New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[Steve Williams]

Sixers start the game strong with Embiid et al as well as their playoff experience and it took half way through the second period before the Knicks caught and overtook the Sixers and there has been a 26 point turn around

Endof first half Knicks comfortable in the lead and playing tough

58-46 Knicks end of half

It was good to see Spike Lee at courtside cheering on his team

 

[Steve Williams]

Embiid is truly one heck of a player especially as he has thinned down after his injury .Also a shame that he missed so many games as he would certainly be a top contender with Jokic for MVP and they would not have placed in the play in round but higher

As for the Knicks they are very impressive as a team but lacking Randle who would be a better defender of Embiid.I just watched Kyle Lowry walk by Embiid and I swear his head was just above Embiid's waist

Brunson is the heart of the Knicks now but to me another exLaker (Josh Hart) is making his presence felt in the 4th period.as he has made some difficult outside 3 point shots. It's been 20 years since the Knicks have been in the playoffs and this game is as tight as it gets with several lead changes

An exciting final 2 minutes with Josh Hart's multiple 3's winning the game

Final Knicks 111-104

This series is so evenly matched that anything is possible

 

[Steve Williams]

Jokic is absolutely unstoppable. His shots are such high rainbows. He scores 11 in the 1st period and LeBron 12 as believe it or not Lakers lead 33-28

 

[Steve Williams]

Denver s starting 5 is probably the best in the league.
Lakers as always had a 12 point lead only to squander it however with under a second in the half LeBron sinks 3

At the half Lakers 60 57

AD has ended up on his ass literally each time he drives the basket

Best analogy …Lakers to Denver are like a fly on the a$$hole of an elephant

LeBron with 19 and AD with 18 yet Lakers only up by 3. Rest of the team has done nothing

Reaves continues to be in a slump as is Russell

unless the rest of the team wakes up Denver is like a steam roller coming at them. That 12 point lead was gone in under 2 minutes.
Lakers haven’t beaten Denver since 2022 and in spite of their lead you get the feeling Denver is just toying with them

 

[Steve Williams]

Denver is just too good. Watching the Lakers implode again is painful. This time against another explainer (KCP) who nails a bunch of 3’s and Lakers suddenly find themselves down the hole and sinking fast in the 3rd

84-75 late in the 3rd

Russell and Reaves are non contributors. Only James and AD. are scoring

 

[Steve Williams]

Lakers stand no chance. End of 3rd

Denver 89-78

I feel Lakers will be swept again

 

[Steve Williams]

Lakers look like a deer in the headlights. Huh can’t win games when 3 of the 5 starters miss everything

Denver is do good, so poised and can beat you in so many ways. Jokic is beyond great.
I can’t see Lakers winning a game even though it’s 7 game series. It’ll be over in 4

Final 114-103 Denver

Russell Reaves and Hachimura were non factors You can’t win games without these 3

 

[jadis]

Lakers look like a deer in the headlights. Huh can’t win games when 3 of the 5 starters miss everything

Denver is do good, so poised and can beat you in so many ways. Jokic is beyond great.
I can’t see Lakers winning a game even though it’s 7 game series. It’ll be over in 4

Final 114-103 Denver

Russell Reaves and Hachimura were non factors You can’t win games without these 3

Denver's first 5 are superior in talent in this matchup. Their defense is honed in on the other 3 Lakers not named LeBron or Davis. The Laker guards have to find ways as Denver is not going to let them score at will. Pope is a tall and heavy defender. On the other hand, hard for the Lakers 3 guards to contain Murray who is an exceptional talent who creates his own shot and does excellent pick and roll with the big front line of Denver. Any team will find difficulty in beating Denver 4 times. That's how good they are.

 

[Steve Williams]

Denver's first 5 are superior in talent in this matchup. Their defense is honed in on the other 3 Lakers not named LeBron or Davis. The Laker guards have to find ways as Denver is not going to let them score at will. Pope is a tall and heavy defender. On the other hand, hard for the Lakers 3 guards to contain Murray who is an exceptional talent who creates his own shot and does excellent pick and roll with the big front line of Denver. Any team will find difficulty in beating Denver 4 times. That's how good they are.

Watching Denver yesterday, They are as good or better than they were last year IMO. They were down by 12 and were toying with he Lakers. No one can guard Jokic. I would liked to have a penny for every tie AD ended up on his ass yesterday. He can sure block shots but no one can block Jokic high rainbow shots. He has an uncanny ability to sink shots from anywhere including off balance and falling himself. Porter and Murray are uncanny in their shooting and score with ease. Gordon is a big guy who can guard anyone and another Laker castoff KCP must be loving dropping threes from everywhere.

Lakers IMO were dumb to lock down the 7 spot as that IMO sealed their doom. I cannot see them serving this series beyond 4 and they wil be swept again this year.

I also think this will be a Wolves Nuggs WC finals although we cannot discount the fact that the Thunder tied the Nuggs for first but tiook the one slot as they had a better record against the Nuggets, The Thunder was my Cinderella team along with the Pels. but having watched yesterday I would be shocked if it weren't Denver emerging from the WC,

I need to watch a few games today but as I see it Bostons biggest threat in the EC is the Knicks but having said that it remains Boston's to lose and thus a Celtics Nuggs Final

Denver is just too good and so far unless the Celtics show me differently I have to wonder how the nuggets could not repeat again this year.

So come on Celtics, the gauntlet has been thrown and man did the Lakers get shown the door yesterday

 

[Steve Williams]

Nuggets-Lakers: 5 takeaways from Denver's dominant Game 1 comeback​

A better L.A. script will be needed to flip what continues to be a one-sided matchup against the Nuggets.

Nuggets-Lakers: 5 takeaways from Denver's dominant Game 1 comeback

A better L.A. script will be needed to flip what continues to be a one-sided matchup for the Lakers against the Nuggets.

www.nba.com

 

[Steve Williams]

I was also shocked yesterday to see De Andre Jordan, who seemed 25 pounds heavier and more muscular than ever before take the ball to the basket and make a thunderous slam dunk that I thought he would have pulled a "Shaq" and brought down the glass.

Bottom line is this is only day 1 of the playoffs but watching Denver shut the door on the Lakers other 3 was so impressive. Russell was missing everything and my favorite Reaves has been off his game for the past 2 weeks. Yesterday he made a few but otherwise was irrelevant, Watching Rui Hachimura guard Jokic was a laugh as Jokic kept swatting him away like he was a pesky fly in the air

 

[Steve Williams]

The other WC series that I will find fun to watch is the Thunder vs Pels. I really hope Zion is back and if so it should be a very fast game with all of these young talented players

A head on series with my 2 Cinderella teams

 

[Steve Williams]

Watching the Celtics game has reassured me that they remain focused and are for real. They are beating up on the Heat ( I was worried) and at the half

Celtics 60-45

 

[Steve Williams]

Easy win for the Celtics today Phil. I worried they might be rusty with the time off but they were poised and ready and played like they have all season. They're sharp and everyone was on the game. The unicorn looks like he is ready and was a big factor

Celtics in 5

 

[jadis]

Clippers lead by 26 over the mavericks without Kawhi. The 0.5 is upgraded into 1.0, 10 points from Westbrook.

 

[Steve Williams]

Easy home win for the Clippers 109-97

It was fun to watch both Ballmer and Cuban in the crowd, one apoplectic with joy and the other with a big frown. I bet Cuban wishes he had Jalen Brunson. Cuban is no longer the majority owner of the Mavs but he's always there for the team which I like

 

[Steve Williams]

Big game next Phil, the one I've been waiting for, Pacers vs Bucks. Bucks better hope they preserve home court advantage

 

[Steve Williams]

I hate to say it but the Bucks are running the Pacers out of the arena as they lead 44-23 midway through the 2nd period. Lillard has been a big factor with the accuracy of his shots. Pacers are missing everything they throw up. I must admit, I expected more from the Pacers

 

[Steve Williams]

Well as the late Chick Hearn used to saythis game is in the refrigerator, the butter is cooling and the jello is jiggling"...thanks to Dame who I actually feel good about as he is making everything and has 35 points at the half. Pacers are completely outplayed and outclassed. It's almost embarrassing to watch. The Bucks are dropping threes from everywhere

At the half Bucks way out in front 69-42

Ive turned it off....too painful to watch.In fact this is more of a blow out than the Nuggets -Lakers game yesterday

So far all games played have been won by the home game. Looking forward to the Pels vs Thunder coming up and hope Zion is back

 

[Steve Williams]

The best game of the day is going on now, and without Zion.....at the half

Tied at 43

I hate when injuries can affect game outcome