2025-26 NBA Thread

[pwaldo]

Are the Thunder even going to lose again?

What makes this worse for the rest of the league is that they have the Clippers pick this year and somebody else's too that should turn into a good pick as well. So no relief from them for the rest of the league it seems for the near future.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Are the Thunder even going to lose again?

What makes this worse for the rest of the league is that they have the Clippers pick this year and somebody else's too that should turn into a good pick as well. So no relief from them for the rest of the league it seems for the near future.

Their schedule is admittedly going to get a lot tougher later in the season. I think they have had perhaps the easiest schedule so far. They haven't even played Denver yet. Still, I think they could possibly break the record the way things look now.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Last night, I officially wrote off the Cavs as an Eastern contender. After a players only meeting, an accountability session from their coach, and a promise to play more disciplined defense, they almost lost to a heavily injured bottom dweller in Washington. Now I just saw that Evan Mobley is going to be out for almost a month. They had every opportunity this year to finally drop the soft label, with a wide open Eastern Conference, but now they can't even play well in the regular season anymore. They're done, and they're in the second apron, so they can't do much with their current roster. So frustrating. I'm glad I also follow OKC out West; feel bad for the Cavs fans who were hoping to see their first real title run since the LeBron years. This unit just doesn't have what it takes and they'll probably have to bust it up somehow with all their limitations, including limited draft assets. Big yikes.

[pwaldo]

Last night, I officially wrote off the Cavs as an Eastern contender. After a players only meeting, an accountability session from their coach, and a promise to play more disciplined defense, they almost lost to a heavily injured bottom dweller in Washington. Now I just saw that Evan Mobley is going to be out for almost a month. They had every opportunity this year to finally drop the soft label, with a wide open Eastern Conference, but now they can't even play well in the regular season anymore. They're done, and they're in the second apron, so they can't do much with their current roster. So frustrating. I'm glad I also follow OKC out West; feel bad for the Cavs fans who were hoping to see their first real title run since the LeBron years. This unit just doesn't have what it takes and they'll probably have to bust it up somehow with all their limitations, including limited draft assets. Big yikes.

I agree.

They failed to do anything when they had a great regular season record and #1 seed that it doesn't make sense for them to make a run now that they are basically treading water in a very weak Eastern Conference. I don't know enough about the Pistons but I heard somebody tell me that they would give the Thunder a run for the money in the NBA Finals but I don't really buy that right now. The East is just so poor of a conference.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Yeah the Pistons aren't at OKC's level, but the Spurs really impressed me tonight with their cup win over OKC. I thought they were too young to contend, but I had no idea they were such a defensively intense team. They played D the way OKC likes to - physical, aggressive, and it worked. The nice thing about this is all the pearl clutching complainers who act like OKC is the only team allowed to play aggressively on defense can no longer use that argument. The rest of the league just needed to catch up to the way they were playing it, and have the personnel to make it work, and it looks like San Antonio does. This will be a great challenge for OKC and bring them back down to Earth after that impressive start. They needed a game like this to get them back to playing in clutch situations, which will inevitably come up more again in the playoffs.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Knicks-Spurs was a fun cup game. Bridges being out at the end forced them to go deeper into their bench, and they actually got solid contributions from Clarkson and Kolek. Good ball movement and shooting at the end was too much for the Spurs.

Wemby got humbled a bit in this game. A lot of OKC fans now hate him for his celebratory gestures and comments about ethics during and after the OKC game, but I still like him; I think he's just trying to get the rivalry going, if a bit exaggerated and unaware of his own occasional flopping, lol. Overall I think his expressive personality and competitiveness are good for the game. He'll still need to earn it along the way with more wins. Looking forward to the next games against OKC.

[WilyWestbrook0]

Thunder lost another as their schedule looks tougher. Wolves did the same thing the Spurs did: stifling perimeter D, OKC's own specialty that's now being successfully copied by other teams who have similar personnel.

Thunder got used to beating bum teams early in the schedule. Now they need to prove they can beat the teams that are starting to incorporate and apply their own defensive philosophy.

[pwaldo]

Sorry I jinxed both Reeves and the Thunder. I was joking with the Thunder as I didn't really think they would never lose another game the rest of the year but with these losses to the Spurs it sure seems like that could be an issue come playoff time. Maybe the Thunder play the Spurs differently in the post season or don't even get a chance to face them but before this I would have taken the Thunder versus the field. Now I think it probably 50-50

[WilyWestbrook0]

Sorry I jinxed both Reeves and the Thunder. I was joking with the Thunder as I didn't really think they would never lose another game the rest of the year but with these losses to the Spurs it sure seems like that could be an issue come playoff time. Maybe the Thunder play the Spurs differently in the post season or don't even get a chance to face them but before this I would have taken the Thunder versus the field. Now I think it probably 50-50

I'm really impressed with the Spurs and how well they match up with the Thunder. They're faster, stronger, more athletic. And they play D the same way the Thunder do. Thunder right now have had no answer for them in the regular season and it was only the first matchup that was really close - the others weren't even that close - so they have a lot to figure out. Spurs are just way ahead of schedule - I thought they were too young to have meshed well yet, but I was wrong. Thunder could be just another in the line of one-and-done champs if they can't deal with the Spurs. It's a good thing they got a championship before Wemby got better and got a better supporting cast around him.

[pwaldo]

I'm really impressed with the Spurs and how well they match up with the Thunder. They're faster, stronger, more athletic. And they play D the same way the Thunder do. Thunder right now have had no answer for them in the regular season and it was only the first matchup that was really close - the others weren't even that close - so they have a lot to figure out. Spurs are just way ahead of schedule - I thought they were too young to have meshed well yet, but I was wrong. Thunder could be just another in the line of one-and-done champs if they can't deal with the Spurs. It's a good thing they got a championship before Wemby got better and got a better supporting cast around him.

Yeah I wrote off the Spurs this year because I expected them to mature and be a threat next season but they are really ahead of schedule. The Spurs also have a bunch of young talent so they could be a force like the Thunder for many years to come too versus the couple of teams who have to win it this season or their window is basically closed