2026 NBA Season

[Dave1]

Lebron won't be out for that much of a long time, plus they are also seeded quite decently so that means Lakers are probably not worried. I understand the point they are trying to make here, but the reality is that Lakers would only be in trouble if they were in lower seeds.

Luka and Lebron works perfectly together, that was the one big question and they answered that already so nobody doubts their chances to do well, we are pretty certain when Lebron returns they are going to win. That is how they looked for a long stretchy since Luka joined, went on a winning streak all the way until Lebron got injured, hence when Lebron returns, they may go back to their winning ways without much issues. I would rest Lebron as much as I can until Playoffs if I was Lakers.

Lebron needed that rest perhaps and that's why it's better for him to just take a sit. I do not see the Lakers losing their remaining games in the regular specially with Luka with them. That is the worse scenario for them, but JJ could be ready, it's that players will have to step up like Reaves as he is the 3rd option for them.

Worse I'm seeing for them is that they might have to slip to 3-4, but still that is safe and playoff bound. Maybe they want to position better so that they can face a lower team in the first round. But no one is safe in the playoffs though.

[jossiel]

Forget it.. Mavs will likely miss the playoffs this year.

This is an outright thing for the Mavs.

They're on the verge of not making the playoffs. That has escalated so fast, just in less than 2 months after the trade of Luka.

A karma hit them back so rapid. I am not expecting them to see in the playoffs, no Mavs this time.

They don't have enough capable players to make good revival so provably that their losing streak will just continue. We see Mavs fans are so disappointed with current situation happening on their team and there's less people now watching their live games.

I'm not expecting them either to go to playoffs since their bad management decisions regarding on last trade plus injuries would provably stop them. To bad a championship contender team last conference  became a messed up team with less chance to go to playoffs this season.

All Mavs fans are disappointed.

Actions taken one by one by its GM and coming from the injuries that we didn't like but it seems that it favors the players to avoid further drama. There might be some other trades coming on it once this season ends.

They'll try to build this up again but look at how they're a contender last season to almost being a nobody now.

[avp2306]

This is an outright thing for the Mavs.

They're on the verge of not making the playoffs. That has escalated so fast, just in less than 2 months after the trade of Luka.

A karma hit them back so rapid. I am not expecting them to see in the playoffs, no Mavs this time.

They don't have enough capable players to make good revival so provably that their losing streak will just continue. We see Mavs fans are so disappointed with current situation happening on their team and there's less people now watching their live games.

I'm not expecting them either to go to playoffs since their bad management decisions regarding on last trade plus injuries would provably stop them. To bad a championship contender team last conference  became a messed up team with less chance to go to playoffs this season.

All Mavs fans are disappointed.

Actions taken one by one by its GM and coming from the injuries that we didn't like but it seems that it favors the players to avoid further drama. There might be some other trades coming on it once this season ends.

They'll try to build this up again but look at how they're a contender last season to almost being a nobody now.

Klay,Kyrie and Davis future in Mavs is uncertain that's why Mavs is really at huge risk on their current situation since these players is not happy on what's currently happening with their team.

And for sure this will add up to major disappointments of the fans since the management break a supposed to be contender team for trading away Luka. Right now its clear that they are not a threat for contention and they became a easy targets for teams chasing for easy win.  For sure there would be some trades going to happen since for sure they don't want to be part of another big disappointments on ongoing drama happening in Mavs.

[LogitechMouse]

---

Klay,Kyrie and Davis future in Mavs is uncertain that's why Mavs is really at huge risk on their current situation since these players is not happy on what's currently happening with their team.

And for sure this will add up to major disappointments of the fans since the management break a supposed to be contender team for trading away Luka. Right now its clear that they are not a threat for contention and they became a easy targets for teams chasing for easy win.  For sure there would be some trades going to happen since for sure they don't want to be part of another big disappointments on ongoing drama happening in Mavs.

Klay might be helpful for the team, but he isn't the type of player where he can step up and lead his team in offense anymore. AD will stay that's for sure, and Kyrie will opt in on his final year of his contract because of his injury, and that changed everything. Speaking of Kyrie, he will be out most probably until the Christmas this year so we might see him back in the court at the mid-part of next season.

The roster's good and I believe if all are healthy, they can be a playoff contender. It's just that injuries hit them at the worst time possible, and it happened so fast for them that even their GM himself is embarrassed on what's happening with them. Right now, the Mavericks are 2.5 games above the 11th seeded Suns which can give at least a cushion for them to stay on that 10th seed.

With only 16 games remaining though, all of their games will be crucial from now on, and if they want to at least enter the play-in, they need to maintain that 10th spot or get a higher one if they can (which I believe they can't).

[ingiltere]

We watched a great ending on Bucks - Pacers game. The Bucks were so close to winning but Haliburton pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Rick Carlisle put a great set and it was like we were watching an American football offense. They tried this before in the play-offs but it didn't work that time. Tonight Haliburton hit the three and also a free throw to give the Pacers the win before the game went to overtime. It was a great feeling to witness this moment in the middle of the night. That's why I love NBA basketball.

[Fredomago]

We watched a great ending on Bucks - Pacers game. The Bucks were so close to winning but Haliburton pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Rick Carlisle put a great set and it was like we were watching an American football offense. They tried this before in the play-offs but it didn't work that time. Tonight Haliburton hit the three and also a free throw to give the Pacers the win before the game went to overtime. It was a great feeling to witness this moment in the middle of the night. That's why I love NBA basketball.

What a finished! that's a full-blooded three plus a foul that leads the Pacers to win the game, best effort for Giannis trying to stop that attempt it's a respect knowing that Haliburton is a real gunner, unfortunately that defense cause him additional FT as Pacers escape this game against the Bucks.

Congrats to those who put thier money for the Pacers especially those who take that bet during the live game in the last few minutes of the game..

[AHOYBRAUSE]

We watched a great ending on Bucks - Pacers game. The Bucks were so close to winning but Haliburton pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Rick Carlisle put a great set and it was like we were watching an American football offense. They tried this before in the play-offs but it didn't work that time. Tonight Haliburton hit the three and also a free throw to give the Pacers the win before the game went to overtime. It was a great feeling to witness this moment in the middle of the night. That's why I love NBA basketball.

The ending sure was great I must admit!! I am not sure if it was actually a foul by Giannis, I think he had a good standing position and Haliburton made a running jumper to the side, it's hard to distinguish where the landing zone would actually have to be. But yeah, shit happens.
They should have fouled him and sent him to the line immediately and not give him a shot. That way he can only make 2 FTs and make it a 1 point game. Sure it was a quick catch and shoot but you can still just grab him. Anyway, game is over.

[dwyane36]

Lebron needed that rest perhaps and that's why it's better for him to just take a sit. I do not see the Lakers losing their remaining games in the regular specially with Luka with them. That is the worse scenario for them, but JJ could be ready, it's that players will have to step up like Reaves as he is the 3rd option for them.

Worse I'm seeing for them is that they might have to slip to 3-4, but still that is safe and playoff bound. Maybe they want to position better so that they can face a lower team in the first round. But no one is safe in the playoffs though.

They have two games each on their schedule in the coming days against teams like the Nuggets and Bucks. So it's a good time for Luka to prove himself, but I honestly think the Lakers will have a hard time beating these opponents without LeBron.
Thus, the Lakers could slip a little bit in the standings.

[OgNasty]

I was just reading that last Saturday’s Laker game had over a billion viewers. Is that legit? It sure doesn’t seem possible to me, but who knows. I thought games only got a few million viewers so maybe I got Centel’d or something. Sadly, I missed the game but caught the highlights at least.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

I was just reading that last Saturday’s Laker game had over a billion viewers. Is that legit? It sure doesn’t seem possible to me, but who knows. I thought games only got a few million viewers so maybe I got Centel’d or something. Sadly, I missed the game but caught the highlights at least.

Yeah that can't be right. There are like 8.x billion people on the planet, this means like 12% on earth would have watched that game, hahaha. Not even the the super bowl would draw that audience. Especially now, with declining viewership, this sounds impossible, this was a regular season game as well. Maybe if the Lakers had a Chinese and an Indian player on the roster that would be possible, but not under normal circumstances.

Definitely a strange one!

[OgNasty]

Zion Williamson got himself his second career triple double tonight (didn’t he just get his first a few weeks ago). He also set a new career high for assists with 12. I’m liking this new Zion. He’s clearly a lot lighter, which I think is important to keep him healthy and on the floor. He does seem a little less overpowering, but if he can stay healthy it is a nice trade off.

[danherbias07]

Well we got March Madness coming up which I'm quite excited about.  I've been trying to pay better attention because this is a huge way to get ahead gambling wise, by understanding the true level of talent taken and you'll be able to recognize much of that during the tourney. 

Anyone plan to put a March Madness pool together?  I think that would be a lot of fun, could be like 5 or 10 USD via btc .?

Thanks for the heads up. I am not updated yet on what is happening but I will do once I get the time to check this out.

Zion Williamson got himself his second career triple double tonight (didn’t he just get his first a few weeks ago). He also set a new career high for assists with 12. I’m liking this new Zion. He’s clearly a lot lighter, which I think is important to keep him healthy and on the floor. He does seem a little less overpowering, but if he can stay healthy it is a nice trade off.

But someone is not that happy. Well, it's difficult to please Shaq.

“You giving him props for that? I need more. I need 26, 27. I demand for my franchise player playing at the max. Anybody can get 20 points now,” said Shaq, who is a four-time NBA champion. “That’s good, but that’s not good enough,” he continued.

https://www.hardwoodheroics.com/nba-news-shaq-zion-williamson-trip-double/

That's Shaq. He knows that something is still lacking and he is just telling the truth here. Zion may have done something incredible today but that's not consistent. Shaq is about points but I think the assists did help the whole team.  I don't know how he got all those assists since he is not known for that but he also made a triple-double on February 28 against the Phoenix Suns.

This means he can really do it because it ain't a fluke, so what's stopping him?

[ultrloa]

Zion Williamson got himself his second career triple double tonight (didn’t he just get his first a few weeks ago). He also set a new career high for assists with 12. I’m liking this new Zion. He’s clearly a lot lighter, which I think is important to keep him healthy and on the floor. He does seem a little less overpowering, but if he can stay healthy it is a nice trade off.

But someone is not that happy. Well, it's difficult to please Shaq.

Does his opinion is valid? he's not in the league anymore and I think there's no sense for Zion to listen on outside noise. What's important for him is he's healthy and doing great performance for each games they play.

Also its important that he's teammate including the management is happy with what performance he provide rather than paying attention with jealous guy which hate those people he didn't like.

It will be good if Zion could sustain or decrease more a little bit so that he can possibly maintain his health and maybe could able to play more games for his team.

[Finestream]

Does his opinion is valid? he's not in the league anymore and I think there's no sense for Zion to listen on outside noise. What's important for him is he's healthy and doing great performance for each games they play.

Zion shouldn’t take it negatively, he should see it as a challenge to prove to Shaq that he’s different now and that he can finish the season.

The only problem is the Pelicans' current standing, they might still miss the playoffs, so even if he stays healthy, the team’s overall progress doesn’t seem that significant. But at least, breaking the trend of not finishing a season due to injury is already a big step forward for him.

[Dave1]

Boston vs OKC, I was surprised to see Boston as the favorite here? It's this a trap? Or someone is not going to play from the OKC?

SGA is leading the league in scoring if I'm not mistaken, and they have beaten the Nuggets in double digit, proving their point as the West top seed. But against the Celtics the line is also listed and Boston as 1.6x favorite against the OKC 2.36.

But we will see, the game is at Boston Garden and probably this one reason why the odd makers put them as the favorite.

[Yaunfitda]

We watched a great ending on Bucks - Pacers game. The Bucks were so close to winning but Haliburton pulled a rabbit out of a hat. Rick Carlisle put a great set and it was like we were watching an American football offense. They tried this before in the play-offs but it didn't work that time. Tonight Haliburton hit the three and also a free throw to give the Pacers the win before the game went to overtime. It was a great feeling to witness this moment in the middle of the night. That's why I love NBA basketball.

The play was great, but it was a silly foul that send Haliburton to the line and give them that win. You can see the face of Giannis in the end as he looks frustrated. And even if the shot was made, it will just a time and the game could go in OT. But there's no one to blame but Giannis himself, he should have just played straight defense on Haliburton. But I do agree, as fans we appreciate this kind of plays, before we just appreciate how it ends, but now, we see coaches and how their mentality on this clutch. I also saw video of another play in which coaches signal with a "'chin", so another good play to pull in the end.

[arwin100]

Zion shouldn’t take it negatively, he should see it as a challenge to prove to Shaq that he’s different now and that he can finish the season.

The only problem is the Pelicans' current standing, they might still miss the playoffs, so even if he stays healthy, the team’s overall progress doesn’t seem that significant. But at least, breaking the trend of not finishing a season due to injury is already a big step forward for him.

Yeah a challenge from a legend and instead of feeling bad about the negativity spread much better for him to do more better so that he can shut the mouth of those people who say negative about him.

Remember Lebron experience those criticism earliest or maybe lets just say until now in his career. But the King didn't get bothered to much on negative thinking thrown to him then he use it as fuel to improve and make his self more better.  Hopefully Zion could handle that and became more better player for his team also for those people believes that he's not going anywhere due to his weight and also those other negative factors they think.

[Russlenat]

Boston vs OKC, I was surprised to see Boston as the favorite here? It's this a trap? Or someone is not going to play from the OKC?

Where’s the trap in this? Boston has been dominant at home with a 5-game winning streak, while OKC, despite having the best record, just lost to the Nuggets in their last game.

I think the spread makes sense, and I’d back the home team here. This could be a potential NBA Finals matchup, and Boston will definitely want to make a statement that they’re still the best team being the defending champs.

[wheelz1200]

Boston vs OKC, I was surprised to see Boston as the favorite here? It's this a trap? Or someone is not going to play from the OKC?

Where’s the trap in this? Boston has been dominant at home with a 5-game winning streak, while OKC, despite having the best record, just lost to the Nuggets in their last game.

I think the spread makes sense, and I’d back the home team here. This could be a potential NBA Finals matchup, and Boston will definitely want to make a statement that they’re still the best team being the defending champs.

Agreed as much as it hirts me as a knicks fan i think boston is always the team to beat.  They are the champs and have the most complete team in the league.  If healthy they should be the odds on favorite to win again.  And they are home.  If this was in OKC id think the spread would be 2.5 in favor of okc. 

[Russlenat]

Where’s the trap in this? Boston has been dominant at home with a 5-game winning streak, while OKC, despite having the best record, just lost to the Nuggets in their last game.

I think the spread makes sense, and I’d back the home team here. This could be a potential NBA Finals matchup, and Boston will definitely want to make a statement that they’re still the best team being the defending champs.

Agreed as much as it hirts me as a knicks fan i think boston is always the team to beat.  They are the champs and have the most complete team in the league.  If healthy they should be the odds on favorite to win again.  And they are home.  If this was in OKC id think the spread would be 2.5 in favor of okc. 

The line is quite steady now, meaning both teams are getting action. This current line might actually be giving us a preview of what to expect in the finals (if they do end up facing each other).

I already have a strategy in mind that could make me easy money....<> I’d use the Martingale system on either of these teams since this looks like it’s going to be a very close series. If the pattern holds, doubling down after each loss should eventually lead to a profit.