NBA: 2014-2015 Season

[Brett]

The Thunder beat the Heat yesterday. It was a poor shooting day for both teams, but Miami especially struggled. The Thunder picked up another

Russell Westbrook put up his tenth triple double of the season. Though barring 17 assists, which is more than the entire Heat team generated in the game, this one was a bit less spectacular. However, in addition to the triple double in points, assists, and rebounds, he did swipe four steals and come up with two blocks, one of which was outstanding. The Thunder are 8-2 when Russell has a triple double.

Enes Kanter put in some work yesterday too with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Miami did not really have an answer for Kanter. They were focusing so much on trying to slow down Westbrook, which they did with his scoring, it left holes for Kanter and the rest of the Thunder to exploit.

Mitch McGOAT, Steven Adams, and Anthony Morrow all put in solid contributions in the win.

 

[JohnBM01]

Today is Kyrie Irving's birthday. Most know of K. Irving for that awesome performance recently at the San Antonio Spurs when he dropped 57 points on SA including that shot that forced Overtime in that game. The young man is tough to take down. Happy birthday to Kyrie Irving.

Good luck to all of your teams if they are playing tonight.

 

[Aesthetics]

Today is Kyrie Irving's birthday. Most know of K. Irving for that awesome performance recently at the San Antonio Spurs when he dropped 57 points on SA including that shot that forced Overtime in that game. The young man is tough to take down. Happy birthday to Kyrie Irving.

Good luck to all of your teams if they are playing tonight.

Today is a lot of people's birthdays.
Others, In addition to Kyrie:

• Moses Malone
• Jason Kidd
• Gordon Hayward

Happy birthday to all of them.

 

[JohnBM01]

The NCAA Division 1 Men's Final Four will be in Indianapolis this season. While Indy awaits the Final Four participants in the college ranks, some NBA hoops was played in Indy tonight. It was 110-100 in Indianapolis as my Rockets took down the now 30-40 Indiana Pacers. Yeah, the Rockets didn't take too kindly to the Midwestern hospitality served up by Indy. We led 52-39(?) at the Half. James Harden went north of 40 points scoring about 44 or 45 points. Rockets needed a win like this after being embarrassed by the Suns back in their last game.


Congratulations to all other winners from Monday.

 

[Paulie]

Today is a lot of people's birthdays.
Others, In addition to Kyrie:

• Moses Malone
• Jason Kidd
• Gordon Hayward

Happy birthday to all of them.

And mine, however the birth date does not seem to grant mystical basketball powers.👎

 

[Aesthetics]

So I found out, that in the last 15 games, the Suns are:
-3rd in the league in Defensive Efficiency
-4th in the league in Rebounding
-27th overall offense.

I think Hell has finally frozen over. Either that or I'm in an alternate reality. All I know is whatever happened it's working because our playoff hopes are suddenly possible again.

 

[JohnBM01]

It is being said that Dwight Howard will return to the Rockets' lineup tomorrow night when we're in New Orleans. I am not sure if they'll restrict his minutes or if he can really gut out a full game, but it will be great for him to return to the lineup. We'll probably need this guy should we get into the Playoffs and go far into the Playoffs.

 

[Paulie]

🤬 Raptors lost again!
In Aussie news though! Jingles scored a career high 18pts yesterday in an overtime loss for the Jazz, and Rebel Sport has started stocking Aussie player jerseys at LAST! I picked up a Mills swingman jersey today, they also had Exum jerseys and I've seen Bogut jerseys around as well. All I can say is it's about time, Aussies often get behind the Aussie players regardless of what team they play for.

 

[JohnBM01]

THIS JUST IN...

...Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors is out indefinitely with a back injury. The Raptors will host the Chicago Bulls tonight. Sad loss for the former Houston Rocket.


And speaking of the Rockets, Dwight Howard will go tonight at the New Orleans Pelicans, but Patrick Beverley will not start because of a wrist injury. Good luck to all of your teams tonight if playing.

 

[JohnBM01]

We'll take the 95-93 victory at New Orleans. Dwight Howard only had four points in this game and played 16 minutes. James Harden's night at the office was a 25-point effort. The only time I checked into this game on the radio, NO hit a two-point shot to bring the Rockets' lead to 94-91 late in the game. In the end, the boys of "Nawlins" got taken down by the Rockets on the road.


Congrautlations to Wednesday's other winners.

 

[Aesthetics]

We'll take the 95-93 victory at New Orleans. Dwight Howard only had four points in this game and played 16 minutes. James Harden's night at the office was a 25-point effort. The only time I checked into this game on the radio, NO hit a two-point shot to bring the Rockets' lead to 94-91 late in the game. In the end, the boys of "Nawlins" got taken down by the Rockets on the road.


Congrautlations to Wednesday's other winners.

Thanks, Rockets, for doing us a favor. Although Phoenix and OKC lost as well so nothing technically happened in the race for the 8th seed.

 

[McLaren]

Well, at least the Suns didn't get absolutely torched. I'll be honest, I thought the Spurs having to play the Thunder on the 2nd half of a back-to-back, esp. after losing to us yesterday would have hurt their esteem a bit. But, I guess the loss only inspired them to play hard. Really hard. 39 point win. And you know it was good when Timmy D adds in a 3.

 

[Paulie]

Patty Mills had 11pts and Jingles had 10pts today. Glad to see some of the Aussies are putting some work in, because the Raptors sure aren't!

 

[sumbrownkid]

Apparently the Raptors have lost 8 of 9 to the Bulls and haven't beat them since 2013.

But the Bulls can't beat the Pistons.

 

[JohnBM01]

With time running out on playoff positioning, here's a look at who will be in this season's NBA Playoffs as of the time of this post:


--- Who's In! ---
Who are "in" so far? These teams are:

! = clinched division

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
* Toronto
* Cleveland
* Chicago
* Atlanta!
(4 more to be determined)

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
* Golden State!
* Memphis
(6 more to be determined)


There's still time to determine who all will fill out the respective list of playoff teams. However, that time is running out. So good luck to your team(s) if they are still in the mix to make this season's playoffs.

 

[Brett]

Awful breaking news, Kevin Durant will have a second surgery on his foot and will be out for the rest of the season.

Source

And my reaction:

Injuries suck. Can we all just agree to turn off the injuries setting?

 

[McLaren]

I think he should have never came back until he was 100% medically cleared to play & could do everything as he did before. When I watched him, it was clear he was still having some issues despite solid numbers. This is a serious issue that has ended more than a fair share of careers.

 

[JohnBM01]

I would like to extend my best wishes to Kevin Durant in his recovery. Even though Oklahoma City is currently 8th in the Western Conference, and even though K. Durant is done, this isn't entirely a deathblow to OKC's playoff hopes. The Thunder are currently 41-31 on the season- three wins better than DCybertron's 38-34 Phoenix Suns. McLaren's Dallas Mavericks are four wins better than OKC with a 45-27 record. Oklahoma City may not have the services of Durant any longer, but they can still make the playoffs even if they sneak in on the last day of the regular season or something.

All I'm saying to OKC fans is... there's still hope! The road just got tougher, if anything out of this. Tough... but not impossible.

 

[Paulie]

I have lots of respect Durant, I hope he recovers fully in time for next season.👍


Today was a terrible day for the Aussies, they all sucked. At least the Raptors won, even if it was only the lowly Lakers (I love saying that ).

 

[JohnBM01]

120-110 was the score in Houston as we wrapped up a playoff spot beating the Minnesota Timberwolves. We either had to beat MIN or have BOTH Phoenix and New Orleans lose to clinch a playoff spot. So add us to the "in" list as far as teams heading into the postseason. James Harden had 33 points.


I mentioned Phoenix and New Orleans. How did they do? Elsewhere...

* a6m5 had reason to smile as his Portland Trail Blazers won 87-81 at DCybertron's Phoenix Suns. Suns still under great pressure with the seriously stacked Western Conference race to try to get into the better percentile of the Western Conference standings.

* The New Orleans Pelicans had a great time at home slapping around the Sacramento Kings 102-88. Easy win in The Big Easy for the home standing Pelicans.

* Toronto is your Atlantic Division champs as they won at home 94-83 over the Los Angeles Lakers.

* Omnis' Miami Heat got iced in Atlanta as the Hawks clinched top seed in the East with a 99-86 victory.

* I thought initially that Minnesota had the worst record in the NBA. Nope- Minnesota has 16 wins heading into tonight's games; New York has 14. New York is stuck on 14 wins after the Boston Celtics came into Madison Square Garden and whacked the Knicks 96-92.

* Charlotte and Washington couldn't settle their differences in 48 minutes. Not only did they need Overtime, they needed Double Overtime in Washington, D.C. for the Wizards to win 110-107.


Congratulations to all other winners from Friday, and special congratulations to all who wrapped up Playoff spots and improved their playoff positions.

 

[Paulie]

I look forward to seeing how good Minnesota can become, for such an underdog franchise I think they have a really bright future. Wiggins is proving to be better as rookie than anyone had probably anticipated, Zach LaVine is opening some eyes lately, they have a lot of good young pieces and will soon add another with a high draft selection (I hope they take one of the two talented centres).
Today, Wiggins had 31pts, I love his dunks at 1:50 and 2:15 in this video, but he showed off a full arsenal. Shooting, dunking, post moves, drawing fouls. It's all there.

 

[a6m5]

* a6m5 had reason to smile as his Portland Trail Blazers won 87-81 at DCybertron's Phoenix Suns. Suns still under great pressure with the seriously stacked Western Conference race to try to get into the better percentile of the Western Conference standings.

I only thought about that game while fishing today, and had to ask my friend about the outcome. He said that it snapped a really long losing streak we had in Phoenix. They are not the best of match-ups for us, many Blazer fans are aware of that. No Dragic & Channing Frye only help. Win against Denver(missed this, too lol) tonight was nice. I hope we can clinch the division soon, not that I'm expecting to see anything from Portland in the post season.

 

[Omnis]

Wiggins is special. I think Cleveland got ripped off sending all those guys to Minnesota for K.Love.

 

[a6m5]

In hindsight. I thought it seemed fairly even at the time. *I wasn't familiar with Wiggins' game though.

 

[Brett]

Wiggins is special. I think Cleveland got ripped off sending all those guys to Minnesota for K.Love.

At the least, Cleveland should have given Wiggins a run before making the trade. The trade with Minnesota would still have have likely been on the board if Wiggins did not fit well.

 

[JohnBM01]

Rise and shine! My Houston Rockets are on a back-to-back that starts later this morning (or this afternoon on the East Coast) at the Wizards. Time to continue the playoff push for those trying to make the playoffs this season. Everybody else is either playing for playoff positioning or a high NBA Draft pick. Regardless of your team(s)' situation, good luck to your teams.

 

[a6m5]

At the least, Cleveland should have given Wiggins a run before making the trade. The trade with Minnesota would still have have likely been on the board if Wiggins did not fit well.

Maybe the organization lacked confidence after last couple of their lottery picks(one of them Canadian).

 

[Paulie]

Wiggins is special. I think Cleveland got ripped off sending all those guys to Minnesota for K.Love.

In hindsight. I thought it seemed fairly even at the time. *I wasn't familiar with Wiggins' game though.

You can't knock the Cavs for making the move, getting Lebron put them in "need to win championship right now" mode. Love was a better fit and positional need for them than Wiggins who, for all his talent, is still just a rookie who's got a lot to learn about winning.

 

[JohnBM01]

Did you enjoy seeing my Houston Rockets winning 99-91 at the Washington Wizards? Like I said, this is part of a back-to-back for Red Nation. Up next is a trip up north and out of the country- Rockets at the Toronto Raptors tomorrow evening. Washington could have clinched a playoff berth with a win today. That will have to wait until the next game.


Congratulations to all other winners from Sunday.

 

[Paulie]

Did you enjoy seeing my Houston Rockets winning 99-91 at the Washington Wizards?

As a matter of fact, I did. I'd like it even more if they lose tomorrow.