Basketball

[Mr Tree]

A new "timeless" thread for this "minority" sport

Yes there have been some dramatic happenings stateside, Durant to Brooklyn, Kawhi to LA Clippers, amazing - next year should be interesting!

But quick shout-out to the British ladies, who reached the Euro semi-finals for the first time ever last week - incredible stuff. France beat them before losing to Spain in a repeat of the 2017 final, while Serbia pipped the Brits to bronze - the final stages took place in Belgrade, so it was quite an ask for Britain to get on to the podium!

Also, USA won the U19 World Cup at the weekend, beating Mali in the final. Yes, Mali!! An incredible tournament for them, and gave the favourites a pretty good game in the final.

 

[Herbert]

Just seen a news report about the impacts of Covid on basketball. And said it’s the 2nd biggest team sport in Britain !
That can’t be true ?

 

[TW3Bee]

Just seen a news report about the impacts of Covid on basketball. And said it’s the 2nd biggest team sport in Britain !
That can’t be true ?

That doesn't sound right at all.

Football
Cricket
Rugby Union/League

There's three/four just off the top of my head.

 

[Simon W]

Just seen a news report about the impacts of Covid on basketball. And said it’s the 2nd biggest team sport in Britain !
That can’t be true ?

probably meant size of players?

 

[nocoat]

Just seen a news report about the impacts of Covid on basketball. And said it’s the 2nd biggest team sport in Britain !
That can’t be true ?

clearly wrong . Can you link to the report ?

 

[Herbert]

clearly wrong . Can you link to the report ?

probably meant size of players?

That doesn't sound right at all.

Football
Cricket
Rugby Union/League

There's three/four just off the top of my head.

I know it’s twaddle. It was on the local news for sussex

 

[TW3Bee]

I know it’s twaddle. It was on the local news for sussex

Maybe just in Sussex then.


Worthing Bears was it, used to have a fairly decent team.

 

[Mr Tree]

i've been busy so missed out on giving you guys the highly anticipated playoff preview

lots of away teams winning the first games so far, throwing all the seedings out the window early doors... it's been a crazy year to be fair (of course), with very few people anticipating a Utah-Philadelphia final (clash between the top two seeds)... danger seems to lurk elsewhere, with the East's #2 Brooklyn Nets looking a bit tasty, while the defending champ LA Lakers lurk down in #7 in the West...

incredible win by Dallas last night in LA to go 2-0 up over the Clippers, who were fancied by some to go all the way... this Doncic kid is incredible, young Slovenian lad who really is at the top table already... quite a year for the Balkans, with it looking likely that Denver's Nikola Jokic will win the league MVP award - the big Serbian is a very atypical star but another incredible player - definitely a fun time for the sport ?

 

[Mr Tree]

First round nearly over, with just the West's 4-5 matchup between LA Clippers and Dallas Mavericks remaining - their all-or-nothing decider is tomorrow evening, 8:30pm UK time start, i believe. Remarkably, the away team has won EVERY game so far in the series, so Dallas should be the favourites tomorrow!

The winner will take on the top seed Utah Jazz in the Western semis (i.e. effectively the overall quarter-finals), while the other West semi will be Phoenix Suns vs Denver Nuggets. The Suns took down the legend LeBron in the first round - they looked cooked, 2-1 down with their veteran leader (playmaker Chris Paul) struggling with injury. But Paul recovered while LeBron looked a little slowed by his ankle injury, and his sidekick Anthony Davis picked up a groin strain to scupper the defending champs' attempts to retain the trophy.

Which means, with how it's fallen out East too, that only 1 champ from the last 37 years is still going (and that's Dallas, who could be gone tomorrow!). So a new name on the trophy - great to see.

At the last 8 stage, there always tends to be one "to be honest, this would be a worthy final" clash, and this time it looks like being Brooklyn Nets versus Milwaukee Bucks, the East's 2-3 match. Their series starts tonight - here's hoping it's a classic.

Lower expectations for the other East tie - 5th seed Atlanta Hawks "upset" the 4th-seeded New York Knicks in the first round, but top seed Philadelphia 76ers are reeling with the news that their fantastic Cameroonian big man Joel Embiid has a "small tear" in his knee cartilage... apparently hope remains, but realistically he might be finished for this season, which is a real pity. Atlanta may even be licking their lips and thinking a place in the East final is achievable!

 

[Mr Tree]

the "quarter-final" stage finished last night - it's been pretty crazy, with the two number 1 seeds going out. Utah and Philadelphia weren't the strongest or most dominant top seeds ever, but it's still pretty surprising to see them both fall.

so the West final will be the #2 seed Phoenix Suns against the #4 seed LA Clippers, while in the East the #3 seed Milwaukee Bucks will take on #5 seed Atlanta Hawks.

only wild optimists would have predicted Phoenix or Atlanta getting to the last 4 at the start of the season, but both have nice young cores and have taken a step up during (and/or taken advantage of) the chaos created by Covid.

Atlanta and Milwaukee got through with impressive away performances in Game 7 deciders over the weekend versus Philly and Brooklyn, respectively. The Clippers were able to reel off 4 straight against Utah after losing the first two, while Phoenix spoiled the celebrations for Denver's Nikola Jokic, who was confirmed as the winner of the MVP award during the series. Phoenix dominated the series though, winning the first four games to earn some rest.

Alas, their star veteran Chris Paul used that rest to contract Covid, despite already being vaccinated, in a "developing" situation where everyone wishes there was more information publicly available. For now, Paul missed the first game of the West finals yesterday, but his young sidekick Devin Booker was awesome as Phoenix went 1-0 up.

Aside from Paul's absence, Phoenix have been relatively healthy in a postseason that may end up defined by injuries. Their opponents are missing their best player Kawhi Leonard, who may be out for the rest of the playoffs with a hurty knee (unclear how hurty). Milwaukee and Atlanta are both missing one of their regulars (albeit lesser players), and another of Atlanta's top players (Bogdanovic) got a hurty knee too last week.

it looks like there's plenty of twists and turns to come, but at least all this has shaken things up - it's great to see four "new" teams in the mix, and there'll be at least one star rising to a new level when they pick up their first championship in the next few weeks.

 

[Banana]

I can't find the "developing" part of the Chris Paul story, so could you oblige please @Mr Tree ?

 

[Mr Tree]

we don't know how long he'll be out for. as of last night, i believe the word is that he tested positive but has no symptoms, so he could be quarantined for 10-14 days... but a series generally takes about two weeks... could be very inconvenient...

at least he wasn't considered to have been "in contact" with his teammates and coaches.... it could have all got very messy.

 

[maddogging]

Imagine Ben Simmons will be keeping a low profile the next few weeks…..

 

[maddogging]

More lottery heartbreak for the Magic ! If there was a stacked 29 man roster we’d get the 30th pick ffs !

 

[swr22]

Wondering how my Celtics will do now that Brad Stevens is GM. Already traded Kemba!

 

[Mr Tree]

Wondering how my Celtics will do now that Brad Stevens is GM. Already traded Kemba!

yep it's all gone a bit wrong of late, with the signings of Kyrie, Hayward and Kemba all going awry - you've not quite broken through as hoped/expected. surprising move from Brad, but it'll definitely be interesting to see what's next - Jaylen made an impressive step up this year, but those two (him + Tatum) need some quality support soon, or they'll start wondering what other options are out there...

 

[Mr Tree]

More lottery heartbreak for the Magic ! If there was a stacked 29 man roster we’d get the 30th pick ffs !

hmm, 30-team league and you've had the #1 pick three times in the last 25 years, no?

 

[maddogging]

hmm, 30-team league and you've had the #1 pick three times in the last 25 years, no?

well yes, but boy are we paying now for the Shaq/C Web back to back draft !

 

[swr22]

yep it's all gone a bit wrong of late, with the signings of Kyrie, Hayward and Kemba all going awry - you've not quite broken through as hoped/expected. surprising move from Brad, but it'll definitely be interesting to see what's next - Jaylen made an impressive step up this year, but those two (him + Tatum) need some quality support soon, or they'll start wondering what other options are out there...

Yup. And a question mark over whether the franchise is willing to spend into the luxury tax. Seems like we just gave up a 1st rounder for a salary dump plus 49 year-old Al Horford. Horford is actually a nice piece but you'd think the Celtics would be in "win now" mode with Brown and Tatum.

 

[maddogging]

Can we talk about Trae Young, absolutely love watching him play, the modern day AI. Cannot wait for game two tonight just to see what he does, has turned himself from a makeweight in the Luka trade to a superstar, brilliant !

 

[Mr Tree]

Jinxed him there

 

[YouReds123]

One of the most aggressive dunks I've ever seen. Westbrook on 3x and current DPOY (defensive player of the year) Rudy Gobert

 

[Mr Tree]

the NBA playoffs are starting in the next couple of weeks - it's been a fantastic season, I think, and I'm genuinely quite excited to do a mini round-up in the next few days that will be read by 3 or maybe 4 people maximum

but the Lakers (the evil empire / Man Utd equivalent) failing to reach the playoffs, which were extended in recent years so that 20 of the 30 teams "qualify", is nothing short of disastrous and hilarious. they have LeBron James, the most famous (?) active player and a legend of the game, still performing at an elite level at 37 years old (looks like he'll fall fractionally short of leading the league in scoring), but the team around him is a total disaster and i LOVE it. i don't really support any of the teams - my general answer (if asked) is to say "ABL - anyone but the Lakers". so this is sweet! it was only 3 or 4 weeks ago when people were saying "well at least they won't drop out of the top 10 in the West", it was that much of a "foregone" conclusion, but they've still totally fallen apart to make it possible, with two games to spare! fantastic

more to follow next week - even if you don't want it!

 

[Mr Tree]

Gah, i started writing an epic season review but i think i know my audience (mostly casual-to-strong disinterest) - give me a beer and a spliff and I'll merrily discuss all the angles, but to put it simply...

We started with 30 teams, and after 5 months / 82 games, 10 are gone (including the Lakers, hahaha). 12 have their feet up, waiting for the real playoffs to start on Saturday.

In the meantime, there will be 6 "play-in" games. This new format was introduced a couple of years ago and it seems to be doing a good job in maintaining interest and keeping the end-of-season races exciting. And these are one-off do-or-die games, in contrast to the "best of 7" playoffs.

Tonight Brooklyn, with possibly the best player in the world Kevin Durant, face Cleveland, an inspiring success story who've sadly been hobbled by injuries. Durant won't win "player of the season" (MVP) due to his own injury troubles - that award has been a fascinating battle of its own, with Denver's Serbian big man Nikola Jokic (the 2021 winner) fighting defending champions Milwaukee's Greek-Nigerian powerhouse Giannis Antetekounmpo (the 2019 and 2020 winner) and Philadelphia's charismatic Cameroonian Joel Embiid (never won it). It's quite a golden era for the league, and especially impressive given that, while Embiid was quite a "can't miss" prospect, the other two were relatively unheralded upon their arrival.

The winner of the Brooklyn-Cleveland match, which will almost certainly be Brooklyn given Cleveland's injury woes, will play Boston in the playoffs, while the loser will play the winner of the Atlanta-Charlotte match from tomorrow night. That final "decider" will take place on Friday, with the winner handed a first-round playoff series with the East's top seed Miami. Atlanta are probably the favourites to make it through, considering they got all the way to the overall semis last year, but they have been pitifully inconsistent this season and the one-off format threatens to bite them on the bum.

On the other side, another of last season's semi-finalists, the LA Clippers, take on Minnesota in the 7-8 match, with the winner landing Memphis in Round 1 while the loser will take on New Orleans or San Antonio for the right to face last year's beaten finalists Phoenix, who smashed the league this year. The Clippers have stumbled through the season, but understandably so with one of the world's best players, Kawhi Leonard, doing his knee ligaments in last year's playoffs. But there are rumours he's on the verge of a return.... Minnesota meanwhile are a great story, with young big man Karl-Anthony Towns looking ready to reach for the top table. Mind you Memphis are an even better story, with their dynamic young guard Ja Morant elevating spectacularly this season.

The 3-6 and 4-5 matchups are set on both sides and will start this weekend, with the defending champs Milwaukee meeting Chicago, who started brightly before injuries beset them. Philadelphia will play Toronto, while in the West Golden State, finalists from 2015 to 2019, will play Denver, and Dallas will meet Utah.

... and that was the short version!

 

[YouReds123]

Kyrie 10/10 (3/3) so far half way through the third. Special player

 

[Mr Tree]

The Timberwolves withstood a horrible game from Towns to take down the Clippers - really happy for them, they were closer to 6th than 8th and it looked like fate was gonna kick them in the balls. The full-strength Clippers might actually be title contenders, so they were lurking as real potential problems for the young upstart wolves and also Memphis in the first round - but now, those two fun young teams will meet each other in the playoffs, guaranteeing one will reach the last 8

 

[ChrisSmith1992]

I'm a Twolves fan myself, have been since 2004, and I fancy us to beat the Grizzlies next up

 

[Mr Tree]

So in the last few days, we've said goodbye to 7 more teams, with only the fantastic Memphis-Minnesota series remaining undecided from the first round - probably some tough watching for poor @ChrisSmith1992 as his boys have thrown away big leads in two games to leave themselves on the brink tonight. Winner will play Golden State, who won the title in 2015, 17 and 18 and appear to be somewhat "back", handling Denver with relative ease.

No big shocks yet unfortunately, with all the higher seeds making it through, so it's goodbye to...
Brooklyn Nets - ignominiously swept by Boston, four consecutive albeit entertaining defeats, with their stars Durant and Irving stifled by Boston's brilliant defence
Atlanta Hawks - semi-finalists last year but had a rough year this time, with their young star Trae Young totally throttled by the East's top seed Miami
Chicago Bulls - good to see them back in the playoffs, but they never stood much chance against the defending champions
Toronto Raptors - the 2019 champs impressed this season, but couldn't stop Philadelphia's superstar big Joel Embiid
New Orleans Pelicans - lost 12 of their 13 this season, so to take this year's clear number 1 team Phoenix to six games was impressive in the end. Ingram was fantastic, and they have the mouthwatering prospect of adding 2019 no.1 pick Zion Williamson into the mix after he missed this entire season with injury.
Denver Nuggets - it looks like their Serbian big Nikola Jokic will retain his crown as the league's MVP, but they were hobbled without their 2nd and 3rd best players (Murray and Porter) for the majority of the season and the whole playoffs
Utah Jazz - a massive disappointment and probably the end of their "star" duo Gobert and Mitchell

 

[Bee1895]

"my team" are the Celts anyway, but still love how they swept the overrated Nets with their squad of first class pricks.

 

[aawharris]

Ah poo, Joel Embiid has broken his face.
Hope this doesnt derail us

 

[Mr Tree]

Memphis won last night to finalise the last 8 lineup as:

Miami Heat vs Philadelphia 76ers
Boston Celtics vs Milwaukee Bucks

Phoenix Suns vs Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State Warriors

Nothing tonight but i believe the first games from Boston and Memphis are tomorrow, at "europe-friendly" times.

Unfortunately it looks locked on for Miami and Boston to meet in the Eastern final, with their opponents suffering significant injuries and missing key players.

 

[Mr Tree]

The two top seeds went out and tw*tted the 4-seeds last night after a nervy few days, so they're looking good...

(first to 4)
Phoenix Suns 3-2 Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies 1-3 Golden State Warriors

Miami Heat 3-2 Philadelphia 76ers
Boston Celtics 2-2 Milwaukee Bucks

 

[maddogging]

Grizzlies done with Ja being ruled out, better years to come for them.

All eyes back on the series to watch tonight, Celts v Bucks, been brilliant so far

 

[Mr Tree]

All eyes back on the series to watch tonight, Celts v Bucks, been brilliant so far

Indeed, real top-quality stuff, going down to a decider tonight after Tatum's 46pts lifted the Celts in game 6 (despite Giannis posting 44 and 20 for the defending champs).

That one "kicks off" at 8:30pm UK time tonight (they generally take about 2h30 in total), and then Phoenix have a decider against Dallas at 1am - horrible timing personally, that'll have to be a "don't check twitter in the morning, just watch the replay straightaway" game for me...

Miami and Golden State, respectively, await the victors.

 

[Mr Tree]

Sunday night saw both of last year's finalists get knocked out, with Milwaukee's incredible Giannis Antetekounmpo finally running out of juice as Boston pulled away, while Dallas annihilated the "runaway league leaders" (in soccer parlance), the Phoenix Suns, in their decider.

So the Conference Finals are set as

Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics
Golden State Warriors vs Dallas Mavericks

Miami-Boston is a meeting of the East's top two seeds, and two of the best defences in the league. It's also a rematch of the 2020 ECF, which saw Miami prevail. Boston are the NBA's most storied franchise (won something like 10 titles in 11 years in the 50's and 60's), but they haven't lifted the trophy recently since 2008. Miami enjoyed titles in 2012 and 2013 while LeBron was in town. The wing battle between stars Jimmy Butler and Jayson Tatum will likely be the highlight here.

GSW-Dallas is not a meeting of the West's top two seeds, with #3 and #4 meeting here after dispatching higher-ranked opponents in the last round. It's a rematch of one of the famous "8th seed knocking the top seed out" events in NBA history, when the Warriors took out the league-leading Mavs in 2007. Dallas came back to claim their only ever title in 2011, while the Warriors finally broke through after decades in the doldrums to win titles in 2015, 17 and 18, behind the stellar play of insane shooter Steph Curry and superb defender Draymond Green. They also had Klay Thompson's brilliant shooting and defence, until he blew out his knee (ACL) in the 2019 finals, then tore his Achilles when he'd almost fully recovered from the knee. He's back now, but not quite the same level he was... mind you, i bet Dallas's Slovenian star Luka Doncic wouldn't mind help of that calibre! The rest of Dallas's squad looks thin on paper, but Doncic, despite being just 23, might well be the best player remaining overall - it'll be an incredible effort if he can take Dallas to the Finals, but plenty of commentators fancy their chances...

 

[Mr Tree]

Looking very much like Golden State vs Boston in the final, after the Celtics dismantled the Heat in Game 5 last night. They can seal the deal in the next 48hrs...

 

[Mr Tree]

Looking very much like Golden State vs Boston in the final, after the Celtics dismantled the Heat in Game 5 last night. They can seal the deal in the next 48hrs...

They stumbled to the line a little, losing Game 6 at home and then leading throughout Game 7 before allowing a 98-85 lead with 3:30 left become 98-96 with the ball in the hands of Miami's best player in the final minute, but they dodged the bullet and sealed their first trip to the Finals in this "new" era of the team (with Tatum and Brown as the team leaders).

The final series should be interesting - first game starts Thursday night (Friday morning for us!)

 

[TW3Bee]

"my team" are the Celts anyway, but still love how they swept the overrated Nets with their squad of first class pricks.

Kind of take an interest in The Brooklyn Nets, seeing as their home arena is on the sight of where the Brooklyn Dodgers could have built a new stadium before they moved to LA.

 

[TW3Bee]

The final series should be interesting - first game starts Thursday night (Friday morning for us!)

Boston Celtics and The Golden State Warriors are the second and third most successful teams in NBA history, behind The L A Lakers.

2.00 start tomorrow morning if anyone fancies staying up for it.

 

[Mr Tree]

Boston Celtics and The Golden State Warriors are the second and third most successful teams in NBA history, behind The L A Lakers.

2.00 start tomorrow morning if anyone fancies staying up for it.

4:30 alarm for me (an hour ahead), to catch the second half. These are the two best defensive teams this season, but frankly that should make the game more interesting, not less...

 

[To Bee Someone]

Massive achievement by the Warriors. Two years in the seeming wilderness. And more of a team effort rather than it being expectedly being centred around Curry. Poole and Wiggins were fantastic in the post season.
Shouldn't really like them but I find them strangely endearing. And Steve Kerr is a legend if he wasn't already.

As an aside, had a chat with a work colleague who is a huge NBA fan and who I thought were potentially the best team never to win an NBA championship. My limited knowledge could only fathom OKC with Harden, Durant and Westbrook.

 

[maddogging]

Massive achievement by the Warriors. Two years in the seeming wilderness. And more of a team effort rather than it being expectedly being centred around Curry. Poole and Wiggins were fantastic in the post season.
Shouldn't really like them but I find them strangely endearing. And Steve Kerr is a legend if he wasn't already.

As an aside, had a chat with a work colleague who is a huge NBA fan and who I thought were potentially the best team never to win an NBA championship. My limited knowledge could only fathom OKC with Harden, Durant and Westbrook.

How can you not love Steph Curry, the guy is a genius. Brilliant supporting cast this season as you mentioned with Andrew Wiggins the real stand out of the rest.
Celtic will come again with Tatum and Brown but their inexperience in the Finals eventually told.

Best news as a Magic fan is its 0-0 now and we have the 1st pick in the draft !

 

[ChrisSmith1992]

Thoughts on our blockbuster trade to get Gobert @Mr Tree? We’ve given up a lot but our starting line up looks so good now IMO

 

[Mr Tree]

Thoughts on our blockbuster trade to get Gobert @Mr Tree? We’ve given up a lot but our starting line up looks so good now IMO

Be interesting to see how it plays out - consensus seems to be that it was an overpay.

Some fun with numbers at the European championship ("Eurobasket") yesterday, with the first three games of the day incredibly all ending 94-86. And then Greece knocked out my Czech lads, final score 94...... 88! So close, but unstoppable force met immovable object, as it was Czech Rep's 4th game in a row ending with exactly 88pts!

Anyway the last 8 will be played tomorrow and Wednesday - Germany (hosting) play Greece, France vs Italy, Slovenia-Poland and Spain-Finland

 

[Mr Tree]

Great season bubbling away over in America - they'll announce the All-Stars next week, so I'll probably come back then with a "state of the league" roundup

But LeBron James is now less than 200 away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record (38,387 points), which is astonishing really. When MJ retired (again) in 2003, 3rd all-time on 32k, and then his occasional rival and (boring) scoring machine Karl Malone retried a year later at nearly 37k, it seemed like it would never be possible for anyone to catch Kareem. Kobe got to 33k despite missing a year with an achilles snap, but still... LBJ's longevity is incredible. Everyone else from his draft has long since retired, and he's still scoring 40+ (last night)!

 

[aawharris]

Great season bubbling away over in America - they'll announce the All-Stars next week, so I'll probably come back then with a "state of the league" roundup

But LeBron James is now less than 200 away from breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record (38,387 points), which is astonishing really. When MJ retired (again) in 2003, 3rd all-time on 32k, and then his occasional rival and (boring) scoring machine Karl Malone retried a year later at nearly 37k, it seemed like it would never be possible for anyone to catch Kareem. Kobe got to 33k despite missing a year with an achilles snap, but still... LBJ's longevity is incredible. Everyone else from his draft has long since retired, and he's still scoring 40+ (last night)!

And to think up until the last couple of years, LeBron has never really been considered as an out and out "scorer"

 

[Mr Tree]

And to think up until the last couple of years, LeBron has never really been considered as an out and out "scorer"

Yeah just that relentless consistency - made me think to check, he's only ever led the league in scoring once, back in 2008. Currently 6th though, at 38 years old - crazy!

 

[ChrisSmith1992]

Safe to say the Rudy Gobert trade hasn’t exactly worked for us just yet. However, KAT should be back soon so hopefully we see a change in results

 

[Mr Tree]

Here we go then...

EAST	Wins-Losses	All-Stars
Boston Celtics	37-15	Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown
Milwaukee Bucks	35-17	Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday
Philadelphia 76ers	33-17	Joel Embiid
Brooklyn Nets	31-20	Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving
Cleveland Cavaliers	32-22	Donovan Mitchell
Miami Heat	29-24	Bam Adebayo
New York Knicks	28-25	Julius Randle
Atlanta Hawks	26-26
Washington Wizards	24-26
Chicago Bulls	24-27	DeMar DeRozan
Indiana Pacers	24-29	Tyrese Haliburton
Toronto Raptors	23-30
Orlando Magic	20-32
Charlotte Hornets	15-38
Detroit Pistons	13-39

Boston are a game ahead of Denver for the overall league lead... last year's beaten finalists, looking a strong possibility for a return trip, but 2021 champs Milwaukee loom large in their mirrors. That top 4 in the East will be tough, with Brooklyn taking a step back in recent weeks after KD got injured.

Cleveland are poking their heads in, and it's great to see their talented young core taking a step up after eventually missing out on last year's playoffs due to a plague of injuries following a nice start to the season. Miami are pulling it together after a slow start, and New York are doing well after a strong 2020-21 gave way to a mediocre 2021-22 season.

The rest are frankly rubbish - even Atlanta, who show flashes but so often flatter to deceive. Indiana have done better than expected, with Haliburton playing fantastically - he's been out the last few weeks and they lost 9 of the 10 games he missed, otherwise their record would look a bit nicer! Orlando have shown flashes of a nice young core too, with last year's number 1 draft pick Paolo Banchero looking like he belonged from day 1. Hopefully they'll be moving up next year.

 

[Banana]

less than 200 away

really? ?‍