The one test is 9th seed will go into Mega Ball against Grizzlies, the other one is gone.
NBA 2019-2020
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik and Imran hold a long overdue conversation about United's awful league form with 1 win in 7. They discuss a disappointing draw at Bournemouth, a not so disappointing draw against Liverpool and a crushing defeat at Chelsea - Is time nearly over for Erik Ten Hag?
Then in a special second half of the pod, Nik welcomes Natalie ( https://twitter.com/natalie_17) to discuss the fortunes of Manchester United Women as they booked a place in the FA Cup Final after a historic first ever win vs. Chelsea.
Nuggets lost heavily so I thought my bet was looking bad but now Jazz also getting destroyed by Thunder so I was happy for a minute. Then I realized Thunder can also win that division. My life.
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Thunder are so good. Dark horse in the West.
Love watching NBA Celtics is my team, though Leonard seems to be the best in the league am I right..
Zion is turning into a fat ass, isn't he?
Zion plays like he’s hungover.
T J Warren with 50!!
Yeah, that was silly. No idea how that wasn't a foul. The other funny thing about that game was how completely terrible Jayson Tatum was. I think at one point he was 1-15, with the one being the Bucks accidentally tipping it in while he was 20 feet away.
LeBron's face 'covering' mask.... doesn't cover nose at all, barely covers his mouth. Wild.
Wizards v Nets is as pointless as it gets for NBA game.
He’s had fantastic year. Suns actually gave away 32nd pick to get rid of him before this season.T J Warren with 50!!
Kyle Lowry had the most rebounds in the match against the Lakers yesterday. His 14 rebounds were 2 less than Davis & James' rebounds combined.
Also:
Also:
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We are getting spanked by Celtics but Nurkic playing this way is promising. Pretty much all Blazers are having an off night in shooting department so of course we are getting beaten heavily.
That was incredible from dame. I wouldn’t write blazers off so soon.
And we actually lead now. 
Back from 24 down.
Back from 24 down.Trent has been really good the last couple of games. Not sure why we we keep playing Hassan when he is clearly having a bad game.
A few bad mistakes towards the end cost us the game. Overall good performance though, shame about the loss as we could have got to within 1.5 games behind Memphis (still wouldn’t see a way of getting above them though so 9th seed is the best we can do).
Wtf was that? Nvm. Go Spurs.
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Hate to see Isaac go down like that. Torn ACL? Big setback after such a promising season - even puts his 20/21 season in jeopardy now.
Any chance the Rockets can make it through the West? Or are the LA teams just considered too dominant/ big/ defensively strong for them?
I think they can. I think Rockets and Mavs and Portland all can beat the lakers because the Lakers have a problem defending the perimeter, obviously a lot of things have to happen in a good way for them but I think they all have a chance and Rockets are the best out of those 3 teams.
And interestingly the Rockets have matched up very well against the Clippers in their last 2 games. Their games against each other were very close games.
As long as they can shoot the 3 they have a chance against any team.
I think they're the team I want to make it. I find them really fun to watch, and Westbrook and Harden have been phenomenal closing out the first two games against Dallas and the Bucks.
Rockets have virtually clinched their division, similar to Raptors. Go Nuggets, win me that 1.5k. Big game tonight for that, if they beat Thunder and Jazz lose to Lakers they'll be 2.5 games over OKC and 2 games over Jazz with 6 to go, which is a huge advantage.
The thing about the Rockets is that there's always the chance they'll go really cold from the 3.
21 from 60 last night essentially tipped the game in their favour, as the Bucks went 9 from 35.
They played superb defence last night. If they can bring that kind of energy and focus in defence in the playoffs, and hit their 3's, they're going somewhere.
This is kind of night Westbrook's importance to the Rockets really stands out. Bucks really smothered Harden, restricted him to a relatively low scoring night. Westbrook just took off, Bucks didn't really have an answer for him. They collapsed the defence every time he was on the ball, and he drove at will for an easy 2 or kick it out for a wide open 3. Rockets essentially ran the same play for long stretches of the game and it kept coming up good - except when Tucker was the shooter.
21-61 is not some outrageous night though, 35% is pretty much what you have to expect to have a shot at winning games when you are playing the way they do. Volume is huge but with the way that team is constructed they will be attempting 50+ pretty much every game.
Bucks going 9-35 is obviously way too low though. In a normal game they would probably be getting 13 or 14 of these at minimum, and it would have been enough to win that game. The thing about relying so much on 3-pointers being hit is that there's going to be a heavy luck element deciding the winners.
I don't think Rockets would win over 7 games against either Lakers or Clippers but they should be a threat to anyone else in the West. I feel though that out of other playoffs teams they can match up against in the first round both Mavericks and Thunder would knock them out in the first round. They'd handle the Jazz or the Nuggets.
I didn't think it was outrageous, but it is the bare minimum they're going to have to make to even have a chance on any given night in the playoffs. Then they have to rely on the opponent being cold from 3. Another area Bucks faltered in was the TO - Bucks 23, Rockets 9.
I admire the Rockets for doubling down on this approach, but they'll live and die by the 3, and I don't have the stats right now, but they don't strike me as a particularly proficient 3 point shooting team, so it's touch and go with them every single night. Harden kept chucking them up from bad positions and kept missing - he was 3-12 in the end.
I placed a bet at the start of the season that Rockets would make the WCF, probably beating Lakers or Clippers along the way, and that was while Russ was still struggling to find his feet. I'm sticking with that prediction for now.
Yeah Westbrook has been amazing since they started their macroball.
Yes they live and die by the 3. I won't be surprised either way.
I just watched the first half against the Bucks but that was my thought too. I was really impressed with their defense last night. I just don't know if they can keep up that kind of defense as they go further.
Having seen quite many Bucks games over the years I never happen to see George Hill play well. And Marvin Williams and DJ Wilson getting minutes late in the fourth is also worrying. Poor loss against a team that doesn't rebound.
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Yeah he has, but 53 points?! Had to happen against my Sixers of course.
Bucks are a far better team than them though, the only way they are going to beat them is if they are much better from three than Bucks are.
Bucks don't care right now. They are treating those 8 games as a test run ahead of playoffs, I wouldn't read much into their results.
I agree about not reading much into results but it's concerning how unflexible their approach was against the Rockets. Harden and Westbrook were exploring the weaknesses of their defensive system time and time again and Bud refused to adjust. I understand the math works in the long-run but in the playoffs every game matters and I think rigidity might hurt them. There might be a reason why Bud is known as a great regular season coach.
Ultimately, I think they'll be too good for anyone in the East. I would probably take them in the match-up with the Lakers, as well, but the Clippers could be a big problem.
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Really need a Nuggets win for my bet here. Not having Murray, Harris or Barton sucks.
Huge win for the Nuggets to go 2.5 games above Thunder. If Jazz lose to Lakers tonight my bet is starting to look proper solid (5/5 football league outcomes have come through, Rockets and Raptors to win divisions look virtually done).
I don’t really trust Nuggets in the playoffs but they looked solid tonight. MPJ was fantastic and it was not first time, he has great offensive potential and was a complete steal where they drafted him. It also made complete sense for them to pick him as with the talent they already had there was no issue waiting another year or two before he’s ready to contribute. He’s a massive conspiracy idiot but a good player.
Raptors looked great against Heat up until final 5 minutes of third quarter where they completely collapsed, somehow recovered in fourth though. VanVleet was fantastic. They are such a good team.
Why are Grizzlies playing back to back now? Seems so unfair. They will get destroyed by Pelicans. Pels may need to win all their remaining games to have a shot at playoffs and looking at their calendar they are capable of pulling that off.
I don’t really trust Nuggets in the playoffs but they looked solid tonight. MPJ was fantastic and it was not first time, he has great offensive potential and was a complete steal where they drafted him. It also made complete sense for them to pick him as with the talent they already had there was no issue waiting another year or two before he’s ready to contribute. He’s a massive conspiracy idiot but a good player.
Raptors looked great against Heat up until final 5 minutes of third quarter where they completely collapsed, somehow recovered in fourth though. VanVleet was fantastic. They are such a good team.
Why are Grizzlies playing back to back now? Seems so unfair. They will get destroyed by Pelicans. Pels may need to win all their remaining games to have a shot at playoffs and looking at their calendar they are capable of pulling that off.
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Pelicans are now just half a game back from Blazers and Spurs despite losing their first two games. Their calendar for the remaining five games looks super favorable too (Kings twice, Spurs, Magic and Grizzlies again) and they could realistically go 4-1 or even 5-0 there. On the other hand Blazers’ calendar is dreadful: Rockets, Nuggets, Clippers, Sixers, Mavericks and Nets so even going 3-3 would be a success. Spurs are sort of in-between: Jazz twice, Rockets, Pelicans and Nuggets. They’ll probably be either 3-2 or 2-3 or whatever. Unlucky to lose to Sixers last night as that win would have put them in a very comfortable position.
Bucks losing to this Nets team, what.
Why isn’t Giannis playing?