2022-23 NBA Season Thread

[pwaldo]

The thing is the league is always going to favor scoring because it "makes the league exciting and ratings go up" excuse so if you ever have a move towards more defense or the scoring by the teams drops they will fix it. That happens in the other leagues too

[pwaldo]

So how about those Kings? I don't think they have been this good this far into the season since the Webber/Bibby days. That's a long time for Kings fans to wait for some success.

[WilyWestbrook0]

So how about those Kings? I don't think they have been this good this far into the season since the Webber/Bibby days. That's a long time for Kings fans to wait for some success.

Yeah they have been the surprise of the season. I remember last year consensus was that they were on the way down again after the Haliburton trade. But not so. They're 3rd in the west, have winning records both at home and on the road, and are literally the highest scoring team in the league. I should try to catch them when I can -- they'll play OKC a couple of times at the end of February, so I might get to see them then.

[shockwiresports]

I agree about the Kings! They have an awesome group of players right now!


Another nice game for LBJ last night in the overtime win against the Knicks. He’s been playing so well and now the other players around him are doing a bit more to support him, it’s a great time to watch the Lakers

[pwaldo]

Another nice game for LBJ last night in the overtime win against the Knicks. He’s been playing so well and now the other players around him are doing a bit more to support him, it’s a great time to watch the Lakers

Yes he is having the best seasons I've ever seen for a player that "old" in the NBA

[WilyWestbrook0]

Cavs/Griz game last night sure was a wild one. Donovan Mitchell and Dillon Brooks got thrown out. Brooks hit Mitchell in the groin, and Mitchell retaliated by throwing the ball at and shoving him. Cavs ended up winning pretty big. Garland put up one of his more impressive games of the season.

Feels like there's a lot of parity this season. The Celtics and Nuggets currently have the best records and lead their conferences, but from what I've seen of them this season, neither look particularly dominant. The Celtics once gave up 150 to the Thunder in a game where SGA didn't even play. And the Nuggets are only .500 on the road.

I think with all the load management, it's also harder to get a sense of how strong teams look in the regular season nowadays. In the past, it seems it was easier to tell which teams were the top ones around the time of the All-Star break. Now more than ever, I think teams save their best for the latter part of the season. It will get more interesting to see who's strong then. Maybe the parity will decrease; we'll see.

Meanwhile, the Pelicans sure suck without Zion. He's been hurt for about a month and they went from one of the top teams in the West to around .500. They've lost 10 straight, biggest L streak in the league at the moment.

[pwaldo]

Meanwhile, the Pelicans sure suck without Zion. He's been hurt for about a month and they went from one of the top teams in the West to around .500. They've lost 10 straight, biggest L streak in the league at the moment.

Yeah that team has been like night and day since his injury. Before it people were talking about them contending in the West and now they have fallen off the face of the Earth without him.

[WilyWestbrook0]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ahead-deadline

I'm sure this surprises no one, but Kyrie Irving wants to be traded again.

The Lakers, Suns, and Mavs are desperate enough to need his scoring and also don't have the organizational ethics to care much about his crazy conspiracy theories and antisemitism.

[WilyWestbrook0]

And the Mavs get Kyrie:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...ving-mavericks

The Kuka Ircic era has begun. Or Lurie Donving? Man you can't combine their names for anything catchy lol.

[pwaldo]

I really don't like this move for the Mavericks (other than keeping him away from the Lakers?) and if I was Luka I would leave once my contract runs out. I still don't know how they have surrounded him with a bunch of garbage players in the age of super teams and this is there best attempt. A guy who is super toxic and probably the biggest poison pill in all of sports. The only other guy who seems to be able to tolerate or be immune to him is Lebron and he is pretty toxic for different reasons than Irving. Why you would risk putting him with a guy who could become an all time great I will never understand but Cuban has been exposed as an idiot for several years now so it shouldn't be so shocking.