2025 NBA Season

[xLays]

Utah playing without their star players (Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen), easy win by Dallas, and they badly need that win.

The Utah Jazz had a good team last 2021-22 season  but now they're really bad. Watching their games is disappointing and they're performing worse than fans expected with a score difference of -47. It's not enjoyable to watch them anymore. I think Utah Jazz need a strong center who can grab rebounds and make second attempt. Kessler isn't doing well in rebounds he gets outplayed by better centers and he lacks side to side movement.

[dwyane36]

I'm thinking exactly the same thing as yours. Among all these four team left for the in-season tournament, the Bucks are the most favourite.
The Lakers may likely going to win against the Pelicans, but one thing that makes things really unsure for the Lakers to win against the Pelicans is the fact that the Pelicans beat the Kings 3-0 this season, while the Lakers have not won any against the Kings (if I remember it correctly). Though this is just a single bases and a completely different teams, but it's still bugging me lol.

The problem with the Lakers is that they are very dependent on the performance of LeBron and Davis, and this leads to unpredictable team results. Sometimes, they look like a strong team, and it seems like they can beat almost any top team. But at the same time, the paradox is that the Lakers sometimes perform so poorly that even outsiders can beat them without much difficulty.

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

I'm thinking exactly the same thing as yours. Among all these four team left for the in-season tournament, the Bucks are the most favourite.
The Lakers may likely going to win against the Pelicans, but one thing that makes things really unsure for the Lakers to win against the Pelicans is the fact that the Pelicans beat the Kings 3-0 this season, while the Lakers have not won any against the Kings (if I remember it correctly). Though this is just a single bases and a completely different teams, but it's still bugging me lol.

The problem with the Lakers is that they are very dependent on the performance of LeBron and Davis, and this leads to unpredictable team results. Sometimes, they look like a strong team, and it seems like they can beat almost any top team. But at the same time, the paradox is that the Lakers sometimes perform so poorly that even outsiders can beat them without much difficulty.

And with that, they are inconsistent, not unpredictable but inconsistent. There are games that they absolutely destroys their opponent, and majority they will let them take a huge lead and they play catchup.

As you have said, they are depended on Lebron and Davis to play that good. If either of them had bad games, no one will step up, or least there will be one or two but it won't be enough. We even don't know who are their 3rd options. Sometimes it will be Austin Reaves, and then D'Lo or Prince or Rui if he is healthy.

[rhomelmabini]

A couple games to watch on ESPN tonight. Can’t say I’m too interested in watching the first one but the Timberwolves over the Spurs should be an easy win for bettors. The second game should prove to be a little more exciting as the Nuggets take on the Clippers. Surprisingly the Clippers are the favorite, so I’m wondering if the Nuggets have some people out.

The Clippers-Denver game was a surprising one. Denver led by 15 at the end of the first quarter but only to allow the home team to double their score in the second quarter. The defense was good but Jokic missed some shots he should've made.

Not just Jokic missed the shots that he should have made, but him and Murray had committed a lot of turnovers as well, and then he had one shot that was block by Zu. It's critical that he made those shots and score to score. Kudos to their defense as well when they shut down Murray and Porter Jr in the 4th quarter.

While George waxes hot in the 3's again and so it Kahwi taking advantage of the small Murray guarding him. And the Beard with that sidestep three's un-guardable. But this is just one game though, I think the Denver is still the better team down playoff time.

I think it wasn't the night for the Joker having 9/32 FG that was a lot of missed opportunities. I think the turnover committed by Denver was the one that took the Clippers momentum though if it wasn't the case I think they have gotten the lead. Miami on the other hand had a good night without Adebayo, and Orlando Robinson got some great stats as well as Caleb Martin with their double-double performances. I got a win with these two teams today.

[danherbias07]

The Clippers are changing, in a good way.
I think their chemistry is starting to spark and Westbrook is smiling like he is loving how the rotation is working for them. They made Jokic have a hard time shooting the ball. Paul George had a bad start but went hot in the second half. Westbrook showed the energy on both the offensive and defensive end. James Harden is the playmaker of the team. Somehow their fans will start loving them again.
They won 7 of their 10 games which I think is cool and now they are on the 9th spot of the Western Conference rankings. But still, they need to win more games to prove it and enter the 8th seed. But it's a good start.
Nuggets on the other hand started great but that was all gone in the 2nd half. Jokic was shooting threes like it's nothing until he was defended well. Murray is in restricted minutes, they need them back at full strength.

[arwin100]

I'm thinking exactly the same thing as yours. Among all these four team left for the in-season tournament, the Bucks are the most favourite.
The Lakers may likely going to win against the Pelicans, but one thing that makes things really unsure for the Lakers to win against the Pelicans is the fact that the Pelicans beat the Kings 3-0 this season, while the Lakers have not won any against the Kings (if I remember it correctly). Though this is just a single bases and a completely different teams, but it's still bugging me lol.

The problem with the Lakers is that they are very dependent on the performance of LeBron and Davis, and this leads to unpredictable team results. Sometimes, they look like a strong team, and it seems like they can beat almost any top team. But at the same time, the paradox is that the Lakers sometimes perform so poorly that even outsiders can beat them without much difficulty.

That's the problem of Lakers that's why their other talented roster got lost confidence to shoot since the play always set to their star and sometimes they can't rotate the ball so that they can get more better looks in the rim. If they can design the play to other shooters in the team which I think they have done this before provably they can surprise their opponent with their sets of play and make them an unpredictable. They have solid roster and its just they need to heat them up so they can provide their usual performance and possibly dominate their opponent. Lakers is so strong its just hey are poor on executing their plays and they are relying to much on Lebron that's why they can't do anything when Lebron is out or AD then they lose and that is the one need to prepare by coach since AD is injury prone and Lebron is old already so they need to do good action so that they still relevant even if their star is out of the game.

[OgNasty]

A couple of good tournament games on today and they’re both televised. The first game is on ESPN and the second on TNT. I think the Bucks can beat the Pacers but the Pelicans game with the Lakers might be a toss up. Brandon Ingram has been on fire lately and he always plays well against his former team. LeBron really wants to win this tournament though, so I think it’ll come down to LeBron vs Giannis.

[Dave1]

A couple of good tournament games on today and they’re both televised. The first game is on ESPN and the second on TNT. I think the Bucks can beat the Pacers but the Pelicans game with the Lakers might be a toss up. Brandon Ingram has been on fire lately and he always plays well against his former team. LeBron really wants to win this tournament though, so I think it’ll come down to LeBron vs Giannis.

Yes, this is going to be a tough one but I will also say that the Bucks might take the game and win and beat the Pacers. They have all the momentum, from their last game wherein Giannis and Lillard had a great game.

Although nothing can be taken for granted, Haliburton's triple double, but I think Lillard can negate those numbers and he can go 1:1 against him. While on the other hand it's hard to stop Giannis specially in a big game like this.

[carlisle1]

I'm thinking exactly the same thing as yours. Among all these four team left for the in-season tournament, the Bucks are the most favourite.
The Lakers may likely going to win against the Pelicans, but one thing that makes things really unsure for the Lakers to win against the Pelicans is the fact that the Pelicans beat the Kings 3-0 this season, while the Lakers have not won any against the Kings (if I remember it correctly). Though this is just a single bases and a completely different teams, but it's still bugging me lol.

The problem with the Lakers is that they are very dependent on the performance of LeBron and Davis, and this leads to unpredictable team results. Sometimes, they look like a strong team, and it seems like they can beat almost any top team. But at the same time, the paradox is that the Lakers sometimes perform so poorly that even outsiders can beat them without much difficulty.

That's the problem of Lakers that's why their other talented roster got lost confidence to shoot since the play always set to their star and sometimes they can't rotate the ball so that they can get more better looks in the rim. If they can design the play to other shooters in the team which I think they have done this before provably they can surprise their opponent with their sets of play and make them an unpredictable. They have solid roster and its just they need to heat them up so they can provide their usual performance and possibly dominate their opponent. Lakers is so strong its just hey are poor on executing their plays and they are relying to much on Lebron that's why they can't do anything when Lebron is out or AD then they lose and that is the one need to prepare by coach since AD is injury prone and Lebron is old already so they need to do good action so that they still relevant even if their star is out of the game.

They need to expedite with the other options and not just to rely with the stars, I agree with what you said, they've got the squad that
already competitive but the confidence of the players, they need to create more ball rotations finding the open shots.

Adjustments are needed as competitions are really tough now, teams are creating plays to counter each other, with very predictable game play,

they can easily read how Lakers will play the game anticipating that they will rotate that offense from both AD and LeBron.

[bitgolden]

A couple games to watch on ESPN tonight. Can’t say I’m too interested in watching the first one but the Timberwolves over the Spurs should be an easy win for bettors. The second game should prove to be a little more exciting as the Nuggets take on the Clippers. Surprisingly the Clippers are the favorite, so I’m wondering if the Nuggets have some people out.

The Clippers-Denver game was a surprising one. Denver led by 15 at the end of the first quarter but only to allow the home team to double their score in the second quarter. The defense was good but Jokic missed some shots he should've made.

Not just Jokic missed the shots that he should have made, but him and Murray had committed a lot of turnovers as well, and then he had one shot that was block by Zu. It's critical that he made those shots and score to score. Kudos to their defense as well when they shut down Murray and Porter Jr in the 4th quarter.

While George waxes hot in the 3's again and so it Kahwi taking advantage of the small Murray guarding him. And the Beard with that sidestep three's un-guardable. But this is just one game though, I think the Denver is still the better team down playoff time.

I always said this, and I will keep saying it again and again. Denver is a one trick pony, Jokic is a great passer, and he can score too by either bullying or using his height to shoot over others, which means that if you can find a great defending big, and a switch master guard, then you are going to end up with beating Denver easily.

All his tricks of "I do not even care about basketball" will eventually make him terrible, you may think that he is the best player right now, but that's because he hasn't been taken care like he should, look at Curry, that dude has been torching the league for nearly a decade, and he is still doing it so greatly, even at his age people have hard time guarding him, because he keeps working, or look at even Lebron, that dude is nearly 40 years old, and he is still playing awesome. Jokic has maximum 2 more years like this, then it's all downhill for him and he is going to end up becoming just another European centre.

[OgNasty]

People are accusing Zach LaVine of faking his foot injury to force a trade to the Lakers. He’s even scheduled to return when DiAngelo Russell becomes eligible to be traded. I’m not sure if I believe this, but it is within the realm of possibility. I don’t think Zach LaVine will still be a member of the Chicago Bulls when the trade deadline rolls around.

[ChiBitCTy]

People are accusing Zach LaVine of faking his foot injury to force a trade to the Lakers. He’s even scheduled to return when DiAngelo Russell becomes eligible to be traded. I’m not sure if I believe this, but it is within the realm of possibility. I don’t think Zach LaVine will still be a member of the Chicago Bulls when the trade deadline rolls around.

You know I’ve been hearing all about this lately too. I’m not so sure what to believe.  He needs to go, DeRozan, Vuc…all need to be moved. Zero point in keeping them any longer, the Bulls need to rebuild, yet again.

Rumors that Thibs wants him back. Thibs is far better than any coach the Bulls have had anytime recently (and I’ll never forgive Gar/Pax for pushing him out since he challenged their competency..or massive lack of).  Lavine had his breakout year in MN under Thibs, and Lavine said he really respected Thibs coaching style. Thibs doesnt f around, and he makes absolutely everyone better. I have no doubt Thibs could make Lavine a sizably better player. Thibs would force him to be better at D..his major weakness.

We shall see how it plays out.

[livingfree]

Congratulations to the Lakers for winning against the Phoenix Suns, they're unstoppable and consistent this time. They'd be up against the Pelicans tomorrow and this is going to be easy, we'd go for Lakers still.

While on the other side, it's hard to think of Pacers and Bucks. I am a Bucks fan but what Pacers is doing is impressive and I just can't turn my head on them.

But anyway, I'd still go this only for Lakers and whoever wins on the other side, I'd be happy with the result.

I just watched a video a few hours ago (Heat Check) regarding the problem with the Suns right now.
They've shot better than the Lakers (49% for them vs around 30% for the Lakers).

The problem with the Suns is they're allowing their team to get many offensive rebounds, and the Lakers currently are the top in Offensive Rebounds with 14.5 per game. In this game, the Lakers got 21 offensive rebounds which is too many. It seems like the Lakers exposed the Suns' weakness, and that is their big players are just too weak for other teams. TBH, that video is a very good one because knowing that many bettors and NBA fans are rooting for the Suns as their top pick to win the title, they just got exposed by the Lakers, and this might be a reason for them to slip their chance to win a title.

As for the Pacers-Bucks, the Pacers are the top offensive team right now, so I expect this game to be a close one. I mean the Bucks have Lillard, and Giannis plus other role players, but Haliburton is just a great PG for the Pacers. TBH, it's hard to bet which team will win, but I always wanted to be at the opposite side so I might pick the Pacers to win on this one.

The game was close but good analysis on their end. Despite having a good roster, still, that won't matter anyway to the meta of NBA this time. There has to be more of consistency and team work and that's what we've seen on Lakers end.

Anyway, they'll be having a match tomorrow against the Sacramento Kings. And this team is also like by most people of how they've ended last year so, both liked by most fans but still, whoever is the best shall win and we only need one winner.

And for next week is an awaited one, Suns against Warriors.

[wheelz1200]

People are accusing Zach LaVine of faking his foot injury to force a trade to the Lakers. He’s even scheduled to return when DiAngelo Russell becomes eligible to be traded. I’m not sure if I believe this, but it is within the realm of possibility. I don’t think Zach LaVine will still be a member of the Chicago Bulls when the trade deadline rolls around.

I don't even think he needs to fake an injury.  Makes it harder for the team to trade him unless ypu mean he is doing it to tank the bulls.  Either way derozen, lavone, etc should all be gone.  Bulls need to blow it all up get mass amount of picks and be bad for a couple years.  No reason dragging this team forward any longer.

[Captain Corporate]

Bucks vs Pacers game looks like its quite close up until the end right now, I didn't expected it to be this close. I mean you can see how teams do not really care about this from the fact that aside from Bucks we have Pacers, Lakers, Pelicans who are at the semi finals, you think these three teams are any good? Maybe you can consider Lakers a bit, and that's when they all play well, not even a single player can have a bad day then suddenly they are terrible, but aside from Bucks all the other three looks like they are not that great. Bucks may not be even at the finals, right now as of this moment they are behind, they may win of course there are some minutes left, but it shows how little people care about it.

[Harkorede]

Bucks vs Pacers game looks like its quite close up until the end right now, I didn't expected it to be this close. I mean you can see how teams do not really care about this from the fact that aside from Bucks we have Pacers, Lakers, Pelicans who are at the semi finals, you think these three teams are any good? Maybe you can consider Lakers a bit, and that's when they all play well, not even a single player can have a bad day then suddenly they are terrible, but aside from Bucks all the other three looks like they are not that great. Bucks may not be even at the finals, right now as of this moment they are behind, they may win of course there are some minutes left, but it shows how little people care about it.

It is no longer a close one, Indiana Pacers have really been so clutch in this in season tournament, just like they did against the Boston Celtics in the 4th Quarter, here were are again with Tyrese Haliburton putting on a show, and carrying the team, he should be an easy MVP candidate for the IST should they win this NBA Cup on Sunday.

[OgNasty]

Bucks vs Pacers game looks like its quite close up until the end right now, I didn't expected it to be this close. I mean you can see how teams do not really care about this from the fact that aside from Bucks we have Pacers, Lakers, Pelicans who are at the semi finals, you think these three teams are any good? Maybe you can consider Lakers a bit, and that's when they all play well, not even a single player can have a bad day then suddenly they are terrible, but aside from Bucks all the other three looks like they are not that great. Bucks may not be even at the finals, right now as of this moment they are behind, they may win of course there are some minutes left, but it shows how little people care about it.

It is no longer a close one, Indiana Pacers have really been so clutch in this in season tournament, just like they did against the Boston Celtics in the 4th Quarter, here were are again with Tyrese Haliburton putting on a show, and carrying the team, he should be an easy MVP candidate for the IST should they win this NBA Cup on Sunday.

Haliburton & Turner are turning into quite the pair in Indiana. The Pacers have been on fire lately to my surprise. Haliburton had himself a night tonight being efficient from the floor but it still couldn’t match the stats that Giannis put up. Damian Lillard didn’t quite pull his weight tonight though, shooting 7-20 isn’t going to get it done. 

[Harkorede]

It is no longer a close one, Indiana Pacers have really been so clutch in this in season tournament, just like they did against the Boston Celtics in the 4th Quarter, here were are again with Tyrese Haliburton putting on a show, and carrying the team, he should be an easy MVP candidate for the IST should they win this NBA Cup on Sunday.

Haliburton & Turner are turning into quite the pair in Indiana. The Pacers have been on fire lately to my surprise. Haliburton had himself a night tonight being efficient from the floor but it still couldn’t match the stats that Giannis put up. Damian Lillard didn’t quite pull his weight tonight though, shooting 7-20 isn’t going to get it done. 

I couldn't agree more about the positive impact of Myles Turner on the Pacers terrific run of form either, he's such a lethal score for a Center, especially from behind the arc. This Pacers roster is also a mixture of a very young and hungry lads, and it's evident on their level of confidence right now, everyone on the roster including their bench and role players are also bringing a lot to the table, the likes of Nesmith drawing offensive charges, Buddy Hield despite not being as lethal a shooter for the team is also contributing to the general game flow, when you have a squad with 2 players on double digits rebound and 4 other players with 6 or more rebounds, that shows the level of their collective efforts, and why they're looking unstoppable and a though puzzle to solve.

[OgNasty]

LeBron is putting on a master class in basketball domination right now. He wants to win this tournament. He’s got 30 already early in the 3rd quarter and hasn’t missed a free throw or a three pointer yet this game as the Lakers hold a 30 point lead. If I were the coach I probably wouldn’t let him play the fourth quarter, but if he does he might end up with 50.

[EFS]

Third quarter 43-17. Lakers won easily, they didn't even sweat. Bucks lost so I believe Lakers will win this tournament without showing extra performance. Another unique achievement for LeBron before he retires.
In-season tournament is like local cups in football, it brings more excitement in regular season but I'm not sure if it was necessary and if it attracted enough attention.