RIP, Paul Westphal - our top pick in 1970, was on the ‘74 championship team - of course his great career in Phoenix as a player, then coach - key guy on our 1972-73 team that won 68 games, still a team record - high scorer for Phx in that memorable 1976 triple-OT playoff game at the Gahdn - darn good player indeed
Bradley Beal, 55 of Wash’s 102 points thru three quarters - in the zone
Gordon 44 points, good to see
Houston got the best of the deal ending up w/Victor Oladipo as they did - Boogie a double double last game, it’d be amazing if he regained his old form
it was Durant & Westbrook w/Harden in OKC, now James is back w/Durant, & Kyrie, in NY - altho Kyrie’s status is unknown currently
Let’s go Celts
Harden and Kyrie? What could go wrong?
Anyone trading for Harden was going to get the raw end of the deal.
😁I know, right? - ‘w/megastars like that they’ll win every time’
Nets might unveil their ‘incredible backcourt tandem’ haha Monday against Bucks! Altho Kyrie is somewhere between ‘personal reasons’ covid protocol-&-AWOL & not expected back this week
if full season gets in, Portland is a quiet pick for me, Melo & the underrated Enes Kanter are flourishing backing up Jusuf Nurkic, they have depth & good up-front players w/Lillard etc
Didnt think covid-era sports would draw me in, but they have😷🤔
Pacers losing VO.......meh. Whatever. He wants to/ thinks he is the "big dog", but not close. Nice player, but that's it. He is not irreplaceable.
Indiana unloaded the drama and a diva. Fine with me. He was not coming back anyways, so they had to get something.
Looks like another "super team" is being built. We shall see how that works. Enough ball to go around?
It looks like the Nets gave up quite a bit.
not sure what ", four unprotected Nets pick swaps (2021, 2023, 2025, 2027) " means. The Rockets look like they made out ok.
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
There it is - just like the good ol days in OKC, KD (42) & James Harden (32 & a triple double) put on a clinic
They played w/Russell Westbrook in OKC
waiting in the wings now is Kyrie Irving, who is expected back Mon
Steve Nash knows guard play as well as anyone
guessing he’ll figure out some way to make it all work - Harden in a rotational 6th man role a la OKC??
Let’s go Celts
@stephen uh, against the Magic. It won’t end well end Brooklyn, will get worse when Kyrie returns. Harden is a hot potato.
They’re not awful, Orl was 6-6, Bklyn 7-6 coming in
It’ll be about egos - 2 ‘superstars’ playing in the backcourt
didnt mesh too well last year in Houston w/Westbrook
....the ‘grand unveiling’😮 comes Monday w/Bucks, your team, will be fun to see how this chemistry experiment goes
....the ‘grand unveiling’😮 comes Monday w/Bucks, your team, will be fun to see how this chemistry experiment goes
It ended up coinciding w/the unveiling of the new political team - great results both, KD 38, Kyrie 37, Harden a triple double, all in the 2nd half & OTs
Checking his ego at the door, James had 2 pts at halftime - 1st time in his career no 1st-half FG - Bklyn came from behind to force OT, then ran outta gas
they also have towering C DeAndre Jordan - they’ll be there -
biggest thing, we need Jayson back pronto - Embiid had a field day but we still hung w/em & will be solid - Kemba returned, then another injury, we sure need him too - its a cliche but Celts are indeed a work in progress -
all 3 teams will be top-tier - Brad Stevens & Doc Rivers are among the 2 top coaches, & ‘the big 3’ will make Steve Nash as look good on the bench as he was in his HOF career
congrats to Kyrie for a monster return game - what better gesture can there be & what can better reflect on a person-of-means, than his purchase of a home for the George Floyd family - some things are more important in life than basketball, & Kyrie won’t be budged from that - biggest ups to the guy
Bucks-Lakiz tonite, Let’s Go Celts
A horrendous nite offensively (2-16 FG, 1-6 FT) - but, in his first night in a long time of playing big minutes, DeMarcus 15 rebounds & Hou wins - I’m tellin ya if he & John Wall returned to form....
Kyrie another monster game but Bklyn waxed by Cavs, altho no KD (Achilles)
thought Portland would make big noise - since posting that, Jusuf & CJ McCollum, their other scorer besides Lillard, injured
hands full again w/Phila - Embiid 38/11 this time - Jaylen a beast this season, he & Jayson an inside/outside tandem 2nd to none** - let’s go Celts
**later edit, obviously that needs fixing, ‘2nd to none’ belongs to LeBron/AD - still, Jaylen w/33 pts in 19 min last nite - paging Jayson
Nikola Jocic is a great player, but 33 pts at the half? Rudy has never had his lunch eaten like this b4 - Jazz’ 11 game streak about to end
great game last night, we coulda/shoulda had it - LA can be beaten - let’s go Celts
Time was when Russell Westbrook was mentioned in the same breath w/KD, Harden, Curry, almost LeBron etc
He’s gone off the radar since leaving OKC, however, something we’ll (likely) see tonite - no ‘chemistry’ w/BBeal apparently - Harden sits
Have closely followed Jazz since pre-Stockton/Malone (Rickey Green, Mark Eaton, Austin Carr, Thurl Bailey etc), Great team to root for, always really good - hardly ever miss playoffs, yet finals in 1997-98 the closest they’ve come
Biggest ups to Emily Ford, who is hiking the 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin, in hopes of completing it in March - if so, she’ll be the 1st woman to do so in wintertime -
this takes some serious doing - am familiar w/winter hiking/camping up here in NE -
read up on it, & winter on the Ice Age Trail is really going up against it - she has her dog along with her & what a spirit to undertake this challenging journey into the unknown
Russell Westbrook had a triple double, Bradley Beal 37 points, but Wash lost
James Harden had a triple double, Kyrie 39 pts - & Bklyn won
all secondary, we’re in SF & need this win, Marcus or no Marcus
Same thing, B’s, Leafs, Habs, 1st-2nd-3rd, but another asterisked season & the postponements are piling up
this season* may not make the finish line, abbreviated & all
Yes TB won SCup last year, But Muted W/An Asterisk to reflect shortened season, plus no fans for playoffs & it was on the road
will their fans gathered at the stadium tmrw nite make up for that by turning the town upside down if they win SB
Mavericks 134 Warriors 132. GREAT comeback win by Dallas after Warriors thrashed them by 31 points on Thursday. Steph Curry reminded us why he is the greatest shooter of all-time...........he dropped 57 last night. But it wasn't enough. It was the Curry - Luka Doncic show, Doncic had 42. Fun game to watch! Warriors played both games vs. Dallas without all three of their centers and had no player over 6'7". Sure didn't hurt them Thursday.
Rotation adjustment, Semi comes up big in a rare start (no surprise), Payton Pritchard big minutes off the bench & we handle Tor - Tristen T 11 boards off the bench - good moves - still another week b4 Marcus returns
Semi limped off the court in the 3rd qtr tonite & didn’t return
Robert Williams III should get a start now, or mayb Grant Williams - they’ve paid their dues
”We are so inconsistent” - coach Stevens “there’s a difference between capable & consistent & we’re not there yet”
probably so but he also knows what Marcus Smart brings to the table too
#6 - happy birthday Bill Russell
Great low post battle tonite between Giannis (29/15) & Rudy Gobert (27/12)
Terry Rozier 41 points for Charlotte
Enes Kanter has put together a string of double doubles for Port - he & Melo having real solid years - Port could be real trouble when Jusuf & CJ McCollum return - same Hou w/Christian Wood
they’re horses - that’s all you can say about LeBron & AD -
LeBron deserves the respect of all sports fans, game in & game out he outplays the other athletes on the floor - takes no ‘rest’ games - a real throwback & you know Russell has gotta be a big fan - & #6 has seen em all, so Let’s Go Celts
He was right (coach S) - losses to the 2 crummiest teams in the conf, including a WAXING today - makes no sense
Elsewhere, look at the Jazz, they’ve had this kind of season in them for eons, they stuck w/Quin Snyder & he’s being rewarded
Doc Rivers has found a home in Phila, they’re big trouble & we gotta get our sh!t together Pronto
Just a crazy-interesting game in Utah tonite - no Embiid, so Ben Simmons goes off for a career high 42 - & at the same time w/no Embiid, Rudy G’a double-double run is stopped
Clarkson’s 40 off the bench - in a mere 29 minutes - could speak volumes about this team - yep this is how Jerry Sloan wanted em to play
Please Celts, NO TRADES, Our Rotation Of Players Is Proven, we’re deep & good, current funk is brief (well 10 of 16😮), we’ll only get better, let’s go Celts
Utah is looking unstoppable. But that's how Milwaukee looked the past 2 seasons and they faded late in the playoffs. It's all about when you peak.
The Minnesota Timberwolves have fired their head coach after a loss to the Knicks.
Is there a worse franchise in the NBA? Their only successful years were the Garnett era and even then they lost in the first round of the playoffs 7 seasons in a row. They have only made the playoffs once since 2005. I often forget they even exist, how can they continue to be so bad?
We’ve lost 3 of 4, 13 of 20 overall
We haven’t stunk joints out every time - better tonite playing hi quality hoop in a close game thruout
that’s where it stops
something is off kilter - believe totally in this group - really thought that 7-13 would’ve been reversed, & in a way Because Of Marcus’ absence -
he’s not the be all end all for what ails the club now tho - wish I had a clue what it is.....
———————
still think DeMarcus has game -
beal & Westbrook are starting to gel
really thought DeM would find a home backing up Wood, then Wall & Oladipo lighting sh!t up in the backcourt - but no
The big guy isn’t as lithe as he was, he’s become something of a defensive liability, he’s gotta realize that & adapt in the same fashion as Melo in Prtlnd
his next stop should be Wash backing up the center there & jumping in w/Beal & Westbrook....can’t forget the way he played in NO w/AD - hi IQ power basketball a la Wilt & yes, The #s He Was Posting Then & How He Was Playing Back Up That Lofty Comparison😆🤩 🤪
finally, Harden early MVP candidate - the #s don’t lie, he’s become a triple double machine & they’re winning - yep chemis-try, he & Kyrie, who needs KD, enuf plea...s...e
I was hoping the Pacers were going to take advantage of the struggling Celt's last night, but nope. Oh well...
Everyone has a plan, till you get punched in the face,
Now the malaise has spread onto the ice, we’ve lost 4 of 5, the last 2 the worst in recent memory, esp being in NY😖 - Z’s & Kruger’s absences figured to catch up w/us sooner or later - those 2 late goals 2nd period, then another 1st minute of 3rd last night😠
like the C’s, B’s gotta play way out of it
B’s fans love you coach J
Wow - the battle for PA - no Sid the Kid tonite, yes Thurs - mayb he & Claude Giroux won’t supplant Mario Lemieux or Bobby Clarke, the faces of PA’s 2 teams as their on-ice greatest>each won 2 straight Stanley Cups>longtime club owners/execs....
but they’re making a case for it - both still just 33, in their 16th & 14th yrs w/Pitts & Flyiz - outside of Patrice the longest w/one team among active players
& now both teams tied at 25 going into Thurs
Zdeno is in town later this week (Wed-Friday) & why does it seem only fitting he should return to an empty Garden
as unpalatable as it’ll be to see him in the other uniform...by hook or by crook we gotta force a 3 way tie in our div tmrw - they’re going good & we’ve dipped in the standings - we’re with ya Z - the big guy turns 44 later this month & is playing at a Zdeno level .....why oh why😠 - 1st Brady, then Z
Let’s Go Broonz
I know LeBron James has done a lot of good in the world with his charity work. But still, right now I wish he would SHUT HIS MOUTH. Latest: He comes out last week and says that the NBA should not be having an All-Star game because of COVID. Oh Really? Where was your mouth last season when, AT THE HEIGHT OF COVID, you were competing for yet another NBA championship??
Will someone please inform LeBron James: You are an NBA player just like 480 or so other NBA players. YOU DO NOT RUN THE LEAGUE.
