2023-24 NBA Thread

[WilyWestbrook0]

Gen Z definitely starting to take over the league. Ant and the Wolves even surprised the champion Nuggets in game 1.

With the Cavs surprising and amazing comeback game 7 win, all the Semifinals are now set. I'm really stoked about getting to see my Thunder and Cavs play on the same nights. Cavs probably don't have much of a shot against the Celtics though. But Thunder and Mavs should be fun.

[pwaldo]

Gen Z definitely starting to take over the league. Ant and the Wolves even surprised the champion Nuggets in game 1.

This shouldn't be that shocking after looking at the roster for the Nuggets. They had a pretty thin bench last year and really did nothing to improve in the off season or at the trade deadline from what I can tell. Their roster is almost 90s like where people would question if the last x amount of players on the team would even be in the NBA today so I can see them struggling or even losing to a deeper team like the Wolves or Thunder. The only thing the Nuggets have is a superior player and more experience versus the rest of the field but they really should have upgraded their team if they wanted a slam dunk repeat and if they fail this year they are going to look at how relatively weak the rest of the surviving playoffs team are and realize that they screwed up big time by not adding depth to the bench. Starters are great for them but they get blown away when the bench players come in.

[WilyWestbrook0]

This shouldn't be that shocking after looking at the roster for the Nuggets. They had a pretty thin bench last year and really did nothing to improve in the off season or at the trade deadline from what I can tell. Their roster is almost 90s like where people would question if the last x amount of players on the team would even be in the NBA today so I can see them struggling or even losing to a deeper team like the Wolves or Thunder. The only thing the Nuggets have is a superior player and more experience versus the rest of the field but they really should have upgraded their team if they wanted a slam dunk repeat and if they fail this year they are going to look at how relatively weak the rest of the surviving playoffs team are and realize that they screwed up big time by not adding depth to the bench. Starters are great for them but they get blown away when the bench players come in.

That's a very good point; they lost one of their Finals bench spark plugs, Bruce Brown. Often, analysts and fans look at experience and defense, as historically young teams, especially ones with poor defense, usually don't fare well in the playoffs. But it's also important to have bench depth. You see a guy like Nurse run his Philly guys into the ground, and you get concerned. Thibs of the Knicks is another coach infamous for this, so I wonder if the Knicks can make it out of the East. They're playing a defensively weak team in the Pacers now, but when they face likely Boston in the ECF, I think that's as far as they'll get. Meanwhile the Cavaliers coach is another bad one about not using depth unless he's forced to. When the Cavs had their big regular season run, JBB was forced to go beyond his preferred 8 man rotation and include shooters like Merrill. He got Merrill going again finally in game 7 yesterday and Merrill's shooting helped bring down that huge 18 point lead the Magic had in the second quarter. It also helped Donovan Mitchell recuperate in time for a big second half.

[pwaldo]

Yeah the Celtics should easily make it to the NBA Finals. I know they have an injury to KP but it just seems like everyone else in the East who could have contended to start the year was hit with massive injuries. No injuries to the Heat, Bucks, Knicks, 76ers etc and that side of the playoffs looks completely different and is more of a battle for the Celtics. Not saying the Celtics will win it all just that even with their injuries they should still coast to the NBA Finals this year.

[pwaldo]

The Thunder and the Celtics really letiting the Nuggets off the hook with their poor play. I know some of these opponents are good but it just doesn't seem like you have "elite" teams anymore. They are either old/hurt or inexperienced/hurt. Even the Knicks could have been down 0-3 to the Pacers.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Yeah, the league started cracking down on elites after the Super Teams era with LeBron and Durant in the 2010s. It's harder to build teams that way anymore. Sometimes it's also just not effective if the chemistry sucks or the bench is bad. Look at the failed Brooklyn Nets experiment or even this year's Phoenix Suns for proof of that. It's definitely a transitional time in the NBA as the old super teams and superstars fade and the young guys are still getting playoff experience. This is the widest open the league has been in quite some time, it seems. I have no idea who will win the title. I'd still lean toward Denver, but that Wolves series will go at least six games, and even then I just don't know if Denver's bench is enough anymore. The Celtics too have weaknesses; they had a bunch of opportunities to really smash the Cavs last night, who honestly looked like crap outside of Mitchell and to a lesser extent Mobley, but they didn't dominate as much as it seems they should have.

[pwaldo]

It almost seems whoever wins the Denver/Minnesota series is going to win if they don't suffer an injury. The East is garbage except for the Celtics and you can't really accurately gauge how good they are because they just stomped down on inferior competition all year. They didn't but up a good record against the West so they vulnerable to anybody who comes out of the Wolves/Nuggets/Mavs/Thunder quartet. I don't think the Mavs have enough with a hobbled Luka and they are giving the Thunder a fit right now so how can you buy the unproven Thunder as champions right now? So that leaves either Denver or Minnesota. Minnesota looked fantastic the first 2 games and the Nuggets looked listless but now the series is back at a reset with it being tied at 2-2. So while I don't really like them as heavy favorites I think the eventual NBA champs will come out of that Denver/Minnesota match-up.

[WilyWestbrook0]

And so all series are now tied 2-2 except the Boston one, but their 3-1 advantage isn't all that impressive given they BARELY beat the Cavs last night WITHOUT Donovan Mitchell.

It will be interesting to see who steps up. Right now it's just anyone's for the grabs. If I have to predict, I think it'll be what I predicted months ago: Nuggets/Celtics Finals with the Nuggets repeating as champs. But I also wouldn't be surprised if it's something else entirely, lol.

[pwaldo]

And so all series are now tied 2-2 except the Boston one, but their 3-1 advantage isn't all that impressive given they BARELY beat the Cavs last night WITHOUT Donovan Mitchell.

Yeah I can't really grasp a handle on who or what the Celtics are this season because they really haven't been tested. You can't fault them for being healthy and getting good breaks in the playoffs but they could go into the NBA Finals and be really tough or they could get swept.

Also Denver now up 3-2 after being down 0-2 is going to be a back breaker for the Wolves if they end up losing this one. You had the defending champs on the ropes and just couldn't land the knockout blow if they fail to do so.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Yeah I can't really grasp a handle on who or what the Celtics are this season because they really haven't been tested. You can't fault them for being healthy and getting good breaks in the playoffs but they could go into the NBA Finals and be really tough or they could get swept.

Also Denver now up 3-2 after being down 0-2 is going to be a back breaker for the Wolves if they end up losing this one. You had the defending champs on the ropes and just couldn't land the knockout blow if they fail to do so.

Yeah, it was kind of funny that Jayson Tatum thought they had somehow fought through adversity because they had an injury to one guy (Porzingis). But they are in a much weaker conference and just faced two teams in the playoffs that were also without MULTIPLE key players (Heat without Butler and Rozier for most of the series, then the Cavs without Jarrett Allen and then also without Mitchell for the final two games). They haven't been tested whatsoever. If the Knicks make it, they're also banged up, and with the way Thibs runs his guys into the ground, I still don't think the Celtics will be tested until the NBA Finals.

Finally, as fun and exciting and overachieving as the young Wolves and Thunder have been, it looks like the teams with more deep playoff experience are going to win those series as well. The Nuggets have been there done that, and even the Mavs have made a deep run with Luka before, and of course Kyrie won with LeBron as a Cav back in 2016. I could definitely see the Wolves or Thunder making a deep playoff run as early as next year, and in the years to come, but it appears they're too young and/or missing a few key pieces to challenge the more veteran teams. If either one of them end up coming back from the 3-2 deficit to win the series, I'll be VERY impressed, but that's a lot to come back from.