2026 NBA Season

[el kaka22]

The only reason NBA cup even exists is because NBA decided to put something that will get more views, so that they can do something about the rapidly dropping viewer numbers. NBA is getting watched less and less these days and not like 10 years ago or more. So they decided they have to do something to get more viewers once more and even NBA cup final game is not getting watched as much as some regular season game from 20 years ago.

So, has it worked? Well worked in the sense that it at least got a bit more than normal regular games, but did not work compared to what it could have been in the past. I do not think that there is a change they can do to get views like old days, Basketball is just not getting same interest from younger generation.

[yslyv]

The NBA announced a $25,000 fine on the Rockets coach for complaining about the officiating of this game. I think he was justified, especially given the admission that he was right.

I clearly dont think he really deserved it. Besides from this, in a rebuilding roster built largely through the draft, Udoka has played a major role in the development of the players and most importantly in making Rockets one of the good defensive teams in the league.
what i like in his style is when he has the game under control, he acts cautiously and regularly benches his main rotation players to reduce the risk of potential injuries. For him what matters is the team’s result not individual statistics. I respect him really.

[Mr. Magkaisa]

The NBA announced a $25,000 fine on the Rockets coach for complaining about the officiating of this game. I think he was justified, especially given the admission that he was right.

I clearly dont think he really deserved it. Besides from this, in a rebuilding roster built largely through the draft, Udoka has played a major role in the development of the players and most importantly in making Rockets one of the good defensive teams in the league.
what i like in his style is when he has the game under control, he acts cautiously and regularly benches his main rotation players to reduce the risk of potential injuries. For him what matters is the team’s result not individual statistics. I respect him really.

How could they do that to a complaining coach? Anyone can review the  scene and we can judge it by that time, How could the league fine that 25k to a coach fighting for what is right?
They should fine the referee about this. An official dictate the winner and not the player who played for it. WOW!

[Fredomago]

Rockets lost in overtime to the team at the bottom of the league. Im quite upset about their performance tbh. They lost in a match where they had built a 25 point lead during the game. Just before overtime Alperen missed two crucial free throws. At the end of overtime Reed was given two consecutive wide open 3 points free shots and missed them. I think it was in the third quarter when Durant, Amen, and Jabari piled up back to back turnovers, practically handing the opponents hope and momentum for a comeback.

They missed a total of 9 free throws. That’s a considerable number of missed free throws. From having a 25 point lead to losing by 5 points in OT against the 15th seed team. Maybe others thought it was an easy win for them, especially when they had a 25 point lead. That’s frustrating for those fans, and even more for those who bet on the moneyline. I’m not a hater, but I really don’t see them as a team that has a chance to beat the Thunder in a best of 7 series compared to the Lakers, Nuggets, and Spurs.

How can you lose a game when you get more rebounds than your opponent, make more assists, create more scoring chances and hit more three pointers? I guess this is how you lose...
Reed Sheppard, man, your only saving grace is being able to hit threes from anywhere. In the final seconds they clearly leave you open to take the three twice and you failed.

That's a suprising upset especially with the team who's already at the buttom, but that's how the game works even how good the system once bad shots happened and other impacting situation like being frustrated and mostly if officiating refs made dissapointing calls, most of the time players and coach being upset and from that it really affects the outcome of the game, moving forward there's nothing that they can do it's already a loss andthey just need to play better to start winning again.

[LogitechMouse]

The only reason NBA cup even exists is because NBA decided to put something that will get more views, so that they can do something about the rapidly dropping viewer numbers. NBA is getting watched less and less these days and not like 10 years ago or more. So they decided they have to do something to get more viewers once more and even NBA cup final game is not getting watched as much as some regular season game from 20 years ago.

So, has it worked? Well worked in the sense that it at least got a bit more than normal regular games, but did not work compared to what it could have been in the past. I do not think that there is a change they can do to get views like old days, Basketball is just not getting same interest from younger generation.

Well, I'm not against what you said because the league has been declining for years already for many reasons. Ever since Adam Silver became the Commissioner, everything went down for the whole league.

What's good though is that, they're doing everything just to increase the views. NBA Cup is for some, a success because like what you said, it got more views than regular games, and that's one step for them to reclaim what they had in the past... or will they? I mean will they become more popular than that of MLB or NFL? NBA needs a "FACE" of the league just like what Jordan did in the '90s and Lebron and Curry in the past. So far, there isn't anybody that comes close to become the face of the league.

Overall, the league's views is going down, but at least they're doing everything just to SAVE the league.

[Distraction]

I clearly dont think he really deserved it. Besides from this, in a rebuilding roster built largely through the draft, Udoka has played a major role in the development of the players and most importantly in making Rockets one of the good defensive teams in the league.
what i like in his style is when he has the game under control, he acts cautiously and regularly benches his main rotation players to reduce the risk of potential injuries. For him what matters is the team’s result not individual statistics. I respect him really.

But Udoka is this too cautious man. This is a trait of him I don't like at all.    I remember Rockets losing to Jazz in one of the previous games simply because of preferring zone defense in the last quarter.

He must be more balanced. He is crazy about defending. Of course defense is an important thing but balance is better. At one point I just hope Rockets find a better coach. One who can make them the champions in the future.

[Stavri]

How can you lose a game when you get more rebounds than your opponent, make more assists, create more scoring chances and hit more three pointers? I guess this is how you lose...
Reed Sheppard, man, your only saving grace is being able to hit threes from anywhere. In the final seconds they clearly leave you open to take the three twice and you failed.

That's a suprising upset especially with the team who's already at the buttom, but that's how the game works even how good the system once bad shots happened and other impacting situation like being frustrated and mostly if officiating refs made dissapointing calls, most of the time players and coach being upset and from that it really affects the outcome of the game, moving forward there's nothing that they can do it's already a loss andthey just need to play better to start winning again.

Yes. i was disapponted too much about Sheppard's performance to be honest. Absence of Fred VanVleet is a big issue actually... The team was already lacking a true guard and when Fred got injured at such a bad time, they were left relying on Reed Sheppard. Unfortunately he is still not able to perform the expected performance.

[danherbias07]

The only reason NBA cup even exists is because NBA decided to put something that will get more views, so that they can do something about the rapidly dropping viewer numbers. NBA is getting watched less and less these days and not like 10 years ago or more. So they decided they have to do something to get more viewers once more and even NBA cup final game is not getting watched as much as some regular season game from 20 years ago.

So, has it worked? Well worked in the sense that it at least got a bit more than normal regular games, but did not work compared to what it could have been in the past. I do not think that there is a change they can do to get views like old days, Basketball is just not getting same interest from younger generation.

It's not the fault of the sport, more like the fault of social media applications. That's where most kids are right now.

I do understand that the NBA Cup is not really that successful, but it did make some changes that could make an NBA fan something to look for. It's a small tournament that makes players play harder during the season.
Imagine the other years when it did not yet exist. The games are more boring because we will have to wait for so long before the season ends.
But, I do believe they should not stop here. Make some amendments to the rules and how the games can be played in the streets. It will probably boost the number of watchers on their live stream.

[püsür]

Rockets lost in overtime to the team at the bottom of the league. Im quite upset about their performance tbh. They lost in a match where they had built a 25 point lead during the game. Just before overtime Alperen missed two crucial free throws. At the end of overtime Reed was given two consecutive wide open 3 points free shots and missed them. I think it was in the third quarter when Durant, Amen, and Jabari piled up back to back turnovers, practically handing the opponents hope and momentum for a comeback.

They missed a total of 9 free throws. That’s a considerable number of missed free throws. From having a 25 point lead to losing by 5 points in OT against the 15th seed team. Maybe others thought it was an easy win for them, especially when they had a 25 point lead. That’s frustrating for those fans, and even more for those who bet on the moneyline. I’m not a hater, but I really don’t see them as a team that has a chance to beat the Thunder in a best of 7 series compared to the Lakers, Nuggets, and Spurs.

How can you lose a game when you get more rebounds than your opponent, make more assists, create more scoring chances and hit more three pointers? I guess this is how you lose...
Reed Sheppard, man, your only saving grace is being able to hit threes from anywhere. In the final seconds they clearly leave you open to take the three twice and you failed.

That's a suprising upset especially with the team who's already at the buttom, but that's how the game works even how good the system once bad shots happened and other impacting situation like being frustrated and mostly if officiating refs made dissapointing calls, most of the time players and coach being upset and from that it really affects the outcome of the game, moving forward there's nothing that they can do it's already a loss andthey just need to play better to start winning again.

Unfortunately, the match was a complete disaster. They lost in overtime to the last-placed team in the league, despite leading by 25 points during the game. Just before overtime, Alperen missed two crucial free throws (this may have been in overtime, I don't recall). At the end of overtime, Reed had two consecutive attempts to tie the game with a three-pointer, but he couldn't convert from a wide-open position, despite Alperen's efforts. It was probably the third quarter when Durant, Amen, and Jabbari committed consecutive turnovers, giving the opposition great hope and momentum for a comeback. That slap served them right. Both Alperen and the team. They haven't been able to defend properly since Brooks left. After the last Denver game, Ime said about Alperen, ‘He's very good on offence but needs to improve his defence.’ Actually, the whole team is poor at defence. Every player has regressed, especially Adams and Thompson.

[Beparanf]

How could they do that to a complaining coach? Anyone can review the  scene and we can judge it by that time, How could the league fine that 25k to a coach fighting for what is right?
They should fine the referee about this. An official dictate the winner and not the player who played for it. WOW!

Giving an opinion is okay but criticizing directly the officiating refs like you are accusing them for biased or wrong implementation of rules is a different scenario because he is encouraging the public to not trust the referee in general.

It’s more on preserving the trust on the referees that already fading away due to the potential match fixing rumor that is very popular now.

Result can’t be overturned and this is not a finals match which is not worthy for that kind of aggressive behavior.

[CLS63]

Giving an opinion is okay but criticizing directly the officiating refs like you are accusing them for biased or wrong implementation of rules is a different scenario because he is encouraging the public to not trust the referee in general.

It’s more on preserving the trust on the referees that already fading away due to the potential match fixing rumor that is very popular now.

Result can’t be overturned and this is not a finals match which is not worthy for that kind of aggressive behavior.

It is not easy to keep one's trust in the referees while they are still doing the same things. I will just give an example that comes to my mind. People know how much Lakers are tolerated by the referees. Especially LeBron I must say.

As long as this kind of attitude by them continue people will also won't give up on criticizing them. Teams should be acted fairly all the time. But I know this won't change for especially special players to get those some extra whistles.

[yslyv]

I clearly dont think he really deserved it. Besides from this, in a rebuilding roster built largely through the draft, Udoka has played a major role in the development of the players and most importantly in making Rockets one of the good defensive teams in the league.
what i like in his style is when he has the game under control, he acts cautiously and regularly benches his main rotation players to reduce the risk of potential injuries. For him what matters is the team’s result not individual statistics. I respect him really.

But Udoka is this too cautious man. This is a trait of him I don't like at all.    I remember Rockets losing to Jazz in one of the previous games simply because of preferring zone defense in the last quarter.

He must be more balanced. He is crazy about defending. Of course defense is an important thing but balance is better. At one point I just hope Rockets find a better coach. One who can make them the champions in the future.

Yeah i can’t deny what you’re saying but there’s also a fact that before Udoka, Rockets were such a weak defensive team that even I could score against them . Since Udoka came, they’ve made an incredible leap defensively even Alperen has started develop his defense. Their position in the league already shows just how good they’ve become.

[EFS]

Tonight's the Prime night. First it's Sixers vs. Knicks, then Thunder vs. Timberwolves. I'll probably be asleep by the time the West game starts, but I'll watch the Knicks game. They've won 6 games straight, they also picked up the NBA Cup along the way. I want to see how they look. After all, they're our biggest rivals in the East.

[Beparanf]

Giving an opinion is okay but criticizing directly the officiating refs like you are accusing them for biased or wrong implementation of rules is a different scenario because he is encouraging the public to not trust the referee in general.

It’s more on preserving the trust on the referees that already fading away due to the potential match fixing rumor that is very popular now.

Result can’t be overturned and this is not a finals match which is not worthy for that kind of aggressive behavior.

It is not easy to keep one's trust in the referees while they are still doing the same things. I will just give an example that comes to my mind. People know how much Lakers are tolerated by the referees. Especially LeBron I must say.

As long as this kind of attitude by them continue people will also won't give up on criticizing them. Teams should be acted fairly all the time. But I know this won't change for especially special players to get those some extra whistles.

I definitely agree on this and I hate the fact that there’s some biased on some popular players with the refs.

As a fan, I believe it’s already given that we will criticize for this questionable calls but for the coach side I think this will not be overlooked by the league since they have power against them.

There’s some legit questionable calls but there’s also a lot of players mistake that resulted to close match.

[OgNasty]

Bleacher Report posted an interview with Kevin Durant where he said he likes to go 2 days without showering so he can feel like he’s in the trenches.

[rbynxx]

Bleacher Report posted an interview with Kevin Durant where he said he likes to go 2 days without showering so he can feel like he’s in the trenches.

Must be tough for defenders to defend, that's a natural way of an aura. Is USA out of water or some hygienic products or KD is just way too lazy to do it?

If I'm the one getting assigned to defend him, it's probably just good to act like I'm injured if he'll do that for two consecutive days.

[Fredomago]

How can you lose a game when you get more rebounds than your opponent, make more assists, create more scoring chances and hit more three pointers? I guess this is how you lose...
Reed Sheppard, man, your only saving grace is being able to hit threes from anywhere. In the final seconds they clearly leave you open to take the three twice and you failed.

That's a suprising upset especially with the team who's already at the buttom, but that's how the game works even how good the system once bad shots happened and other impacting situation like being frustrated and mostly if officiating refs made dissapointing calls, most of the time players and coach being upset and from that it really affects the outcome of the game, moving forward there's nothing that they can do it's already a loss andthey just need to play better to start winning again.

Yes. i was disapponted too much about Sheppard's performance to be honest. Absence of Fred VanVleet is a big issue actually... The team was already lacking a true guard and when Fred got injured at such a bad time, they were left relying on Reed Sheppard. Unfortunately he is still not able to perform the expected performance.

I agree to that, without a good PG who can create space for his teammaates they mostly rely with KD or Alpren still better to have a decent PG like Fred who can make a big threath when handling the ball, he can create space for a better look for his teammates and a good offensive percentage if the defense fail to recognize him and allow him either to penetrate or take a outside shot.

Moving forward, let see if how Rockets will address this missing piece or they will just wait for Fred to playback and fill it up for the team.

[GreatArkansas]

Bleacher Report posted an interview with Kevin Durant where he said he likes to go 2 days without showering so he can feel like he’s in the trenches.

Must be tough for defenders to defend, that's a natural way of an aura. Is USA out of water or some hygienic products or KD is just way too lazy to do it?

If I'm the one getting assigned to defend him, it's probably just good to act like I'm injured if he'll do that for two consecutive days.

Is this really legit? Lol. I don't think so. Hahahaha. So maybe this is the new meta, like using perfume  that is bad, or too strong or to make it easy, just don't take a bath. 

[ajanwalker]

Oklahoma started well on the road against Minnesota, but Minnesota leveled the playing field later in the game. They finished the first quarter 10 points behind, but went into the fourth quarter and took the lead.

I thought San Antonio would end Oklahoma's league winning streak, but today it looks like Minnesota will do it. Minnesota is in better shape right now. I'm eagerly awaiting the result.

[yslyv]

Oklahoma started well on the road against Minnesota, but Minnesota leveled the playing field later in the game. They finished the first quarter 10 points behind, but went into the fourth quarter and took the lead.

I thought San Antonio would end Oklahoma's league winning streak, but today it looks like Minnesota will do it. Minnesota is in better shape right now. I'm eagerly awaiting the result.

Beating OKC with offense is hard, if you defend better, your chances of winning increase at least a bit. We watched Minnesota in playoff mode last night. There’s no team that can beat the Wolves once they switch into this mode. at least not without the refs help  . Edwards is one of the best players in the league. he showed what he’s capable of when he’s just a little more focused and actually wants to play.