}~~~> Official 2024/2025 NBA Thread<~~~{ (Load management)
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It makes no sense, I was ready to crown him as a top 3 guard in the game
10 Takeaways From 11/22/24
ONE) Joel’s Knee
You just knew things were bad when we got the mid-day downgrade to questionable. Soon after that, we got word that he watched but didn’t participate in shoot around. At that point, it seemed pretty clear he was doubtful. Was ruled out shortly after Nick Nurse’s pregame presser. Nurse said Embiid “didn’t feel good enough to go” and that there was swelling in the knee. Maybe he didn’t want any of Ben Simmons? Nah, I’m kidding. He’s already been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Raptors as they continue to manage the thing. It’s crazy how miserable of a start to the season this has become for the Sixers between PG and Joel. At least they have the…
TWO) Rookie of the Year
It wouldn’t feel right writing these up without drooling over Jared McCain for a minute. This guy freakin’ did it again. Scored 30 points on 70.4 TS% (6-11 3PT), which means he’s now the first rookie this season with multiple 30-point games. Shit, that’s seven straight 20-point games. He has the most 3s made by a player in their first five career starts. Honestly, this could last another 20 minutes if we continue talking about all the records he’s breaking. His Rookie of the Year odds opened at +5000, then +750 last week, and now he’s a -145 fav. One of the craziest things you’ll ever see. The camera actually caught him yelling, “I’m the Rookie of the Year!” after making a three in the second half. He knows. Maxey (26 points, 4 steals) was able to get up to 26 minutes.
"Yeah, I did say that. It was pretty clear." - Jared McCain on saying he was ROY
THREE) Claxton’s Back… Literally
Nic Claxton returned after missing the last three games with a back issue. He got an epidural injection last week and said he’s been dealing with it since he hurt it in the summer. It’s all about managing it at this point, which is weird cause Jordi Fernandez just said on Tuesday that he wants his players playing at 200%, not 100%. Sounds like Claxton’s at 75%. He came off the bench, and if this is anything like the beginning of the season, he’ll continue to.
Cam Johnson’s been on quite the heater. He tied his career-high with nine three, scoring 37 points. Over his last four games, he’s averaging 27.5 points on 76.6 TS%. Cam Thomas (18 points, 7 assists, 29 minutes), who’s also dealing with back issues, said he was under the weather. Philly still boos Ben Simmons like crazy on every stuff. He had maybe the ugliest blown layup you’ll ever see, and that’s saying a lot coming from Ben Simmons.
“There will be days I make them, there will be days I miss them, I'll just keep shooting." - Cam Johnson
Sixers beat the Nets 113-98.
FOUR) Bub Benched
After starting 12 of their first 13 games, my guy Bub Carrington (2 points, 22 minutes) was benched in favor of Malcolm Brogdon. It’s easy to get upset about it, but the Wizards need to trade Brogdon. Might as well showcase him. I’m assuming that’s what this is all about cause if it’s not, someone needs to get fired. The 19-year-old rook has shown so much promise, so it’s probably best not to mess with his head. To his credit, Brogdon did have himself a game, or shall I say, a revenge game. Recorded a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds) in his 26 minutes.
Washington stuck around for a team that was 16.0 point underdogs. Bilal Coulibaly did a hell of a job on Jayson Tatum (16 points, 0-10 3PT, 3 turnovers) as his primary defender. Washington held Boston to a season-low in points and threes (11). Boston spent a lot of time picking on Alex Sarr, putting him in actions to get him on the perimeter. Everyone seems to love picking on the kid.
“We didn’t have a lot of energy tonight… We definitely needed to find different ways to put a pep in our step.” - Jaylen Brown
Celtics beat the Wizards 108-96.
FIVE) Looks Like 2022 Wiggins
Let’s look at Andrew Wiggins’ last three games:
11/22 - 30 PTS, 83.5 TS%
11/20 - 27 PTS, 79.4 TS%
11/18 - 22 PTS, 70.9 TS%
Sure looks like All-Star Wiggs (in that tiny ass sample). You notice Draymond’s 3-point shooting this season? He’s shooting 45.3%! Was 3-of-4 tonight against the Pelicans. Pretty good for a career 32.2% shooting.
Pels went with Elf (4 points, 4 assists, 3 steals) again, even with the return of Brandon Ingram. Was announced in the starting lineup as "from Gretna.” Daniel Theis started in place of Yves Missi (shoulder). Trey Murphy (24 points, 5-9 3PT) had his best game of the season. Thank God cause my Best Ball bags need it. The game was surprisingly really close, thanks to Trey’s shot-making and he even had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but the shot came up short.
"We need Trey's shot-making. His ability to space the floor, it allows guys to get to the basket... It's good to see him continue to get into rhythm" - Willie Green on Trey Murphy's game
Maybe the real news is the update we got from Shams on Zion…
“I am told that Zion is not close to a return. He is still a ways away. He has received multiple treatments on that hamstring... It is typically 4-6 weeks with that grade level... but the Pelicans are bracing it could go longer"
This season’s unraveled quicker than anyone could expect. Really unfortunate.
Warriors beat the Pelicans 112-108.
SIX) Giannis’ Triple-Double
The Giannis matchup that I always look forward to. The team with one of the worst rim defenses in the league going up against the guy who does mostly everything at the rim. He attempts 11.9 shots at the rim per game. The next highest is the aforementioned Zion Williamson, with 9.2 attempts. Giannis recorded his 47th career triple-double (37 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists).
Quenton Jackson (9 points) got the start again for Indiana. This performance wasn’t quite like his 24-point outburst on the Rockets on Wednesday. He was a team-worst -25. The Milwaukee crowd treats Tyrese Haliburton (18 points, 9 assists, -18) like Philly treats Ben Simmons. Tyrese’s body is treating him worse. These injuries to his back and shoulder have really ruined a beautiful player. He kinda got it going in the second half, scoring 12 points (4-6 3PT), but it was too little, too late. There’s a video going around of him talking about his struggles after the game… it’s a rough watch. He looked so frustrated and almost teary-eyed.
“It's part of basketball. I just gotta keep trusting myself, working hard, trusting my teammates.” - Tyrese Haliburton on his shooting struggles
Bucks beat the Pacers 129-117.
SEVEN) AYO!
With Pat Williams out again, the Bulls chose to start Ayo Dosunmu (20 points, 8 assists, 38 minutes) in his place this time instead of Torrey Craig. Simply put, they didn’t have to worry about Giannis this time around. Torrey went back to being a DNP-CD. Bulls always play Ayo a bunch in the matchup with the Hawks because of the job he does defending Trae Young (25 points, 1-8 3PT). Pat Williams spoke to the media pregame btw and said that he’s not too concerned with his foot inflammation. He thinks it’s because of all the minutes he’s played recently, which is a bit of a worry.
The other story from this game was Billy Donovan giving us a heads-up on my guy Matas Buzelis’ playing time. He said he didn’t play much against the Bucks because of the matchup with Giannis but said he was going to start playing more with Patrick Williams sidelines. He kept his promise cause Matas (9 points, 3 stocks) played 19 minutes, which is the most he’s played all season (not counting the blowout against Dallas). He looks like he’s starting to settle down out there. Josh Giddey (18 points, 8 assists) finally closed a game cause he played well. Or maybe it’s more that Atlanta’s defense is terrible.
“I thought he was great. He continues to learn, and he continues to get better." - Billy Donovan on Matas Buzelis
Bulls beat the Hawks 136-122. New season-season high for Chicago.
EIGHT) Villain Brooks
Dillon Brooks (28 points, 6-8 3PT) kept trying to tell Chauncey Billups that he might wanna try something else, but Chauncey didn’t listen. They’d have Donovan Clingan guard him for much of the night, and Brooks just kept shooting over him. He ended up making six 3s, which tied a career-high. They didn’t run plays for him or anything. Rockets would just swing until they found the open man. Tari Eason was Tari Eason’ing, scoring 22 points in 21 minutes. Was a team-high +33. Jalen Green (17 points) is starting to learn how to take advantage of Steven Adams’ screen game.
The Rockets defense is scary good. They’re close to catching the Thunder for the top defensive rating in the league (103.7) and holding teams to 43.0% shooting.
"A lot of free looks for me. I told Ime, I don't know doing over there, but I need some touches. We just ran a pick and roll, and iso on the top, and shots were falling." - Dillon Brooks on the Blazers defending him with Donovan Clingan
Rockets beat the Blazers 116-88. Lowest points scored by the Blazers this season.
NINE) Who Needs Luka?
Nikola Jokic (33 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists) returned to the Nuggets after missing their last three games. His wife finally gave birth to a baby boy who will be taking over the farm in 20 years. Dereck Lively II was physical as hell with him all game and it didn’t matter. He still put up a 30-point triple-double. It’s crazy how Dario Saric (3 minutes, 2 points, -7) can be semi-decent in games starting for Jokic and then look like the worst player in the league backing him up. Jokic had to play 39 minutes because Dario was that bad.
The Mavs were great all around. Kyrie didn’t even score 20 and they still put up 123 points. In fact, Kyrie was 0-7 in the 4th quarter. This was about the supporting cast. Quentin Grimes had a 10-point opening quarter. PJ Washington (22 points, 13 rebounds) had a 9-0 run by himself at one point. Naji Marshall scored a career-high 26 points, making floater after floater. They’ve now beaten two of the best teams in the league (OKC & DEN) without Luka Doncic. Mavs had a team meeting after their loss to the Jazz and have now won four straight
"This is a character game for us." - Jason Kidd
Mavs beat the Nuggets 123-120.
TEN) DeMar & Domantas Return
The Kings are getting healthier. DeMar missed three games, and Domantas missed two. The only one they’re missing now is Malik, who’s set to return any day now. Saying they were a bit rusty would be an understatement. They scored 29 points in the first half. Lemme repeat that again… THEY SCORED 29 POINTS IN THE FIRST HALF. All I could think about were the famous Cody Main tweets, “Our expectations for you were low but HOLY FUCK”. 12 in the first quarter and 17 in the second. Unreal.
The Clippers defense is winning these games for them. They’re now in the top five in defensive rating (107.6). We give a ton of respect to Ty Lue for his coaching, but we should start appreciating what Jeff Van Gundy’s doing over there. He’s got that defense flying everywhere, and this is all without Kawhi. You see what Franz just did to the Lakers? Clippers held him to 14 points. Man, the Kings really shot 20.0% from 3 and 38.6% from the field.
“We want to be perfect. We got Jeff Van Gundy, who’s on us every day about being perfect defensively.” - James Harden on the Clippers defense.
"That's who we have to be. ... We didn't make shots tonight, but our defense held us up. That's who we got to be every night. We have to be the hardest playing team." - Ty Lue on the Clippers defense
Final: LAC 104, SAC 88.
Clippers win their 7th straight home game behind strong first-half defense and some timely fourth-quarter offense. In between it got dicey. But that's what the Clippers do. They are now 10-7 overall and 1-1 in the NBA Cup. 4 game road trip is up next.
Ty Lue: "Our guys played the right way. Everyone touched it."
Ty Lue: "I like our guys' attention to detail every single day... Our defense has been really good, it's carried us this year. That's how we've got to be until we get our guys back."
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