2021-22 Around the NBA Thread

[Covert Rain]

Reggie Miller and Shaq say it was just a normal basketball move, he was swinging to dislodge Stewart (who was holding onto him) and simply missed his shoulder.

Reggie said the only reason he got a game is because of the optics - Stewart tasting his blood and going into a rage forced the league into giving him a penalty he didn't deserve.

Of course, I think you're both wrong and the NBA did the right thing with both players. But the point is, there's more than one way to view this incident.

I thought so too until I watched this view and the Bally super close-up view. There was nothing normal about that. That was intentional and Lebron was clearly frustrated to me.

 

[Mainstreet]

Okay, I'll be Beef Stew if for no other reason than all my life I've wanted a cool nickname.

Know this - I have a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very tough life. Skills that make me a nightmare for prima donnas like you. Unless you hide behind Anthony Davis, DeAndre Jordan and a dozen other Lakers, I'll be the end of you. I will not stop chasing you, I will not stop pursuing you. I will find you, and I will destroy you.

I didn't want to tell you Kyle, I mean Steve, but I am an advanced cyborg, liquid metal series.

I have an acquired taste for beef stew.

By the way, my nickname is T-Bone.

 

[GatorAZ]

Westbrook played great and they still lose… Melo-Monk-THT combine to 8-34.

 

[elindholm]

Melo-Monk-THT

Sounds like a new designer drug.

 

[Phrazbit]

Sounds like a new designer drug.

Ask @mjb21aztd if he has smoked it.

 

[1tinsoldier]

same old Westbrook -- great numbers, but bad decisions, including 6 turnovers and a bad shot in the end = another loss

Lebron used to be smart. but hitching his star to the bb IQ of Westbrook, Carmelo and Howard was stupid.

still, they might be able to pull it together for a few games in the playoffs and i'd rather not play them again in the first round -- which could happen, the way things are going

 

[mjb21aztd]

Ask @mjb21aztd if he has smoked it.

I probably have and the head rush was mind blowing!!! Lol

 

[Mainstreet]

This is really tough luck for the Nuggets if PJ Dozier has suffered an ACL injury.

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[Mainstreet]

The Nuggets are already down Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. so if they lose PJ Dozier to injury, it will really hurt. Nikola Jokic has been out with a wrist injury.

 

[Cheesebeef]

The west is really weak this year. Right now It looks like a two horse race between us and GS. Everyone else has a major injury or two or just isn’t built for long term success. 3 snd 4 are the Jazz and Mavs? Neither of those teams scare anyone.

 

[Mainstreet]

The west is really weak this year. Right now It looks like a two horse race between us and GS. Everyone else has a major injury or two or just isn’t built for long term success. 3 snd 4 are the Jazz and Mavs? Neither of those teams scare anyone.

It's so early in the season too. Like last season it appears to be a war of attrition in the West. It might be last man standing.

 

[AzStevenCal]

The west is really weak this year. Right now It looks like a two horse race between us and GS. Everyone else has a major injury or two or just isn’t built for long term success. 3 snd 4 are the Jazz and Mavs? Neither of those teams scare anyone.

Right now the East looks to be the deeper conference but I'm not convinced it will stay that way. A lot of injuries in the West.

Also the East has a lot of young hungry teams and it's not unusual for them to come into the season in better shape than the established teams which enables them to steal some early season victories.

As for Dallas not being scary. Yes, the Mavs are only 10-7 but I believe 5 of their losses have come with Luka or Porzingis out. And Kristaps is starting to look like the second banana they thought they traded for. I don't believe they are a championship contender just yet but if they stay healthy I could see them advancing a round or more.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Right now the East looks to be the deeper conference but I'm not convinced it will stay that way. A lot of injuries in the West.

Also the East has a lot of young hungry teams and it's not unusual for them to come into the season in better shape than the established teams which enables them to steal some early season victories.

As for Dallas not being scary. Yes, the Mavs are only 10-7 but I believe 5 of their losses have come with Luka or Porzingis out. And Kristaps is starting to look like the second banana they thought they traded for. I don't believe they are a championship contender just yet but if they stay healthy I could see them advancing a round or more.

It’s only a matter of time before Porzingis gets injured.

 

[AzStevenCal]

It’s only a matter of time before Porzingis gets injured.

I agree that he isn't built for the long run but until recently, as a Maverick, he's looked like he was a play away from joining a wheelchair basketball league. But he's moving much better now so I think he's moved from Embiid risk to Anthony Davis risk.

 

[Carolinacacti]

The west is really weak this year. Right now It looks like a two horse race between us and GS. Everyone else has a major injury or two or just isn’t built for long term success. 3 snd 4 are the Jazz and Mavs? Neither of those teams scare anyone.

Weak is in and not great. Suns never played the Jazz in the playoffs last year. I think we all wanted that. Portland is never WEAK, Boy you go from the Suns suck to this is easy

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Here's why he doesn't deserve 3 games. Lebron was manhandled by Stewart throughout the game. The refs chose to allow an awful lot of contact so they set the tone for this type of conflict. Lebron's arm to the head (whether you think it's a fist or an elbow) was a clear overreaction but the league typically takes into consideration if it's an immediate response.

Also, Jokic's hard shove in the back was far more dangerous and in fact, Markieff is expected to miss more than 10 games from that incident. Sure Markieff got in the first cheap shot whereas Stewart was just taking what the refs would allow him but the reactions were similar and instant.

No matter how you look at it, it would be a bad look for the league if they hammered Lebron just a day or two after the Assistant Commissioner boasted about bringing physicality back to the game (for the fans, according to him).

Let’s not conflate the refs allowing a physical game to a cheap shot. You kinda did that here twice: once with comparing Stewart’s play to markieffs dirty shot and then again by using it to condone lebron’s cheap shot. Physical play does not equal cheap shots.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Weak is in and not great. Suns never played the Jazz in the playoffs last year. I think we all wanted that. Portland is never WEAK, Boy you go from the Suns suck to this is easy

Well, that’s because the Suns DID SUCK, then they had two great off-seasons which I was 100% behind and then the West got chopped down by injuries.

And yes, Portland is weak. They have one legitimate great player and are atrocious defensively and have been for years.

None of this is hard to comprehend. The Suns and Warriors are in a class of their own right now and I’m fine and dandy with that.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Weak is in and not great. Suns never played the Jazz in the playoffs last year. I think we all wanted that. Portland is never WEAK, Boy you go from the Suns suck to this is easy

Uh suns did suck and it did become easy(ish). That’s what happens when you go from first pick in the draft to finals in three seasons.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Well, that’s because the Suns DID SUCK, then they had two great off-seasons which I was 100% behind and then the West got chopped down by injuries.

It ain’t that hard to comprehend.

Borg

 

[Cheesebeef]

Borg

The scariest thing isn’t how similar our opinions are, right down to the verbiage... it’s the fact that we’re usually even posting the same messages at the same TIME.

Borg. Resistance is futile.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Let’s not conflate the refs allowing a physical game to a cheap shot. You kinda did that here twice: once with comparing Stewart’s play to markieffs dirty shot and then again by using it to condone lebron’s cheap shot. Physical play does not equal cheap shots.

I've heard officials on the NBA channel discuss the process and these are things they bring up. It doesn't excuse Lebron's reaction but had he been the one instigating throughout and then reacted as he did, it would have likely been a harsher penalty.

And I wasn't trying to suggest that Markieff and Stewart did similar things, quite the contrary. Markieff delivered a cheap shot which led to what followed, Stewart just played to the level of physicality that the refs allowed. Big difference. Stewart was a victim, Markieff wasn't - despite the fact he suffered injuries as a result. The responses to their actions were similar, their actions weren't.

 

[Beaver]

Lebron hits a 3 with a minute left in the game and big balls hot dogs it back down the court. Hate that dude.

Then bricks the game winning 3.

 

[Mainstreet]

Evan Mobley is slated to return earlier than expected.

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[CardsSunsDbacks]

Hopefully it's not too serious, but it didn't look good for Ja Morant. Non-contact and got helped to the locker room.

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[CardsSunsDbacks]

Here is the play Morant was injured on.

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