2026 NBA Season

[cryptomaniac_xxx]

OKC is still a good contender though but I doubt they can get pass Spurs if ever they will face in playoffs.

There’s a chance they could face each other in the playoffs, but since the Thunder are in first place and the Spurs are in second place in the standings, they’ll only be able to face each other if they both make it to the conference finals. By the way, that’s a pretty realistic scenario, if neither the Thunder nor the Spurs mess up in the first or second round.

That is a bold prediction if Spurs could get pass OKC in this playoff and going to reach the finals. Spurs are still very young team although it's possible that even if their young is inexperienced, they have Wemby as a anomaly.

In the East, I'm reading the Celtics is a strong candidate again because of Tatum coming back.

And then Jaylen Brown in the discussion for MVP race too, but Pistons has something to say about that even if Cade is still injured.

[freedomgo]

That is a bold prediction if Spurs could get pass OKC in this playoff and going to reach the finals. Spurs are still very young team although it's possible that even if their young is inexperienced, they have Wemby as a anomaly.

If they face OKC, I would still bet on them since they already beat OKC in the NBA Cup, and after that they even won again in their matchup.
I think this season the Spurs actually have the edge in their head to head, so I don’t think that suddenly changes in a best-of-7 series.

If the odds are better on the Spurs, I’d take that. I don’t really mind the lack of experience, OKC themselves proved before that even a young team can win.

In the East, I'm reading the Celtics is a strong candidate again because of Tatum coming back.

And then Jaylen Brown in the discussion for MVP race too, but Pistons has something to say about that even if Cade is still injured.

Hmmm.. I know celtics are probably the favorite, but I believe Knicks will not be ignore here.
They are the team that will win the championship this season, ( that's my prediction..)

[jaberwock]

Good for the Bulls as they've got early lead which they almost let it go after that Houston's rally, almost but the rockets got run out of time and lose the game in the final quarter as Bulls manage to survive and manage to keep their feet running to protect that early lead not to be taken away by Rockets then snatch the win from them, though that's not new to this league as even you have a huge early quarter leads once the team start to rally they can manage to snatch it luckily for those who bet for the Bulls they did not choke and they did not allow it to happen.

Houston looks like a team trying to make the playoffs and actually believing they can all while playing without a proper point guard. Honestly, they don’t even have a backup. Guys like Reed, Holiday and Durant are just shooters. they aren’t exactly known for their playmaking. Thompson isn't a guard to begin with. As for Tari Eason and Jabari, they can’t even make a simple pass to the guy next to them, let alone run the point.

This is why the whole world and all the rockets fans are saying they should fire Udoka because that's how terrible the team is. They have one of the best playmaking bigs in the game, it's Jokic at first and Alpi at second, can't think of any other centre who has the ability to make the passes that Alpi can make, and the court vision that he has. They do not have a good point guard right now, but they do have good players how can score if you can pass at the right time. So triangle works here, the most obvious Lakers system in the whole world, it's so clear and yet people seriously can't see they need to do that.

[xLays]

I think it’s already pretty certain that the Golden State Warriors will make it to the play-in tournament since the gap in the standings between them and the Pelicans is already quite big. Also Pelicans just lost again to the Knicks in their latest game, which makes it even harder for them.
If the Pelicans still want chance to make it to the play-in, they really can’t afford to lose anymore. With 10 games remaining for the Warriors, they only need about two more wins to secure their spot in the play-in.
The real question now is whether they can win their matchups in the play-in and actually make it into the playoffs.

[xzone]

It's funny how the Miami Heat keep on losing their games after the wild 83 points from Bam Adebayo. Their schedule is surely rough against strong opponents like the Magic, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets, and Lakers. To make it worse, their next opponent will be the Cavaliers, and it's a back-to-back road game. They are now on the 10th seed, and although the Bucks (11) might not have a chance to take that spot, it will still be a hassle to beat two opponents in the play-in tournament just to get a spot in the playoffs.

The Charlotte Hornets, on the other hand, are climbing up and are now on their 4th winning streak. They took the Miami Heat's spot for number 9. They are aiming for the 7th or 8th for an easy 1-win seat for the playoffs. The Knicks will be their next opponent.

Miami Heat losing five consecutive games was something nobody expected. Of course, they may have a tough schedule, but it's really strange that they haven't won a single game; I guess they're a bit unlucky.
Their chances of winning the next game are also quite low. Cleveland is one of the strong teams this season and they've won four games in a row. I don't think we'll see a surprise result; Cleveland will win this game

[OgNasty]

It's funny how the Miami Heat keep on losing their games after the wild 83 points from Bam Adebayo. Their schedule is surely rough against strong opponents like the Magic, Hornets, Spurs, Rockets, and Lakers. To make it worse, their next opponent will be the Cavaliers, and it's a back-to-back road game. They are now on the 10th seed, and although the Bucks (11) might not have a chance to take that spot, it will still be a hassle to beat two opponents in the play-in tournament just to get a spot in the playoffs.

The Charlotte Hornets, on the other hand, are climbing up and are now on their 4th winning streak. They took the Miami Heat's spot for number 9. They are aiming for the 7th or 8th for an easy 1-win seat for the playoffs. The Knicks will be their next opponent.

Miami Heat losing five consecutive games was something nobody expected. Of course, they may have a tough schedule, but it's really strange that they haven't won a single game; I guess they're a bit unlucky.
Their chances of winning the next game are also quite low. Cleveland is one of the strong teams this season and they've won four games in a row. I don't think we'll see a surprise result; Cleveland will win this game

I think NBA players are pissed at the Miami Heat for the way that Bam beat Kobe's modern day scoring record.  They're probably playing insane defense trying to lock Bam down as much as possible for revenge.  Regular season games aren't played with playoff intensity, so it's fairly easy for NBA teams to shut someone down on any given night.  That's sort of what made Kobe so special.  Everyone knew he was going to get his shots and score his points.  There was nothing they could do about it.

[Stavri]

Good for the Bulls as they've got early lead which they almost let it go after that Houston's rally, almost but the rockets got run out of time and lose the game in the final quarter as Bulls manage to survive and manage to keep their feet running to protect that early lead not to be taken away by Rockets then snatch the win from them, though that's not new to this league as even you have a huge early quarter leads once the team start to rally they can manage to snatch it luckily for those who bet for the Bulls they did not choke and they did not allow it to happen.

Houston looks like a team trying to make the playoffs and actually believing they can all while playing without a proper point guard. Honestly, they don’t even have a backup. Guys like Reed, Holiday and Durant are just shooters. they aren’t exactly known for their playmaking. Thompson isn't a guard to begin with. As for Tari Eason and Jabari, they can’t even make a simple pass to the guy next to them, let alone run the point.

This is why the whole world and all the rockets fans are saying they should fire Udoka because that's how terrible the team is. They have one of the best playmaking bigs in the game, it's Jokic at first and Alpi at second, can't think of any other centre who has the ability to make the passes that Alpi can make, and the court vision that he has. They do not have a good point guard right now, but they do have good players how can score if you can pass at the right time. So triangle works here, the most obvious Lakers system in the whole world, it's so clear and yet people seriously can't see they need to do that.

KD joining the team has clearly taken a toll on Udoka this season. KD is an all time elite bucket getter and a mid range assassin but he’s notorious for blowing up team chemistry. Oddly enough, one misses that reckless but driven young Houston team from last year.

[kizilhare]

Golden State Warriors, who signed Ömer Yurtseven to a 10-day contract on March 15th, have today signed him to a new 10-day contract. I've never seen anything like this in my life. Apparently, these things can happen in the NBA. Ömer's first 10 days with GSW weren't very successful. I'll be watching how this period goes.

[sana54210]

I disagree, Wemby is a great player and he will get better with time, he is very young still and he will get better and better. But we also need to make sure that we can do a fine job on the long run, otherwise it makes no sense for these players to get better and leave no room.

SGA may or may not be the best, I still dislike his style, for me he doesn't look that great, but Doncic on the other hand, he is scoring like 33+ points a game and that is huge, and he is doing a very fine job at a team that wasn't even running for playoffs, unlike SGA who does it for a team that won it all. That difference is huge and I think it matters, because without SGA the OKC team would be surely worse but would be good enough for playoffs, without Doncic Lakers would not even be in playoffs, they would be tanking.

[Sims25]

I think it’s already pretty certain that the Golden State Warriors will make it to the play-in tournament since the gap in the standings between them and the Pelicans is already quite big. Also Pelicans just lost again to the Knicks in their latest game, which makes it even harder for them.
If the Pelicans still want chance to make it to the play-in, they really can’t afford to lose anymore. With 10 games remaining for the Warriors, they only need about two more wins to secure their spot in the play-in.
The real question now is whether they can win their matchups in the play-in and actually make it into the playoffs.

In my opinion, even if the Warriors make the play-in tournament, I don't think they can do well in the playoffs and if they make the play-offs, their performance would be so abysmall unless Stephen Curry can perform a magic. Team is currently banged up.

[Harkorede]

SGA may or may not be the best, I still dislike his style, for me he doesn't look that great, but Doncic on the other hand, he is scoring like 33+ points a game and that is huge, and he is doing a very fine job at a team that wasn't even running for playoffs, unlike SGA who does it for a team that won it all. That difference is huge and I think it matters, because without SGA the OKC team would be surely worse but would be good enough for playoffs, without Doncic Lakers would not even be in playoffs, they would be tanking.

I’m not trying to make a case for whether or not SGA is good and should be liked, but I quite disagree with Doncic comparisons, especially with the statement of SGA playing for a team that have won it all, he’s one of the major reason why they won it, and this team rock bottom in the league just a few seasons ago, it wasn’t as though he joined OKC with how Durant supposedly joined the Warriors back then, and one could argue that most of SGA’s points have actually translated in his team winning matches, at least way more than of Luka right now.

[EFS]

I hadn't watched the Cavs in a while, I watched their game against the Magic last night. Mitchell scored 42 points. Harden seems to have adjusted to the team, though his stats are down compared to his Clippers days. The Cavs look like they'll finish 4th in the East, but I don't see them going very far.

Tonight there's a Pistons vs. Hawks game. Back in the day, we'd maybe catch a Pistons game once a month but now they're on TV even twice a week. When they were a lottery team they barely got any coverage, but now that they're at the top the broadcasts have increased. It should be a good game, Pistons will win.

[OgNasty]

I think it’s already pretty certain that the Golden State Warriors will make it to the play-in tournament since the gap in the standings between them and the Pelicans is already quite big. Also Pelicans just lost again to the Knicks in their latest game, which makes it even harder for them.
If the Pelicans still want chance to make it to the play-in, they really can’t afford to lose anymore. With 10 games remaining for the Warriors, they only need about two more wins to secure their spot in the play-in.
The real question now is whether they can win their matchups in the play-in and actually make it into the playoffs.

In my opinion, even if the Warriors make the play-in tournament, I don't think they can do well in the playoffs and if they make the play-offs, their performance would be so abysmall unless Stephen Curry can perform a magic. Team is currently banged up.

Definitely.  The Warriors were hurting when they added Jimmy Butler to try and keep them competitive, but even that wasn't enough.  Now without Jimmy, they aren't really even a playoff team if we are being honest.  Steph can carry them, but Draymond is aging and without Kuminga or Butler to help score, Steph has a rough night in for him every night.  I think the rest of Steph's career will likely be wasted unless they can manage to get Giannis this offseason.

[el kaka22]

Wemby's talk about MVP is right, first of all he is definitely better than all other candidates at defense, it is not even a discussion, he rebounds more, blocks more, deters more, he is a defensive beast, whereas SGA, Doncic, Jokic and Cade are all terrible when it comes to defense compared to Wemby.

And offensively I understands he scores the least compared to other top five, but he is efficient at what he does at least, and doesn't just shoot all he gets like those players. I would say that Cade is likely normally if I didn't see him that low, because dude took a terrible Pistons teams to the top. But I think Wemby would be my choice.

[Stavri]

Wemby's talk about MVP is right, first of all he is definitely better than all other candidates at defense, it is not even a discussion, he rebounds more, blocks more, deters more, he is a defensive beast, whereas SGA, Doncic, Jokic and Cade are all terrible when it comes to defense compared to Wemby.

And offensively I understands he scores the least compared to other top five, but he is efficient at what he does at least, and doesn't just shoot all he gets like those players. I would say that Cade is likely normally if I didn't see him that low, because dude took a terrible Pistons teams to the top. But I think Wemby would be my choice.

He’s totally right.
Wemby will likely have the best defensive stats in NBA history by the time he retires. However, i’m curious if his offense can ever reach that same level. Also, considering how comfortable he looks on the court, i feel like his minutes are too low.

[yenerbatmaz]

Alperen Şengün's performance wasn't enough for the win. He scored 30 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and made 4 blocks. His block that sent the game into overtime was arguably his most important contribution.

In overtime, Houston took a nearly double-digit lead, but failed to score for two minutes.

Ultimately, they lost this crucial game to Minnesota 110-108.

I think Houston absolutely must get rid of Udoka at the end of the season. I don't like the decisions he makes in critical moments.

[OgNasty]

Alperen Şengün's performance wasn't enough for the win. He scored 30 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and made 4 blocks. His block that sent the game into overtime was arguably his most important contribution.

In overtime, Houston took a nearly double-digit lead, but failed to score for two minutes.

Ultimately, they lost this crucial game to Minnesota 110-108.

I think Houston absolutely must get rid of Udoka at the end of the season. I don't like the decisions he makes in critical moments.

That was the biggest overtime comeback ever. The Houston Rockets were up by 13 in overtime and somehow managed to lose. 108-95 and then losing 108-110. I don’t know how they couldn’t manage to at least run down the clock for the win. I might have to watch that overtime later.

[dwyane36]

He’s totally right.
Wemby will likely have the best defensive stats in NBA history by the time he retires. However, i’m curious if his offense can ever reach that same level. Also, considering how comfortable he looks on the court, i feel like his minutes are too low.

It depends on what criteria you use to evaluate defensive stats. If Wemby can stay healthy and keep playing at his current pace, say, for 20 NBA seasons without any serious injuries, then yes, he could come close to Olajuwon’s career blocks record. However, if you look at his average rebounds per game, nothing is outstanding there, which is actually surprising given his size.

[LogitechMouse]

In my opinion, even if the Warriors make the play-in tournament, I don't think they can do well in the playoffs and if they make the play-offs, their performance would be so abysmall unless Stephen Curry can perform a magic. Team is currently banged up.

Definitely.  The Warriors were hurting when they added Jimmy Butler to try and keep them competitive, but even that wasn't enough.  Now without Jimmy, they aren't really even a playoff team if we are being honest.  Steph can carry them, but Draymond is aging and without Kuminga or Butler to help score, Steph has a rough night in for him every night.  I think the rest of Steph's career will likely be wasted unless they can manage to get Giannis this offseason.

It wasn't enough during that time, but let's not forget that after the All-star break last regular season, they have one of the best records at that time, and most of it is because they have Butler.

Like you though, I don't see them as a playoff team as well, and worst, they might get bounced on the play-in tournament. With Curry being injured as well, there's a chance that they might as well just tank or maintain the 10th seed in order to be in the lottery teams for the upcoming draft combine. As for the Warriors getting Giannis, there are rumors that it might happen during the off-season especially now that Giannis might be out on the Bucks, and the Bucks don't want him in the team anymore. I wonder though if the Warriors can be a competitive assuming that they have Giannis, Curry and Butler in the team. Butler will be paid $56M next year, Giannis will be paid $58M next year and Curry will be paid $62M. 3 of them are covering for a huge chunk of their total salary cap of the team which will be around $165M. Unless the team wants to be in the 1st apron, they'll do everything just to get Giannis.

There will still be one year for Steph to get another title since he still has one year on his contract. I wonder if the Warriors will be a title contender if they get Giannis.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Alperen Şengün's performance wasn't enough for the win. He scored 30 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and made 4 blocks. His block that sent the game into overtime was arguably his most important contribution.

In overtime, Houston took a nearly double-digit lead, but failed to score for two minutes.

Ultimately, they lost this crucial game to Minnesota 110-108.

I think Houston absolutely must get rid of Udoka at the end of the season. I don't like the decisions he makes in critical moments.

I think it's more and more apparent you don't watch the game you are posting about here. "Nearly a double digit lead", dude they started overtime 13:0 and then got outscored 15:0 in the last under 3 minutes of OT.

That was the biggest overtime comeback ever. The Houston Rockets were up by 13 in overtime and somehow managed to lose. 108-95 and then losing 108-110. I don’t know how they couldn’t manage to at least run down the clock for the win. I might have to watch that overtime later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BryGyjsKXik parts of it.