2026 NBA Season

[blockman]

Heat and Pelicans got the last tickets to play-offs as many expected. Now it's play-off time!

Magic - Cavaliers
Suns - Timberwolves
Sixers - Knicks
Lakers - Nuggets

Wow, Heat is too strong. With Butler, they're really good in the playoffs but I guess that even without him, it won't affect their determination to win.

My day 1 expectations. Home teams should win at home since this is first game and the crowds support would be amazing.

IMO, it won't change for games 1,2 and so on.

[stadus]

Wow, Heat is too strong. With Butler, they're really good in the playoffs but I guess that even without him, it won't affect their determination to win.

They beat the Bulls but the Celtics is a different animal, they have their best season and they'll not gonna repeat what happened last year. And with the recent report about the injury of Butler, as we can see....

https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/heat-star-jimmy-butler-has-sprained-ligament-in-knee-will-be-sidelined-several-weeks-3/

An MRI exam on Thursday showed that he sprained the MCL ligament, an injury that typically takes at least four weeks or more to heal.

That means the Heat are gonna be playing with Jimmy Butler, can they win with the current line up, yes but the chance is very slim.

[jakelyson]

If I talk about yesterday's match, Heat really dominated in the 2nd half, it is impressive they end up by a win without Jimmy Butler or Terry Rozier. Erik Spoelstra's selection center Bam Adebayo was a good decision, Adebayo hold the team till the end and earned fourth Boston Series.

Yes, the Miami Heat and Celtics are going to face each other in the playoffs round one. I absolutely agree with the fact that the Miami Heat is a team that has created a lot of problems for other teams that they face. And of course, they are all legit teams. Because from a "not so advantageous" position they can still perform. Miami Heat is a team that has proved themselves again and again even in unfavored situations. Currently, Miami Heat is in really good form as well. The Celtics will have a problem on their hand in the upcoming match against Miami Heat.

Erik Spoelstra really was a great strategist and I have seen it back then the Miami Heat won in their back-to-back 2011–12 and 2012–13 in the Miami Heat team, and with the strategy in winning a game against the Denver Nuggets last year it was a great strategy and by letting Denver Nuggets Nikola Jokic exposed by that strategy but unfortunately, the Denver Nuggets got into this strategy and prevented by Coach Michael Malone, and that was by letting Jokic shot the ball and not make any play,

But sure Erik Spoelstra is surely a great coach even without Jimmy Butler on the team his strategy was quite great with the remaining players that he got, and yes I was really looking forward to their next game.

Heat and Pelicans got the last tickets to play-offs as many expected. Now it's play-off time!

Magic - Cavaliers
Suns - Timberwolves
Sixers - Knicks
Lakers - Nuggets

My day 1 expectations. Home teams should win at home since this is first game and the crowds support would be amazing.

Good Choices I think that the Cavaliers, Nuggets, and Timberwolves have a great chance of winning against their counter teams while I can not still answer the Philadelphia 76ers against the New York Knicks I guess that will be a hard bet in my opinion but for sure we will see when the play-offs really starts,

It was really a bummer that I was busy with my family on an out-of-town trip it was really unfortunate that I missed most of the games in the regular season and now when we come back it was already the play-offs but it is really good to still have some games than never really have some NBA games at all.

[redsun114]

Two series that I wonder the most will be Lakers vs Nuggets and the Heat vs Celtics. Those are going to be something that will not be based on the seeding, sure Celtics and Nuggets look to be higher seed, but the reality is that we are going to see both lower seed teams to play much better.

Lakers are looking good, they always look good by the end and last season Nuggets managed to win with pure talent and luck, everyone still jokes about how Jokic made shots that were impossible and will miss this time. Lebron is running out of time as well, he has maybe one or two more seasons left in him, he will want to win again, which will be pretty tough to be fair, but I can see a win. Heat and Butler will try their very best too, they are a dangerous team at 8th seed, as we have seen before.

[dwyane36]

Two series that I wonder the most will be Lakers vs Nuggets and the Heat vs Celtics. Those are going to be something that will not be based on the seeding, sure Celtics and Nuggets look to be higher seed, but the reality is that we are going to see both lower seed teams to play much better.

Lakers are looking good, they always look good by the end and last season Nuggets managed to win with pure talent and luck, everyone still jokes about how Jokic made shots that were impossible and will miss this time. Lebron is running out of time as well, he has maybe one or two more seasons left in him, he will want to win again, which will be pretty tough to be fair, but I can see a win. Heat and Butler will try their very best too, they are a dangerous team at 8th seed, as we have seen before.

Well, the first half of the first game of the Lakers-Nuggets series is over, and it's worth noting that the Lakers are doing well. It looks like it will be a close game in the second half, and I think the Lakers have a good chance to win this game if they keep performing at the same pace.

[danherbias07]

Heat and Pelicans got the last tickets to play-offs as many expected. Now it's play-off time!

Magic - Cavaliers
Suns - Timberwolves
Sixers - Knicks
Lakers - Nuggets

My day 1 expectations. Home teams should win at home since this is first game and the crowds support would be amazing.

And you are right. I hope you made it as a parlay.

I thought the Lakers would make the difference but it's only at the first half. Jokic went MVP mode and KCP switched his eagle eye on. The Nuggets are strong and it's proven today. We know Davis is one of the elite defenders below the rim but today Jokic still managed to score 32 points against him.
I think the recipe for the Lakers to win is on D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. If those two great players could get hot early in the game then they might have a chance to win against the defending champions Denver Nuggets.
Lebron and AD are doing their jobs without any doubts but someone in their team must step up their game to contribute to the offense. In the 3rd quarter all they did was turnovers unless the ball goes to AD which can score against Jokic but the same play could not work over and over again.

[AbuBhakar]

Heat and Pelicans got the last tickets to play-offs as many expected. Now it's play-off time!

Magic - Cavaliers
Suns - Timberwolves
Sixers - Knicks
Lakers - Nuggets

My day 1 expectations. Home teams should win at home since this is first game and the crowds support would be amazing.

And you are right. I hope you made it as a parlay.

I thought the Lakers would make the difference but it's only at the first half. Jokic went MVP mode and KCP switched his eagle eye on. The Nuggets are strong and it's proven today. We know Davis is one of the elite defenders below the rim but today Jokic still managed to score 32 points against him.
I think the recipe for the Lakers to win is on D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. If those two great players could get hot early in the game then they might have a chance to win against the defending champions Denver Nuggets.
Lebron and AD are doing their jobs without any doubts but someone in their team must step up their game to contribute to the offense. In the 3rd quarter all they did was turnovers unless the ball goes to AD which can score against Jokic but the same play could not work over and over again.

Lakers only to win against Nuggets is when Michael Porter and Murray choke since Jokic will be tire out doing things on his own to carry the team. Having a good stamina for Jokic all throughout the game is very hard to beat especially on playoffs mode regardless if Russell and other players step up for Lakers.

The secret why Nuggets is a strong team especially in Playoffs is Jokic can do both score, assists and defense. He can solo the team when he is not tired so the team is unbeatable if his other teammates is contributing a lot to help him.

Either put Jokic in early foul trouble or lock him down to limit him on creating a play for his teammates.

[Distinctin]

Either put Jokic in early foul trouble or lock him down to limit him on creating a play for his teammates.

Locking him down, it's not gonna happen as no one in the roster of the Lakers can do that, if they'll double him, well maybe possible but that would mean resulting to more open shooters for the Nuggets, so they'll not do that kind of strategy.

Maybe putting him in foul trouble would help, I don't know how they'll do that but they need to be smart, and maybe the refs would be able to help them in that matter, you know, anything can happen as I'm not seeing the Lakers will be swept again this time.

As on this game, Jokic finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists, and take note, "0" turnovers, that's how good he is in taking care of the ball.

[AbuBhakar]

Either put Jokic in early foul trouble or lock him down to limit him on creating a play for his teammates.

Locking him down, it's not gonna happen as no one in the roster of the Lakers can do that, if they'll double him, well maybe possible but that would mean resulting to more open shooters for the Nuggets, so they'll not do that kind of strategy.

Agree on this, they can do this double team if Murray and MPJ has a very low shooting accuracy which can happened based on the last playoffs. But it’s really hard to double team Jokic since he is good on spottin open teammates due to his height advantage.

Maybe putting him in foul trouble would help, I don't know how they'll do that but they need to be smart, and maybe the refs would be able to help them in that matter, you know, anything can happen as I'm not seeing the Lakers will be swept again this time.
 

Miami manage to do that before by sacrificing one player that will irritate play Jokic. A player like Draymond Green if Lakers have this can be annoying for Jokic. I dunno. 

[Natalim]

Either put Jokic in early foul trouble or lock him down to limit him on creating a play for his teammates.

Locking him down, it's not gonna happen as no one in the roster of the Lakers can do that, if they'll double him, well maybe possible but that would mean resulting to more open shooters for the Nuggets, so they'll not do that kind of strategy.

Agree on this, they can do this double team if Murray and MPJ has a very low shooting accuracy which can happened based on the last playoffs. But it’s really hard to double team Jokic since he is good on spottin open teammates due to his height advantage.

Until now the Lakers still can't manage to beat the Nuggets. Starting from the last playoffs where they got swept, and in the regular season as well, and now it's starting to look bad for them as we might witness another embarassing playoffs for them. Lebron isn't gonna like that, he'll probably make a decision after the playoffs when they are not gonna play a competitive series with the Nuggets.

Lebron had 7 turnovers in this game, how careless he was, he should have trust it with the real PG and just keep attacking the paint because he still have the strenght to do that. There's no problem with his shooting but that turnovers was 58% of the total team's TO.

Maybe putting him in foul trouble would help, I don't know how they'll do that but they need to be smart, and maybe the refs would be able to help them in that matter, you know, anything can happen as I'm not seeing the Lakers will be swept again this time.
 

Miami manage to do that before by sacrificing one player that will irritate play Jokic. A player like Draymond Green if Lakers have this can be annoying for Jokic. I dunno. 

There was no one in the roster who could do that,  maybe if they have PJ Tucker although short but could defend Jokic due to his quickness and great defense. Last time the Clippers and the Nuggets met, the Clippers won the game with PJ guarding Jokic.

[yazher]

Until now the Lakers still can't manage to beat the Nuggets. Starting from the last playoffs where they got swept, and in the regular season as well, and now it's starting to look bad for them as we might witness another embarassing playoffs for them. Lebron isn't gonna like that, he'll probably make a decision after the playoffs when they are not gonna play a competitive series with the Nuggets.

That's just an obvious scenario when these two teams face each other since the Nuggets are full of young talents and the Lakers are full of ready to retired players, they are the heavy underdog against the Nuggets and just to win a single game in this series, is a miracle for them based on what kind of play they have shown last night. Let's just see if they can still manage to adjust to counter the Nuggets but that seems not possible given the current limitations of their superstars against this heavyweight team.

[stadus]

Miami manage to do that before by sacrificing one player that will irritate play Jokic. A player like Draymond Green if Lakers have this can be annoying for Jokic. I dunno. 

But did they succeed? No, because Miami loss in the NBA finals and game wasn't even close. It seems like Miami had some trouble against a team that has a dominant center, so I think it will be hard for them to beat the  Nuggets in case they'll be lucky again to win ECF. What I like to see is Embiid vs Jokic battle, these two are the best big men in the league now, and a duel in the Finals would definitely give the fans the best series to witness.
 
Sixers might have a harder route but it's possible as this season they have been playing great basketball and if they'll face the Celtics in the ECF (x Miami), I think Sixers are going to upset the heavy favorite team.

[Viscore]

Miami manage to do that before by sacrificing one player that will irritate play Jokic. A player like Draymond Green if Lakers have this can be annoying for Jokic. I dunno. 

But did they succeed? No, because Miami loss in the NBA finals and game wasn't even close. It seems like Miami had some trouble against a team that has a dominant center, so I think it will be hard for them to beat the  Nuggets in case they'll be lucky again to win ECF. What I like to see is Embiid vs Jokic battle, these two are the best big men in the league now, and a duel in the Finals would definitely give the fans the best series to witness.
 
Sixers might have a harder route but it's possible as this season they have been playing great basketball and if they'll face the Celtics in the ECF (x Miami), I think Sixers are going to upset the heavy favorite team.

The series was kinda exciting at the start because Miami was able to even the series in game 2, but the succeeding games, it's always the Nuggets until they win the championship. Heat is a good team but they lack superstar, that's the reality.

They went to the Finals 2 times with Butler leading the team.

First with the lakers 4-2, and second with the Nuggets 4-1.... So expecting them to be in the NBA finals, that's not going to be fun as they'll just loss to the WCF champ. The best team that could probably give the Nuggets a good series is the Celtics, so this team better make sure they'll beat the Heat.

[Jating]

Heat and Pelicans got the last tickets to play-offs as many expected. Now it's play-off time!

Magic - Cavaliers
Suns - Timberwolves
Sixers - Knicks
Lakers - Nuggets

My day 1 expectations. Home teams should win at home since this is first game and the crowds support would be amazing.

And you are right. I hope you made it as a parlay.

I thought the Lakers would make the difference but it's only at the first half. Jokic went MVP mode and KCP switched his eagle eye on. The Nuggets are strong and it's proven today. We know Davis is one of the elite defenders below the rim but today Jokic still managed to score 32 points against him.
I think the recipe for the Lakers to win is on D'Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura. If those two great players could get hot early in the game then they might have a chance to win against the defending champions Denver Nuggets.
Lebron and AD are doing their jobs without any doubts but someone in their team must step up their game to contribute to the offense. In the 3rd quarter all they did was turnovers unless the ball goes to AD which can score against Jokic but the same play could not work over and over again.

Lakers only to win against Nuggets is when Michael Porter and Murray choke since Jokic will be tire out doing things on his own to carry the team. Having a good stamina for Jokic all throughout the game is very hard to beat especially on playoffs mode regardless if Russell and other players step up for Lakers.

The secret why Nuggets is a strong team especially in Playoffs is Jokic can do both score, assists and defense. He can solo the team when he is not tired so the team is unbeatable if his other teammates is contributing a lot to help him.

Either put Jokic in early foul trouble or lock him down to limit him on creating a play for his teammates.

Or the Lakers should bring back the one that did play good defense with the Lakers, Dwight Howard. But it's too late, Jokic has matured and evolved and maybe he will have to thanks the like do Draymond or Dwight for playing him that hard that's why he improved.

Sorry for the Lakers, fans thought that they will have a good chance to steal game 1, saw lots of Tweets after first quarter saying that the Lakers are going to win. But they went silent after the 2nd and 3rd quarter as the Nuggets come back and never give the Lakers a to comeback.

[OgNasty]

Nice to see the playoffs in full swing. I would’ve liked to see the Lakers win yesterday but it looks like Denver is going to be too much for them again this year. Lots more games today but the only one I’m really excited to see is the Clippers against the Mavericks. That should be an entertaining game.

[danherbias07]

Either put Jokic in early foul trouble or lock him down to limit him on creating a play for his teammates.

Locking him down, it's not gonna happen as no one in the roster of the Lakers can do that, if they'll double him, well maybe possible but that would mean resulting to more open shooters for the Nuggets, so they'll not do that kind of strategy.

Maybe putting him in foul trouble would help, I don't know how they'll do that but they need to be smart, and maybe the refs would be able to help them in that matter, you know, anything can happen as I'm not seeing the Lakers will be swept again this time.

As on this game, Jokic finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 assists, and take note, "0" turnovers, that's how good he is in taking care of the ball.

Yeah, it will be more of a trouble to them because Jokic is a good passer too and with his size he could easily find an open man either KCP, Jamal, or MPJ.
What we have seen today was not doubling Jokic but KCP still found a way to make himself open and it rained three's in Ball Arena. 15 of 42 ain't bad.
The Lakers on the other hand, did not shoot many outside shots and I was actually surprised that AD attempted more than their shooters.
He can dominate the inside just like Jokic so maybe he should focus on that. We have seen him grind his way down his spots where he gets more and1's and they might take advantage of that next time. Also, DLo seem to be not in a good shooting night, they will badly need his contributions in Game 2.

[Fredomago]

Yeah, it will be more of a trouble to them because Jokic is a good passer too and with his size he could easily find an open man either KCP, Jamal, or MPJ.

He can passed the ball even without looking who's going to catch it hahaha, kidding aside it's true that Joker really have that good eyesight finding his teammate each time he feel the presence of double team that's why he quickly react and break that double by passing the ball either inside or to his open teamate who's ready to take the shot.

What we have seen today was not doubling Jokic but KCP still found a way to make himself open and it rained three's in Ball Arena. 15 of 42 ain't bad.

That's how confident the shooters are, knowing that they've got the size with Jokic and Gordon inside they've got the chance for the offensive rebounds.

The Lakers on the other hand, did not shoot many outside shots and I was actually surprised that AD attempted more than their shooters.
He can dominate the inside just like Jokic so maybe he should focus on that. We have seen him grind his way down his spots where he gets more and1's and they might take advantage of that next time. Also, DLo seem to be not in a good shooting night, they will badly need his contributions in Game 2.

DLo needs to adjust those outside threats should always be present allowing LeBron and AD to get that isolations, game 1's result needs to reassess and take more closer look if what kind of adjustments they need, more on self-reflections and good anticipation, they again playing against the Denver who swept them last season, they need to find ways to prevent that to happen again,.

[inthelongrun]

Nice to see the playoffs in full swing. I would’ve liked to see the Lakers win yesterday but it looks like Denver is going to be too much for them again this year. Lots more games today but the only one I’m really excited to see is the Clippers against the Mavericks. That should be an entertaining game.

Well, the Lakers showed that they can hang in there. So we will see how the Lakers look like in the second game. They are making adjustments for sure. But maybe Denver will show better performance in the next game. I am expecting the series to end in 4-1 in favor of the defending champion.

Mavericks against the Clippers is probably the hottest match up in the first round. My head says the Clippers will win but I want Mavs to win.

At the moment, Miami is playing against Boston without Butler and Rozier. This series might end 4-0.

[FanEagle]

Minnesota definitely looking like a serious team, Suns is no joke, they have Beal, Booker and of course Durant and yet Minnesota is playing like crazy and got their win as well. I feel like we are talking about something that is a bit more risky at this point if we keep it going like this.

I believe that Wolves could beat Suns over 7 game series, maybe not even take it that further, they have a chance to even go as quick as sweeping them if they keep this up. Anthony Edwards definitely looks like there is a big talent right there, dude is playing like he is MJ at this point, he is looking a lot like him when he plays, and shows how MJ would be in modern era, give or take. I believe that it's going to be a great series.

[MK-74]

The last period of the Los Angeles Clippers vs Dallas Mavericks game is played and the Clippers are ahead by 21 points.
Kawhi Leonard is not playing for the Clippers tonight, I didn't think the Clippers would win so easily.
There are 5 minutes left in the game, but I don't think the score will change.
I can say they won the first game.