You got a hell of a defender from Portland in Ed Davis. Quiet, but ferocious under the basket. You also got Allen Crabbe, who was always a sparkplug off the bench.
Not that beating the Lakers is a metric, but the Sixers are going to be interesting to watch the last half of the season…
Whooo-eeee! GS got their asses handed to them by the Blazers last night. In a wild 4th qarter, Steve Kerr got ejected for having a huge hissy fit. Draymond Green got his usual technical foul for being a major crybaby. At one point, late in the fourth quarter, the Blazers had five free throws in a row due to both a foul and technical foul calls, then buried a three on the ensuing possession. The eight point turnaround threw GS into a tailspin. Rookie Zach Collins really got under the skin of both Green and Klay Thompson. Collins is a tough defender and takes no shit. The only bright spot for a team full of whiners was the usual cool professionalism of Kevin Durant, who was laughing while pushing Kerr towards the locker room.
Looks like Orlando decided they kinda like this whole winning thing and they are going to stick to it for a while. Probably long enough to completely crush any shot at a decent pick this year without actually making the playoffs.
Pascal Siakam has really taken off this season and got a career high 44 points last night against a somewhat ailing Washington (with ten boards and three blocks).
Cool the Raptors acquired Jeremy Lin, who should be a good fit as a third centre, and will especially come in handy as Fred Van Vleet is out with thumb surgery for a month (fuckin THANKS DRAYMOND “Draymond Rule” GREEN FOR THAT).
Mr. Gasol is looking not bad out there - he just has to learn the team’s messed-up pre-game free-form intro high-fivin.
Have you figured out yet there is more than one KL on your team? 
:rolleyes: Um, possibly. (Since it’s possible I already acknowledged the other KL in that same post.)
Huh - wouldn’t that be niftier-than-all get-out if Nick Nurse took coach of the year. I wonder if any team has claimed a coach of the year two years in a row. Very much doubt it but too lazy to check.
Looking forward to the toss-up as to who’ll win the eastern conference.
(Really? Is it mainly because there’s no Lebron around? Really?)
Toronto, Milwaukee, Boston and Philly - I wouldn’t put money on any of them - total crapshoot. (If Oladipo was in the picture, I would’ve thrown Indiana in there, too.)
Is Golden State deciding to just coast a little bit until the play-offs, or have they been a lesser team than in previous seasons?
I’ve been impressed with what the eastern conference has been able to pull off this season. A special tip of the hat goes to Philly, Toronto and Brooklyn for their on the court game and their front office game.
Well, even with LeBron the Cavs weren’t always a runaway #1 seed in the East. Yes, they went to the Finals every year. I think it’d be very interesting if he was still in Cleveland.
As for GS, you have to wonder how much the chemistry issue really impacts the play on the floor. Everyone seems to think KD is as good as gone. He’s still dropping like 30 a night and playing lights out, so I don’t know. Curry is also playing about as good as he ever has. Klay Thompson is fine. Draymond is not having a great year, though, and I think they don’t quite have the solid role players they did in years past.
:smack: It was Vallancuinas (who’s no longer a Raptor, now, anyway) who was whacked by Green, not Van Vleet.
Finally getting a chance to see what the Blazers look like, tonight, against TO. Portland has the best west record against the east, while the Raptors have the best east record against the west.
Portland damn near carried it off, too. Came back from a 16 point deficit and were tied with only a few seconds left, when Leonard hit that last second bucket. I have to wonder if things would have gone differently if Kantor had been able to overcome his visa problems. Nurkic getting into foul trouble right away didn’t help things, either. The Blazers tend to do well against powerhouse teams, for some reason. They totally owned GS just before the All Star Break.
I’m not confident the Raptors will get past the Pistons (let alone the Bucks) if they meet in the play-offs.
The Blazers will upset the Warriors if they meet.
Well, OKC swept the Blazers this season. That was one tough game for all concerned. Psycho Boy (Westbrook) was in fine form as his disturbed self, knocking Nurkic to the floor for no particular reason and taunting the crowd. Nurkic ultimately got himself ejected, which possibly cost them the game in overtime. Lillard scored 51 points in the effort, and Enes Kanter showed why his last team got rid of him: the guy is nearly useless under the defensive basket. So the 3-way tie for 3rd place in the West has been broken, with OKC in 3rd and POR and HOU tied for 4th.
I really don’t see that as an intentional trip, just big feet trying to get traction to get underway down court. Westbrook overreacted, as usual, because he’s a fucking loonie.
Yep, it’s not like there’s video evidence of Nurkic running at an angle INTO Westbrook, putting his foot under him, and then immediately cutting back away…
Don’t get me wrong, Westbrook absolutely overreacted, but Nurkic had it coming.
[Will Munny]We all have it comin’, Kid.[/WM]
McCollum is out for at least a week with a strained knee. Could have been much worse with the fall he took. Even without him, the Blazers were able to hold off Indiana to hang on to the hotly contested 4th slot in the west. Big games from several players, not the least of whom was the skinny new guy, Zach Collins, who had at least three blocked shots. The kid is a real competitor, always scrapping for rebounds and defending like his life depended on it. If he puts on another 20 pounds or so of muscle, he’ll be formidable.
Glad to see the NBA finally had enough of OKC’s loony boy’s antics and suspended him for a game. I hope he got slapped with a hefty fine, as well.
Holy crap, the Nuggets are tied with GS for #1 seed in the West. They’ve got one more head to head matchup. What a stunner, and huge advantage for Denver, if they could actually take home court throughout the playoffs.