Game #1: New Orleans Pelicans 122 - Toronto Raptors 130

[DanH]

There's no way Nurse runs an 8 man rotation all season right? Gasol, Lowry and Ibaka might die

I suspect it ends up at 9. Ideally it would be Boucher or RHJ taking about 12 MPG at the 4 except against huge teams where Ibaka at the 4 makes sense. That leaves:

Lowry 36 FVV 12
FVV 20 TD 20 Norm 8
OG 28 Norm 20
Siakam 36 Boucher 0-12 Serge 0-12
Gasol 28 Serge 20

Sadly, more likely we get a lot more Serge at the 4, and McCaw shoehorned in to the guard spots to make the team worse.

[KeonClark]

One more thought on the Clippers Lakers game:

Something about it didn't feel natural, or genuine. I was watching Kawhi in blue, cheered on by PG13 in a prom tuxedo, Lebron and Anthony Davis and Danny Green in yellow, and it was a Clippers home game but everybody was cheering for Lakers. Then I had this thought of like "why do these fans care to cheer for their LA hired guns in yellow to beat their LA hired guns in blue, and all these all stars are just gonna go for drinks after. Can they feel really passionate about Lebron and the Brow? This is not Kobe and Shaq, these guys are not Lakers, they're just using them a vessel to team up, win a ring, and live in LA"

And for maybe the first time, I felt that Jerry Seinfeld joke, that we're all just passionately cheering for laundry. It was a tad nihilistic.

[tDotted]

There's no way Nurse runs an 8 man rotation all season right? Gasol, Lowry and Ibaka might die

[KeonClark]

Clippers are extremely good. Was cheering for Lakers, but even with an insane outburst by Danny Green, they got outclassed. And thats with no Paul George.

You combine Beverleys defense and Lou Wills offense and it's like having another world class player, just spread out over 2 positions.

[Jclaw]

Boston Philly tonight. One of those games you wish both could lose. Isn’t it nuts that Philly’s last moment on the court was Kawhi’s bouncer?

[The Claw Reborn]

Clippers team are constructed for the rigors of the playoffs.

One Alpha Dog Iso player with great court awareness, range, defensive prowess, most importantly finals MVP and a Champion.

He is paired with an A+ complementary MVP candidate lockdown defender that can knock down threes.

Bench mob and that Patrick Beverly guy.

Champion coach.

The only weakness if there is one is a Gasol/ Draymond/ Horry/ Garnett type big guy who sees the floor at the highest vantage point who can direct traffic for both dynamic forwards. But that is just asking too much.

Its the Clippers to lose that Larry O’ Brien trophy when it is all said and done. A major injury to either big dogs could derail it.

[LJ2]

Really like what I see from this Terrence Davis. Hes got a little Marcus smart in him..a fearless dog

Another undrafted college kid. Masai dont need no stinking draft picks!

TD is my pick to make the regular rotation. Looks like he has already earned more trust than the other new players.

[KeonClark]

Really like what I see from this Terrence Davis. Hes got a little Marcus smart in him..a fearless dog

Another undrafted college kid. Masai dont need no stinking draft picks!

[MixxAOR]

No more load management. Heavy minutes for better players

[ebrian]

What is up with Nurse and the bench tho? he can't keep playing 7-8 guys a game. The starters played heavy mins last night. Lowry 45, Fred 44, Siakam 38(and he didn't even play in OT), OG 36.

Is he sending a message?

I think they just felt this was a game they had to win so they rolled out the playoff team + Davis.

I really liked what I saw last night. I'm also glad the NBA season has finally started.. my fantasy football team is sad and depressing. I needed something to cheer for again!

[planetmars]

If you arent running a play why call a timeout and let the defense setup?

He did run a play.. It was a Norm ISO. He wanted Norm to have a shot at winning the game. Could have been done to help build up his confidence or it was a reward for having a good camp. Or it could have been a message to the young guys on the bench that hard work can pay off for you. Or he may be playing the long game to see if Norm has the chops to pull off a game winner on his own.

But he needed the timeout to let the team and Norm know that the ball was his.

[The Great One]

What is up with Nurse and the bench tho? he can't keep playing 7-8 guys a game. The starters played heavy mins last night. Lowry 45, Fred 44, Siakam 38(and he didn't even play in OT), OG 36.

Is he sending a message?

[DogeLover1234]

Also giving the ball to Norm was a no lose decision. It was a tie game. So if he misses we go to O/T where the home team usually wins. If we were down 1 or 2 than I doubt Norm has the ball in that situation.

If you arent running a play why call a timeout and let the defense setup?

[golden]

Yep. You can imagine how much confidence that gives Norm that Nurse would trust him there. And that's motivation for a bunch of other guys on the bench who likely think they are better than Powell.... hey, look where you can end up.

Nurse gives his players a ton of rope to "try out stuff" in regular season games. That builds a lot of trust & loyalty with the players.

[slaw]

Also giving the ball to Norm was a no lose decision. It was a tie game. So if he misses we go to O/T where the home team usually wins. If we were down 1 or 2 than I doubt Norm has the ball in that situation.

Yes, you are right. Nurse is very astute with these type of decisions.....