Probably a long shot but does anyone have a pair of tickets for Friday night they need to get rid of?

Head Ninja In Charge said:

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I truly believe Kevin Durant is the best offensive talent in NBA history. He is system-less. Literally drop him into any team, on any court, against any comp - and he's going to give you nothing but buckets.

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It is pretty insane how natural he looks. He's like the Mandalorian - drop him into any situation with any team and he's immediately kicking ass.

Zackly. Samurai for hire.

Ball is a punk ass *****

Rough 3rd. Let's see if we can close it.

Holiday kept us up then the rest of the team woke up to close.

Took it on the road and beat one of the best in the East.

I was optimistic we'd be good, but I am pleasantly surprised how well Durant's and Sengun's games have meshed.

Pretty much dominated them end to end, too.

10-3 start = 63-19 pace

9-1 in their last 10.

West is stacked to start the year

OKC 15-1
DEN 11-3
HOU 10-3
LAL 11-4
SAS 10-4
MIN 10-5

FrioAg 00 said:

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Lots of good teams, but the competition starts and ends with who can challenge OKC

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Sadly everything else is a race for second place until something in OKC messes up. Having random 2nd rounders play out every year doesn't help

All it takes is a well timed giant Steve Adams foot coming down on SGA's ankle in the lane and it's an open field!

FrioAg 00 said:

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Lots of good teams, but the competition starts and ends with who can challenge OKC

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I think there's an interesting parallel to 2016 playing out right now.

OKC seems comparable to the Dubs that year. A cohesive juggernaut that seems primed to challenge regular season records, but also not invincible in a seven game series like maybe the 96 Bulls were.

Denver seems comparable to the Spurs that year. The 16 Spurs may have been the best two seed of all time. The Nuggets this year have a similar look.

Houston seems comparable to OKC that year. Perhaps they won't be as good as OKC or DEN from a W-L standpoint, but in a seven game series against either, I think the Rockets would have a fighting chance. Just like the Thunder did in 2016, beating the Spurs in the semis and almost beating the Dubs in the WCF. Both squads have niche length/athleticism that can cause problems. Also kind of ironic that both teams have/had KD and Adams ha.

Ultimately I think whoever has homecourt between OKC, DEN, and HOU probably wins the west and it seems like that will be OKC. But I also think whoever wins the DEN-HOU semi will give OKC all they can handle in the WCF.

At the same time, I do think it will be tough for HOU to matchup with OKC without adding another ball-handler/initiator. I love watching Alpi work rn. Love Ime's offensive innovation. Reed/Amen/Okogie seem like they can do alright from ball handler/initiator perspective against most teams. But that will be difficult to pull off against Dort, Caruso, Jdub, Cason.