2024 NBA Season Thread aka The Zion High Deductible Healthcare Plan

#1,251
#1,251
NBA 2 Round Playoffs
Mavericks vs Thunder
The Thunder win in 5 games. The Thunder are a great team except the Mavericks winning 1 game in Dallas is achievable because they can play great, and because of home court advantage.
The Mavericks outplaying the Thunder for 1 game isn’t a pipe dream.

Cavaliers vs Celtics
The Celtics are a better team on paper by a narrow amount, and they have a variety of reliable players that can hit threes which is a main strength.
The Cavaliers have a realistic chance of winning 2 games in Cleveland, they could outplay the Celtics in those 2 games which would include minimizing the threes by the Celtics, less mistakes, and the Cavs best players play great.

The Celtics win in 6 games.
While the Cavaliers can toe to toe with the Celtics instead of getting bulldozed , it’s a long shot and highly unlikely that they can consistently contain the threes by the Celtics, make fewer mistakes, and make more critical baskets by a Celtics team that can count on most of their players to make critical baskets in close games.
 
#1,255
#1,255
knoxvol52 said:
Kiss of Death for Timberwolves. Stephen A. Smith picked them to win the Chip.
Click to expand...

I recall an other attempt at Kiss of death by if I recall right Skip Bayless with the Celtics sweep the Cavaliers, and they’ll sweep the Knicks.
He’s hoping for a great backfire.
 
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#1,256
#1,256
@volnbama_ Zack Lowe had some good points about why Minnesota is such a problem for Denver. He said that Nuggets are not a team that spaces you out much. Their offense is not like the normal spread PnR. Everything happens closer to the basket, and the Wolves' length is much more of a strength against the Nuggets because they cut off those passing angles in tighter quarters, compared to the Suns whose entire aim is to spread you out. The Suns offense isn't very good and it didn't look anywhere near this bad in their series.
 
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#1,257
#1,257
n_huffhines said:
@volnbama_ Zack Lowe had some good points about why Minnesota is such a problem for Denver. He said that Nuggets are not a team that spaces you out much. Their offense is not like the normal spread PnR. Everything happens closer to the basket, and the Wolves' length is much more of a strength against the Nuggets because they cut off those passing angles in tighter quarters, compared to the Suns whose entire aim is to spread you out. The Suns offense isn't very good and it didn't look anywhere near this bad in their series.
Click to expand...
Was that on a podcast? Lowe is one of the best out there so I’d give it a listen
 
#1,260
#1,260
I didn't realize this about Ant, but he's been to the playoffs 3x....all 3 years his PPG rose significantly in the playoffs vs. the regular season, and so did his true shooting %. TS% is supposed to go the other way against playoff defense. Incredible stuff.
 
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#1,262
#1,262
Everything going right for the Celtics so a challenging task for the Cavaliers to make it a close game.
 
#1,265
#1,265
$100k fine...the same fine Gobert got for doing the $ gesture with his hands...oh yeah, Murray did that last night, too. He got away easy
 
#1,266
#1,266
The Celtics continue to make the Cavs a jabroni.

Respectable effort by the Cavs because Mitchell is making critical baskets, however fruitless because White hasn’t been contained so he’s taken advantage of the holes by making baskets without struggle.

Time to see if the Cavs can keep it from becoming a worse embarrassment.

Great to watch an entertaining competitive game.

OKC is rocking and rolling
 
#1,269
#1,269
May have to change thought process, didn't realize Luka's knee is sprained that bad. Really hindered him last night, OKC probably takes series if Luka isn't healthy.
 
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#1,270
#1,270
knoxvol52 said:
May have to change thought process, didn't realize Luka's knee is sprained that bad. Really hindered him last night, OKC probably takes series if Luka isn't healthy.
Click to expand...

OKC and Minnesota are playing basketball at a very, very high level right now too. I'm thinking that series will be for all the marbles but I hope Denver and Dallas rise to their levels and make this round interesting.

Denver has a lot of time to get their heads straight before Game 3 Friday, but the Wolves are going for the deathblow in that one. Denver isn't digging out of a 3-0 hole. Should be a desperate affair. :D
 
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#1,271
#1,271
Some fun stats:

1) Derrick White's effective shooting percentage in these playoffs: 73.6% -- Also in the top 10, Dereck Lively (2nd) at 71% and Derrick Jones (9th) at 63.6% -- It's the year of the Derrick!

2) Jaylen Brown FG%: 61.8% (That's great!)
Jaylen Brown 3 point FG%: 38.2% (That's actually incredible!)
Jaylen Brown FT%: 54.2% (WTF!?)
And he hit a few flat ones last night that bricked around every bit of the rim before falling in, so it should be worse. This is an oddity in today's NBA that other good shooters with good 3 point touch have FT percentages lower than you'd expect too.

3) For prospective, Jaylen Brown's 11 FT misses on 24 attempts in 6 games versus Larry Bird's total playoff missed FTs in his 5 Finals runs

1981: 9 misses on 85 attempts (this was a no blood no foul playoffs for sure)
1984: 23 misses on 190 attempts (a brutal slog that year but refs did call fouls at least)
1985: 15 misses on 136 attempts (Bird had a broken finger from a very stupid bar fight)
1986: 8 misses on 109 attempts (peak Bird)
1987: 17 misses on 193 attempts (peak Magic)
 
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#1,272
#1,272
Rifleman said:
Some fun stats:

1) Derrick White's effective shooting percentage in these playoffs: 73.6% -- Also in the top 10, Dereck Lively (2nd) at 71% and Derrick Jones (9th) at 63.6% -- It's the year of the Derrick!

2) Jaylen Brown FG%: 61.8% (That's great!)
Jaylen Brown 3 point FG%: 38.2% (That's actually incredible!)
Jaylen Brown FT%: 54.2% (WTF!?)
And he hit a few flat ones last night that bricked around every bit of the rim before falling in, so it should be worse. This is an oddity in today's NBA that other good shooters with good 3 point touch have FT percentages lower that you'd expect too.

3) For prospective, Jaylen Brown's 11 FT misses on 24 attempts in 6 games versus Larry Bird's total playoff missed FTs in his 5 Finals runs

1981: 9 misses on 85 attempts (this was a no blood no foul playoffs for sure)
1984: 23 misses on 190 attempts (a brutal slog that year but refs did call fouls at least)
1985: 15 misses on 136 attempts (Bird had a broken finger from a very stupid bar fight)
1986: 8 misses on 109 attempts (peak Bird)
1987: 17 misses on 193 attempts (peak Magic)
Click to expand...

Derrick White is one of my favorite players because his story is so cool. Divison II star. One year in Division 1. Looks like he's going to be a borderline star PG in the NBA, but he can't really quite get over that B- hump and become anything special. He gets traded for almost nothing*. The C's ask him to change who he is, and within 2 years, he's the best perimeter role player in the league.

*washed Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, the #25 pick (Blake Wesley) and a 2028 swap (when the C's will probably still be dominating). Derrick White is worth at least three 1st rd picks and a rotation player, at this point.
 
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#1,273
#1,273
n_huffhines said:
Derrick White is one of my favorite players because his story is so cool. Divison II star. One year in Division 1. Looks like he's going to be a borderline star PG in the NBA, but he can't really quite get over that B- hump and become anything special. He gets traded for almost nothing*. The C's ask him to change who he is, and within 2 years, he's the best perimeter role player in the league.

*washed Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, the #25 pick (Blake Wesley) and a 2028 swap (when the C's will probably still be dominating). Derrick White is worth at least three 1st rd picks and a rotation player, at this point.
Click to expand...
I’ll give ya one Pablo prigioni.. straight up
 
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#1,274
#1,274
Above Average 3PT shooters with 10 or more starts sorted worst to best on FT%. This makes a lot of sense from an analytics perspective, and on average we had the best league FT% ever (important to say), but still a lot of easy points lost here at the top. Also, Lebron is human.

Player3P%FT%
Brandin Podziemski38.50%63.30%
Isaac Okoro39.10%67.90%
Royce O'Neale37.00%68.60%
Malik Beasley41.30%71.40%
Corey Kispert38.30%72.60%
Taurean Prince39.60%73.50%
Naz Reid41.40%73.60%
De'Aaron Fox36.90%73.80%
Rui Hachimura42.20%73.90%
Deni Avdija37.40%74.00%
LeBron James41.00%75.00%
OG Anunoby38.20%75.30%
Donte DiVincenzo40.10%75.40%
Jalen Suggs39.70%75.60%
Grant Williams37.50%75.70%
Alex Caruso40.80%76.00%
Obi Toppin40.30%77.00%
Gary Trent Jr.39.30%77.10%
Aaron Nesmith41.90%78.10%
Cason Wallace41.90%78.40%
Bojan Bogdanović39.80%78.50%
Luka Dončić38.20%78.60%
Cameron Johnson39.10%78.90%
Chet Holmgren37.00%79.30%
John Collins37.10%79.50%
Eric Gordon37.80%79.70%
Tyus Jones41.40%80.00%
Nickeil Alexander-Walker39.10%80.00%
Harrison Barnes38.70%80.10%
Devin Vassell37.20%80.10%
Ayo Dosunmu40.30%81.00%
Bradley Beal43.00%81.30%
Jalen Williams42.70%81.40%
Mikal Bridges37.20%81.40%
Trey Murphy III38.00%81.50%
Jerami Grant40.20%81.70%
Simone Fontecchio40.10%81.80%
Malcolm Brogdon41.20%81.90%
Luguentz Dort39.40%82.60%
CJ McCollum42.90%82.70%
Brandon Miller37.30%82.70%
D'Angelo Russell41.50%82.80%
Jrue Holiday42.90%83.30%
Khris Middleton38.10%83.30%
Jayson Tatum37.60%83.30%
Darius Garland37.10%83.40%
Michael Porter Jr.39.70%83.60%
Dennis Schröder37.50%83.60%
Coby White37.60%83.80%
Kyle Lowry39.20%84.00%
Jalen Brunson40.10%84.70%
De'Andre Hunter38.50%84.70%
Georges Niang37.60%85.00%
Jamal Murray42.50%85.30%
Immanuel Quickley39.50%85.30%
Trae Young37.30%85.50%
Kevin Durant41.30%85.60%
Tyler Herro39.60%85.60%
Kristaps Porziņģis37.50%85.80%
Collin Sexton39.40%85.90%
Miles McBride41.00%86.00%
Fred VanVleet38.70%86.00%
Cameron Payne39.00%86.60%
Al Horford41.90%86.70%
Herbert Jones41.80%86.70%
Tyrese Maxey37.30%86.80%
Desmond Bane38.10%87.00%
Karl-Anthony Towns41.60%87.30%
Grayson Allen46.10%87.80%
James Harden38.10%87.80%
Marcus Sasser37.50%87.90%
Buddy Hield38.60%88.10%
Kawhi Leonard41.70%88.50%
Luke Kennard45.00%88.90%
Duncan Robinson39.50%88.90%
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope40.60%89.40%
Sam Hauser42.40%89.50%
Lauri Markkanen39.90%89.90%
Derrick White39.60%90.10%
Kyrie Irving41.10%90.50%
Paul George41.30%90.70%
Mike Conley44.20%91.10%
Anfernee Simons38.50%91.60%
Bogdan Bogdanović37.40%92.10%
Stephen Curry40.80%92.30%
Klay Thompson38.70%92.70%
 
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