OFFICIAL AROUND THE NBA THREAD- March 2021

the magic did have wendell carter and OPjr tonight but i was never ashamed to begin with. clips in an epic meltdown might qualify as somewhat embarrassing for their fans though. (at home)

 

The Magic also had Terrance Ross tonight. So not quite the G-League Magic we faced. A little more semblance of NBA level talent.

The Clippers were missing pretty much their entire team (PG, Ibaka, Morris, Beverly and Rondo) and were still up by double digits for the majority of the game. They choked it away per their usual M.O. But there is something off chemistry wise with this Clippers team. Seems like Kawhi and PG don’t really get along.

 

LeBron’s Lakers missed the playoffs two seasons ago. Yes he missed some games due to injury but he came back in time to lead Lakers to playoffs. He even said he was activating “playoff mode” but they played terrible and ultimately, they shut him down. He missed playoffs his first 2 seasons in the league too for the record.

 

The Clippers were missing pretty much their entire team (PG, Ibaka, Morris, Beverly and Rondo) and were still up by double digits for the majority of the game. They choked it away per their usual M.O. But there is something off chemistry wise with this Clippers team. Seems like Kawhi and PG don’t really get along.[/QUOTE]
Bingo.

 

4 games back with 26 to play. Suns have a lot of players who aren’t used to big games and Blazers are the opposite. Considering we made up 4 games on the Grizz in just 8 bubble games last season, making up 4 on Suns (who are yes better than the Grizz) seems possible esp since we play the Suns again. Well, 5 games since they have the tiebreaker.

 

The number one play on SportsCenter tonight was Russell Westbrook throwing down on Bismack Biyombo. There was a slight problem though. In order to dunk over him he gave Biyombo a stiff arm that pushed him down and prevented him from challenging the shot.

 

They completely ran out of gas. The Clippers walked all over the Bucks on the first of the B2B. Had game two vs the Magic and simply fell short.
They played both games without George and Beverly.

 

Blazers with 4. Yes 4 series victories in 20 years. How many has LeBron James got by himself? (Answer: zero - he always did it with a team.)

 

And he did it with 3 of the top 5 teams.

 

I get what you're saying, but would the Heat or Cavs have been top 5 without him (especially the Cavs)?

The Cavs would have been trash without LeBron, both times. They were a lottery team before he was drafted and they were a lottery team after he left. Kyrie couldn't do shit without him.

 

Kyrie and Love were certainly not trash together - no question they were only contenders because of James but that's still two perennial all stars in the East.

 

That's nice and all but LeBron led teams have won 39 playoff series. You could argue that the last 4 he was the second best player on the team but not the previous 35. He was definitely the best player during 35 playoff series wins. Only Derek Fisher (40) has more series victories as a player and Robert Horry has the same (39) as LeBron. LeBron only has two more than Kareem, four more than Duncan, six more than Kobe and Pippen, seven more than Magic and Shaq and nine more than MJ. No other active player has 20 series wins.

 

I don't think Kyrie and Love played without LeBron on the Cavs. They traded him after 2016-2017 and LeBron left after 2017-2018.

The Cavs during Kyrie's first few years without LeBron though:

2011-2012 - 21-45
2012-2013 - 24-58
2013-2014 - 33-49

When LeBron was first on the Cavs he only had one season under .500 and that was his rookie season. And who did he even have on that team? Mo Williams? He carried that garbage heap. Kyrie just isn't that good.

 

...which are largely 3 of the top 5 BECAUSE OF HIM.

 

LeBron James is probably the greatest floor-raiser in NBA history. There are other contenders, but I think he has a good argument for the guy who, in the absence of any other talent, minimizes your losses the most. (In a related note, Draymond Green is a ceiling-raiser...I don't think he'd have a lot of value in preventing losses as the sole star on a team, but he combines with other stars to make a much better team.)

Like anyone else, James needs more talent around him to actually be part of a successful team. He's not a playoff team by himself--his first year in LA showed that.

 

But he only played 55 games the first year in LA...

 

Celtics need to make a change in something.

 

GTJ playing well!!!

 

Prichard made a wonderful coaching hire. The have gone backwards after firing Nate. In the East too.