2026 NBA Season

[rbynxx]

There's Knicks vs. Hornets game on TV but Knicks rest their stars so it should be an easy Hornets win. The Knicks will finish in 3rd seed whether they win or lose today. I think the Hornets can't move up to 8th seed even if the Sixers lose to the Bucks, but they need to win to hold onto 9th seed. The Heat will finish in 10th seed in that case. These are just small play-in adjustments. I'd rather watch play-in games at this point.

But the Magic who ruined my parlay and should have won without the Celtics stars did the unthinkable, they should have give it their all to win that one to avoid the play in but damn that game. Yeah, didn't give that much stake today because I know teams will probably ruin some of those games. I think the Sixers will probably not win this one, they need Embiid more than ever and Bona may be fit in that system but a center that also an offensive threat is definitely make a difference.

[tech30338]

The way Lebron is pulling them to first round is great, it's like the old days and he is still doing a great job. It's not normal for a guy his age to carry a team and he is still somehow managing to do that, it's shocking to see really, I did not expected him to play like a star anymore, he was looking like a third player on that Lakers team behind Doncic and even Reaves, and he has shown once more that he only allowed that but also had the power to be first whenever he wanted to.

Great to see them doing this much , because one thing is for sure, if Doncic comes back before they lose out, they are going to have a great chance to do very good damage at playoffs, they looked much better than most teams, and if Lebron can hang until Doncic comes back, many things could happen.

I just hope that lebron will have something left in the tank when two players return, i think this has been his issue through the years dragging the team to the finals and nothing left in the tank to finish the finals, but i could be wrong, but i'll be happy to see LA go deep in the playoffs with lebron dragging the team again deep, while waiting for the reinforcement.
i just want the other players to lighten the load for this 41 year old guy, he has still left on the tank but the question is how much left.

[Oasisman]

The way Lebron is pulling them to first round is great, it's like the old days and he is still doing a great job. It's not normal for a guy his age to carry a team and he is still somehow managing to do that, it's shocking to see really, I did not expected him to play like a star anymore, he was looking like a third player on that Lakers team behind Doncic and even Reaves, and he has shown once more that he only allowed that but also had the power to be first whenever he wanted to.

Great to see them doing this much , because one thing is for sure, if Doncic comes back before they lose out, they are going to have a great chance to do very good damage at playoffs, they looked much better than most teams, and if Lebron can hang until Doncic comes back, many things could happen.

I just hope that lebron will have something left in the tank when two players return, i think this has been his issue through the years dragging the team to the finals and nothing left in the tank to finish the finals, but i could be wrong, but i'll be happy to see LA go deep in the playoffs with lebron dragging the team again deep, while waiting for the reinforcement.
i just want the other players to lighten the load for this 41 year old guy, he has still left on the tank but the question is how much left.

Well, with LeBron leading the Lakers to secure home-court advantage, without Reaves and Luka, that's already enough to ask. Now that he is on fire coming into the playoffs, I think he's ready to take on the Rockets, but I don't expect much of a performance like the way he used to in his prime.
While Luka is currently in Europe, he'd most likely be back as early as game 2 in the first round. As for Reaves, I think they're playing it safe for him. No specific timeline on when he will be back, but I believe both of them will return before round 1 concludes.
I might be wrong, but I think this whole Laker situation is done deliberately, to prepare themselves for a deep playoff run. They rest their 2 best players weeks before the playoffs start, and then let LeBron get the rhythm as preparation for the playoffs, because there will be no easy round for them in this whole playoff run, from round 1 to WCF (If they reach this far). Rockets, Spurs, and Thunder, that's going to be a tough run. The possibility for a 1st round exit is very, very high, especially with the absence of Reaves and Luka early in the 1st round.

[kizilhare]

Alperen Şengün and Houston's first-round opponent is LeBron James and the Lakers. If Doncic recovers from his injury and returns to the Lakers, I think the Lakers can get past this round. If Doncic doesn't, the Lakers could be swept by Houston.

[Jostern]

I think the problem is that everyone wants this young kid to perform like his dad, but the problem also is that there is so much expectations from because of what his dad is all about, I don’t really consider him to be as perfect as his dad, because they’re both two different people, there is so much pressure on him to perform as his father, but that isn’t how things work, I feel things would be different for him, and less pressure if he leaves Lakers and move to a different franchise where he can be himself, and try to play his own game and also develop, right from on set I think it was totally a mistake for him to choose to move to Lakers, he could’ve gone somewhere else to develop, he is still young and his career is way far ahead of him, I believe there is still so much more to come from him right now.

His performance is way below average even without any expectation from him since real pro will not gonna be affected to pressure instead focus on his game to make an improvement.

He always given a playing time to show off his skills but he always fail to deliver especially a wide open layup or point blank shot.

What he needed is play to different team away from his father because he might can’t carry the pressure of being compared to his father.

Exactly my point I was making, I think it was absolutely a mistake from on set with him moving to Lakers, he should have joined another franchise considering that the Stigma of his father is going to be challenging to him, because everyone would expect him to perform like his father or fill the void that would be left by his father which is going to be a very difficult task for his performance.

Well he has to work on his game for improvements, else he is going to have a difficult career at Lakers after his father must have retired, or probably he gets traded to a different franchise, so there is still time to work on himself and try to improve his game in all aspects of his Performance.

[Russlenat]

Alperen Şengün and Houston's first-round opponent is LeBron James and the Lakers. If Doncic recovers from his injury and returns to the Lakers, I think the Lakers can get past this round. If Doncic doesn't, the Lakers could be swept by Houston.

Too harsh prediction, a sweep? Come on, give them at least 1 win hehe.

Honestly, that’s what I think too. Lakers will struggle without Luka, and even if Reaves is there, I feel like the result will still probably be the same. I mean, who’s really the main star of this team now, Luka yes, LeBron not anymore.

LeBron has been carrying them in the last few games and that winning streak was nice, but I still don’t think that will be enough against a hungry Rockets team.

GL Lakers, you’re gonna need it.

[fullfitlarry]

Alperen Şengün and Houston's first-round opponent is LeBron James and the Lakers. If Doncic recovers from his injury and returns to the Lakers, I think the Lakers can get past this round. If Doncic doesn't, the Lakers could be swept by Houston.

Too harsh prediction, a sweep? Come on, give them at least 1 win hehe.

Honestly, that’s what I think too. Lakers will struggle without Luka, and even if Reaves is there, I feel like the result will still probably be the same. I mean, who’s really the main star of this team now, Luka yes, LeBron not anymore.

LeBron has been carrying them in the last few games and that winning streak was nice, but I still don’t think that will be enough against a hungry Rockets team.

GL Lakers, you’re gonna need it.

Right, I don't think that the Rockets can sweep the Lakers in 4 games. That's why we have this so called home advantage so that teams can literally have the advantage playing in their homecourt and have the fans backing them up to give them energy.

So still very hard series to predict, although I think the Lakers could be at a disadvantage for not having Luka and Reaves. But if they can extend the series and give at least some time for Luka to recover then it might be a different outcome.

[arwin100]

Play in and Playoffs bracket has been released by NBA.



For sure we will enjoy watching those great match up for this year playoffs round.

Many great teams are exciting to watch this season, but also so curious if GSW has a chance to climb and defeat Clippers in their match up. But well let's see what's going to happen, since I think Clippers had more better chance to win knowing that they are doing great compare to Warriors.

[Dave1]

^^ I'm a Warriors fan,  but I don't think that they will win against the Clippers here. Warriors is not what it was used to be with Curry or Draymond, the team dynamics has change a lot specially this season. Clippers still has Kahwi and Garland to clinch the win for them in the play-in.

I like the Charlotte though on the other side. One of the most exciting teams to watch, with Kon and Ball as the top 2 players as far as 3 point made for this season. It could be a record, not sure about that. But they are fun to watch with this young players and Ball's drilling skills at full display. Of course the teams chemistry is very high and they are complete with a good bench scoring lead by White.

[Cointxz]

^^ I'm a Warriors fan,  but I don't think that they will win against the Clippers here. Warriors is not what it was used to be with Curry or Draymond, the team dynamics has change a lot specially this season. Clippers still has Kahwi and Garland to clinch the win for them in the play-in.

Totally agree especially that GSW main key player is not available to play while Kawhi is a beast on a crucial game like play-in and playoffs. Clippers now with Garland is a real dark horse contender on this playoffs assuming they will win the play-in.

I believe Clippers is much better team to be on playoffs compared to GSW considering the team that they are facing is OKC which surely dominated GSW that only have Curry as their main offense.

OKC defense will surely make Curry lock down most of the game.

[emrecemsan]

And the regular season is over! By the end of it there are 3 teams finished with 60+ wins: Thunder, Spurs, Pistons.

Celtics could have also been one of them if it weren't for Tatum's lasting injury... But despite that especially with the big help of Jaylen Brown they managed to finish their conference in 2nd place.  

As Tatum has also been back for a while I see them a more serious contender for the finals. In case of a conference final series against Pistons I believe they can win.

[tygeade]

Technically speaking Lakers and Rockets are still fighting for a home court advantage as well. If Rockets win, and Lakers lose then Rockets could have the home court advantage if I am not wrong, maybe I am wrong but I think that looks like the case. But to be fair both Lakers and Rockets are playing tanking teams, and they are going to end up winning, both of them.

With the way Doncic is out, Lakers will have the home court advantage, and with the way Rockets are looking, there is a small chance that they could win anyways even without Doncic, but it is going to be tough. There are talks about Doncic being able to come back late in the first round, but I am not sure if that would be smart to risk him that way and then miss him all season next year. I would say consider this season a loss, keep him out, rest him, let him recover, and make him come back next year.

[LogitechMouse]

Technically speaking Lakers and Rockets are still fighting for a home court advantage as well. If Rockets win, and Lakers lose then Rockets could have the home court advantage if I am not wrong, maybe I am wrong but I think that looks like the case. But to be fair both Lakers and Rockets are playing tanking teams, and they are going to end up winning, both of them.

With the way Doncic is out, Lakers will have the home court advantage, and with the way Rockets are looking, there is a small chance that they could win anyways even without Doncic, but it is going to be tough. There are talks about Doncic being able to come back late in the first round, but I am not sure if that would be smart to risk him that way and then miss him all season next year. I would say consider this season a loss, keep him out, rest him, let him recover, and make him come back next year.

That's what I'm thinking as well especially now that Luka and Reaves will not play for at least the majority of the first round.

I'm already thinking that the Rockets might steal one on the road because of how undermanned the Lakers are, and while they're being undermanned, I'm not telling that these will be a one-sided match-up especially on how the Lakers played in these games where both of their guards are out. Lebron stepped up, Kennard stepped up, Smart stepped up, Ayton stepped up. What I'm trying to say is that, there are some players who stepped up on both defense on offense with the absence of their 2 guards. The question though is will they perform the same when playoff comes. Of course, the Lakers don't need to rely that much on Lebron alone because he will be exhausted that's for sure.

As for Doncic coming back, I've also seen some articles regarding that one, and I'm not excluding that option for the Lakers as well especially if they see that the Lakers have a chance to win the series. It's the playoffs, and if you need to risk everything, you need to risk everything.

[Stavri]

Nuggets have won all of their last 12 games including two wins against the Spurs and one against OKC...
They’re entering the playoffs at their absolute peak, both in terms of form and a fully healthy roster. Plus, Jokic has officially entered joker mode. it seems like he’s taken things personally. he was always unrivaled but over the last month, he’s reached an absurd level. hereally  looks seriously locked in for the championship. Nuggets look like the most dangerous team in the playoffs right now.

[tech30338]

Technically speaking Lakers and Rockets are still fighting for a home court advantage as well. If Rockets win, and Lakers lose then Rockets could have the home court advantage if I am not wrong, maybe I am wrong but I think that looks like the case. But to be fair both Lakers and Rockets are playing tanking teams, and they are going to end up winning, both of them.

With the way Doncic is out, Lakers will have the home court advantage, and with the way Rockets are looking, there is a small chance that they could win anyways even without Doncic, but it is going to be tough. There are talks about Doncic being able to come back late in the first round, but I am not sure if that would be smart to risk him that way and then miss him all season next year. I would say consider this season a loss, keep him out, rest him, let him recover, and make him come back next year.

That's what I'm thinking as well especially now that Luka and Reaves will not play for at least the majority of the first round.

I'm already thinking that the Rockets might steal one on the road because of how undermanned the Lakers are, and while they're being undermanned, I'm not telling that these will be a one-sided match-up especially on how the Lakers played in these games where both of their guards are out. Lebron stepped up, Kennard stepped up, Smart stepped up, Ayton stepped up. What I'm trying to say is that, there are some players who stepped up on both defense on offense with the absence of their 2 guards. The question though is will they perform the same when playoff comes. Of course, the Lakers don't need to rely that much on Lebron alone because he will be exhausted that's for sure.

As for Doncic coming back, I've also seen some articles regarding that one, and I'm not excluding that option for the Lakers as well especially if they see that the Lakers have a chance to win the series. It's the playoffs, and if you need to risk everything, you need to risk everything.

Im not sure but some are saying luka will or might be expect to return in game 3 or game 4 of the first round, but im not buying that, like what im saying the lakers should avoid bad positioning in the playoffs sadly they will face the rockets, with Lebron age 41 and rui, luke, ayton, this will be a test for the shoting guard because lebron will hunt them, they need to be able to convert those shot.
Because im sure lebron will be slashing and passing the ball to luke, rui, also ayton need to convert those pass and make the basket, this will be grueling match for lebron, do you agree or, the lakers will surprise the league and play those 2 players in the first round?

[Beparanf]

Im not sure but some are saying luka will or might be expect to return in game 3 or game 4 of the first round, but im not buying that, like what im saying the lakers should avoid bad positioning in the playoffs sadly they will face the rockets, with Lebron age 41 and rui, luke, ayton, this will be a test for the shoting guard because lebron will hunt them, they need to be able to convert those shot.
Because im sure lebron will be slashing and passing the ball to luke, rui, also ayton need to convert those pass and make the basket, this will be grueling match for lebron, do you agree or, the lakers will surprise the league and play those 2 players in the first round?

It’s a merely speculation from a hopium fan of Lakers. There’s a lot of fan base on Lakers that typically post a speculation and hype on social media as if Lakers is the only main character on NBA.

I doubt Lakers will gamble Luka’s health now while they have a lot of opportunities on the next season considering how well the team work is building already.

They will just risk of losing more if Luka injury intensify on this playoffs without any assurance that they can actually contend to the finals without this line-up.

[Fredomago]

Alperen Şengün and Houston's first-round opponent is LeBron James and the Lakers. If Doncic recovers from his injury and returns to the Lakers, I think the Lakers can get past this round. If Doncic doesn't, the Lakers could be swept by Houston.

Too harsh prediction, a sweep? Come on, give them at least 1 win hehe.

Honestly, that’s what I think too. Lakers will struggle without Luka, and even if Reaves is there, I feel like the result will still probably be the same. I mean, who’s really the main star of this team now, Luka yes, LeBron not anymore.

LeBron has been carrying them in the last few games and that winning streak was nice, but I still don’t think that will be enough against a hungry Rockets team.

GL Lakers, you’re gonna need it.

Right, I don't think that the Rockets can sweep the Lakers in 4 games. That's why we have this so called home advantage so that teams can literally have the advantage playing in their homecourt and have the fans backing them up to give them energy.

So still very hard series to predict, although I think the Lakers could be at a disadvantage for not having Luka and Reaves. But if they can extend the series and give at least some time for Luka to recover then it might be a different outcome.

Yup, let see if how the Lakers will try all the best that they've left while hoping for Luka to quickly recover and help them to win these series, though upset can happened but for sure Houston will do also everything not to give any hope for Luka-less Lakers, knowing that thier odds to win might be compromise if ever they allow Luka to play against them, KD and the rest of the Rockets will take every advantage that they've got to finished the series with the win to advance to the next round.