Around The League 2022-2023 Season

Bucks led the Bulls by 11 with 2:18 left.  Bulls go on a run to tie it up in regulation and go into OT.

Bulls outscore the Bucks 13-7 in OT to win.

Don't look now but the Nets are in 2nd place in the EC @ 23-12 and are 2 games back from us (for those who haven't been paying attention we're @ 25-10). Bucks are 2 1/2 games back in 3rd @ 22-12. Cleveland is 4th @ 22-13 and Philly is 5th @ 20-13.

Nets surprising, Milwaukee staggering with Middleton out, and we're still #1 in the NBA despite an awful December. And now RWill's back and is working himself back into game shape with a double-double in a season-high 21 minutes.


Bob


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What is it with three dramatic comebacks in the last few minutes this past week? Knicks up 9 with less than a minute and they lose. Bucks ditto. One other team too.

I had to chuckle when I saw this in the ESPN Power Rankings for this week talking about Brooklyn.  

The hottest team in the league has won nine straight, 13 of its past 14 and continues to play with a lot of confidence. Kevin Durant is playing like an MVP and coach Jacque Vaughn has simplified the messaging for a team that is getting contributions up and down the roster. Everything is clicking right now in Brooklyn. -- Friedell

Come on, Kyrie!  Go jump on a Southwest flight or something.  I'm sure you'll find a 3-4 month cause for distraction there!  Time for your mid-season, 40-game hiatus...It's coming!

This is way beyond too good to be true.

I know.  I'm an Ass!!  But nary a one of you can claim you haven't thought of something like this recently!!

Love Always,

db

Brooklyn has three All Stars - Durant, Kyrie, and Simmons - plus Seth Curry. They are a serious team, one to be reckoned with. Simmons is a fine defender. After that their D falls off a cliff (they give up 111.2 PPG), but their offense - whew.

We'd probably go 10-0 if we played the Hornets, Hawks, Pacers, Wizards, Raptors, Pistons, Warriors, Bucks on a slide, Cavaliers and Hawks again.  I'm just sayin'.  7 of those teams are below .500.  Bonnie Situation - "Let's not go....just yet."

db

Great point Dbrown. Does D stand for Davidson? Goes Steph send his fellow alumni swag?

Just David. Nah. He was well after my Class of '86. The dbrown4 was from an old ID when working in the brokerage/security industry back in the day. My original ID was D7V back when I worked with Smith Barney making money the old fashioned way! Through mergers and acquisitions, dbrown4 came along as there were already dbrown1-3. For some reason, that one stuck!

Don't forget, Worcester. We made KD look like a 5th Grader in the playoffs. We can do that again. I don't even think we were at full strength either re: RWIII. Correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, the series would now go a little longer this time maybe but no more than 6 games to us.

db

Dan Brown was Class of '86 at Amherst. He made a few shekels with his scribblings.

Re the Nets... yes we will smoke them...but they are a good team with one great individual player and 2 damn good although mentally afflicted players.

The Nets are on a 10 game winning streak and have moved into 2nd place.

The Bucks have lost 4 in a row and are 4-6 over their recent 10 games.  Middleton is out.  They have no depth at SF.

dboss,

Flat Earthers are playing a fantasy/dream come true schedule of mostly teams <.500.  This will change at some point but not in the immediate future.  Just like you said about MIL and look where they are.  

Tomorrow and Sunday are a case(s) in point.  CHA vs. BKN.  Yeah, I can win 10 games in a row by myself with that kind of ongoing schedule.  But let them rejoice.  They need something to cheer about in BKN.  Season ticket sales must be improving...however reluctantly or hesitantly they may be.  Just like SAS says about DAL in football.  Let it build to a great crescendo.  It makes for a more glorious, spectacular fall.  The rug is about to be pulled out from under them.

db

dboss wrote:The Nets are on a 10 game winning streak and have moved into 2nd place.

The Bucks have lost 4 in a row and are 4-6 over their recent 10 games.  Middleton is out.  They have no depth at SF.

Without Middleton their wings are a joke

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401468707

A truly historic performance by Donovan Mitchell.

71 points ... amazing

22/34 from the field
7/15 from deep
20/25 on free throw
8 rebounds
11 assists
50 minutes play including OT

RosalieTCeltics wrote:The Celtics better start taking these games seriously, before they know it they will be in fourth place.  Brooklyn is on a 12 game tear, Kyrie is finally playing the way he should have from the start.  Cleveland is tearing it up and Milwaukee is always a threat.  Time to start playing consistent ball.  those three point tirades where they miss three quarters of them has to stop.  Play the game the way they are supposed to play. Joe needs a firmer control of what is going on out there.  I like him, am not looking for him to go anywhere, but it is time to throw down the hammer and get them back on track.  This team is too good to be fooling around.  I am wondering a bit about Brogden, he appears to be struggling a bit. At the start of the season he was so good, I hope he is alright

I hear ya.

You have to be able to do some things better than other teams.

We are still shooting well from deep at 37.3% which is 8th in the league but over past 3 games we are trending down at 31%

Brogdon's shooting numbers were trending down in December. Still a relatively small sample size but I also get a bit worried about his production (11.7 PPG Dec, 14.9 PPG Nov) His 4 points vs Denver was his low point of the season.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:The Celtics better start taking these games seriously, before they know it they will be in fourth place.  Brooklyn is on a 12 game tear, Kyrie is finally playing the way he should have from the start.  Cleveland is tearing it up and Milwaukee is always a threat.  Time to start playing consistent ball.  those three point tirades where they miss three quarters of them has to stop.  Play the game the way they are supposed to play. Joe needs a firmer control of what is going on out there.  I like him, am not looking for him to go anywhere, but it is time to throw down the hammer and get them back on track.  This team is too good to be fooling around.  I am wondering a bit about Brogden, he appears to be struggling a bit. At the start of the season he was so good, I hope he is alright

Well said Rosalie.

I think that we are a shooter short. Somebody that will strike enough concern in the defenses that they will stick closer to him, while also being able to do enough of other things on the floor. Gallinari would have been that but that was not to be. Now we have to wait on Hauser with our fingers crossed. Unless we can pull off a trade.

Unless our stars recommit themselves to playing like team players we are in trouble. They handle the ball most of the time. The lack of ball and player movement is on them!

RosalieTCeltics wrote:This game agains OKC was the most disgusting display of non team playing I have seen since they went through this last year.  All the accolades in the world are not going to get them anywhere. This is a team in crisis right now.  And….unfortunately…..Joe may be the one who pays the price for this.  He is way too laid back for this group.  

What will happen in the next week or two will probably determine the rest of the season.  They could bury themselves with a rotten road trip

Can you imagine that they let OKC score like that against them, where is their pride???   I am so disappointed right now.  I shut the game off,it bothered me that much to watch it.  

Tomorrow is another day, I just am worried about this team right now

Me too, we can’t stay in front of anybody. How did we get so slow on defense? Bad coaching or old legs all of a sudden, I mean they put on a dunking clinic and played with so much confidence once they knew we couldn’t stop them. This team is in a crisis right now.

Well said, Rosalie.  Well said.  Nothing to add.  When something written like that comes from you, it's pretty dire and no exaggeration .  Thank you.

This team is starting to look a lot like Yellowstone and Breaking Bad. My two favorite Murphy's Law TV series. Everything that could go wrong is.    

db

https://nypost.com/2023/01/09/kevin-durant-diagnosed-with-mcl-injury-in-crushing-nets-blow/



Kevin Durant diagnosed with similar injury that crushed Nets last season


By Brian Lewis
January 9, 2023 12:06pm Updated


The same Kevin Durant injury that derailed the Nets’ last season has reared its ugly head again — although they are hopeful it’s less severe this time around.

After undergoing an MRI exam on Monday, Durant was diagnosed with an isolated MCL sprain of the right knee. He’s all too familiar with the injury, as it cost him over a month in 2017 and over six weeks last season, an absence that scuttled what had been a promising Brooklyn campaign.

But a source close to the situation told The Post that this MCL sprain isn’t as bad as the one that Durant suffered a year ago. The Nets did not reveal any details, although last season’s injury was believed to be a Grade 2 sprain. Grade 1 injuries are notably less severe, with a recovery time roughly half as long.

“Obviously our strategy [changes]. It’s pretty clear that KD and me are predominantly most of the offense,” Kyrie Irving said. “But we have incredible shooters and incredibly talented basketball players around us, and now I think it shapes into all-around offense and guys being ready to play.

The Nets say Kevin Durant will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a knee injury against the Heat on Jan. 8, 2023.


“One of the greatest qualities of our team is the bench and the way we support each other despite who’s in the lineup. And now, it’s time to exemplify that until we figure out the timeline of [Durant] and when he can be available again.”

The Nets said Durant will re-evaluated in two weeks. Even that is a departure from the earlier injury, when they refused to offer any timeline whatsoever.

“Obviously [it changes] a lot. He’s a focal point for us, offensively, defensively he’s been an elite rim protector this year. He guards the best players. [It would] be obviously a massive blow for us,” Joe Harris said. “But at the same time, it presents opportunities for everybody else, and we have a lot of depth for reasons like this for everybody just to step up and collectively try and fill that void.”


The injury occurred in the third quarter of Sunday’s win in Miami, when Jimmy Butler fell into Durant’s knee.

A sprained MCL cost Durant over a month in 2017 with Golden State. Losing him for a month could prove catastrophic for the Nets, who are 27-13 and had the second-best record in the league behind the Celtics entering play Monday. Brooklyn hosts Boston on Thursday at Barclays Center.

There is an uneasy sense of déjà vu here.

When Durant sprained his MCL on Jan. 15 of last season, Brooklyn was 27-15, just a half game out of first place in the East. But the Nets went 5-16 in his absence, including 11 straight losses. By the time he returned on March 3, they’d tumbled to eighth in the standings and into the play-in.

These Nets appeared better equipped to defend and maximize Durant. Now they will have to prove they are better equipped to win without him.

“I think just us sticking to the game plan, adjusting. We’re going to keep playing basketball the way we are, especially on the defensive end,” Royce O’Neale said. “It’s going to take all of us. That’s what we’ve been doing the whole year, so [we’ve] got to weather it.”

O’Neale had been on the Utah team that routed the Nets 125-102 last Feb. 4 during Durant’s absence. Brooklyn trailed 70-47 at halftime and 103-69 in the third quarter, starting a string of three straight blowout losses by at least 20 points each.

That lack of fight in his absence contributed to Durant’s offseason trade request.

“I mean, [this is a] completely different team,” O’Neale said. “It’s everybody playing together on both ends.”

Durant is averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 blocks while shooting a career-high 55.9 percent to play himself into the MVP conversation.


“Everybody would just have to step up,” Nic Claxton said. “It’s not the first time that he’s been out or Ky’s been out, so everyone just has to step up a little bit and we’ll be all right. We hope he’s available [soon], but whatever happens we’ll adjust and we’ll be all right.”


Bob


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I read a reevaluation in 2 weeks and a worse case of him being out 1 month.

I think Crooklyn has won 18 out of 20.

This Brooklyn team is very good. They are the other team in the East with 2 high end elite offensive players. The Celtics are the only team in the East that can match their fire power.

Should be a fun game on Thursday but it is too bad Durant will not be playing.

Let's see how opportunistic the rest of the team is when Kyrie takes his long overdue, anticipated sabbatical under the guise of I'm just tired of playing, gets injured again, have another cause pop up that needs his undivided attention for 4 months. Oh yeah. It's coming and you know it.

Grab your popcorn and Twizzlers, folks. Kyrie XIX is about to begin. We'll start it off Thursday.

db

I'll beg to differ, dboss, just for argument. Most of the teams they have been beating up on are sub .500. These are games they should be winning.

db

dbrown4 wrote:I'll beg to differ, dboss, just for argument.  Most of the teams they have been beating up on are sub .500.  These are games they should be winning.  

db  

That is a good point. They are .500 vs .500+ teams (10-10).

Still, 18 out of 20 is significant and as a result they are nipping at our heels.

Thursday is a big game for both teams. We should win the game.