NBA: 2014-2015 Season

[JohnBM01]

NBA. Basketball. Thursday. Night. Schedule:

* OKC Thunder at CHI Bulls
* DAL Mavericks at POR Trail Blazers

Enjoy tonight's two games.

 

[JohnBM01]

Word has it that after a long while battling cancer, the great Craig Sager will return to reporting tonight. He's in Chicago for the Thunder at Bulls game tonight.


[UPDATE] Why did I mention the Heat? I meant Bulls! Changes made.

 

[sumbrownkid]

@JohnBM01: You mean Thunder at Chicago game?

Seriously did not expect Moore to be the hero. Which begs the question...Why hasn't Thibs been using him more?

 

[JohnBM01]

Why in the world I screwed up saying the Heat in my last post? I meant the Bulls. But again-I am human. We screw things up even when we don't realize doing so. As for OKC at CHI, that was a very good finish. I saw Chicago splash that three that would decide the game. All congratulations to sumbrownkid's Bulls, better luck next time for Brett's Thunder.

 

[Paulie]

No, he's here on a two-year minimum contract. Then he'll hit unrestricted free agency under the new CBA when the TV deal goes into effect. All he has to do is stay healthy and hope that LeBron doesn't come back to Miami, and he will be looking at a maximum contract by then. Someone will offer him a max contract, anyway. I would think he would stick with those who were loyal to him, though. Pat Riley is hard to turn down.

Well, I guess he has to maintain this high level of production over those 2yrs to even sniff a max contract, but if he keeps getting 20reb games then sure, it's possible.

Seriously did not expect Moore to be the hero. Which begs the question...Why hasn't Thibs been using him more?

I'd say it's because he'd rather run Jimmy Butler in to the ground than use role players. Wait.......he already did that? Oh.

 

[a6m5]

He's one of the best we have at both the offensive & defensive end, also off the court. Our :censored:ing ironman went down against the Mavs last night & he is done for the season. In his contract year. Wesley Matthews have the respect of the every one of the Blazer fans. Speedy recovery, Wesley. You have the support of not 99.9% of the fan base, but 100%.

 

[JohnBM01]

All the best to Wesley Matthews in his recovery. Sucks to see him be done for the season.

 

[JohnBM01]

A triple-double for James Harden (38 points, 12 assists, 12 rebounds) encapsulates our 103-93 win hosting the Detroit Pistons. I learned this is a back-to-back we're on, so no rest for my Rockets. I actually feared Detroit would probably compound our misery from our recent back-to-back. Houston managed to hold together and not let Detroit try to steal a win against us.

Up next for Red Nation... a four-game Western road trip. That trip includes: at Denver tomorrow night, at Portland this coming Wednesday, at the Utah Jazz on next Thursday, and at the Los Angeles Clippers the following Sunday. The buzz here in Houston- another win for Red Nation. Also, a recent report indicated that the MEM at HOU game on Wednesday that James Harden WAS fouled on what was a no-call. That missed foul call is inconsequential more than likely, but it was just a missed call.


Congratulations to all other winners from Friday.


[UPDATE] 12 assists and rebounds for J. Harden. Not an edit, but a note... Only Elvin Hayes scored more points in a Rockets' triple-double when he scored 41 points in 1970.

 

[Paulie]

So much NBA fail today, not what I needed.

 

[JohnBM01]

Didn't follow the game at all, but I found out we won Saturday night. It was 114-100 in favor of the Houston Rockets elevating their game in the Mile High City of Denver. James Harden banged in 28 points while Corey Brewer put in 24 points and Trevor Ariza with 19. The Facebook page of the Houston Rockets noted that this game didn't really go into Houston's control until Corey Brewer came off the bench. Still, a win is a win; and I'll gladly take a Rockets win whether by one or by double digits.


Congratulations to all other winners from Saturday night.

 

[Paulie]

At least some of the Aussies had good games today, Mills with 15pts and Exum with 14pts. Now if only the Raptors could play defence.

 

[JohnBM01]

I have always wondered, @Paulie, is there one or more certain specific Australian player(s) in the NBA you are most impressed with than others? If so, who?

 

[Omnis]

So I was just given tickets to BOS@MIA but there's no way I can make it in time for the game. I'd have to go through traffic jams to get to Miami, then try to park a mile away since all the parking is sold out.

Now I find out that pretty much the entire team is sitting out with injuries. Yeah, no thanks. I'm always grateful for free tickets, but, you know... It's impossible to go to a game with less than an hours notice.

 

[McLaren]

Hassan Whiteside got 25 rebounds on the Lakers. Damn. It's like everything I was saying in this thread came true. All they needed was a guy like Hassan, and they got him. Now even 10-day contract guys are ballin out with him on the floor.

Max contract, here you come.

This is why you can't judge a player's impact in less than a month's worth of basketball. He's too interested into getting into altercations rather than playing.
http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2015/3/...eside-cheap-shot-a-celtics-player-from-behind
http://streamable.com/r3la

He'll be lucky if his D-League team even takes him back if this is how he continues to play.

 

[Omnis]

I thought he wasn't supposed to play tonight due to injury. The altercation with Len was understandable but I don't understand why he did that to Good Guy Olynyk.

 

[Paulie]

I have always wondered, @Paulie, is there one or more certain specific Australian player(s) in the NBA you are most impressed with than others? If so, who?

This season, I've been impressed with Joe Ingles, for his all-around solid play (needs to score more though) and Aron Baynes for his physical demeanor and finally cracking the Spurs rotation. For their careers, Mills and Bogut have just been excellent, even if not all the time.
Overall it's probably Mills, exciting guy and has been under-rated most of his career. Hopefully Exum surpasses him.

 

[a6m5]

I hope the Blazers beat the Rockets tomorrow. Last game, the first game without Wesley Matthews, we got torched by Minnesota backcourt. They absolutely destroyed us.

I wasn't at all familiar with Draymond Green before, but I think I've become a tiny bit of fan. He pretty much b!tch slapped Doc Rivers not once, but twice.

 

[JohnBM01]

Happy now, a6m5? You got what you wanted. The Trail Blazers burned the Rockets 105-100 in Portland. This was the first time (as I heard) that the Rockets played at Portland since D. Lillard's improbable 3-point buzzer beater in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs last season. Poor shooting by the Rockets helped spell our demise. The loser of this game would lose their 21st game of the season and have some playoff indications be pronounced. This is a big win for Portland, and it may end up hurting the Houston Rockets down the line.


Congratulations to all other winners from Wednesday.

 

[a6m5]

I am happy now, John. I gotta say though, I never cuss more than during the game against the Rockets. Go Blazers.

P.S. I'd have gone with the Flop Beard for the last shot.

P.P.S. Guy who replaced Wes went 2 for 13 tonight. I can't believe we won.

 

[JohnBM01]

We got NBA action tonight. Yeah! Gimme five! That's right- five games on for tonight. Here is the schedule for this Thursday night:

* HOU Rockets at UTA Jazz
* IND Pacers at MIL Bucks
* MEM Grizzlies at WSH Wizards (NBA on TNT)
* CLE Cavaliers at SA Spurs (NBA on TNT)
* NY Knicks at LAL Lakers

Enjoy tonight's games!

 

[JohnBM01]

The Rockets' night in Salt Lake City ended up being a 109-91 defeat to the Utah Jazz. Another fail effort for the Rockets. A lot of the remaining games for the Rockets will be on the road. I'm just hoping they aren't fading or thinking they've won enough games to make the playoffs this season. Houston is just stubbing their toes in the Western Conference, and we could fall down the order somewhat as a result. The road trip ends this Sunday on ABC in Los Angeles against the Clippers. This is pathetic right now the Rockets failing like this. Back-to-back or not, you just CAN'T fall apart with a conference as tight as this one is in the Western Conference.


Other than that, congratulations to every other winner from this Thursday, including Cleveland winning in Overtime in San Antonio on Kyrie Irving's awesome performance and career-high point scoring.

 

[Paulie]

The Cleveland-Spurs game was awesome, Kyrie was an animal in the dying stages of the game.

Edit: Almost forgot! On the Aussie note, both the Jazz Aussies scored 10pts each today, and Ben Simmons has racked up a bunch of awards and been named the Naismith Player of the Year (for highschoolers), which just means he's still the number one ranked high school player in all the USA. He will join Thon Maker on Team World in the Nike Hoops Summit next month, the game in which Exum made a name for himself.

 

[a6m5]

I love Kyrie, but damn it man.......

I just had to share this funny write up on tonight's Blazers game. It started like this:

"With 65 seconds left in a blowout Trail Blazers' win, Robin Lopez lifted Joel Freeland's arm in the arm in the air like a victorious prizefighter, an unforgettable image that was captured on the jumbotron.

The sellout Moda Center crowd went ballistic."

It made sense after this:

"But the most memorable moment happened in the final moments of a game all but decided, when a bizarre altercation resulted in a pair of head-butts -- and two ejections. The genesis behind the incident started a couple possessions earlier, when Shawne Williams and Meyers Leonard were battling for a rebound and Williams delivered the Blazers' backup big man a "decent little forearm shiver to the back," according to Leonard.

A couple possessions later, Leonard responded, giving Williams what he described as "a little push in the lower back" as the two again were positioning for a rebound during a Pistons fast break.

"Apparently he didn't appreciate it too much," Leonard said of Williams.

Indeed. Williams instantly approached Leonard under the basket and got in his face, delivering a few choice words. They had to be separated by officials with 1:05 left. After Williams was pried away, he happened to walk past Freeland, who had a few of his own words for Williams.

"I didn't think anything should be happening with a minute left on the clock," Freeland said. "I thought it was pretty senseless. I went down and I was like, 'What are you doing? There's barely any time left on the clock.' And he head-butted me. And I retaliated. And that's it."

Replays seemed to confirm Freeland's version of the story. As the two exchanged words, Williams lunged at Freeland and head-butted him. Freeland responded by head-butting him even more violently. They had to be separated and, after a video review, officials ejected both players.

"It's not the best thing in the world, coming in for two minutes and getting ejected -- but it happens," Freeland said. "Put me in the moment again, I would do the same thing."

As officials reviewed the altercation, Freeland was shown on the jumbotron, leading to the prizefighter moment -- and a wild applause from the crowd."

I hope I can find a highlight of this. Should be pretty entertaining. I love that Brit.

Edit: This doesn't have the funny part, but it covers the entire incident.

 

[Paulie]

I really like Dante Exum and the huge potential he has, but Ben Simmons looks to have a much higher upside. For my Australian friends, and any other hoop heads out there interested, I found this mix tape of Ben Simmons' senior high school year. Hopefully this is an insight in to the future of Australian basketball, and maybe even the NBA! It shows Simmons' full skill set (as opposed to most videos just showing his dunks), he can shoot, handle the ball, pass, finish with contact and be creative around the rim. I'm loving what I'm seeing!

 

[JohnBM01]

The Houston Rockets managed to take down the Los Angeles Clippers 100-98 earlier today. What I thought was probably the turning point of the game was when Matt Barnes threw down James Harden trying to stop him from banking a layup in the 2nd Quarter. So we managed to take down the Clippers. I think this series ends in a split. It's the last time we're facing the Los Angeles Clippers in the regular season.


Congratulations to all other Sunday winners up to and beyond the time of this post, including Brett's Thunder handling sumbrownkid's Chicago Bulls in Oklahoma City.

 

[Omnis]

Re: Ben Simmons. Stunning athleticism for 6'9". But he's a man playing against boys here. Also, his footwork in the post needs work. Most offense isn't in transition.

 

[Paulie]

Re: Ben Simmons. Stunning athleticism for 6'9". But he's a man playing against boys here. Also, his footwork in the post needs work. Most offense isn't in transition.

I'm looking forward to the end of the year when Australia plays New Zealand, I read Simmons may be in those games, so that'd be an interesting test.

 

[McLaren]

A couple good, necessary wins for Dallas recently. All the reporters are saying it's due to Carlisle handing over the offense to Rondo & letting him run everything as it comes, that the offense has flowed like it did before the trade. That's great, but I don't know why it didn't come sooner unless everyone has been trying to build chemistry first. I know Carlisle usually plays to his team's strengths which is why he hasn't run the Mavericks, Pistons, or Pacers with anywhere near similar strategies, so it's curious why it took so long to recognize that's a strength for Rondo; Rivers & Ainge used to do that a lot, and it wasn't until necessary time in the Playoffs that Rivers would take over with his own plays, because Rondo typically comes more alive as the Playoffs go on.

 

[JohnBM01]

College basketball may rule the airwaves this week (and likely next week also), but the NBA is still going strong. On this St. Patrick's Day, luck with the Houston Rockets as we won 107-94 against the visiting Orlando Magic. Most of the scoring damage was done not by James Harden but Donatas Motiejunas with 23 points. James Harden, Josh Smith, and Trevor Ariza each logged 17 points. It was Victor Oladipo who had the hot hand for Orlando with 29 points. The Rockets still won themselves another game.


Congratulations to all other winners from tonight, including the Knicks knocking off the Spurs in Madison Square Garden in Overtime, and the New Orleans Pelicans holding serve at home against the Milwaukee Bucks on the NBA Fan Night Game of the Week.

 

[McLaren]

Need the Clips to lose tonight (they won't against the Hornets), to give us some breathing room. I know the Spurs fans want them to go down as well to jump back up.