The 2023-2024 NBA Season

[fightinfunbags]

I'm not sure why Bev said that. Not even a little true.

Minutes. He’s telling Doc I’ve got your back regardless.

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Cavs have had the best defense against the league’s top-10 offenses, allowing just 111.3 points per 100 possessions as they’ve gone 10-10 against that group.
• They have the league’s best road record (17-8), having won six straight away from Cleveland.
• They’ve seen the league’s biggest jump in ball movement, from 296 passes per 24 minutes of possession (27th) last season to 339 per 24 (eighth) this season, according to Second Spectrum tracking.

The Cavs are one of three teams with 29 games remaining and they’ll have two stretches of five games in seven days in the first three weeks out of the break. The first begins with a visit from the Magic (a potential playoff preview) on Thursday, with the Cavs having won two of the first three meetings between two of the league’s top-five defenses.

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Thunder are one of two teams that rank in the top five on both ends of the floor. They’re 15.3 points per 100 possessions better than they were two seasons ago (minus 8.0), which would be the best two-year improvement in the last 25 years.
• They lead the league in turnover differential, having averaged 3.1 fewer than their opponents.
• They would be the first team in the last five seasons to rank in the top two in field goal percentage (second), 3-point percentage (second) and free throw percentage (first). They lead the league in the percentage of their 3-point attempts (68%) that have been wide open.

The Thunder have the easiest remaining schedule (cumulative opponent winning percentage of .485) among the top nine teams in the Western Conference. They have just one game remaining within the top four in the West and it’s their first game out of the break a visit from the Clippers on Thursday. Gordon Hayward should be in the rotation, having not played since Dec. 26.

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Heat rank in the top 10 defensively for what would be the fourth straight season and the 21st time in the 28 seasons for which we have play-by-play data. They rank 19th in opponent effective field goal percentage, but are the only team that ranks in the top 10 in each of the other three factors on defense.
• The Heat rank 28th in the percentage of their road* field goal attempts that have come in the restricted area (25.7%). They rank second in the lowest percentage of their opponent’s field goal attempts (in road games) that have come in the restricted area (27.1%).
• Their most-used lineup has played just 79 minutes together, the second-fewest for any team’s most-used lineup, with the Grizzlies being the only team without a lineup that’s played that much. The Heat’s two most-used lineups (79 and 78 minutes) both include Kyle Lowry, who was traded on Jan. 23.

* Using only road games here to account for shot-charting discrepancies from arena to arena.

The Heat will play 10 of their first 14 games on the road, but they will have a rest advantage in three of the four games on the road trip that begins in New Orleans on Friday.

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Sixers are 26-8 with Embiid and 6-14 without him, with that latter mark being 6-10 when Tyrese Maxey has played. The bigger difference between the games with Embiid (110.9 points allowed per 100 possessions) and the games without him (119.5 allowed per 100) has been on defense.
• Their lineup of Tyrese Maxey, De’Anthony Melton, Tobias Harris, Nicolas Batum and Joel Embiid has outscored opponents by 34.0 points per 100 possessions, the best mark among 27 lineups that have played at least 200 minutes together. It has the best marks on both offense and defense among those 27 lineups, but it hasn’t played together since Dec. 18.
• They’re one of four teams – the Pistons, Magic and Raptors are the others – that rank in the bottom 10 in both 3-point percentage (35.9%, 22nd) and 3-point range (35.2%, 27th).

The Sixers are the only team that’s played less than half its games (26/54) against the 18 teams that come out of the break with winning records. They’ll play a league-high 19 of their final 28 games against that group, with their first four against the four teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference. They’re 2-5 (1-4 with Embiid, 1-1 without him) against those four teams thus far.

Week 18: vs. NYK, vs. CLE, vs. MIL

 

[Shanemansj13]

Three numbers to know

• The Cavs have had the best defense against the league’s top-10 offenses, allowing just 111.3 points per 100 possessions as they’ve gone 10-10 against that group.
• They have the league’s best road record (17-8), having won six straight away from Cleveland.
• They’ve seen the league’s biggest jump in ball movement, from 296 passes per 24 minutes of possession (27th) last season to 339 per 24 (eighth) this season, according to Second Spectrum tracking.

The Cavs are one of three teams with 29 games remaining and they’ll have two stretches of five games in seven days in the first three weeks out of the break. The first begins with a visit from the Magic (a potential playoff preview) on Thursday, with the Cavs having won two of the first three meetings between two of the league’s top-five defenses.

The last 30 games will be a test but the ultimate test, how does their new offense translate to the playoffs with shortened rotations? Can Garland get back in the groove? He hasn’t been the same since his injury

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Lakers are the only team with a winning record and a negative point differential, having been outscored by seven points over their 56 games. They have the fourth biggest differential between their record in clutch games (15-7, third best) and their record games that weren’t within five points in the last five minutes (15-19).
• They rank last in 3-point differential, having been outscored by 8.3 points per game from beyond the arc. But they rank second in restricted-area differential (+5.9) and lead the league in free throw differential (+4.1).
• LeBron James and Anthony Davis have played 1,198 minutes together, 311 more than they played last season (887) and 21 more than they played in the previous two seasons (’20-21 and ’21-22) combined. The Lakers have outscored their opponents by just 1.6 points per 100 possessions in those minutes, though that was just plus-0.6 per 100 through January and is plus-10.2 per 100 in 129 minutes this month.
• This 6-1 stretch has come with a major uptick in offense, and the offense may need to stay hot, as the Lakers have the league’s toughest post-break schedule regarding opposing offenses. Three of their first four post-break games are against teams that rank in the top 10 offensively, with visits to the Warriors (seventh) and Suns (ninth) this week.

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Warriors are the only team that ranks in the top five in both 3-point percentage (38.1%, fifth) and 3-point rate (43.3%, fifth), but have seen the biggest drop in the latter from last season (47.9%, third). They rank last in the percentage of their 3-point attempts that have come from the corners (17%).
• This would be the first season (not including 2019-20, when he played in only five games) where they’ve been better with Stephen Curry off the floor (plus-2.8 points per 100 possessions) than they’ve been with him on the floor (plus-0.3 per 100).
• They have the league’s second-biggest differential between their record vs. the 12 teams currently below .500 (16-3, fifth best) and their record vs. the 18 teams currently above .500 (11-23, 22nd). They had won four straight against the above-.500 group before the loss to the Clippers last week.

The Warriors have the easiest remaining schedule (cumulative opponent winning percentage of .471) among the top 12 teams in the West. They also have three games remaining against the ninth-place Lakers, with whom they’re tied in the loss column. The first of those is Thursday in San Francisco, where the Warriors are just 5-8 (with a loss to the Lakers) since Christmas

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Pistons rank last in turnover differential, having averaged 3.4 more than their opponents. Their last two games before the All-Star break were just the 10th and 11th times that they had a negative (good) turnover differential.
• They rank last in 3-point rate, having taken just 34.7% of their shots from beyond the arc. And the two Pistons who averaged the most 3-point attempts per 36 minutes — Alec Burks (9.9) and Bojan Bogdanovic (8.1) — were traded at the deadline.
• They’ve been outscored by just 1.9 points per 100 possessions in 479 minutes with Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren on the floor together, a huge improvement from their on-court mark of minus-12.7 per 100 in just 464 minutes last season.

The Pistons still need one more win to guarantee that they won’t finish with the worst record in NBA history. The early, post-break schedule won’t do them any favors, with six of their next seven games coming against teams currently over .500. The one exception (at Chicago next Tuesday) is a rest-disadvantage game.

 

[bksballer89]

Three numbers to know

• The Celtics have passed the Pacers in offensive efficiency (giving them the most efficient offense in NBA history) and rank in the top three on both ends of the floor for the second straight season. They’d be just the fourth team to rank in the top three on both ends in the 28 seasons for which we have play-by-play data, with last season’s Celtics being the only one of the previous three that didn’t go on to win the championship.
• They rank fifth in field goal percentage in the paint (60.4%), but last in the percentage of their shots that have come in the paint (42%). They lead the league in 3-point rate (47.3%) by a wide margin and have the league’s best record, both when they’ve shot the league average or better from 3-point range (26-2) and when they haven’t (17-10).
• They’re the only team that ranks in the top five in both opponent field goal percentage in the paint (54.3%, third) and the (lowest) percentage of their opponents’ shots that have come in the paint (47%, fourth).

The Celtics have the league’s third easiest post-break schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage (.463). But it’s a road-heavy slate (15 of 27 on the road) with big games in New York and Cleveland in their first 12 days back.

 

[HurricaneDij39]

Time to report the Pacers for having a player on their roster that hasn't reached his 18th birthday

And you guys traded for Kobe when he was 17.

 

[Tai Chi≈Surfing]

RIP Robert Reid.

68 years old.

Bummer....dude was my age.

R.I.P.

Longtime Rockets guard/forward Reid dies at 68

Longtime Houston Rockets guard/forward Robert Reid has died at 68.

www.espn.com

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Minutes. He’s telling Doc I’ve got your back regardless.

so in essence he is asking Doc to save his career

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Three numbers to know

• The Pistons rank last in turnover differential, having averaged 3.4 more than their opponents. Their last two games before the All-Star break were just the 10th and 11th times that they had a negative (good) turnover differential.
• They rank last in 3-point rate, having taken just 34.7% of their shots from beyond the arc. And the two Pistons who averaged the most 3-point attempts per 36 minutes — Alec Burks (9.9) and Bojan Bogdanovic (8.1) — were traded at the deadline.
• They’ve been outscored by just 1.9 points per 100 possessions in 479 minutes with Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren on the floor together, a huge improvement from their on-court mark of minus-12.7 per 100 in just 464 minutes last season.

The Pistons still need one more win to guarantee that they won’t finish with the worst record in NBA history. The early, post-break schedule won’t do them any favors, with six of their next seven games coming against teams currently over .500. The one exception (at Chicago next Tuesday) is a rest-disadvantage game.

they won't. But even if they did they're not even close to the worst team ever. Ball Handling is definitely their biggest issue offensively. I don't much care about the 3 point stats. And your last point highlights the effects of Stew or Duren seemingly always being injured this year. But also how poor Monty has built his lineups.

 

[wildturkey]

Zach Lowe had a thing today where he said before the deadline, the Rockets basically offered to give the Nets back all their picks back from the Harden trade in exchange for Bridges but Brooklyn declined. Said several people around the league during All Star weekend were talking about it and were floored Brooklyn turned that down. Which they should be. That's nuts. Bridges is at best the 3rd best player on a championship team. Brooklyn is far better off hitting bottom and starting over than building anything around Bridges.

 

[Stakesarehigh]

Zach Lowe had a thing today where he said before the deadline, the Rockets basically offered to give the Nets back all their picks back from the Harden trade in exchange for Bridges but Brooklyn declined. Said several people around the league during All Star weekend were talking about it and were floored Brooklyn turned that down. Which they should be. That's nuts. Bridges is at best the 3rd best player on a championship team. Brooklyn is far better off hitting bottom and starting over than building anything around Bridges.

At best is being a little dismissive but he's definitely not a 1 which is what they're basically saying by turning those picks down

 

[shopson67]

And then when a guy like Draymond does that stuff you want him out of the league.

Pick a lane.

A bit of a difference between contested play and pushing beyond the boundaries of the rules.

 

[shopson67]

This guy is so corny lol said this proudly like it is a good thing @Shanemansj13

Doc agrees whole-heartedly

 

[fightinfunbags]

I miss Sixers basketball. Haven’t watched a game in a week. Glad they’re back tomorrow.

 

[bksballer89]

I miss Sixers basketball. Haven’t watched a game in a week. Glad they’re back tomorrow.

I miss the old nba break. Get them back on Tuesday