***Official*** NBA 2023-24 thread

My Cavs are just wrecking everyone right now.

Their off-season moves have all really helped. All the shooting they added, particularly Merrill, has really opened up the floor. Okoro evolving into an elite perimeter defender really helped them get though the slew of injuries. The shooting allowed for his lack of offense to not kill them. He went through a stretch of making the best players in the world have really bad nights.

Jarrett Allen and Mitchell both playing out of this world.

They are in a weird spot. They’re really fucking good, but they are killing people because they essentially have two full lineups that would probably both be top 10 in the conference. Mitchell/Allen centered lineup, and Garland/Mobley lineup with shooters. Mix and match the top 4.

Problem is they’re killing people because of depth and the playoffs are about shorter rotations. Bickerstaff is still the coach, and while I’d love to think he’s grown, I’m not betting on it as it basically never happens that way.

I can make a strong pro-con argument as to why to or not to trade any of their main 4 guys. You have multiple redundancies. If Mitchell wanted to be here then a clear path would emerge.

As such, they are going to have to run it out and make a call in the off-season unless the Nets were willing to part with Bridges, which is the only no brainer move out there.

Have the makings of a regular season juggernaut that’s going to struggle in the playoffs.

Yeah I didn't expect to see the Cavs at 32-16.

And while a lot of the recent wins have been against failteams like the Wizards, Grizzlies, Pistons, and Spurs, there have been some nice victories against the Bucks, Clippers, and even the decent Kings.

Cavs lost on New Years day, but have lost just one other game since then in 2024.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Yeah I didn't expect to see the Cavs at 32-16.

And while a lot of the recent wins have been against failteams like the Wizards, Grizzlies, Pistons, and Spurs, there have been some nice victories against the Bucks, Clippers, and even the decent Kings.

Cavs lost on New Years day, but have lost just one other game since then in 2024.

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Yeah they got lucky with the schedule initially, but then started beating the bad teams by 30 like you’re supposed to and got confident. They handled the Clippers rather easily. They’ve struggled with the Kings the last few years. Seeing them blow the doors off Sac when the Kings actually made 17 3s and shot 40% from 3 was something. All of a sudden our whole team can shoot. Okoro at 38.5%. Levert above 35%. Dean Wade at 40%. They all just got a little better and we added a bunch of pure shooters like Merrill. Honestly, strus has shot poorly all during the winning. When he’s on like last night, good luck beating them with the inside/outside game they have going.

I couldn’t believe watching the Bucks how quickly they got old. Outside Giannis, the whole team truly looks slow.

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Originally Posted by BCR

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Yeah I didn't expect to see the Cavs at 32-16.

And while a lot of the recent wins have been against failteams like the Wizards, Grizzlies, Pistons, and Spurs, there have been some nice victories against the Bucks, Clippers, and even the decent Kings.

Cavs lost on New Years day, but have lost just one other game since then in 2024.

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Yeah they got lucky with the schedule initially, but then started beating the bad teams by 30 like you’re supposed to and got confident. They handled the Clippers rather easily. They’ve struggled with the Kings the last few years. Seeing them blow the doors off Sac when the Kings actually made 17 3s and shot 40% from 3 was something. All of a sudden our whole team can shoot. Okoro at 38.5%. Levert above 35%. Dean Wade at 40%. They all just got a little better and we added a bunch of pure shooters like Merrill. Honestly, strus has shot poorly all during the winning. When he’s on like last night, good luck beating them with the inside/outside game they have going.

I couldn’t believe watching the Bucks how quickly they got old. Outside Giannis, the whole team truly looks slow.

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I had Garland O14.5 points last night. Thought Sac would give them a game so he would get some 4th Q run and his usage would start creeping back to pre-injury levels. Neither happened.

But yeah, they are winning with good 3 point shooting which is hard to believe will be sustainable in the playoffs against more intense defense. Seems no one really thinks this is anything more than a regular season mirage.

Lakers have a huge free throw advantage....

"They have nearly 700 more net free throw attempts than any other team in the NBA."

"The Lakers are among the bottom 10 in drives per game and paint touches, which makes this matter even more curious."

"Multiple players and coaches have publicly called the Lakers out when it comes to this topic."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nba...5ffd5c539&ei=4

First season in like 15 years where my interest has waned, despite it feeling like a year of transition with new players and teams emerging.

The West will be interesting next year but really feels like Denver will bulldoze everyone. Boston has shaky history but just feels leaps and bounds better than everyone else.

I didn't expect Lillard and Giannis to crush but thought they would be right there as a contender, and they aren't and suck to watch.

Have probably watched like 60% of my normal intake and no longer really care about shit teams anymore.

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Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe

First season in like 15 years where my interest has waned, despite it feeling like a year of transition with new players and teams emerging.

The West will be interesting next year but really feels like Denver will bulldoze everyone. Boston has shaky history but just feels leaps and bounds better than everyone else.

I didn't expect Lillard and Giannis to crush but thought they would be right there as a contender, and they aren't and suck to watch.

Have probably watched like 60% of my normal intake and no longer really care about shit teams anymore.

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Yeah, I’ve always thought season should be 70 games. That seems the point exactly where my interest wanes and baseball starts. I agree on Nuggets.

Should be some interesting playoff matchups. Really open outside Celtics/Nuggets.

Watching Cavs-Magic and see how much the Cavs are not even guarding Franz on the perimeter. I look at his numbers and he shot 28% from 3 for the season. Truly shocked at that.

I had no idea he had fell off that much. He felt like a guy who was going to shoot 40% eventually. He's had some ankle issues this season. IDK if it impacted his shot that much, but I was truly surprised he shot that badly for a full season.

Lakers had a 12 point lead in the 2nd in Game 1. Shot it off, game wasn't even close.

Lakers had 20 point lead in the 3rd. Right now it's 5 points in the 4th.

Brutal.

At least I had the under here.

Yep, they blew it. Final 101-99 Denver.

Weird ending. Teams were tied in the final few minutes and kept trading baskets.

Tied 99-99, Lebron had the ball, and a defender attempted to steal the ball, then fell back, which looked like a flop. Possibly the guy tripped, but either way it was no foul. This left Lebron WIDE open in 3-point territory. About 12s left in the game. Lebron calmly fired it, and it didn't go.

Denver scored on the final possession at the buzzer, and that's the game.

Imagine blowing a 20-point lead in a game that would get you back to home court advantage instead of down 2-0.

:fail

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

Yep, they blew it. Final 101-99 Denver.

Weird ending. Teams were tied in the final few minutes and kept trading baskets.

Tied 99-99, Lebron had the ball, and a defender attempted to steal the ball, then fell back, which looked like a flop. Possibly the guy tripped, but either way it was no foul. This left Lebron WIDE open in 3-point territory. About 12s left in the game. Lebron calmly fired it, and it didn't go.

Denver scored on the final possession at the buzzer, and that's the game.

Imagine blowing a 20-point lead in a game that would get you back to home court advantage instead of down 2-0.

:fail

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They're cooked. Anthony Davis was awesome as well; Jokic just much better than everyone.

Above sentiment is going to hold for the rest of the playoffs. Denver will roll through everyone except
maybe Boston could make things competitive.

LOL Sixers also, joke team

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Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe

First season in like 15 years where my interest has waned, despite it feeling like a year of transition with new players and teams emerging.

The West will be interesting next year but really feels like Denver will bulldoze everyone. Boston has shaky history but just feels leaps and bounds better than everyone else.

I didn't expect Lillard and Giannis to crush but thought they would be right there as a contender, and they aren't and suck to watch.

Have probably watched like 60% of my normal intake and no longer really care about shit teams anymore.

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Same until playoffs. My boss's family has had decent 100 level season tix forever. I was offered them (for free) maybe 8 times this year and I went once. Had to see Wemby live. TV does not capture how freakish that kid is.

Blazers have to be #1 over the past 3 years in combined man-games lost. Even the youngsters can't stay healthy. Waste of a season.

No real immediate clear path to relevance in the west either. Trade Simons, Grant and Brogdon, Build around Scoot, Sharpe, Ayton. Hope to hit on a lottery pick or 2 at the wing.

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Originally Posted by gut

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Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe

First season in like 15 years where my interest has waned, despite it feeling like a year of transition with new players and teams emerging.

The West will be interesting next year but really feels like Denver will bulldoze everyone. Boston has shaky history but just feels leaps and bounds better than everyone else.

I didn't expect Lillard and Giannis to crush but thought they would be right there as a contender, and they aren't and suck to watch.

Have probably watched like 60% of my normal intake and no longer really care about shit teams anymore.

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Same until playoffs. My boss's family has had decent 100 level season tix forever. I was offered them (for free) maybe 8 times this year and I went once. Had to see Wemby live. TV does not capture how freakish that kid is.

Blazers have to be #1 over the past 3 years in combined man-games lost. Even the youngsters can't stay healthy. Waste of a season.

No real immediate clear path to relevance in the west either. Trade Simons, Grant and Brogdon, Build around Scoot, Sharpe, Ayton. Hope to hit on a lottery pick or 2 at the wing.

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It's dark in Portland but at least I can take my son and sit close for nothing while I feed him popcorn and track the mascots.

Didn't expect Minnesota to look legitimate; gun to head I still think Denver wins mainly because KAT will get worked more and inevitably do dumb costly shit.

Don't think I'll watch any more of the East until the Finals.

I’m at the point I don’t know what point guard I’d take in front of Brunson. I’m pretty sure none. He’s just impossible to stay in front of. His motor is insane also.

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Originally Posted by BCR

I’m at the point I don’t know what point guard I’d take in front of Brunson. I’m pretty sure none. He’s just impossible to stay in front of. His motor is insane also.

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Probably Haralabob's biggest error (aside from being autistic and arrogant) with the Mavs was Brunson evaluation. I remember him on a pod trashing the rest of the Mavs front office for refusing to deal Brunson to draft Matisse Thybulle.

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Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe

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Originally Posted by BCR

I’m at the point I don’t know what point guard I’d take in front of Brunson. I’m pretty sure none. He’s just impossible to stay in front of. His motor is insane also.

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Probably Haralabob's biggest error (aside from being autistic and arrogant) with the Mavs was Brunson evaluation. I remember him on a pod trashing the rest of the Mavs front office for refusing to deal Brunson to draft Matisse Thybulle.

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I never heard that. Will have to seek it out. Thank God he didn’t stay in that Luka heliocentric offense. He never approaches this level with Luka taking up half the usage.

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Originally Posted by BCR

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Originally Posted by Sloppy Joe

Probably Haralabob's biggest error (aside from being autistic and arrogant) with the Mavs was Brunson evaluation. I remember him on a pod trashing the rest of the Mavs front office for refusing to deal Brunson to draft Matisse Thybulle.

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I never heard that. Will have to seek it out. Thank God he didn’t stay in that Luka heliocentric offense. He never approaches this level with Luka taking up half the usage.

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Surprised it's been a good fit for Kyrie; don't think they'll get past OKC but all my expectations were exceeded (and I'm higher on Kyrie than most were).