2024-25 NBA Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

Oh my gosh what a comeback by Cleveland!!!!!!!!!!

Amazing performance by Donovan Mitchell! Tatum and Brown combined for a career best 80+ points together, but Mitchell had a master class of his own, and Cleveland got more from their supporting cast, especially their deep bench.

Boston was admittedly without Holiday and Porzingis tonight, so that could explain why they couldn't sustain the massive early lead; Cavs had a lot of success driving to the paint. Plus the Cavs just play phenomenal offense and have capable defense as well, especially Mobley.

[pwaldo]

Embiid out for the year with another injury.

I was thinking of a comp for him and came up with Yao Ming. I know Ming never one an MVP but he wouldn't have in that era either but that was the closet I could come up with. Both guys are/were dominant when they played but they always had foot/leg/back injuries so they never really reached full potential. Also I always remember Ming and Tmac underperforming in the playoffs and never going anywhere just like the 76ers. Always hype that quickly faded away come playoff time.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Embiid out for the year with another injury.

I was thinking of a comp for him and came up with Yao Ming. I know Ming never one an MVP but he wouldn't have in that era either but that was the closet I could come up with. Both guys are/were dominant when they played but they always had foot/leg/back injuries so they never really reached full potential. Also I always remember Ming and Tmac underperforming in the playoffs and never going anywhere just like the 76ers. Always hype that quickly faded away come playoff time.

Embiid is better than Ming, but Ming was great when healthy, especially for his extreme height, if not quite MVP level like Embiid was when healthy. I do regret that he and McGrady never seemed to be healthy together at the right time when they played in Houston. They had that big win streak during the regular season once, but weren't able to get everything together for a postseason run. I actually got to see them live once when they played for Houston; Ming was phenomenal in the game I saw, but McGrady had an off-night.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Kyrie Irving tore his ACL last night and is out for the season for Dallas.

What a nightmare season for Mavericks fans. Just when it seemed like things couldn't possibly get worse, they did.

Luka dumped for an old guy who got injured afterward, two injuries to key frontcourt players (Lively and Gafford), and now their other superstar out for the season.

Meanwhile I'm sitting here totally spoiled as a dual Thunder/Cavs fan. Genuinely feel bad for the Mavs fans; I don't think I can recall a team falling apart as quickly the year directly after their Finals appearance as this one. They lose their franchise player in likely the worst trade in NBA history, the guy he was traded for gets hurt for several weeks, then their other superstar gets hurt for the season, and their two key big men are hurt for several weeks, too. I don't blame them for not wanting to attend any more games. Who would want to see that trainwreck?

[WilyWestbrook0]

General NBA fans: "SGA is a foul merchant! He gets most of his points from free throws!"
Stats show he scores the most points in the league WITHOUT free throws...
Shai is a scoring merchant : r/Thunder


Also general NBA fans: "There's too much three point shooting in the league! I want to see guys drive to the basket and shoot the midrange like in the 1990s!"
Stats show SGA drives over 20 times a game, by far the most in the league...he's also third in midrange FG%...
In a league of his own : r/Thunder
Season Leaders | Stats | NBA.com


Stats show SGA should be exactly the kind of player people want to watch, but alas...

[WilyWestbrook0]

Jokic becomes first player in NBA history with a 30 point, 20 rebound, 20 assist triple double:

Nuggets 149-141 Suns (Mar 7, 2025) Box Score - ESPN

Not even Wilt did that. I have to say that on offense, Jokic is the most skilled big man of all-time. Maybe not the greatest of all-time, especially when defense is factored in, but on offense, he's the complete package, and no other big man in history has had his skill set on offense. He's especially the greatest passing big of all-time and it's not even close there. But he's also a great scorer and rebounder.

He's averaging a triple double this season and may get another MVP. It's between him and SGA. Obviously, I'm rooting for SGA as a Thunder fan, but I can't be mad if Jokic wins it again. The guy is so good it's almost unbelievable the numbers he puts up.

[pwaldo]

If we go with the Phil Jackson win/loss mark to determine if somebody will win an NBA championship this year it looks like the only teams that hit the threshold were the Cavs, Celtics, and Thunder. And since it is very accurate minus major mid season trades to a team below the threshold I'd have to add the Lakers and the Warriors to the mix. The Warriors just because Butler can turn it on in the playoffs and the Warriors have one so many times before.

But that's not many teams in the running and I don't see anybody outside of that being able to win. The Nuggets usually feasted on the Lakers and have never really beaten a 50+ win team in the playoffs before. And really beside a 1% token gift to the Warriors you just have 4 teams in the running with the league loving the Lakers making the Finals against either the Celtics or the Cavs. Lakers/Celtics you get that match up again for the billionth time and the Lakers versus Cavs gets you a much needed story line for the Cavs. Lebron versus his old team. Silver isn't going to be happy with a Thunder versus Cavs match up so that's why I don't think it happens. We will either get Thunder versus Celtics or Lakers versus Cavs/Celtics.

[WilyWestbrook0]

If we go with the Phil Jackson win/loss mark to determine if somebody will win an NBA championship this year it looks like the only teams that hit the threshold were the Cavs, Celtics, and Thunder. And since it is very accurate minus major mid season trades to a team below the threshold I'd have to add the Lakers and the Warriors to the mix. The Warriors just because Butler can turn it on in the playoffs and the Warriors have one so many times before.

But that's not many teams in the running and I don't see anybody outside of that being able to win. The Nuggets usually feasted on the Lakers and have never really beaten a 50+ win team in the playoffs before. And really beside a 1% token gift to the Warriors you just have 4 teams in the running with the league loving the Lakers making the Finals against either the Celtics or the Cavs. Lakers/Celtics you get that match up again for the billionth time and the Lakers versus Cavs gets you a much needed story line for the Cavs. Lebron versus his old team. Silver isn't going to be happy with a Thunder versus Cavs match up so that's why I don't think it happens. We will either get Thunder versus Celtics or Lakers versus Cavs/Celtics.

As much as I'd love to see Thunder versus Cavs, and while it's possible, it wouldn't surprise me to see another matchup. I do hope at least one of them gets there because this has been such a fun season as a fan and I really want to see one of them do it. But the Thunder are very young with only Caruso having extensive playoff experience, and they have struggled against the Lakers in the past. Plus Doncic has beaten them before. And yeah, the Warriors are looking impressive with Jimmy. I think OKC has the depth and all around skill to make it to the WCF, but it wouldn't shock me if they just couldn't get over one of the more vet teams. Even the Nuggets and Wolves might give them a run, but I don't think Denver has the depth, and I don't think Ant has the help anymore in Minny.

As for the Cavs, I wonder if they have the depth at the bigs or the defensive physicality. They've also shown weaknesses in the last couple of games with Donovan seeming to hog it while not having the same execution they've had during their long win streaks. And when Mobley or Jarrett Allen are out, they lack help in the interior. If either one of those guys gets hurt at all, even for a game or two in the playoffs, they're done. I could see them struggling a bit against playoff defenses and not having the same smooth offense that they've had for much of the regular season. They should at least make the ECF, but if Boston is fully healthy, especially with Porzingis, I still think Boston has a great shot, even without homecourt.

I just want at least one of those teams to make it, and I especially don't want Boston and the Lakers for the millionth time. Anything else. I mean I might be happy for Luka if he wins given what Dallas did to him, but that would be about it. Wouldn't care much to see Golden State again either. Jimmy is a competitor but he was really a [censored] to force his way out of Miami, and getting rewarded for that seems rather wrong and sets a bad precedent.

[pwaldo]

Yeah in the east you can pretty much ignore the playoffs until the ECF where everyone expects the matchup of Celtics versus Cavs to happen. That is basically where I will pay attention because I don't think any other teams can knock them off at this point. Out west it is a little bit hazier because the Lakers with Lebron have historically struggled against the Nuggets but this year with Luka I wouldn't expect that. So then it becomes who can stop the Lakers with a refs/league push behind them? You also have the Warriors who can go on a hot streak for a round or two so you really want to avoid them early. I don't think they have the youth and energy to make the Finals but they can play spoilers big time this year. Nuggets could maybe topple the Thunder or somebody like that but if they don't get a Lakers first round pass like other years it makes it hard for me to see them being able to put together more than one playoff round win with that thin roster. The only issue with the Thunder is they haven't done it before. Same thing people will say about the Cavs and what they said about the Celtics last year until they did it. The problem for me is with the west is that a lot more things can go wrong for a team Thunder or somebody else versus what will happen in the east. The east is basically a pass to the ECF for 2 teams unless they get hurt or choke badly. The west though you can simulate all the matchups and get hundreds of different outcomes. Definitely going to be more fun to watch the west than the east this year because of that.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Grizzlies fired head coach Taylor Jenkins:

Taylor Jenkins fired as Grizzlies coach after six seasons - ESPN

This is a very odd time for a firing given that they're playoff seeded in the loaded West. Must be something more behind the scenes that hasn't been revealed yet. This is unprecedented for a playoff team this late into the season, IIRC.