The NBA playoffs are in full swing, and the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Houston Rockets have all found themselves stuck in a neutral state. What’s going on?
The nuggets vs celtics is a matchup between the Denver Nuggets and the Boston Celtics. The game will be played on Wednesday, April 10th at 7PM EST.
8 a.m. ET
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Windhorst, Brian
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Senior Writer for ESPN
- Since 2010, I’ve been an NBA reporter for ESPN.com.
- For seven years, I covered the Cleveland Cavaliers.
- Author of two works of fiction
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Youngmisuk, ohm
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ESPN Contributor-
- Since 2006, Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets, and NFL. Prior to that, he spent almost a decade covering the Nets, Knicks, and NBA. He graduated from Michigan State University and worked for nearly 12 years at the New York Daily News before joining ESPNNewYork.com.
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Senior Writer for ESPNCoach Doc Rivers was receiving unwelcome messages of support and congrats while the Philadelphia 76ers’ chartered 757 was sailing into New Orleans on Tuesday afternoon.
Ben Simmons had been deleted from the manifest earlier that day. Rivers had thrown Simmons out of practice, and the 76ers had banned the 25-year-old three-time All-Star for behavior detrimental to the club for the start of the season.
Rivers said, “You’re receiving these messages, ‘excellent job,’ and all this stuff.” “And it isn’t. People don’t seem to get it.”
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Rivers takes over as head coach of the 76ers in 2020 with the expectation of leading the strong squad to the NBA Finals. And in his first season, the Sixers were the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed and a strong contender to make the playoffs. The 76ers’ momentum has been disrupted as they wait for a resolution following an upset defeat to the Atlanta Hawks in the quarterfinals and the subsequent Simmons trade-demand controversy.
Even if the impression was that the management was standing up to a dissatisfied player, kicking Simmons out of practice isn’t pushing the club in the right way.
“We come into the summer believing we’re close,” Rivers said, “but don’t let the lingering affects of one defeat overwhelm what you really accomplished.” “Unfortunately, that is what has occurred.”
Rivers and the 76ers are far from alone in encountering an unanticipated setback when they seemed to be on the verge of a championship run. Indeed, the Philadelphia 76ers are only one of many NBA championship candidates, including the Brooklyn Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Los Angeles Clippers, who are all in limbo to begin the 2021-2022 season.
The Brooklyn Nets are a professional basketball team based in New York
Sean Marks, the new Brooklyn Nets general manager, made his first major move less than six months after being recruited in the midst of the 2015-16 season.
He sent Thaddeus Young to Indiana in exchange for Caris LeVert’s rights. Marks orchestrated a series of increasing risk-reward moves, including six deals involving more than 20 players, that eventually brought Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden to the Nets, and it turned out to be the start of a four-year transaction frenzy.
Under New York City’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement, the Brooklyn Nets are keeping star point guard Kyrie Irving out of action until he is completely allowed to play.
• Kyrie Irving’s Frequently Asked Questions • How Kyrie’s absence affects the Nets • Kyrie Irving’s Undefeated: Kyrie leaving the voiceless • KD is optimistic that Kyrie’s issue will work out.
The trio has combined for 13 complete games. The 14th, against the Milwaukee Bucks in the playoffs last season, lasted 43 seconds until one of them went down with an injury. It’s unclear when they’ll play their 15th game.
All of the planning and preparation for what seemed to be a certain championship squad has been put on hold — last season due to injuries to all three players, and this season owing to Irving’s extended suspension for failing to comply with New York’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement.
Durant had not planned on spending so much time this season responding to all of the speculation surrounding Irving’s absence.
“I hope none of this happened,” Durant added, “but this is the position we’re in.” “I want our whole squad to be together and in full strength, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
The Nuggets of Denver
“It wasn’t only Jamal [Murray] who got hurt,” Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon said. “We’ve lost a lot of guys.”
From 2013 through 2018, the Nuggets missed the playoffs five times in a row. The squad chose Nikola Jokic in 2014, and Jamal Murray two years later. The Nuggets improved from 30 wins in 2014-15 to 54 wins in 2018-19, culminating in a Western Conference finals trip in 2020, as both players grew into stars and the front staff recruited important role players.
Following their five-game series defeat to the eventual champion Lakers, club president Tim Connelly made an aggressive deal for Gordon in March. Gordon’s defensive skills, along with Murray’s and future MVP Jokic’s scoring prowess, were thought to boost the Nuggets.
It was successful. Gordon filled a long-standing defensive need by offering a large wing who could provide choices and resistance to potential playoff opponents as they cruised to an eight-game winning streak. With Gordon’s arrival and Jokic’s MVP-caliber performance, they were beginning to resemble a championship contender.
Murray tore his ACL against the Warriors in San Francisco less than three weeks after the deal.
Denver also suffered injuries to guards Monte Morris, Will Barton, and P.J. Dozier. After signing with the Nuggets with only a month remaining in the regular season, guard Austin Rivers played 47 minutes in a double-overtime playoff victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Despite winning a tough first-round series against the Blazers, the Nuggets were never the same after Murray went down.
Murray’s return grabs them every day, whether that slice of high-level performance from last season can be recreated or even raised — the club has since made a huge investment on small forward Michael Porter Jr., giving him a maximum contract worth up to $207 million —
“We don’t have another Jamal Murray on our squad,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone stated. “Are we going to make the playoffs?” Is it possible that we’ll be a play-in team? Is it possible that we’ll be on the outside looking in? I’m not sure when Jamal will return.
“No one is aware.”
7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 22: Nets at. 76ers At 10 p.m., the Suns will face the Lakers.
Hornets at Heat, 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 27 10 p.m., Mavericks against. Nuggets
All timings are in Eastern Standard Time.
Over the next 18 months, there would be more activity: a draft-night deal to land Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; a six-player, four-pick trade centered around Tobias Harris; and a four-team deal that helped Jimmy Butler get from Philadelphia to Miami while the Clippers received two first-round picks, adding to an already-large haul.
All of this culminated in the huge coup of signing Leonard and trading for Paul George, which is still regarded as one of the most significant deals of the last decade.
With Leonard and George in their primes and a partnership in place, the club was poised to win a championship. Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley, Marcus Morris Sr., Reggie Jackson, and JaMychal Green were among the supporting veterans on the roster who seemed ready to contribute.
However, injuries hampered their first season together in 2019-20, with Leonard and George being kept out of training camp and subsequently missing 22 games and 13 games, respectively. And it was before the Clippers even arrived in Orlando, Florida, to begin their regular season, which had been cut short by COVID-19. Holdover players from before the transaction and after the stars’ arrival showed a lack of cohesion. To make things worse, Beverley, Harrell, and Williams all departed the team for personal reasons, losing critical time and severely hurting the team as they lost a 3-1 series lead to the Nuggets in epic manner.
And, just as Leonard and George were showcasing their potential in the playoffs last season, Leonard tore his ACL against Utah in the second round. The Clippers nonetheless advanced to their first Western Conference finals, but their postseason journey ended in a six-game defeat to the Phoenix Suns without their franchise forward.
The Clippers are now stuck in their own hell. Though they think their window is still open since George and Leonard have signed long-term agreements, it’s unclear how much Leonard’s knee injury will affect the Clippers’ season.
Last season’s playoff series against the top-seeded Utah Jazz gave the squad optimism. Leonard’s mid-stage rehabilitation seems to be encouraging, according to the Clippers. They are aware, though, that they are not among the championship contenders, and they have no idea when they will return.
“When Kawhi [Leonard] and Serge [Ibaka] come back, we’ll be more happier to have those two players back as soon as possible,” forward Nic Batum said of Leonard and Ibaka, who is recovering from back surgery. “They have to take care of themselves first so that we can win games and maybe a title.”
“I mean, [Leonard] tore his ACL, so it’s not like he hurt his ankle,” Batum said. “It’s next year, and it’s next year, and it’s next year, and it’s next year, and it’s next year It’s two months if it’s two months if it’s two months if it’s two months if it’s two months I’m not sure.”
The most alley-oops in nba history is a statistic that has been around for many years. However, this season’s contenders are stuck in neutral due to the fact that they have not won any games yet.
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