3 with a sprained left ankle.

Might as well throw in the towel

he got his rings with GSW.  he's just collecting paychecks now

[Who]

Lol, Durant out for Game 3 with a sprained left ankle.

Might as well throw in the towel

I saw some wondering how badly Durant was hurt after missing Gm 1 and playing so badly in Gm 2 (9 turnovers). That he was and is more hurt than they have been letting on.

It's a shame this is happening to Durant. He was the only big name star who actually played throughout the regular season. Played 78 games. High 70s. None of the other big names did that. Bad luck.

[SparzWizard]

Lol, Durant out for Game 3 with a sprained left ankle.

Might as well throw in the towel

I saw some wondering how badly Durant was hurt after missing Gm 1 and playing so badly in Gm 2 (9 turnovers). That he was and is more hurt than they have been letting on.

Insane that Houston was still -8.5 and then -6.5 after KD out announcement. LAL should be the clear favorites this series with how bad Houston is overall

[Moranis]

Lol, Durant out for Game 3 with a sprained left ankle.

Might as well throw in the towel

I saw some wondering how badly Durant was hurt after missing Gm 1 and playing so badly in Gm 2 (9 turnovers). That he was and is more hurt than they have been letting on.

Insane that Houston was still -8.5 and then -6.5 after KD out announcement. LAL should be the clear favorites this series with how bad Houston is overall

LeBron is pretty clearly the best player in this series and it isnt close (and that includes KD).  He is just so much better than anyone on the Rockets and he is still so good at directing an offense. Makes lesser talented players look much more talented then they are.  Obviously they need Luka against the Thunder, but if Luka is back I wouldn't count the Lakers out in that series.