NBA Thread 2022-23 Season

[jordville]

East...
1. Bucks
2. Celtics
3. 76ers
4. Cavaliers
5. Knicks
6. Nets
7. Heat vs. 8. Hawks
9. Raptors vs. 10. Bulls

West...
1. Nuggets
2. Grizzlies
3. Kings
4. Suns
5. Clippers
6. Warriors
7. Lakers vs. 8. Timberwolves
9. Pelicans vs. 10. Thunder

 

[OttoinGrotto]

 

[Fireball Jr.]

Collateral damage: McDaniels breaks hand punching wall, out for season, which may well end this week. Will/can the league suspend COVID-infested mic licker Gobert for taking a swing at a teammate, not an opponent? Whatta schmuck.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

 

[Day2]

Lakers will finish in last place in the Pacific. Book it.

 

[Knicks411]

This will probably get some talk going, so first round odds. We only have 4 so far due to the play in

Warriors (-290) vs Kings (+225)
Suns (-600) vs Clippers (+400)
Cavs (-200) vs Knicks (+160)
Sixers (-900) vs Nets (+600)

Im not surprised the Warriors are favored. I do think +225 is a good price for the Kings

 

[MikeSU02]

East...
1. Bucks
2. Celtics
3. 76ers
4. Cavaliers
5. Knicks
6. Nets
7. Heat vs. 8. Hawks
9. Raptors vs. 10. Bulls

West...
1. Nuggets
2. Grizzlies
3. Kings
4. Suns
5. Clippers
6. Warriors
7. Lakers vs. 8. Timberwolves
9. Pelicans vs. 10. Thunder

Rooting for the Kings and Clips in the West. Would love OKC to throw a haymaker or two. Really like SGA and Giddey.

Knicks, overall, obviously. Really wish we were not on MKE's side of the bracket.

Would love the Heat to knock out the Celtics. I like the good vibes Nets to scare Philly.

 

[Knicks411]

Rooting for the Kings and Clips in the West. Would love OKC to throw a haymaker or two. Really like SGA and Giddey.

Knicks, overall, obviously. Really wish we were not on MKE's side of the bracket.

Would love the Heat to knock out the Celtics. I like the good vibes Nets to scare Philly.

Agree, but...Middleton seems to be banged up again. Just saying

 

[Melancer46]

Agree, but...Middleton seems to be banged up again. Just saying

I doubt that will matter against the Knicks (if the Knicks advance anyways, which I’m pretty pessimistic about). If Middleton isn’t right, there’s a decent chance that’ll cost Milwaukee a series against Boston or maybe Philly/Cleveland, but Boston is really the only team that terrifies me.

 

[Melancer46]

Rooting for the Kings and Clips in the West. Would love OKC to throw a haymaker or two. Really like SGA and Giddey.

Knicks, overall, obviously. Really wish we were not on MKE's side of the bracket.

Would love the Heat to knock out the Celtics. I like the good vibes Nets to scare Philly.

I think Boston will make quick work of Miami, assuming Miami even makes it there to begin with.

 

[MikeSU02]

I think Boston will make quick work of Miami, assuming Miami even makes it there to begin with.

Yeah, I'm not expecting Miami to win. That's tough sledding.

 

[MSOrange]

I think Boston will make quick work of Miami, assuming Miami even makes it there to begin with.

What do you think of Boston's overall chances? They are the team I usually follow come playoff time (Yes I'm kind of a fair weather fan in that regard I don't see them as a championship level team quite yet. They may make the finals again, but I don't think that they will get over the top.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

More to the story.


So word is Gobert was having back spasms, Anderson convinced him to play, and then kept calling him a bish and criticized his play.

Rudy can't lose his cool the way he did, but if that's the real backstory, Anderson's a big dirtbag in this.

 

[Knicks411]

I doubt that will matter against the Knicks (if the Knicks advance anyways, which I’m pretty pessimistic about). If Middleton isn’t right, there’s a decent chance that’ll cost Milwaukee a series against Boston or maybe Philly/Cleveland, but Boston is really the only team that terrifies me.

You arent gonna let me have any fun?!?!

I dont think the Knicks are getting out of rd 1, but they have a chance. I dont think they would have much of a chance against the Bucks either way.
If Middleton doesn't play, I can see them having trouble against either of the top 2 teams in the east. They struggled so badly to score in the playoffs last year

 

[Melancer46]

What do you think of Boston's overall chances? They are the team I usually follow come playoff time (Yes I'm kind of a fair weather fan in that regard I don't see them as a championship level team quite yet. They may make the finals again, but I don't think that they will get over the top.

I think Boston and Milwaukee are pretty clearly the favorites to win the title. Philly and Cleveland a tier behind them and then your guess is as good as mine in the West.

 

[Day2]

More to the story.


So word is Gobert was having back spasms, Anderson convinced him to play, and then kept calling him a bish and criticized his play.

Rudy can't lose his cool the way he did, but if that's the real backstory, Anderson's a big dirtbag in this.

Once a Grizzly, always a Grizzly.

 

[Knicks411]

I think Boston and Milwaukee are pretty clearly the favorites to win the title. Philly and Cleveland a tier behind them and then your guess is as good as mine in the West.

From DK, to win the East:
Bucks +125
Boston +160
Philly +475
Cavs +1400

Cavs are 14-1 I think is worth a look. It's funny, the Bucks are third in the east in net rating, but I (and everyone else) considers them the favorite. And I do think its the right call. But if Middleton is banged up again, I dunno. Boston has the best net rating in the league, +6.9, cavs are second (I'm using cleaning the glass here). I think the Cavs are a darkhorse, I get they don't have much playoff history so it is easy to look past them but they look really good on paper. They're first in defense, 7th in offense, very well rounded. I am still taking the Bucks to come out of the east, don't get me wrong.

It's also unbelievable to me that the two best offenses in the league this year were the Kings and the Knicks. Imagine making that claim at the beginning of the season.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

From DK, to win the East:
Bucks +125
Boston +160
Philly +475
Cavs +1400

Cavs are 14-1 I think is worth a look. It's funny, the Bucks are third in the east in net rating, but I (and everyone else) considers them the favorite. And I do think its the right call. But if Middleton is banged up again, I dunno. Boston has the best net rating in the league, +6.9, cavs are second (I'm using cleaning the glass here). I think the Cavs are a darkhorse, I get they don't have much playoff history so it is easy to look past them but they look really good on paper. They're first in defense, 7th in offense, very well rounded. I am still taking the Bucks to come out of the east, don't get me wrong.

It's also unbelievable to me that the two best offenses in the league this year were the Kings and the Knicks. Imagine making that claim at the beginning of the season.

I'd be down for a Knicks vs Kangs NBA final.

In the year of offense in the NBA, why not?

 

[samspann1]

What do you think of Boston's overall chances? They are the team I usually follow come playoff time (Yes I'm kind of a fair weather fan in that regard I don't see them as a championship level team quite yet. They may make the finals again, but I don't think that they will get over the top.

Tatum disappears far too often. Last year was a perfect storm, with no Middleton and a still-rusty Klay Thompson, but they couldn't get it done. Tatum shot under 37% in the finals, and turned the ball over at an alarming rate.

 

[MSOrange]

Tatum disappears far too often. Last year was a perfect storm, with no Middleton and a still-rusty Klay Thompson, but they couldn't get it done. Tatum shot under 37% in the finals, and turned the ball over at an alarming rate.

That's pretty much how I feel. Granted I'm only a playoffs watcher, but I sense that the Celtics peak at that "really good" level, as opposed to great.

 

[Cusefan0307]

It'd be nice for the Kings to make a run, but I think they end up getting bounced by the Warriors in 6. I know everyone thinks the west is wide open, but I'll be surprised if Phoenix or Golden State don't end up winning it.

 

[Newhouser]

If Durant plays. Phoenix is winning it all.

 

[Melancer46]

That's pretty much how I feel. Granted I'm only a playoffs watcher, but I sense that the Celtics peak at that "really good" level, as opposed to great.

Fortunately for them, really good might be all that’s needed to win the title this year. There’s no juggernaut out there this season. By most metrics Boston is the team to beat.

 

[Melancer46]

From DK, to win the East:
Bucks +125
Boston +160
Philly +475
Cavs +1400

Cavs are 14-1 I think is worth a look. It's funny, the Bucks are third in the east in net rating, but I (and everyone else) considers them the favorite. And I do think its the right call. But if Middleton is banged up again, I dunno. Boston has the best net rating in the league, +6.9, cavs are second (I'm using cleaning the glass here). I think the Cavs are a darkhorse, I get they don't have much playoff history so it is easy to look past them but they look really good on paper. They're first in defense, 7th in offense, very well rounded. I am still taking the Bucks to come out of the east, don't get me wrong.

It's also unbelievable to me that the two best offenses in the league this year were the Kings and the Knicks. Imagine making that claim at the beginning of the season.

I personally think Boston is the best team out there but it’s kind of a beauty is in the eye of the beholder this year. Nobody looks particularly great and it seems like the regular season was lazier than ever. I’m not really sure how much we can use net rating anymore with half the teams flat out not trying on a nightly basis.

 

[Melancer46]

The award votes tracker guy published his spreadsheet for this year. Looks like Embiid will be the runaway MVP winner.

And in a twist, betting odds had narrowed DPOY down to Jaren Jackson as the overwhelming favorite to beat Brook Lopez, but in the early voting it appears Evan Mobley is actually running away with it. Still pretty early in the voting there but I didn’t think he was even getting serious consideration.