Game 18: Toronto Raptors @ Orlando Magic - Tuesday, November 20th 7pm ET, SN1

[MixxAOR]

Memphis 5 times better than Golden State then confirmed

No conclusions yet, just posting current trends

[DanH]

Nobody's panicking.. but we really need to do better against good teams.

Orlando is a good test. They are above .500 and on that list. Hope we get to 4-4 by the end of tomorrow.

See, this is exactly the point. You think Orlando will be on the list at the end of the year? I don't. So who cares right now? Are we really treating Orlando as some sort of test that will indicate that our team is elite? If we lose to them it is a very bad loss, same as the Detroit one was, and both teams being over .500 right now doesn't change that. And if we beat Orlando, their record will go to 9-9 and they'll be removed from the list of teams with winning records, so our record won't change. While if we lose they stay on the list and our record gets one loss worse.

I don't mind this sort of approach to analysis. I extremely mind it with these samples.

Yes, we need to be better against top teams. No, the record against .500+ teams 15 games into the season is not remotely indicative of whether we are performing better against top teams this year versus last.

[golden]

No conclusions yet, just posting current trends

It's not a 'trend' yet, it's just data. But if it continues, the only stat we'll need to check are 'posts per day' in the Nick Nurse thread.

[Bendit]

Casey's role for him was to iso and be the star. It wasn't until he went through the Kings (which he called hell) that he learned to be humble enough to accept a supporting role, even before he got hurt. Now Pop is making it work for him and DeMar (and DeMar also learned how to be less selfish on the court).

Which is where Melo is right now .... but will he do it? Toss up.

[thead]

Yup.. that's the stat I'm most worried about. 3-4 sucks. Need to be much better.

I'm not going to get too excited by this until somewhere around the all-star break. If we are still around 500 against good teams I think that would be a better indicator. Super small sample size here.

[thead]

I'm not particularly worried about any one loss at the moment given the early season injuries that appear to be adding up

[3inthekeon]

Which is where Melo is right now .... but will he do it? Toss up.

Rudy can and does play good D, Melo can't and doesn't..

[LJ2]

Guys, we have a superstar on the roster now. We just need to get to the playoffs and Kawhi will take over a la LeBron.

[GOLDBLUM]

I'm not going to get too excited by this until somewhere around the all-star break. If we are still around 500 against good teams I think that would be a better indicator. Super small sample size here.

I'm not particularly worried about any one loss at the moment given the early season injuries that appear to be adding up

Your avatar makes it hard to believe you don’t get worked up about things.

[consmap]

Your avatar makes it hard to believe you don’t get worked up about things.

Only if it's stuff in the DeRozan thread

[GOLDBLUM]

Only if it's stuff in the DeRozan thread

Good thing that’s in no man’s land .... oops, I mean ...
The well-trafficked, “Let’s NBA”

[The Great One]

Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: The Washington Wizards had a volatile practice within recent days, with verbal altercations among players and an exasperated Bradley Beal saying toward team officials: "I've been dealing with this for seven years."

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2018

[G__Deane]

"On Tuesday the Raptors are in Orlando against the 9-8 Magic, who are playing well — thanks in small part to a good stretch of ball from Terrence Ross — but still present a very winnable matchup. The following night they are in Atlanta to face Trae Young, Vince Carter, and the 3-13 Hawks. On Friday the Raptors return home to face the dumpster fire otherwise known as the 5-11 Washington Wizards."

Should be 2 W and could be three but Orlando has been playing bettter than their record so you never know. Kawhi should be good to go for games 1 & 3 but let's hope Lowry is healthy but still gets some rest during these garbage time potential games.

[inthepaint]

Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: The Washington Wizards had a volatile practice within recent days, with verbal altercations among players and an exasperated Bradley Beal saying toward team officials: "I've been dealing with this for seven years."

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 19, 2018

Hahahaha!

[Demographic Shift]

Wizards are shopping Beal and Wall

Good luck with shopping Wall's new contract, it's going to be top 2-3 in the league.

having beal on this team could be fun. But they are going to ask for a lot

If i'm Magic Johnson, i would trade any of my young players for Beal.

Ingram, Kuzma, Ball, it doesn't matter, they all suck. They're all overrated. The funny thing about the Lakers is, i think their best young player is Hart but no one ever talks about him lol.

We don't have the asset to trade for Beal or Wall.

Both Beal and Porter make 27$M
This year Wall makes $20M....and next year he is making north of 40$M for the next 4.

Hard...very hard...incredibly fuckin hard to make salary work for any of these guys as the raps salary grid is now constructed. Especially Wall who puts the Raps in tax Hell for a while for a guy who has a perceived attitude problem.

Porter and Beal ..sure...but the whiz are going to want draft picks and sure thing younger guys and expirings to make the salary work. Not seeing it.