Around the League: Week 23 3/19-3/25

[carey]

Nationally televised games this week

Monday: Milwaukee @ Cleveland 7:00 PM EST ESPN, Golden State @ San Antonio 9:30 PM EST ESPN
Tuesday: Oklahoma @ Boston 8:00 PM EST TNT, Houston @ Portland 10:30 PM EST TNT
Wednesday: Toronto @ Cleveland 7:00 PM EST ESPN, Washington @ San Antonio 9:30 PM EST ESPN
Thursday: Philadelphia @ Orlando 7:00 PM EST NBATv, Atlanta @ Sacramento 10:00 PM EST NBATv
Friday: Denver @ Washington 7:00 PM EST NBATv, Boston @ Portland 10:00 PM EST NBATv
Saturday: New Orleans @ Houston 8:00 PM EST NBATv
Sunday: New York @ Washington 6:00 PM EST NBATv, Utah @ Golden State 8:30 PM EST NBATv

NBA News

D.A. columns for the week.

• Young players bearing big burden as playoff chase picks up steam: http://www.nba.com/article/2018/03/19/m ... d-aldridge
• Future of New Orleans Pelicans stable, even as team mourns owner Tom Benson's death: http://www.nba.com/article/2018/03/19/m ... d-aldridge
• DA's Top 15 Rankings: Utah Jazz take big jump forward: http://www.nba.com/article/2018/03/19/m ... d-aldridge
• Morning Tip Mailbag: Your questions on roster depth, Rudy Gobert and more: http://www.nba.com/article/2018/03/19/m ... d-aldridge

Other stories.

• NBA announces 5-pronged initiative to improve player-referee relationships: https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/1/26/ ... ps-program
• 3 Raptors ejected in closing seconds vs. Thunder, raising more questions about officiating: https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2018/3/18/ ... avis-video
• The Grizzlies won! https://www.denverstiffs.com/2018/3/17/ ... oss-94-101

[O_Gardino]

[youtube][/youtube]

He breaks down the NOP HOU game talking about calls and no-calls.

[In2ition]

[youtube][/youtube]

He breaks down the NOP HOU game talking about calls and no-calls.

Idk, he seemed to get every call when he played the Suns.

[Ring_Wanted]

Anthony Davis is not the MVP because the MVP is James Harden.

[bajanguy008]

D'antoni raving about going 10 deep on more when using his bench is just the stuff you never thought you would read
Good for him, interested to see how the Playoffs go

https://m.chron.com/sports/rockets/arti ... o-15265486

[ShelC]

They've put a great team together. He's got enough guys to space the floor and still play D and rebound. Yea he has Paul and Harden, Ariza, Anderson, Gordon but also Capela, Tucker, Nene, Mbah a Moute, Gerald Green and now Joe Johnson. He doesn't need a backup PG because that's Harden so even when Paul sits, the offense doesn't drop off like it would when Nash sat.

[Mori Chu]

You guys seeing this Bulls/Nuggets game? Chicago is currently down 113 to 70. In Chicago. Oof. What's their all-time worst home loss?

[LazarusLong]

You guys seeing this Bulls/Nuggets game? Chicago is currently down 113 to 70. In Chicago. Oof. What's their all-time worst home loss?

115-68 to the Magic in April 2, 1999

[O_Gardino]

It seems like Denver is involved in a blow out every week, but they could be on either side of it any given night.

[O_Gardino]

The Spurs are in their annual playoff warmups. They've won 5 in a row, 4 against playoff teams who have better rosters on paper. Dejounte Murray continues to be very solid in his role. Beale had a typical night against the Spurs - 1 FTA.

NOP won last night, and have now won 3 of the games in their brutal stretch of 5 games in 6 nights. They held the Pacers to .366 shooting as a team.

Edit: I hit submit too soon!

Clippers beat MIL, and I would love to see the Clippers sneak into the playoffs without Paul and Griffin. Probably won't happen, but they keep making it interesting. Jordan and Harris combined for 29 rebounds. The Bucks team had 33.

Miami crushed New York. Not a surprise, but a sad night for our pick.

Cleveland won a close one against Toronto, and they have won 4 of their last 5. Lebron is stupidly good. Can these wilty Cavs win 2 playoff series?

[The Bobster]

Suns hanging in there at the #1, 15 & 16 spots with 10 games remaining.....

[Indy]

Suns hanging in there at the #1, 15 & 16 spots with 10 games remaining.....

To be fair, Suns hanging in there for one of 1-4, plus 15 and 16. Even if we end up with the worst record, we could still pick 4th.

[carey]

Spurs hold players-only meeting imploring Kawhi Leonard to return: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2287 ... ayoff-push

[carey]

It's interesting this comment from Manu came after the meeting:

In the aftermath of the weekend team meeting, Spurs guard Manu Ginobili told reporters that the team needed to proceed as though Leonard would not be returning to play with them.

"He is not coming back," Ginobili said. "For me, he's not coming back because it's not helping [to think Leonard is returning]. We fell for it a week ago again. I guess you guys made us fall for it. But we have to think that he's not coming back, that we are who we are, and that we got to fight without him. That shouldn't be changing, at least until he is ready for the jump ball."

[O_Gardino]

The weird thing is that even the Spurs players apparently don't know the status of their teammate. If he's hurt, he's hurt. Apparently, he doesn't look hurt and the Spurs don't know why he's not playing.

[specialsauce]

Welcome to Phoenix Kawhi!!!

[Superbone]

Welcome to Phoenix Kawhi!!!

We will be happy to pay him the max to play next to Booker.

[Split T]

It's probably unrealistic and won't happen, but what is the trade for Kawhi? Jackson and our 2018 1st? Is that enough? Would you do it? Even with injury concerns?

Booker/Kawhi is a great start, how do we fill out the rest of the roster?

[Cap]

It's probably unrealistic and won't happen, but what is the trade for Kawhi? Jackson and our 2018 1st? Is that enough? Would you do it? Even with injury concerns?

Booker/Kawhi is a great start, how do we fill out the rest of the roster?

If we trade for him, we're gonna be giving up a lot of assets and a $200M+ contract for a player who’s always injured and never playing.

If he doesn’t end up on the Suns, he'll be fine.

Just assume the curse is still in effect. Things still tend to work out that way.

[Indy]

It's probably unrealistic and won't happen, but what is the trade for Kawhi? Jackson and our 2018 1st? Is that enough? Would you do it? Even with injury concerns?

Booker/Kawhi is a great start, how do we fill out the rest of the roster?

If we trade for him, we're gonna be giving up a lot of assets and a $200M+ contract for a player who’s always injured and never playing.

If he doesn’t end up on the Suns, he'll be fine.

Just assume the curse is still in effect. Things still tend to work out that way.

Never plays? In his 7 years, the worst year before now is playing 58 games. That is about what Booker is going to play this year. Do you consider Booker a guy that never plays? If you average 65 games a year from Leonard, you are getting a great deal.