(Basketnews) [The Athletic] NBA players voted Houston Rockets All-Star Alperen Sengun the most overrated player in the league.
[Cowherd] Watching him (SGA) flop in an NBA game is like inserting one of those Life Alert commercials. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up! into Cirque du Soleil. It tears at the fabric of the creativity of the NBA.︀︀ ︀︀
[Charania] Just in: Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid has been ruled out for Game 2 tonight against the New York Knicks due to ankle and hip injuries, sources tell ESPN.
[Cowherd] “KD is like buying a boat. The first day you have it and the first day you sell it are the two happiest days.”
Tracy McGrady, mentor to Jaylen Brown, says that Jaylen is “frustrated” with the Celtics organization
Luka Doncic: “I’m just doing everything I can… The doctor said 8 weeks at the beginning of the first MRI, so I’m just going day-by-day and I feel better every day”
[Hine] Ayo Dosunmu is back tonight after missing the last 2 games, the team announces
[Obguia] Carmelo: “James (Harden) has to stop playing with the ball and just go… Every time you ‘tween, ‘tween, ‘tween, ‘tween, the court is shrinking and shrinking and shrinking” T-Mac shared Melo’s sentiment: “We don’t need you dancing out at the top of the key trying to get your game off”
41 years old LeBron James checks out: 27 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST, 1 STL
Brad Stevens today - “There were a lot of teams, in the NBA, playing for draft positioning this year. And that won’t be the case next year. The league is gonna be a lot better, the regular season’s gonna be a lot harder.”
LeBron postgame when asked about Lakers offensive issues - “Where are the offensive issues coming from? We have a guy that averaged 37 a game… There’s the issues right there”
[Injury] The OKC Thunder bench reacts to Jarred Vanderbilt’s hand injury:
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd tried to become Mavericks’ president but he has known for months that he wouldn’t get the job
[Post Game Thread] The Detroit Pistons (1-0) defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers (0-1), 111-101.
Masai Ujiri on fans’ feelings moving on from the Luka trade and building around Cooper Flagg: “In Africa we say when kings go, kings come. And a king went, and we have a little prince here that we’re gonna turn into a king.”
[Charania] The NBA has fined Boston’s Jaylen Brown $50,000 for his comments criticizing the referees after Game 7 and series loss in the first round against the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell ESPN.
[Charania] Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has sustained a full dislocation of his right pinky finger in a gruesome injury tonight, sources tell ESPN.
Update on the Sixers fan from yesterday: thankfully he’s okay and seems to be taking the whole thing in jest. Still, as a Knicks fan, we need to weed out these clout-hungry pests from our fanbase.
[Post Game Thread] The Oklahoma City Thunder (1-0) defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (0-1), 108-90 behind 24 points for Chet Holmgren.
[Moore] Jaylen Clark when asked about the Wolves’ energy becoming their identity - “Definitely. I feel like we got a lot of crash outs, so yeah. But that’s beautiful, it’s cool. I feel like people don’t want to poke us.”
The NBA Playoffs used to be predictable. Then the 2020s started. Underdogs have won 33% of series this decade Here are 5 reasons why the NBA has entered its chaos era
Marcus on JJ saying they’ve sucked against the Thunder:
“JJ’s been nice. We were ass”
Austin Reaves despite the Loss against the Thunder: 8 PTS | 3⁄16 FGS | 0/5 3PTS | 2⁄2 FTS | 4 TOS | 24% TS
Jared “sold high” McCain off the bench against the Lakers in game 1: 12 points, 4⁄7 FG, 4⁄5 3PT
[Highlight] Shai Gilgeous-Alexander misses a shot while attempting to draw a foul, and Deandre Ayton with a nice pass to LeBron James for the fastbreak dunk (with replays).
12 early points for LeBron.
[Highlight] Marcus Smart realizes that if he touches the ball, it is a backcourt violation, so he lets Shai Gilgoues-Alexander dive for it and then grabs the ball too, forcing a jump ball (with a replay).
Smart wins the jump ball
[Sportico] The NBA Playoffs used to be predictable. Then the 2020s started. Underdogs have won 33% of series this decade
[Jay King] Brad Stevens said he spoke with Jaylen Brown on Monday and he was “nothing but positive.” Stevens said Brown has expressed no frustrations with him about the organization. “None of that has been expressed to me.”
Players were polled on who they think the best defensive player in the league is and these are the results
Irony of Lebron James career
James Harden was 43 turnovers these playoffs already, leading all players. He is currently averaging 5.4 turnovers and 6.2 assists in the playoffs
[Highlight] LeBron James grabs his first rebound of the game and scores the putback layup while being surrounded by 4 Thunder players in the paint. He also lets them know.
Chris Finch on Wemby’s 12 blocks: “at least 4 of them were goaltending…it’s a little alarming that none of them were called…he’s 7’6” and there’s no heightened [ref] awareness that these blocks could be goaltends…You know the value of 8 points in an NBA game? That’s also 33% of his blocks”
LeBron James has more playoff wins this season without Luka Doncic (4) than Michael Jordan had without Scottie Pippin (1) his entire career.
[RotoWire] Lakers’ Jarred Vanderbilt: Considered day-to-day
[Atlantic] Who’s NBA’s most overrated player? Underrated? Best coach? According to the players.
[McMenamin] Vanderbilt needed stitches postgame because the bone in his dislocated pinkie finger broke skin
Ted Turner, Former Hawks Owner and one of the Only Owners Who’s Team Retired a Jersey in His Honor, Dies at 87
The Timberwolves are the best watch in basketball
NBC structuring the broadcasts like this is genuine ragebait
Austin Rivers responds to Draymond Green
OKC is basically death by a thousand cuts.
Michael Porter Jr: “I was talking to Christian Braun during the series he hurt his ankle the first game. He played through it same way I played through a shoulder injury last year. Now he’s getting killed on social media especially since the comments he made.”
[Hoop Collective] Mavericks HC Jason Kidd tried to become team president, according to Tim MacMahon but has known for months he wasn’t getting the job.
Knicks fans harass Sixers fan minding his business after game 1
For people who lived through it how hated were the 90s Bulls actually?
[McMenamin] “I went to Spain to do PRP,” Doncic said. “Everybody knows that Spain, they’re just one of the best countries to do that. And obviously, I talked with the Lakers’ doctors, so everybody agreed for me to go there.” Doncic said he received four PRP injections in Spain
The Refs from last night’s Thunder vs Lakers game
Chet Holmgren with a big game 1 performance: 24 PTS, 12 REB, 1 AST, 1 STL, 3 BLK