2026 NBA Season

[Natalim]

Houston beat the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic seemed to have lost some concentration after going back and forth to his hometown.

I thought he was injured, that’s why he missed a few games. And yeah, he’s clearly not as explosive as before yet. But Hachimura was a big problem in that game too. He just came back from injury and ended up scoreless the whole night.

The good thing is they’re finally complete now. Eventually they’ll figure things out and start dominating again. That said, the Rockets are actually a solid team and they were also desperate to snap their losing streak, so it’s not really a surprise they came out and took control of that game.

[Stavri]

The Thunder saw themselves as unbeatable, but they've lost 4 of their last 6 games. They lost to the Spurs twice in a row and are now 0-3 against them this season. 3 losses to the Spurs in 2 weeks is just unbelievable. The Spurs have won 8 straight and have closed the gap with the Thunder. They reminded everyone that the NBA is a long 82-game season and nobody should get ahead of themselves too early.

Even though the Thunder look superior against everyone else, constantly losing to the Spurs should worry them when it comes to a Western Conference Finals run. If they can't get past the Spurs, it won't really matter to them who comes out from the East.

True. This time even though Wemby spent most of the game on the bench, Spurs could beat OKC again. Once OKC started facing playoff teams more frequently in their schedule, that aura of invincibility disappeared almost overnight.

[halcybtc]

Nikola Jokic delivered a HISTORIC performance on Christmas Eve! In a game that went into overtime against Minnesota, he recorded the following statistics:

56 points
16 rebounds
15 assists
15/21 field goal percentage
22/23 free throw percentage

Denver won the game 142-138.

I wonder what ranking Jokic will have in the NBA if he continues with these statistics.
Right now, in my opinion, it's 1) Jordan 2) LeBron 3) Jokic

[Mihaylovic]

Udoka always tries to hold the players responsible for every loss and i really dislike this habbit of him. He needs to accept that he is just as much at fault as the players are. Blaming the players is the easy way out. In every defeat, he finds a different player to blame. one day it’s Alperen for missing the final shot, another day it’s Kevin Durant not taking responsibility, or the rookie Sheppard failing to hit his shots or it’s Fred VanVleet’s injury. The reality is that the team is in a major slump and instead of pulling them together, the coach is killing their motivation. In the last game not even putting Alperen and KD on the floor during the fourth quarter will definitely have a negative impact on the players.

It's the minutes man, it's so clear. I do not know why, maybe he lost some players to injury before or something, or maybe it's Pop that rested even Tim Duncan back in the day which made Udoka be like this, after all he is pupil of Greg Pop and that means he learned resting from him.

So the moment Rockets look like they will win, he takes out ALL good players, and suddenly the bench is playing "garbage time" at third quarter. That's now how it works, if you want to rest players, you gotta wait until last quarter and even more.

Yes, but why? It's strange, isn't it? When the team is performing so well, they suddenly start losing to bottom tier teams for whatever reason and fail to close out games. While all this is happening the star players who were driving force behind that previous good form aren't being given enough playing time by the coach. Isn't it obvious that Udoka is making a mistake?

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

Nikola Jokic delivered a HISTORIC performance on Christmas Eve! In a game that went into overtime against Minnesota, he recorded the following statistics:

56 points
16 rebounds
15 assists
15/21 field goal percentage
22/23 free throw percentage

Denver won the game 142-138.

I wonder what ranking Jokic will have in the NBA if he continues with these statistics.
Right now, in my opinion, it's 1) Jordan 2) LeBron 3) Jokic

I don't think that he will be in the discussion with Lebron or Jordan, he will still be in the next tier, no offense to Jokic. They've almost blew the game though, and ANT force a difficult shot and put the game into OT.

And in the OT, I thought that the Wolves are going to win as they built a 9 point lead. But Jokic and Murray was clutch and then the Wolves just had ANT to score for them. But I will agree that the numbers he put in tonight's game is a monster.

[Pulsar77]

What's up with Thunder recently? They continue to fall down. 3 losses in last 5 games. And guess what? They lost to Spurs 3 times in the last 2 weeks! That's insane... Could Spurs really be like the counter of them in playoffs too you think?

Nikola Jokic delivered a HISTORIC performance on Christmas Eve! In a game that went into overtime against Minnesota, he recorded the following statistics:

Yeah that was a Christmas gift for us certainly!    Jokic isn't from our world mate. His stats are inexplicable. The way he improves more and more every season is hard to explain for real...

Murray and him are making a great duo at Nuggets as well. I just hope Murray doesn't pick up any serious injury again. Especially this season. This is so critical for Nuggets to have a bigger chance for the championship.

[Cointxz]

What's up with Thunder recently? They continue to fall down. 3 losses in last 5 games. And guess what? They lost to Spurs 3 times in the last 2 weeks! That's insane... Could Spurs really be like the counter of them in playoffs too you think?

There’s nothing wrong with that, It only means that Spurs strategy works well against OKC gameplay. All their 3 losses came from the same team which is 2nd on their division which is acceptable result.

Spurs is underrated team this season despite showing a good start already even without Wemby.

[Mihaylovic]

Denver had built a great lead in the third quarter, but Minnesota played a fantastic fourth quarter and took the game to overtime. 115-115
Jokic, as we know, got another triple-double and is taking his performance to an even higher level. If the game goes to overtime again, Jokic could break his career record.

I was surprised Oklahoma lost to San Antonio for the second time.
SGA was a bit ineffective in terms of scoring in this game.

Sometimes games like that happen.

Houston beat the Los Angeles Lakers. Doncic seemed to have lost some concentration after going back and forth to his hometown.

Maybe it's just me.

Jokic has truly entered God mode. A stat line of 56 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists is an absolutely massive performance. Denver managed to pull out the win despite missing three starters but the game was a total back and forth affair. The Wolves pushed them to the limit. Btw Edwards put on a spectacular show as well.

[Yaunfitda]

What's up with Thunder recently? They continue to fall down. 3 losses in last 5 games. And guess what? They lost to Spurs 3 times in the last 2 weeks! That's insane... Could Spurs really be like the counter of them in playoffs too you think?

There’s nothing wrong with that, It only means that Spurs strategy works well against OKC gameplay. All their 3 losses came from the same team which is 2nd on their division which is acceptable result.

Spurs is underrated team this season despite showing a good start already even without Wemby.

Perhaps it was a question whether they can sustain their run. As we all know that they are being compared with the Warriors historic run of 73-9 and everyone was really somewhat expecting that they might do it. Unfortunately, in their last 5 games, they've lost 3 so I don't think that they can match that record of the Warriors now as they need to be almost perfect in the regular season. As for the Nuggets vs Wolves game, it was a playoff atmosphere, the game went into overtime and then the Wolves take a good lead but then Jokic has other plans and so is Murray. That numbers that Jokic put though, we haven't seen that kind of numbers but then again, it was Jokic, as we all know that he is capable of producing that kind of numbers.

[Maslate]

Jokic has truly entered God mode. A stat line of 56 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists is an absolutely massive performance. Denver managed to pull out the win despite missing three starters but the game was a total back and forth affair. The Wolves pushed them to the limit. Btw Edwards put on a spectacular show as well.

I still can’t believe how that game flipped.

In the 4th, the Nuggets were up big, then the Wolves went on a run and Edwards hit that tying shot to force overtime, that was really impressive.

Then in OT, IIRC, the Wolves were up by around 10, and suddenly the Nuggets had their own run and still managed to come back and win.
Edwards was clearly too emotional, he couldn’t control it and ended up with two techs and got ejected. The game could’ve been even better if he stayed in until the end.

[dwyane36]

Nikola Jokic delivered a HISTORIC performance on Christmas Eve! In a game that went into overtime against Minnesota, he recorded the following statistics:

56 points
16 rebounds
15 assists
15/21 field goal percentage
22/23 free throw percentage

Denver won the game 142-138.

I wonder what ranking Jokic will have in the NBA if he continues with these statistics.
Right now, in my opinion, it's 1) Jordan 2) LeBron 3) Jokic

Jokic's performance can be called historic because he set a record in this game by scoring 18 points in overtime. But if we consider the stats for the entire game, this is far from the first time Jokic has achieved a similar triple-double. It's worth noting that this time, he clearly found it easy to provoke the Wolves players into committing fouls, which allowed him to score almost half of his points from the free throw line.

[Vaculin]

Jokic's performance can be called historic because he set a record in this game by scoring 18 points in overtime. But if we consider the stats for the entire game, this is far from the first time Jokic has achieved a similar triple-double. It's worth noting that this time, he clearly found it easy to provoke the Wolves players into committing fouls, which allowed him to score almost half of his points from the free throw line.

It is, but it’s not really surprising when it comes to Jokic. Once he’s on the court, he’s just very hard to stop. Still, the game itself was really close.

If these two teams meet again in the playoffs, I think it’s going to be a long series. Last time the Wolves beat them, but this time the Nuggets have a different lineup, so maybe they bounce back. What I really liked though was ANT. He lacked discipline in this game, but the talent is clearly there.

[LogitechMouse]

What's up with Thunder recently? They continue to fall down. 3 losses in last 5 games. And guess what? They lost to Spurs 3 times in the last 2 weeks! That's insane... Could Spurs really be like the counter of them in playoffs too you think?

There’s nothing wrong with that, It only means that Spurs strategy works well against OKC gameplay. All their 3 losses came from the same team which is 2nd on their division which is acceptable result.

Spurs is underrated team this season despite showing a good start already even without Wemby.

If you're under Coach Pop, you will become a great coach. That's what Coach Mitch Johnson is right now, and we know that we don't see Coach Pop on the court anymore, but he's still guiding the whole team. I'm pretty sure Coach Johnson got the most of how Coach Pop coaches his players.

I also agree that there's nothing wrong with it, but it's just that the Spurs are the Thunder's "Kryptonite" currently as we have seen that they've lost to them 3 straight times. It seems like the Spurs already found a way to limit other players in terms on offense. SGA scored only 22 points as well, but the other 2, Chet and JDub only scored 22 points combined. Also, let's not forget that Wemby is inspired to play when it's against the Thunder because of Chet and their rivalry back a few years ago.

For me, I don't consider the Spurs as an underrated team right now. The jump in terms of standings for them is just too high that they might be the "dark horse" on the West, and can defeat all of them INCLUDING the Thunder. They might be inexperienced and that's a problem, but just like what I said about the Thunder a few years ago, I will not be surprised if the Spurs will at one point win the title. Maybe in around 3-5 years.

[xzone]

The Christmas games were truly fantastic, and we saw some amazing performances. Jokic might be the most valuable player we can watch these days; it's a great pleasure to see him. He dominates the court so much on his own that he can achieve incredible things. Also, Alperen Şengün was amazing again and showed once more how important he is to the team.
He truly deserves to be an All Star this season, and I hope he gets the support he deserves so we can watch him on the court

[Fredomago]

Jokic has truly entered God mode. A stat line of 56 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists is an absolutely massive performance. Denver managed to pull out the win despite missing three starters but the game was a total back and forth affair. The Wolves pushed them to the limit. Btw Edwards put on a spectacular show as well.

I still can’t believe how that game flipped.

In the 4th, the Nuggets were up big, then the Wolves went on a run and Edwards hit that tying shot to force overtime, that was really impressive.

Then in OT, IIRC, the Wolves were up by around 10, and suddenly the Nuggets had their own run and still managed to come back and win.
Edwards was clearly too emotional, he couldn’t control it and ended up with two techs and got ejected. The game could’ve been even better if he stayed in until the end.

Same here, I was in that impression that Wolves will win after that huge rally and force the game into OT, they are up by double digits but they failed to protect that and let Nuggets bounce back and complete that win, Jokic and Murray took over that entire extended time, AE leads the Wolves but unfortunately he's also the one who let them down as he unable to deliver when they are still up those missed shots then a converted basket from Denver especially that last few possessions from Jokic those important basket helps them to win the game.

[Mihaylovic]

Jokic has truly entered God mode. A stat line of 56 points, 16 rebounds, and 15 assists is an absolutely massive performance. Denver managed to pull out the win despite missing three starters but the game was a total back and forth affair. The Wolves pushed them to the limit. Btw Edwards put on a spectacular show as well.

I still can’t believe how that game flipped.

In the 4th, the Nuggets were up big, then the Wolves went on a run and Edwards hit that tying shot to force overtime, that was really impressive.

Then in OT, IIRC, the Wolves were up by around 10, and suddenly the Nuggets had their own run and still managed to come back and win.
Edwards was clearly too emotional, he couldn’t control it and ended up with two techs and got ejected. The game could’ve been even better if he stayed in until the end.

Yeah Wolves were chasing the lead all night, they were even leading in the closing minutes. Edwards was playing out of his mind but he just lost it at the end. Between messing with Jokic’s free throws and getting thrown out after a dunk it was such a weird vibe. Seriously crazy game.

[Beparanf]

The Christmas games were truly fantastic, and we saw some amazing performances. Jokic might be the most valuable player we can watch these days; it's a great pleasure to see him. He dominates the court so much on his own that he can achieve incredible things.

Totally deserve the hype. Most of the Christmas games are full of action since it’s a close game or underdog beat the heavy favorites.

Also, Alperen Şengün was amazing again and showed once more how important he is to the team.
He truly deserves to be an All Star this season, and I hope he gets the support he deserves so we can watch him on the court

He still needs to be consistent since some of his game is less impact and there seems some struggle among his teammates or coaching staff.

He is still less productive in terms of scoring but still his rebound and presence alone give a huge impact on Rockets offense and defense.

[Stavri]

Denver had built a great lead in the third quarter, but Minnesota played a fantastic fourth quarter and took the game to overtime. 115-115
Jokic, as we know, got another triple-double and is taking his performance to an even higher level. If the game goes to overtime again, Jokic could break his career record.

What a game, what a player. Really... Jokic is the kind of guy who makes everyone play better and only takes over himself when he has to. That’s what makes him different from other stars. He’s basically giving a masterclass on how to play basketball in the most effective and efficient way. He sees his teammates perfectly, runs the whole team, grabs rebounds... the guy literally carries both the players and the entire team on his back. We’ve never seen a player like him until he showed up.

[Alphie12]

Denver had built a great lead in the third quarter, but Minnesota played a fantastic fourth quarter and took the game to overtime. 115-115
Jokic, as we know, got another triple-double and is taking his performance to an even higher level. If the game goes to overtime again, Jokic could break his career record.

What a game, what a player. Really... Jokic is the kind of guy who makes everyone play better and only takes over himself when he has to. That’s what makes him different from other stars. He’s basically giving a masterclass on how to play basketball in the most effective and efficient way. He sees his teammates perfectly, runs the whole team, grabs rebounds... the guy literally carries both the players and the entire team on his back. We’ve never seen a player like him until he showed up.

this is a contender for game of the season

[Alphie12]

Spurs have become Oklahoma’s biggest nightmare. They faced each other three times in December and Spurs won all three games.
Oklahoma, a team we expected to break records this season, has already suffered 5 losses.
Spurs prepare very well for games against Oklahoma and manage to dominate them.

For winning second time on OKC it really means that Spurs is really a strong team. Also a new rivalry has been created after that second match happen since for sure that many fans will provably look forwards to see their next game if OKC will get their revenge against Spurs which defeat them for second time.

Yeah for sure Spurs really prepared for this because we see them doing good and limit the productions done by OKC. This one makes young spurs looks promising and let see if they can able to win more games. I think they are sure to get a spot on playoffs and lets see if they can advance or get choked by their opponent.

i wish they wont meet in the playoffs till the finals it will be epic