Some of the recent games have been exceptionally close. Even the best teams have amassed a lot of losses. I’m wondering if this season is typical of if the standard of play is becoming better.
For example, here are the scores to yesterday’s games (Fri. Jan 21):
Eleven games were played. Seven were decided by four points or less. Wow.
Blazers play them next. I always liked Gary Trent’s energy when he played with Portland, but thought he would do better with a team who played him as a starter.
Suns have the best record in the league, but you wouldn’t know it from national coverage. All TNT etc want to talk about is the other team.
All they want to talk about is anything other than the game at hand, IME. Dance with the girl what brung you, boys.
Shit, you should hear the local broadcast crew. Our color commentator never met an story that he couldn’t turn into being about him. Past two commercial breaks as well. In a game the other day the PBP guy said maybe they should talk about the game, but haha, no they didn’t.
We’ve got a good local crew, and luckily the majority of the games are on Root. Lamar Hurd is a former NBA player who is intelligent and well-spoken, and Kevin Calabro has been announcing for many years. And they are always about the game at hand and the players, only occasionally going off topic.
we all know the minute CP3 and Book jump ship to a bigger market suns will have another 20 years of obscurity
This is very valid. They also have the highest point differential. Toronto had a taste of this in 2019; I wish it had been legal to bet on them in Canada since they were so Dangerfielded. I get that basketball is big in Chicago, LA, Philadelphia and New York; then Golden State. But Utah and Phoenix are among the strongest teams.
I’m encouraged by the fact that my Pacers only lost by 10 to the league-leading Suns when we were without Sabonis, Turner, Brogdon, and LeVert. Hell, our starting lineup was Keifer Sykes, Chris Duarte, Justin Holiday, Torrey Craig, and Goga Bitadze.
What started as a route by the Blazers over Toronto turned into a real slugfest by the end of the game. Anfernee Simons is made of ice, for sure. That last 3 was the dagger in the heart, and he made it like he was playing in his back yard.
Portland is making a real name for themselves for blowing substantial leads. They were up by 20 against OKC today and are now, late in the 4th, down by 15. They’ve only scored 11 points this quarter. I’m so done with these clowns.
The Raptors looked very solid beating Atlanta, which had won seven straight. They went 18 for 36 on three-pointers. VanVleet has gone 17 consecutive games making 3+ threes, very high on the list, which is led by Curry. Trent Jr. has had a lot of recent 30+ point games, being only the fifth Raptor to achieve some specific number which eludes me.
Not saying VanVleet must get a starter spot on the All-Stars (and he did not). But I do think he deserves a spot on the team.
Team down by fifteen early but ended strong against an exhausted Miami team (without Lowry). Trent ties DeRozan with franchise record for five consecutive 30+ point games. VanVleet only 2 3-pointers. No one with 50+ minutes unlike the triple overtime recently.
He’s one of the ten best players in the league, so it would be a disgrace if he doesn’t.
Pacers’ Chris Duarte will make an appearance in the Rising Stars competition. Well-deserved. Obviously, it’s hard to justify giving any Pacer an actual All-Star nod, with the year we’ve had.
Going into tonight’s game, the Raptors’ Gary Trent Jr., in his last five games, has scored more than 30 points, shot almost 50% from the field, a crazy 51.7% from downtown, and with at least five 3-pointers in each game.
Also tallied at least 21 points in 15 of his 40 games this season. He needs to start as often as possible, performing much better than coming off the bench.
VanVleet is an All-Star after all; that should make @Dr_Paprika very happy.
Eastern Conference All-Star Pool
Starters:
G Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks (2nd appearance)
G DeMar DeRozan, Chicago Bulls (5th)
C Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers (5th)
F Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks (6th)
F Kevin Durant, Brooklyn Nets (12th), team captain; injured
Reserves:
G Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers (1st)
G James Harden, Brooklyn Nets (10th)
G Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls (2nd)
G Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors (1st)
F Jimmy Butler, Miami Heat (6th)
F Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks (3rd)
F Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics (3rd)
Western Conference All-Star Pool
Starters:
G Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors (8th)
G Ja Morant, Memphis Grizzlies (1st)
C Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets (4th)
F LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers (18th); team captain
F Andrew Wiggins, Golden State Warriors (1st)
Reserves:
G Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns (3rd)
G Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks (3rd)
G Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz (3rd)
G Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns (12th)
F Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors (4th); injured
C Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz (3rd)
C Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota Timberwolves (3rd)
There are many deserving players, but VanVleet is clearly one of them. California fans may not know him, but the American players and media certainly do. Congrats on his first all-star game.
Toronto is in sixth place; if they don’t have VanVleet, they would be ninth, at best, and out of a playoff spot.
They sure do in the Bay area.