Around the NBA:2025-6

[Q-is-here]

Nikola Jokic to start November:
31.3 PPG
11.3 RPG
13.3 APG
70/47/87%
4-0 W/L
No Murray or Gordon tonight against Indy, coach left him in during a blow out win..Likely because they lose leads quickly when he sits, they didn’t have 2nd and 3rd best player to keep in instead to make it a slow bleed and the biggest reason was he sat the 4th the night before with 28 minutes logged.
Jokic may not let on but I really believe comments from the media (Shaq,Perk) erks him a bit. He’s playing with an edge this year, defense has been great, he’s making a lot of flashy entertaining passes. He’s not barking at the refs near as much. As if to say, screw your whistle,screw the voter fatigue. I’m gonna keep having best season yet numbers and make it look easy. And he is.

He's without question one of the greatest to ever play.

[FNG]

Wow! Some unexpected help from Eastern Conference teams. The Hawks, without half their team, takes down the Lakers. And the Heat, minus BAM and Herro, beat the Blazers.

Maybe the Pacers can take down the Nuggets -- they are hanging in there in the 3rd...

It feels like the West is a little less competitive than normal with at least five teams mired in mediocrity for now.

Maybe 6 if you include Memphis. I think the Clippers and Mavs will be back in the hunt again though if they get healthy.

Unlike last year, the Wolves are following the script...beating bad teams and losing to good teams. And it seems like it's all about Rudy. He's been dominant against bad teams (usually because they don't have a good center, like Indy and Utah) and ineffective against good teams. I'm not sure how Sacramento fits into this formula, but I think Rudy will have a big night...Sabonis is a skilled offensive player, but not a dominant defensive center.

[Q-is-here]

Welp, Milwaukee gave us no help losing at home to Houston. It looks like the trade for Durant is paying dividends so far. And guess who else is starting to look really good off the bench? Reed Sheppard, Dilly's old running mate from Kentucky.

Houston, Denver, OKC....They are who we thought they were: Really good!

[FNG]

Welp, Milwaukee gave us no help losing at home to Houston. It looks like the trade for Durant is paying dividends so far. And guess who else is starting to look really good off the bench? Reed Sheppard, Dilly's old running mate from Kentucky.

Houston, Denver, OKC....They are who we thought they were: Really good!

Udoka goes offense/defense with Sheppard and Okogie late in games, and it's quite effective. The 3 teams you mentioned plus the Lakers and Spurs look really good. Memphis also is coming around (up 18 on the Thunder in the first half!) now that Ja isn't pouting as much. It seems like home court advantage in the first round is much more challenging this year than last. We're going to be likely favored in 7 of the next 8 games before going to OkC (who we actually were quite successful against last year until the playoffs), so we need to put up some wins before the schedule toughens up.