2025 NBA Season

[SquallLeonhart]

I guess most of us expected that the Celtics will take 2, but what I didn't expect is how the Celtics won. I expect that this will be a close one knowing that Embiid is back, and with Harden's Game 1 performance, he will continue it in Game 2, but it wasn't the case at all.

After scoring 45 points, the Celtics adjusted on how they must defend Harden, and that's the reason why he is very awful on that game scoring only 12 points, and had -21 on the plus-minus rating. We know that the Celtics are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, and there's not that much changes on their roster. What we don't know is that they are also a good three point shooting as well, and they displayed it here on this game as they shot 20 threes in 51 attempts compare to just 6 of 30 for the Sixers.

Also the 3rd quarter surge of the Celtics made consecutive three point shots is the reason why the lead ballooned coming into the 4th quarter, and from that they didn't look back. I guess there's nothing wrong with Harden on this one, but it's the adjustment of the Celtics' defense against him that causes him to have this poor performance, and so is Embiid.

This was needed because after they lost the first game at home, a lot of people started to think that they were not good enough to beat Sixers and they will lose the series, because you do not lose your first home game. But with this game and the domination, they showed that the first game was a fluke and that is not how they play and they are going to do better.

If they keep doing better than we are going to end up considering them as the contender again, I felt like they could even get the title this season, it wasn't unlikely and it could still happen, but after the first game I started to doubt that, with this game I started to trust them a bit more again. So this game was something they needed both for the fans but also for their own confidence as well.

[Kasabus]

76ers fans might not be happy with what Embiid showed today, they must be thinking they are way better when he was not available having a close fight in game 1 and better, winning it using fast-paced type of plays. In game 3, Embiid should prove why he is the MVP.
 

Embiid probably hasn't fully recovered from his injury, and I think his knee pain was one of the reasons why he didn't perform as MVP in Game 2. By the way, even if Embiid hadn't played, the 76ers probably still would have lost to the Celtics since Harden also had a poor performance in that game. In any case, the next game will be at the 76ers home arena, and it seems to me that they can take advantage of that.

Then he shouldn't be playing at game 2 if he still has some pain in his knee otherwise it will be dangerous for him if he aggravate it. So I doubt that it's bothering him, it's that Joel and Harden had a bad game against the Boston and we should give credit to the Celtics for making the adjustment in game 2. And with that, the series shifts to 76ers home court, now we will see how the team are going to play and respond to the big lost they suffer in game 2. And we should be expecting Joel to put a great performance to prove why he is the MVP as you have said. And the good thing is that they are the underdog ML and as someone has said +1.5 handicap.

You probably didn't see the game, hence the doubts.

Well, in contrary to the people's expectation in Embiid's return, the Sixers center was clearly not on his 100% and only got below 40% FG in his 27 minutes playtime on the court. We might say that Doc Rivers was just resting him in-between because he just got out from the injury but in reality, Embiid just badly needed to rest because it's clear that he can barely run coast to coast as most of the time, during the turnover, he was just waiting for the team on the other side and rarely finishes with an exclamation point.

[mirakal]

Boston vs Philly surprised me, just as anybody else. Without Embiid they were a huge dog, I think the spread was around 10-12 points. Even with Embiid back for game 2 (maybe) I don't see Boston losing again, this was just a fluke.

Well, guess I was right and it was a fluke.
Even with the mvp back in the lineup Philly got destroyed. He didn’t have any impact on 27 minutes of playing time. And Harden, well the words off game wouldn’t even describe this performance, 2/14 from the field plus 8 fts. After game 1 everybody expected more of him but this was not it.

Probably just one of those days that Harden mindset is very different as he carry the team without Joel Embiid and win by a close margin.

It will be much better for the team if James Harden will be playing like that regularly and performing like what he did Game 1 while Embiid is still having a hard time about his injury that slowed the team.

Now the series shifts to Philadelphia and Boston needs, and will get, at least 1 game away from home. They can’t risk going down 3:1, that would almost mean the series a done.

Embiid will only become more healthy and dangerous the longer this series goes. Boston would be smart to finish it fast.

For sure Joel is very disappointed with his performance and going back to their homecourt, the MVP cheers might do good for him and we could see him putting great numbers for a MVP. Otherwise, if they lost, it's going to be a big let down to their fans.

So we will see, another great game 2 is between the Lakers and Warriors, they can't simply allow the Lakers and Davis to have that kind of games.

Yes, no doubt! Joel Embiid himself is even embarrassed because the fans are expecting him to put up a good fight against the Celtics and bring a good numbers in-terms of contribution but instead, they were the ones who were dominated by the home team and it's evident that the Celtics became wiser not to waste any ball possession because that's the major reason why they lost in Game 1.

[wheelz1200]

I guess most of us expected that the Celtics will take 2, but what I didn't expect is how the Celtics won. I expect that this will be a close one knowing that Embiid is back, and with Harden's Game 1 performance, he will continue it in Game 2, but it wasn't the case at all.

After scoring 45 points, the Celtics adjusted on how they must defend Harden, and that's the reason why he is very awful on that game scoring only 12 points, and had -21 on the plus-minus rating. We know that the Celtics are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, and there's not that much changes on their roster. What we don't know is that they are also a good three point shooting as well, and they displayed it here on this game as they shot 20 threes in 51 attempts compare to just 6 of 30 for the Sixers.

Also the 3rd quarter surge of the Celtics made consecutive three point shots is the reason why the lead ballooned coming into the 4th quarter, and from that they didn't look back. I guess there's nothing wrong with Harden on this one, but it's the adjustment of the Celtics' defense against him that causes him to have this poor performance, and so is Embiid.

This was needed because after they lost the first game at home, a lot of people started to think that they were not good enough to beat Sixers and they will lose the series, because you do not lose your first home game. But with this game and the domination, they showed that the first game was a fluke and that is not how they play and they are going to do better.

If they keep doing better than we are going to end up considering them as the contender again, I felt like they could even get the title this season, it wasn't unlikely and it could still happen, but after the first game I started to doubt that, with this game I started to trust them a bit more again. So this game was something they needed both for the fans but also for their own confidence as well.

When it gets to the second round and on all bets are off.  It's about stealing a close game and protecting home court.  If I had to guess Celtics win one in Philly.  Gonna be a close game or 2 that one shot will be the difference.  Tonight's series I think will end up the same.  Split down the middle. 

[harizen]

If they keep doing better than we are going to end up considering them as the contender again, I felt like they could even get the title this season, it wasn't unlikely and it could still happen, but after the first game I started to doubt that, with this game I started to trust them a bit more again.

After every game and seeing how it was played overall, a certain conclusion was always created.

Nothing wrong though with that action but not a good reference to speculate what will likely happen to the series.

Remember that in a playoff series, there are several series of "consistent inconsistencies" where both teams are doing some adjustment, regardless if they came from winning or losing their recent game. Even with a dominant win or loss by a certain team, we can't expect that the same thing will happen next game.

If we specifically refer to a face-off between two dominant teams during the season e.g the current Celtics vs. Sixers Conference Semi-Finals, it always ends up with these factors on picking who will be the winner of the series:

- As a fan (either on a player or a team)
- As a bandwagon fan (hoping the team that beat their favorite team will lose the next round)
- An active bet on that team (of course, we need to win no matter what so we have to trust the team)

[blockman]

There could be some of those that they'll win for sure. But they'll come back stronger and that's gonna be a thing for them.
As for the Celtics, there's a huge disparity and gap with their lead against Philly, congrats to them.

They always come back stronger just see the 4th quarter that the run is very huge which means they are capable of coming back they just caught off short that time. I am not really a fan of GS as I am always a fan of LBJ but when it comes to games between GSW I always got nervous as no matter the gap of points if the last quarter they can make runs that they can get into OT or even win the game.

We'll see later if they'll have a comeback and make it a tie for the 2nd game.

My gut for tomorrow's game is that GSW will win that is why I still haven't bet for tomorrow lol

Follow your gut, sometimes we ignore it and it tends out to be true. We're just a few hours away from the 2nd game and in stake's odds, the Lakers got some better odds and probably in other bookies too. So choose what you want to bet.

[danherbias07]

Just in!
Bucks fire coach Mike Budenholzer after early exit
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37424110/sources-bucks-fire-coach-mike-budenholzer-early-exit

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer after the East's top seed suffered a first-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat.

"The decision to make this change was very difficult," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement Thursday. "Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks' first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.

Holy sh*t! What is the Bucks's management thinking?
Coach Bud helped them win a championship in 2021 and now they are firing him just because of an early exit which is not his fault. Yeah, he made some mistakes, crucial ones, but there is no perfect coach in the league. In game 1 Lakers vs Warriors, I also thought Steve Kerr made a big mistake by not calling a timeout when they tied the game using Steph's own run. It's not about just one game mistake, it's about how he lifted this team up on his years of staying with them.
Well, their own loss and I think Giannis will have a difficult time once they find a new head coach for the team. Let's see if they will still be the number one seed after that.
Again with the "put the blame game". 

[jakelyson]

Everyone just saw the expectation that we've set for ourselves. Both teams are good just as expected and this is where one of them is going to end.
Well, here goes the 4-3 predictions that I'm seeing on them and we'll know it soon. But we're sure that GSW won't just let this end favoring the Lakers.
And within the next few minutes, we'll see if Celtics will take their first win or if Philly is going to take their 2nd win.

Well because of what is happening now, in my opinion, these two matches really are hard to predict, you will never know when a player for both teams could erupt and fire up with their game, and because both teams have a tendency to blow up their scores, so it is still exciting to watch, but on the 2nd game for sure it will be a win for the Golden State Warriors Andrew Wiggins needs to find his inner self 1st,

With what happened in Game 1, I think the Warriors need to win Game 2 and at least one game in Games 3 and 4. The Lakers are hyped now, and people are thinking that they will win the series and possibly end the defending champion with a 4-0 or 4-1 record. However, this is just Game 1, and anything can happen, just like what happened in the Celtics vs 76ers Game 2, where the Celtics bounced back strong and dominated the 76ers.

They need to not let the Lakers win another 1 again and that game was at home aswell, so it is a great upset for the Golden State Warriors to upset them in their own territory, it is a big feat for Anthony Davis after that 50 points play of Stephen Curry, he is back in his regular form again, and lets his teammates do what they can but yeah I really think that game 2 will be their win that is why I made a bet on it,

[OgNasty]

Just in!
Bucks fire coach Mike Budenholzer after early exit
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37424110/sources-bucks-fire-coach-mike-budenholzer-early-exit

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer after the East's top seed suffered a first-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat.

"The decision to make this change was very difficult," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement Thursday. "Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks' first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.

Holy sh*t! What is the Bucks's management thinking?
Coach Bud helped them win a championship in 2021 and now they are firing him just because of an early exit which is not his fault. Yeah, he made some mistakes, crucial ones, but there is no perfect coach in the league. In game 1 Lakers vs Warriors, I also thought Steve Kerr made a big mistake by not calling a timeout when they tied the game using Steph's own run. It's not about just one game mistake, it's about how he lifted this team up on his years of staying with them.
Well, their own loss and I think Giannis will have a difficult time once they find a new head coach for the team. Let's see if they will still be the number one seed after that.
Again with the "put the blame game". 

Definitely a little messed up to fire him for a bad week he had right after his brother died, but maybe they’re doing him a favor by removing all of his responsibilities.

I’m surprised to see the Warriors playing small against the Lakers but I guess they figured they couldn’t beat Anthony Davis even with Looney playing well, so they’re trying to make him play their game.

[Eternad]

I’m surprised to see the Warriors playing small against the Lakers but I guess they figured they couldn’t beat Anthony Davis even with Looney playing well, so they’re trying to make him play their game.

That’s their only chance with their small roster. Their big man is no match to Davis. Only Giannis, Embid and other star center can much Davis inside while average center like Looney can’t beat him on inside scoring and defending.

Warriors main arsenal is their 3 point shoot. They should keep doing that if they want to win instead of keep penetrating the point while there’s a big threat inside. Davis is also contained by having 4 points only. He is useless if no one is entering the paint. His blocks gave him motivation to score more. He is not active if he feels that he is not useful in the game. The word is momentum. Lakers doesn’t have one now.

[Harkorede]

Just in!
Bucks fire coach Mike Budenholzer after early exit
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/37424110/sources-bucks-fire-coach-mike-budenholzer-early-exit

The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Mike Budenholzer after the East's top seed suffered a first-round playoff loss to the Miami Heat.

"The decision to make this change was very difficult," Bucks general manager Jon Horst said in a statement Thursday. "Bud helped lead our team for five incredible seasons, to the Bucks' first title in 50 years, and into an era of sustained success. We are grateful for the culture of winning and leadership that Bud helped create in Milwaukee.

Holy sh*t! What is the Bucks's management thinking?
Coach Bud helped them win a championship in 2021 and now they are firing him just because of an early exit which is not his fault. Yeah, he made some mistakes, crucial ones, but there is no perfect coach in the league. In game 1 Lakers vs Warriors, I also thought Steve Kerr made a big mistake by not calling a timeout when they tied the game using Steph's own run. It's not about just one game mistake, it's about how he lifted this team up on his years of staying with them.
Well, their own loss and I think Giannis will have a difficult time once they find a new head coach for the team. Let's see if they will still be the number one seed after that.
Again with the "put the blame game". 

Definitely a little messed up to fire him for a bad week he had right after his brother died, but maybe they’re doing him a favor by removing all of his responsibilities.

Might not be an entirely terrible decision for Milwaukee Bucks, maybe it is for Giannis but with the way he's transformed his game, he'd be the go to guy for most coaches you'd find in the NBA now, and as Bud I'd say it's a terrible week for him, he surely should know that it's not hard feelings, it's just a business and coaches come and go, but a lot of team have figured out Bud's style Giannis and set up easy ways to make him less effective, even if it mean bringing in extra guys to pick up fouls against him and send him to the line. Bud surely wouldn't be out of a job for very long.

I’m surprised to see the Warriors playing small against the Lakers but I guess they figured they couldn’t beat Anthony Davis even with Looney playing well, so they’re trying to make him play their game.

It's worked pretty well so far and the antics of getting really cheap and absurd free throws have been huge limited in the first half, but I really don't know why Kerr is still having Jordan Poole on this roster, his ass should be on the bench, he's a liability for their play and the team at large, even when he scores 30 points, he ensures to give 35 points back to the opponents by himself either by turnovers, extremely terrible fouls, shoot and pass choices, he's the most unimproved player from the Warriors roster this season, imo!

[Oasisman]

What a turn around for both the Lakers and GSW in game 2. The Warriors just completely destroyed Lakers' defense. What's even interesting is that it does not involved Kevon Looney that much, GSW played small ball, quick plays, and very efficient in the 3rd.
AD also had a huge turnaround from game 1 with his poor performance today.
Overall poor performance for the Lakers in game 2, despite of the hot start from LeBron and Hachimura.
Let's see if they can bounce back from this blowout in their 2 game home stand.

[Harkorede]

What a turn around for both the Lakers and GSW in game 2. The Warriors just completely destroyed Lakers' defense. What's even interesting is that it does not involved Kevon Looney that much, GSW played small ball, quick plays, and very efficient in the 3rd.
AD also had a huge turnaround from game 1 with his poor performance today.
Overall poor performance for the Lakers in game 2, despite of the hot start from LeBron and Hachimura.
Let's see if they can bounce back from this blowout in their 2 game home stand.

When you take away the very cheap free throws the Lakers get and Anthony Davis and Lebron blatant fouls being called as legal blocks, they are barely as good as the Houston Rockets were this season, 29-6 free throws attempt as seen in game one is more than enough to decide any NBA playoff game, and if you take just 10 free throws from game 1, the Lakers would 2 - 0 right now.

I like the changes that were by Steve Kerr, what the Warriors need in this series is just one big at a time that can shoot more than 50% midrange attempts and that's not Kevon Looney, and they proper care of the ball like they did today, and for God's sake Jordan Poole should be the last rotation option, or at least should never play point guard position again for this playoffs, he is the biggest loophole in the Warriors 2nd unit roster.

[Questat]

What a turn around for both the Lakers and GSW in game 2. The Warriors just completely destroyed Lakers' defense. What's even interesting is that it does not involved Kevon Looney that much, GSW played small ball, quick plays, and very efficient in the 3rd.
AD also had a huge turnaround from game 1 with his poor performance today.
Overall poor performance for the Lakers in game 2, despite of the hot start from LeBron and Hachimura.
Let's see if they can bounce back from this blowout in their 2 game home stand.

When you take away the very cheap free throws the Lakers get and Anthony Davis and Lebron blatant fouls being called as legal blocks, they are barely as good as the Houston Rockets were this season, 29-6 free throws attempt as seen in game one is more than enough to decide any NBA playoff game, and if you take just 10 free throws from game 1, the Lakers would 2 - 0 right now.

I like the changes that were by Steve Kerr, what the Warriors need in this series is just one big at a time that can shoot more than 50% midrange attempts and that's not Kevon Looney, and they proper care of the ball like they did today, and for God's sake Jordan Poole should be the last rotation option, or at least should never play point guard position again for this playoffs, he is the biggest loophole in the Warriors 2nd unit roster.

The Warriors made a big adjustment, and they won easily in game 2 by 27 points. Looking at the stats, the LA Lakers are still struggling with their 3-point shooting as they are below 30%. Additionally, they were outrebounded in this game despite having bigger players.

The series is now getting interesting, and game 3 is a crucial game for both teams. Whoever wins game 3 will likely dictate the outcome of the series.

This is just my personal opinion, but I would like to see the Warriors win game 3 so that the home court advantage will be back to them.

[Kelvinid]

With what happened in Game 1, I think the Warriors need to win Game 2 and at least one game in Games 3 and 4. The Lakers are hyped now, and people are thinking that they will win the series and possibly end the defending champion with a 4-0 or 4-1 record. However, this is just Game 1, and anything can happen, just like what happened in the Celtics vs 76ers Game 2, where the Celtics bounced back strong and dominated the 76ers.

They need to not let the Lakers win another 1 again and that game was at home aswell, so it is a great upset for the Golden State Warriors to upset them in their own territory, it is a big feat for Anthony Davis after that 50 points play of Stephen Curry, he is back in his regular form again, and lets his teammates do what they can but yeah I really think that game 2 will be their win that is why I made a bet on it,

Davis was really inconsistent. After scoring 30 points in game 1, he only scored 11 points in game 2 with 7 rebounds and had the most turnovers on the team. It was a bad game for Davis, and as a result, the Warriors dominated the Lakers to tie the series.

[Reid]

OMG! Klay Thompson just came back from being the splasher! I didn't expect that from him, I thought his regular 3's will be at the range of 3-5 field goals but now he shocked us once again. 8 three's and he could've done more if the game didn't end in a blowout. The experiment of Coach Steve Kerr was successful although I do think that only happened because Kevon Looney was not feeling well. I am happy it end up well for the Warriors, and I like how Draymond Green is being aggressive at shooting the ball. He switched from just a playmaker to doing the small jobs in the offense whenever he is open.

Will Steve Kerr stick to his new first five?
Who will be the next one to step up his game? Wiggins probably.
What adjustment will the Lakers do to prevent that from happening again? Kind of exciting to know.

[Fundamentals Of]

With what happened in Game 1, I think the Warriors need to win Game 2 and at least one game in Games 3 and 4. The Lakers are hyped now, and people are thinking that they will win the series and possibly end the defending champion with a 4-0 or 4-1 record. However, this is just Game 1, and anything can happen, just like what happened in the Celtics vs 76ers Game 2, where the Celtics bounced back strong and dominated the 76ers.

They need to not let the Lakers win another 1 again and that game was at home aswell, so it is a great upset for the Golden State Warriors to upset them in their own territory, it is a big feat for Anthony Davis after that 50 points play of Stephen Curry, he is back in his regular form again, and lets his teammates do what they can but yeah I really think that game 2 will be their win that is why I made a bet on it,

Davis was really inconsistent. After scoring 30 points in game 1, he only scored 11 points in game 2 with 7 rebounds and had the most turnovers on the team. It was a bad game for Davis, and as a result, the Warriors dominated the Lakers to tie the series.

Yes, everybody noticed that. But the issue was that nobody stepped up to fill Davis' lack of presence especially in the rebounds. Game 2 also saw Looney feeling under the weather with a very low rebound number of 8 from his 23 in game 1. Davis also had 23 in game 1. He only had 7 in game 2 but what seems to be problematic is that that's already the highest in the team. Nobody filled the gap that Davis left open.

[dimonstration]

OMG! Klay Thompson just came back from being the splasher! I didn't expect that from him, I thought his regular 3's will be at the range of 3-5 field goals but now he shocked us once again. 8 three's and he could've done more if the game didn't end in a blowout. The experiment of Coach Steve Kerr was successful although I do think that only happened because Kevon Looney was not feeling well. I am happy it end up well for the Warriors, and I like how Draymond Green is being aggressive at shooting the ball. He switched from just a playmaker to doing the small jobs in the offense whenever he is open.

Klay Thompson always deliver when he needed the most that’s why they are splash brother. Curry is just getting most of the ball shot which makes Thompson always play as a backup. Steve Kerr new strategy to position all their lethal weapon and leaving the defense as is on first quarter will catch up Lakers early aggression. Davis is not performing well because Warriors is more on outside shooting and leaving the defense not that tight for Davis. It’s awkward to make a shot open if you are used to be defended very well. As result, Davis missed of his field goal even if he is wide open and no tries to block him.  

Will Steve Kerr stick to his new first five?
Who will be the next one to step up his game? Wiggins probably.
What adjustment will the Lakers do to prevent that from happening again? Kind of exciting to know.

We knew that Steve Kerr always adjust the roster based on the actual scenario. He probably made more roster rotation if he knew that Lakers already catch up with this small line-up. It’s funny to see Davis missed most of shots in contrary to his game 1 performance.

For Lakers. They should start raising their hands up to defend Warriors 3s at all cost. Don’t focus on Curry because Steve Kerr obviously gave license to everyone to do a shot.

[yahoo62278]

What a turn around for both the Lakers and GSW in game 2. The Warriors just completely destroyed Lakers' defense. What's even interesting is that it does not involved Kevon Looney that much, GSW played small ball, quick plays, and very efficient in the 3rd.
AD also had a huge turnaround from game 1 with his poor performance today.
Overall poor performance for the Lakers in game 2, despite of the hot start from LeBron and Hachimura.
Let's see if they can bounce back from this blowout in their 2 game home stand.

I think the whole world knew that Anthony Davis could not play 2 games in a row and have the same result. He was insignificant in the game tonight. The warriors also changed the narrative from game 1 concerning free throws. Lakers only shot 17 free throws this time vs 29 in game 1.

[OgNasty]

What a turn around for both the Lakers and GSW in game 2. The Warriors just completely destroyed Lakers' defense. What's even interesting is that it does not involved Kevon Looney that much, GSW played small ball, quick plays, and very efficient in the 3rd.
AD also had a huge turnaround from game 1 with his poor performance today.
Overall poor performance for the Lakers in game 2, despite of the hot start from LeBron and Hachimura.
Let's see if they can bounce back from this blowout in their 2 game home stand.

I think the whole world knew that Anthony Davis could not play 2 games in a row and have the same result. He was insignificant in the game tonight. The warriors also changed the narrative from game 1 concerning free throws. Lakers only shot 17 free throws this time vs 29 in game 1.

The Lakers can’t beat the Warriors unless Anthony Davis is the most dominant player in the game. Nothing displayed this better than the first two games of the series. I’m not sure what exactly went wrong for AD tonight, but the Lakers had better make some adjustments and figure out how to get him going before it’s too late.