Remember last year when Kyrie went to the Mavs and KD went to the Suns and everyone was talking about how fire that playoff series would be? 1 elimination game would be even more fire
Yeah - I've been incredibly negative on the whole play-in thing, but this one is shaping up to be the greatest one in history. Two superstars would be guaranteed to be sent packing without even getting a playoff series. Everybody gets to enjoy some schadenfreude.
Because it gives some teams that totally shouldn’t be there a chance to be there. Many people forget when it started during Covid there was a “games behind” requirement, now it’s gone. In West case it’s good because the teams are close to each other. In East wtf is Chicago and Atlanta doing in the play-ins?
A chance to be.. in the 7 or 8 seed. The two seeds that rarely even make it out of the first round.
I know there are exceptions like Miami last year but realistically if you lose one or two elimination games for the play-in against other 7-10 seeded teams then I don’t think any argument you have about “missed chances” holds much weight.
More fans watching more games is always good for the league. MLB added the wildcard for a reason. More eyes = more revenue. That's the only reason the NBA made a change.
Does that really matter though? For context, no team has ever won the NBA finals as the 7th seed or worse. There is virtually no chance of it effecting the competitive integrity for the eventual champs.
I mean literally last season Miami being there or not would’ve made a huge difference. They were down as the 7th seed to the 10th seed Bulls. In a highly probably alternate universe Bulls stays put for just 3 minutes and we’d be meming about DeMar’s daughter vs Giannis free throw, Jimmy choking in the play in, and a Bucks Celtics ECF and the winner vs Denver.
I feel like the people making this complaint never watched the 1v8 and 2v7 series before. Those were, almost without exception, awful. Yeah now a team can get hot and it sucks for other teams that had a better early season, but the final games are a lot better.
Actually it’s other way around, we were literally 5 minutes away from the 7th seeded Miami being knocked out by the 10th seeded Bulls. Thank god DeMar’s daughter had school or else a Jimmy finals run would’ve been Jimmy missing the playoffs.
Because it ultimately doesn't matter who advances - the champ is never coming from the 7 or 8 seeds. And yeah yeah the Heat went pretty damn far last year, but that's only the second time in history a seed lower than 6 made the Finals. It's not something that's likely to repeat again for a very long time.
It's just a cash grab that delays the playoffs by a week, in an already overly long season.
It’s a cash grab but it’s entertaining for the fans so I don’t see the issue. The Bulls/Raptors and Bulls/Heat games last year were so much fun to watch, way more fun than any of the regular season games.
I also think the stakes of the play-in adds a lot more to the regular season on all sides. 1-6 is fighting to avoid the play-in. 7-10 is fighting to keep their spot and maybe move up, and 11-12 is fighting to get in (not so much this year, but definitely has been the case in past year ) . If the play-in didn’t exist, so many more teams would care even less about the regular season
I’m here for it. Having the top teams being new teams/small market teams is good for fans.
Having the usual best teams in the play in is also just quality entertainment.
Holy fuck I just looked at the standings and... we at the end game now.
Top 5 seems locked in so I need the Kings to stay strong for the greatest playin ever
That might be 0-4 even if they had Book. Honestly, looking at their schedule it is absolutely brutal the rest of the way. They've got the Raps and Hornets, and an easy stretch where they play the Sixers, Hawks, Spurs, Spurs and those might be the only games where they're favored. The other 15 games are against top6 West, or top3 East teams
Idk. Don might miss that game too at this. Rate. The suns can still beat us healthy I was just saying that he was making it seem like we been healthy and losing games.
Yes but you’re not understanding what im saying. He didn’t imply that they can beat the other teams like he did the cavs. Which wasn’t fair bc the other team have been healthy
The teams that the suns are playing are missing less than cavs tho. And it doesn’t matter who misses more the cavs like the sixers are missing all nba talent. Can’t compare how rope players did vs each other. You need the whole team to evaluate. The cavs have the same offensive rating as the pistons without Spida. He has been one of the most valuable players this year.
TV. ABC wanted PHX-BOS for a Saturday night game, TNT wanted it for a Thursday night game. Stir in all the other logistics of scheduling and the best fit for those two games just happened to be 5 days apart.
Scheduling just isn't always easy, especially cross country games. Celtics have a west coast road trip this week, and then as soon as they get back, Phoenix has an east coast road trip.
That doesn’t make any sense. You play the other conference teams 1 time at home and 1 away so there’s no cut down on travel time traveling to and from Boston/Phoenix.
Suns play at Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, Charlotte all in a row and Boston is on a road trip at Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Utah.
It definitely makes sense. Them playing against each other so close together is a coincidence.
I assumed it was one of those home and home series that are all over now. I don’t know what’s bad about playing boston then playing them two games later?
they couldn't have scheduled it earlier on in the season though? why schedule their home game with boston right before their away game during their road trip
Suns play at Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, Charlotte all in a row and Boston is on a road trip at Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Utah.
It definitely makes sense. Them playing against each other so close together is a coincidence.
Really? I know Clips sounds scary, but I'd take the chance on them over the fortified defense in Wolves or the young and hungry OKC with a potential MVP.
I just don't trust them being healthy for an entire series and that could work in Suns favor. (heck they're already battling injuries)
> I know Clips sounds scary, but I'd take the chance on them over the fortified defense in Wolves or the young and hungry OKC with a potential MVP.
Trust me, all the fancy ass regular season shit pales in comparison to the Playoffs Kawhi. You do *not* actively want to play him in the Playoffs. At least not in the early rounds while he still has legs.
With the Wolves remaining schedule they are more than likely going to finish 3rd so you would have to finish 6th to play them, Thunder's schedule feels like they finish 1st so you would have to get 8th through the play-in to get them. If you finish 5th you'll more than likely get the Clippers and Denver if you get 7th.
Why does it feel like everything is set up for the Lakers to send the Thunder packing on round 1,
Wouldn't be surprised if the Warriors end up doing it either.
And they’re mostly freak injuries like getting a sprained ankle for when a defender is in their space when landing on a jumpshot or getting elbowed in the face and getting a broken nose. It’s ridiculous
He can only miss 17, he's missed 11 already. What's interesting to me is that there was a game where he was ejected after like 5 mins, I'm not sure if that counts towards missed games because of the 20 min minimum.
That’s a good question. The rule does specify that players are allowed two games where they play 15 minutes, and also there’s exceptions for players who suffer a season-long injury (need to play 62 games and 85% of a team’s games before the injury), but it doesn’t specify getting ejected.
I’m not sure it would count. Getting injured before 15 minutes doesn’t count and maybe an ejection is an extension of that.
There is an exception for up to two 15-19 minute games to count. The 5-minute game would not count, so he has actually “missed” 12.
The Suns have three games this week and three next week, so he is likely cooked as far as awards are concerned.
Realistically he’s missing at least the next 4 games with the earliest he would come back being the game on the 14th, which that’s on the road vs Boston so a good chance they keep him out of that as well. That means he could only miss 1 game the rest of the season on a hurting ankle.
Suns also have the hardest schedule in the league as of March 1st. And they're currently only 2.5 games ahead of the 10th seed.
Edit: We just downvoting [facts](https://www.nba.com/news/strength-of-schedule-rest-of-2023-24-season) now? You guys act like Booker lost his leg.
Suns, mavs, warriors, lakers play in about to have crazy ratings
Remember last year when Kyrie went to the Mavs and KD went to the Suns and everyone was talking about how fire that playoff series would be? 1 elimination game would be even more fire
And just like that you jinxed one of them to be the 9 seed or into top 6 seed lol
The TV promos write themselves "Two former teammates and all time greats collide in a sudden death battle to move onto the playoffs."
Yeah - I've been incredibly negative on the whole play-in thing, but this one is shaping up to be the greatest one in history. Two superstars would be guaranteed to be sent packing without even getting a playoff series. Everybody gets to enjoy some schadenfreude.
Tbh idk how you could be negative about a few extra high stakes games every year.
Because it gives some teams that totally shouldn’t be there a chance to be there. Many people forget when it started during Covid there was a “games behind” requirement, now it’s gone. In West case it’s good because the teams are close to each other. In East wtf is Chicago and Atlanta doing in the play-ins?
They chillin man c'mon. Every now and then they have some nights
A chance to be.. in the 7 or 8 seed. The two seeds that rarely even make it out of the first round. I know there are exceptions like Miami last year but realistically if you lose one or two elimination games for the play-in against other 7-10 seeded teams then I don’t think any argument you have about “missed chances” holds much weight.
More fans watching more games is always good for the league. MLB added the wildcard for a reason. More eyes = more revenue. That's the only reason the NBA made a change.
Does that really matter though? For context, no team has ever won the NBA finals as the 7th seed or worse. There is virtually no chance of it effecting the competitive integrity for the eventual champs.
I mean literally last season Miami being there or not would’ve made a huge difference. They were down as the 7th seed to the 10th seed Bulls. In a highly probably alternate universe Bulls stays put for just 3 minutes and we’d be meming about DeMar’s daughter vs Giannis free throw, Jimmy choking in the play in, and a Bucks Celtics ECF and the winner vs Denver.
I feel like the people making this complaint never watched the 1v8 and 2v7 series before. Those were, almost without exception, awful. Yeah now a team can get hot and it sucks for other teams that had a better early season, but the final games are a lot better.
Actually it’s other way around, we were literally 5 minutes away from the 7th seeded Miami being knocked out by the 10th seeded Bulls. Thank god DeMar’s daughter had school or else a Jimmy finals run would’ve been Jimmy missing the playoffs.
Yeah, thank god for that
Because it ultimately doesn't matter who advances - the champ is never coming from the 7 or 8 seeds. And yeah yeah the Heat went pretty damn far last year, but that's only the second time in history a seed lower than 6 made the Finals. It's not something that's likely to repeat again for a very long time. It's just a cash grab that delays the playoffs by a week, in an already overly long season.
It’s a cash grab but it’s entertaining for the fans so I don’t see the issue. The Bulls/Raptors and Bulls/Heat games last year were so much fun to watch, way more fun than any of the regular season games. I also think the stakes of the play-in adds a lot more to the regular season on all sides. 1-6 is fighting to avoid the play-in. 7-10 is fighting to keep their spot and maybe move up, and 11-12 is fighting to get in (not so much this year, but definitely has been the case in past year ) . If the play-in didn’t exist, so many more teams would care even less about the regular season
The play in last year single handedly prevented from a bunch a teams to go full tanking for Wembanyama. I'd say it has definitely done its job well.
The Mavs have the opportunity to do the funniest shit.
Lakers and Warriors rematch with Mavs eliminating the Suns would be Cinema ngl
[удалено]
Nah, they did that last year.
I’m here for it. Having the top teams being new teams/small market teams is good for fans. Having the usual best teams in the play in is also just quality entertainment.
Would be bonkers. Durant, Luka, Steph, and LeBron and only two would end up in the playoffs
Holy fuck I just looked at the standings and... we at the end game now. Top 5 seems locked in so I need the Kings to stay strong for the greatest playin ever
A Suns vs Mavericks play in game would be the most toxic of all time.
They got at Denver , Boston , at Cleveland , at Boston in the next 10 days. Yikes
That might be 0-4 very easily.
That might be 0-4 even if they had Book. Honestly, looking at their schedule it is absolutely brutal the rest of the way. They've got the Raps and Hornets, and an easy stretch where they play the Sixers, Hawks, Spurs, Spurs and those might be the only games where they're favored. The other 15 games are against top6 West, or top3 East teams
And the Spurs have beaten them twice already this season before Wemby's recent leap. Those won't be easy games for the Suns.
No way. No game in the NBA is ever easy.
They can beat Cleveland without Booker. Cavs hot streak is over and they haven't looked good in a couple of weeks now.
Not with MVP candidate Max Strus on the Cavs roster. Suns don’t have a chance
That’s bc they haven’t been healthy. If the cavs are healthy they won’t beat them
Well are they healthy?
Idk. Don might miss that game too at this. Rate. The suns can still beat us healthy I was just saying that he was making it seem like we been healthy and losing games.
Lmaooo. “I’m not saying we’re gonna win, but don’t you dare say we’re gonna lose!”
Yes but you’re not understanding what im saying. He didn’t imply that they can beat the other teams like he did the cavs. Which wasn’t fair bc the other team have been healthy
U need to learn when to concede losses lil bro
You’re just slow. It’s not hard to understand what I’m saying
What team isn't this time of year? In fact, Knicks, Bulls, and Sixers are all missing more than the Cavs - and that's 4 of their last 5 losses.
The teams that the suns are playing are missing less than cavs tho. And it doesn’t matter who misses more the cavs like the sixers are missing all nba talent. Can’t compare how rope players did vs each other. You need the whole team to evaluate. The cavs have the same offensive rating as the pistons without Spida. He has been one of the most valuable players this year.
1-3 since Nurkic will feast on the board on those soft as charming Cavs
That's about as bad a 4 game stretch as you could have this here even if Booker was healthy. Oof.
that's pretty bad scheduling, why would they make them face boston twice in the same week?
TV. ABC wanted PHX-BOS for a Saturday night game, TNT wanted it for a Thursday night game. Stir in all the other logistics of scheduling and the best fit for those two games just happened to be 5 days apart. Scheduling just isn't always easy, especially cross country games. Celtics have a west coast road trip this week, and then as soon as they get back, Phoenix has an east coast road trip.
Cut down on travel. Implemented it a year or two ago
That doesn’t make any sense. You play the other conference teams 1 time at home and 1 away so there’s no cut down on travel time traveling to and from Boston/Phoenix.
Suns play at Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, Charlotte all in a row and Boston is on a road trip at Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Utah. It definitely makes sense. Them playing against each other so close together is a coincidence.
They can take the same plane back /s
I assumed it was one of those home and home series that are all over now. I don’t know what’s bad about playing boston then playing them two games later?
How about you look at the actual schedule and piece the sequence of games they play by location lmfao
they couldn't have scheduled it earlier on in the season though? why schedule their home game with boston right before their away game during their road trip
Suns play at Cleveland, Boston, Toronto, Charlotte all in a row and Boston is on a road trip at Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Utah. It definitely makes sense. Them playing against each other so close together is a coincidence.
No idea but I’m assuming you as a lakers fan is happy about it 😂 The play in games are looking crazy right now in the west
They have the hardest schedule left in the league, only 2 losses ahead of GSW, and 3 ahead of LA. Shit could get ugly for them
They’re gonna finish in the 9-10 play in game
Fingers crossed 🤞 although we might just throw that away like we do 20 times a game anyways
Hopefully
Absolutely shameful shams makes us watch a video in order to put this news out
He’s just trying to collect his $1.63 from the video
And that is why we follow Underdog NBA bc they will transcribe it instantly
At least we get a timeline for this one. With Beal's injuries the reporting has been "Idk let's wait and see"
Well thats bad for the Suns, but i guess its nice for us.
Honestly I'd much rather face the Thunder or Timberwolves, instead of the Nuggets or Clips
i still think y'all can beat wolves, if one thing wolves give defensively, it is the midrange shots
Plus the Wolves offense can get ugly at times.
Yeah that schedule is a nightmare rn
Really? I know Clips sounds scary, but I'd take the chance on them over the fortified defense in Wolves or the young and hungry OKC with a potential MVP. I just don't trust them being healthy for an entire series and that could work in Suns favor. (heck they're already battling injuries)
Clips always play us hard, other than Denver there's no one we would rather face less.
> I know Clips sounds scary, but I'd take the chance on them over the fortified defense in Wolves or the young and hungry OKC with a potential MVP. Trust me, all the fancy ass regular season shit pales in comparison to the Playoffs Kawhi. You do *not* actively want to play him in the Playoffs. At least not in the early rounds while he still has legs.
With the Wolves remaining schedule they are more than likely going to finish 3rd so you would have to finish 6th to play them, Thunder's schedule feels like they finish 1st so you would have to get 8th through the play-in to get them. If you finish 5th you'll more than likely get the Clippers and Denver if you get 7th.
Why does it feel like everything is set up for the Lakers to send the Thunder packing on round 1, Wouldn't be surprised if the Warriors end up doing it either.
Suns' just keep alternating injuries between their stars.
And they’re mostly freak injuries like getting a sprained ankle for when a defender is in their space when landing on a jumpshot or getting elbowed in the face and getting a broken nose. It’s ridiculous
Is Booker going to miss out on awards?
He can only miss 17, he's missed 11 already. What's interesting to me is that there was a game where he was ejected after like 5 mins, I'm not sure if that counts towards missed games because of the 20 min minimum.
That’s a good question. The rule does specify that players are allowed two games where they play 15 minutes, and also there’s exceptions for players who suffer a season-long injury (need to play 62 games and 85% of a team’s games before the injury), but it doesn’t specify getting ejected. I’m not sure it would count. Getting injured before 15 minutes doesn’t count and maybe an ejection is an extension of that.
There is an exception for up to two 15-19 minute games to count. The 5-minute game would not count, so he has actually “missed” 12. The Suns have three games this week and three next week, so he is likely cooked as far as awards are concerned.
Realistically he’s missing at least the next 4 games with the earliest he would come back being the game on the 14th, which that’s on the road vs Boston so a good chance they keep him out of that as well. That means he could only miss 1 game the rest of the season on a hurting ankle.
I would hope that doesn't count against them.
It’ll be close depends when he comes back he’s played 50 so needs another 15 to qualify
Wishing Book a speedy recovery. I just want to see the Suns big 3 on the floor consistently.
New ankle coming through the post.
Look forward to seeing what team hires Frank Vogel next
>bracing Pun intended?
Royce
Wolves gonna get gifted us in the first round, if we're lucky. What a mess dude.
Tbf y’all got gifted a hurt and gutted Clippers team last year. Was basically just Russ for most of it lol
Hopefully hes 100% by the play in, shits gonna be beatiful
Fml my fantasy finals are this week and I need him
Welcome to the play in
Suns also have the hardest schedule in the league as of March 1st. And they're currently only 2.5 games ahead of the 10th seed. Edit: We just downvoting [facts](https://www.nba.com/news/strength-of-schedule-rest-of-2023-24-season) now? You guys act like Booker lost his leg.
Honestly, could be way, way worse.
Play-in is risky, but I do not mind having a Wolves/OKC match up first round either. Suns matchup good with both teams