Still not quite sure how the Raptors won that game when down by thirty. But they did, and I doubt I’ll soon see another game as odd as that one.
Saw the Globe & Mail article about possible NBA changes (article: The NBA is ahead of other leagues in realizing the regular season is insignificant).
Don’t see it happening for monetary reasons. The NBA proposed 78 (not 82) plus a mid season tournament, and borrowed the idea of keeping lower teams involved from soccer. Maybe. But in soccer, the season matters because the regular season winner wins the cup.
This won’t happen until basketball can’t fill stadia and win fat rebroadcast contracts. With current demographics, that won’t happen at all.
I would not have bet a dollar to win a hundred they were going to come back. In fact, according to The Athletic, at one point Dallas was 99.9% likely to win, meaning that indeed, there’s an excellent chance you won’t see the Raptors do that again for the rest of your life. According to ESPN, in the last ten years, there have been 1,670 games in the last ten years in which one team was down by at least TWENTY points going in to the fourth quarter. Exactly three of those teams came back to win.
Unsurprisingly, today was the only time in Raptors franchise history they won a game they had been losing by 30.
Reflecting on the Raptors, if any game can show the momentum a home crowd can provide, it was surely shown in the fourth quarter.
To be fair, there were very significant injuries on both sides. And the third quarter was abysmal for Toronto. Still, Lowry rose in a way I’ve rarely seen. And it was benchers, my fave VanVleet only got ten points.
What’s going on with New Orleans? They seem to have a solid starting lineup, but are really in the cellar. Portland plays them tonight.
Not sure. They’ve had a few good games but aren’t doing so well, even at home.
Raptors taking a well-deserved break. 4 games in 5 days; with injuries, they looked exhausted against a good Boston team.
Well, NO spanked Portland, who then went on to be spanked by Utah. Serious case of the red-ass at this point. Lakers next. :rolleyes:
I’d honestly rather the NBA just shorten the season. Make it 50 or 60 games. The mid-season tournament thing just complicates it all for everyone.
Looking at NBA stats in general the other day, I was struck by the fact that only one division has more than two teams over .500 (the Atlantic, which has four). Oops, just looked again, and it seems the NW now has three. . . barely. I’m guessing this is due to players chasing a championship ring, resulting in loading up some teams with most of the major talent available.
While I’d be inclined to agree with the your general point you are asking for the impossible. That is just far too much revenue lost - neither the owners nor the players would be willing to take a ~25-40% pay cut.
My fantasy goal would be a 72-74 game season to reduce back-to-backs and trim load management. But even that is asking for a whole lot.
Impressive Raptors win in Boston tonight. Lowry had 30 points.
First time I noticed Raptors 905 player Oshae Brissett, who made a stellar appearance (for the first time?) tonight, getting some important buckets (and rebounds) late in the game after Anunoby and Hollis-Jefferson fouled out.
Great Rap defense - Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward were all more or less invinsible.
Philly continues to wander aimlessly in search of an offensive identity, and I wonder how long the Brett Brown experiment can last. Running the offense through Embiid at the top of the key and Simmons down low, in “rebounding position” is not working, and is a poor compensation for Simmons failure/refusal to shoot the ball. Also, not running a pick-and-roll through Embiid and not getting him the ball in the paint (most of the time, and nearly all of the 4th quarter and overtime last night) creates a scenario where he has to dribble and work his way into position, or take long-range jump shots. This results in a lot of turnovers and 3-point attempts, neither of which you want associated with a 7’ center.
Their defense is generally excellent, but with Simmons running the offense, his inability to take a 6-12’ jump shot (or force contact, get a foul call, and make a foul shot) lets defenders guard the basket forcing him to pass the ball to an outside shooter. While there are flashes of brilliance, his offensive game is so woefully under-developed that it seems difficult to see how this approach can be successful.
I’m honestly surprised at how much the lack of Jimmy Butler has slowed down Philly’s offense. I mean, I knew it would, but not by this much.
The Sixers are really good at hitting shots - by any measure, they are remarkably effective at putting the ball in the basket when they make shots. But they just aren’t good at TAKING shots, which obviously can be an okay thing - high percentage shots are better than a larger number of low percentage shots. But those things aren’t evening out; despite having a really, really high shooting percentage, they don’t create enough first shots to take advantage of it (and suck at free throws.)
Simmons is just such a weird player. He’s the oddest collection of strengths and weaknesses and the position he theoretically plays than I have ever seen; it’s surely no wonder Brown struggles to find a system that works. I am not sure any coach wouldn’t struggle with this.
Raptors played some good ball yesterday against the Cavaliers. Anunoby went 5 for 8, he’s been struggling this season, sinking only 20% of his field goals, and didn’t start but played 30 minutes. Raps looked great against Boston, too after looking exhausted on Christmas. Didn’t see their 98-97 loss to Oklahoma, but at least it was close.
Hopefully Siakam and Gasol are well enough to return soon. Most of the Raptors games in January are against <0.500 teams they usually trounce.
Trailblazers are playing some good games.
Until the last few.
Raptors couldn’t have made a gift basket yesterday - anything near the basket stayed out. Decent defence, terrible shooting against the Heat in a game they should have won if anything went down.
But losing most of them.
Hawks seem to be trying to trade for Andre Drummond - he’s even trending on retwitter. They say the Mavs have interest, too. Luka + Dre could be interesting.
I thought there’d be more trades considering of all the free agents, and them being available for trade Dec. 15th… Trade deadline is one month away.
Brissett was actually making his eighth appearance of the regular season (and his career) on 12/28, but he set career highs in points (4) and rebounds (6).
Interesting that Carmelo Anthony is getting cheered in venues outside of Portland. The crowd in New York was actually chanting his name a few nights ago. And he was loudly applauded and cheered in last night’s game against the Wizards. People love a come-back kid, I guess.
Once again a slow start and big finish with a 121-102 win over the Nets. Nets shot well but after 32 turnovers lost their fifth in a row. Raptors played good defence but couldn’t sink the ball on good looks for much of the first half. Raptors were down as much as 16 points in the 2nd quarter.
Powell, Gasol and Siakam remain out, so the Raps have been 5-4 without some big men. VanVleet and Ibaka look like they ended the game with minor injuries. Portland on Tuesday, I heard ChefGuy is bringing it.