Taking The Bet - the NBA lands in Las Vegas

[Jogo]

Jokers battle out tight one vs Pistons at The Palace, win 109 - 104

January 17, 2016
By: Ray Porter
NBA.com Reporter

GAME RECAP

Neither team was planning on giving this one up easily. It was a battle of the bigs down low between The Polish Hammer and Andre The Giant. Both put up a double double and went head to head. Detroit held a slight lead by halftime, but saw it erased in the 4th quarter. KCP had a stellar performance and exploded late in the 4th. He brought Detroit back in the game. This one was going down to the final buzzer.

Some late game fouling brought the Jokers in the bonus. John Wall kept his cool and nailed most of his FT's, ultimately giving Vegas a 2 point cushion. Gortat secured the W by drawing the foul from Drummond. Drummond didn't have any fouls left and had to leave the court with under 20 secs remaining. Gortat somehow managed to get the ball trough the hoop despite the hard foul and nailed the and one free throw. Game over. Vegas keeps their winning streak alive. Who got next?

BOX SCORE





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San Antonio Spurs @ Las Vegas

[Jogo]

Jokers continue hot streak, rout past Spurs without Duncan

January 20, 2016
By: Ray Porter
NBA.com reporter

GAME RECAP

Las Vegas is taking the league by storm lately. They're making some serious noise in their Western Conference debut. After knocking down the Pacers, Memphis and Detroit, they now blow past one of the best teams in the West: the Spurs. Granted, the Spurs were without Duncan (twisted knee), but it was still an impressive performance.

Even better: it was a great overall team performance. John Wall was in Magic Johnson mode, "limiting" himself to scoring 20, but dishing out 11 assists. Gortat, Beal and Wright all put up double digits on the scoreboard and Joe Johnson had a great overall stat line (9pts, 8rebs, 5ast). Great team play like this wins games, especially when you're playing against a team like the Spurs, that has taken team play to the next level.

With this W, Las Vegas silently climbs to the 6th seed. Don't sleep on them.

BOX SCORE

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Brooklyn Nets @ Las Vegas

[Jogo]

Jokers cruise past Nets, extend winning streak to 5 straight

January 23, 2016
By: Ray Porter
NBA.com reporter

GAME RECAP

You can bet the Nets had this game circled going in. Otto and Nenê, both wearing a Brooklyn jersey now, were out to go into their former home arena and silence their teammates of the past. Then again, the Nets are still the Nets, and one trade isn't going to make them elite right away.

They weren't going to go down easy though. Thaddeus Young had a splendid game, scoring 28 points and getting it done on all ends of the floor. By halftime, the Nets even had a small lead.

The 3rd quarter box score tells it all though. Vegas came out swinging and did what had to be done. Brooklyn was just barely able to score 7 points. From there on, Vegas had the Nets in the palm of their hands and only had to maintain control.

The powerless Nets were visibly frustrated, regularly getting into altercations with each other. Nenê even went as far as getting fouled out of the game, after picking up his final 2 fouls in under 30 seconds late in the 4th. Jokers win this one easily, 81 - 95.

BOX SCORE

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Las Vegas Jokers @ New York

[Jogo]

Melo drops 32 as Knicks snap Jokers' streak

January 26, 2016
By: Ray Porter
NBA.com Reporter

GAME RECAP

All good things come to an end, and that's no different for the Jokers' 5 game winning streak. Following a road trip to Brooklyn, New York, they revisit the Big Apple. This time returning home with a +1 in the L column.

The Jokers' offense seemed slow and in a bit of a funk from the very beginning. Turnovers were key in this game and Las Vegas racked up loads of them. The Knicks took full advantage, grabbing a commanding double digit lead in the 2nd quarter. A lead they would firmly hold on to.

Anthony rained down 32 points on Vegas. Afflalo splashed in another 26. A statement win for New York to show the top free agents they can still really play ball.

BOX SCORE

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Las Vegas Jokers @ Milwaukee Bucks

[Jogo]

MCW destroys Las Vegas w/ insane mid court, game winning buzzer-beater (110 - 111)

January 28, 2016
By: Ray Porter
NBA.com reporter

GAME RECAP

Man, this one almost had me in tears ... What a game!

Midway trough the 4th quarter, we were up by 13. That's when things started to get ... pretty crazy. The Bucks all of a sudden took off on an amazing run, blowing us off the court, as they went up by 3.

With 1.30 minutes left on the clock, Joe Johnson steps into the spotlight. He nails a deep three to even the score and catches fire. The Bucks turn the ball over, John Wall grabs it and initiates the fastbreak. A smooth little bounce pass gets it to Johnson who cuts the lane and gets fouled on the (missed) lay-up attempt. As you'd expect from a guy who's making 100k short of 25 million dollars, he nails them both. Jokers go up by 2.

On the other end of the floor, Greg Monroe hits a clutch post hook to tie the game. With the shot clocked turned off, there's no other possibility for the Bucks to foul John Wall on the inbound. The entire BMO Harris Bradley Center is buzzing, as John Wall steps toward the free throw line. Unfazed, cool and composed he gets both of them trough the rim. Jokers go up 2 again with 4,9 seconds left, the Bucks have no more timeouts. This is it. Game over.

But the Bucks weren't planning on giving up just yet. With 1,2 seconds left, 24 year old Michael Carter Williams throws up a shot from mid court to beat the clock. As the buzzer sounds and the crowd roars, the ball hits the bottom of the net. The Bucks overcome a 13 point lead and win the game, 110 - 111. NBA 2K, where amazing happens ...

BOX SCORE

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Las Vegas Jokers @ Toronto

[Jogo]

As we head into February, just 2 weeks away from the All Star break, it's time for a short mid-season recap. Playoff spots are hanging in the balance. Who is moving up the ranks and who might fall back and miss out on playoff seeding? And which teams are looking to make some moves as the trade deadline is nearing? An overview:

Houston Rockets -
Even though they had their fair share of troubles, the Rockets have been a superb team this season. Ditching Lawson and acquiring Jarett Jack and Jared Dudley was a splendid move for them. And though Harden and Howard still have some bad chemistry going, they make it work. Houston sits atop the rankings, for now.


Golden State Warriors -
Houston may currently have that top spot in the West, but these guys have played less games. And more important: they haven't lost a single one of them so far. The Splash Bros & company are riding a 13 game winning streak and counting. Look out, Rockets.


Phoenix Suns -
A rather surprising team to see in the 3rd seed, but the Suns are killing it this season. Bledsoe is making a strong case for MVP at this point. It'll be interesting to see how far they can go in the playoffs.


San Antonio Spurs -
The Spurs have been without Tim Duncan for a while, but that didn't stop them from being as good as always. San Antonio is a lock for the Playoffs. Only question is: can they go all the way?


Sacramento Kings -
The Kings are a bit of a weird team really. They aren't as good as they can be, but they aren't as bad as they could be either. Come Playoff time though, they could very well surprise in their underdog role.


Oklahoma City Thunder -
OKC still has a lot of games left to play, but it's still surprising to see them this low in the rankings. They haven't been as good as you'd expect them to be. The Thunder have some catching up to do if want to keep their shot at winning a title. And most importantly: having a shot at resigning Kevin Durant this offseason!


Las Vegas Jokers -
Competing in the Western Conference took them some time getting used to, but the Jokers are doing surprisingly well. John Wall has been sensational this season, and they made a fantastic trade that has played out really well so far. Vegas finds themselves in the middle of the pack, chasing that 7th/8th seed. Can they keep it? And if they keep it, how far can they go in the postseason?


Los Angeles Clippers -
The Clippers, like OKC, are a couple games behind on schedule. But so far this season, they haven't been spectacular. They'll need to improve if they want to stay in contention for the top playoff seeds.


New Orleans Pelicans -
The Pelicans are a tricky one. They find themselves in the middle of the pack and the team can go either way really. Either they breakout and climb up the rankings to secure a playoff spot, or they have a disappointing second half of the season and fall all the way to the bottom of the conference.


Dallas Mavericks -
The Mavericks in no way aren't contenders at this point. They need someone that can help them out to make that final playoff push. But even if they make the playoffs, they are not top contenders. Look for them to possibly make some moves before the trade deadline.


Utah Jazz -
The Jazz are probably headed straight to the draft lottery. Their season hasn't been great at all this year. And if they had the intention of making a late playoff push, their last hope has just gone right out the window with Gordon Hayward suffering a season ending injury last week.


Minnesota Timberwolves -
The Timberwolves' season has been plagued by injuries all year. Wiggins, LaVine, Muhammad, Martin and Rubio have all been sidelined for a couple of games, and it shows in the results. The young wolves find themselves at the bottom of the standings once again and they might just land another top 3 pick in the draft.


Portland Trail Blazers -
The Blazers are still feeling the aftermath from last offseason when they lost basically everyone but Lillard. Tough the team has shown flashes of great potential, winning is something they haven't been able to do much so far.


Denver Nuggets -
Denver's future is looking bright with Mudiay in the roster, add Ben Simmons to that and there's no doubt this team is going places. If they keep losing like they are, Simmons could very well be headed to Denver soon.


LA Lakers -
Tough it's painful to see, it's no surprise to find the Purple & Gold at the bottom of the standings halfway trough the season. LA seems determined to hang on to their unprotected lottery pick and secure Simmons. But out East, the Sixers are right on their heels.

Atlanta Hawks - Chicago Bulls - Cleveland Cavs

The playoff race in the East is a tight one this season. The Spurs of the East find themselves atop in an ex aequo with the Bulls and Cavs. The Cavs haven't looked as dominant as last season so far and the Bulls or Hawks could give them some serious competition come playoff time.

Boston Celtics -

The Celtics have done a marvelous job of getting themselves back into the playoff race so fast. They find themselves in 4th place, but they need another superstar to really be a top contender in the playoffs. They have all the right pieces to trade for another superstar. The Celtics could very well be one of the more active teams before the trade deadline.

Indiana Pacers -

The Pacers are a one man show. Paul George's return after his gruesome injury has been incredible so far. If they stay healthy, the Pacers could be a dangerous underdog in the playoffs.

Brooklyn Nets -

The Nets have pulled off some great trades this season, but it hasn't quite saved their season. Brook Lopez has been injured for a great deal of the season and made the Nets struggle even greater. Despite all that, they can be somewhat proud they aren't ate the very bottom of the conference (yet). Teams such as Philly and shockers like Memphis and Miami are doing even worse.

Memphis Grizzlies -

The Grizzlies' season has been nothing short of a major disaster. They lost Z-Bo to a season ending injury in November and things have only gone downhill from there. Their core is aging and with the way the are performing now, there's a very legit chance of losing superstar guard Mike Conley this offseason. The Grizzlies are rumored to blow up their roster before the trade deadline. Head coach Lionel Hollins is probably a goner too in the near future.

Miami Heat -

When healthy, the Heat are a legit playoff contender in the East. But when C. Andersen and C. Bosh both miss the entire season and you get plagued by some other minor injuries as well, this is where your Miami Heat are at: the bottom of the Eastern Conference. It's probably too late for them to turn things around, but getting another lottery pick this summer could make the Heat a very dangerous team next year.

[Jogo]

*Small sidenote: I kinda regret doing 29 game seasons, so after this season I will switch to full 82 games seasons to make things more authentic. I have a plan in place to (hopefully) do so seamlessly. Still won't be playing all 82 though.

[Jogo]

Mock Draft

The race for Simmons is on, and it's going to be a tight one! The Lakers are right on track to keep their pick in the top 3, or they risk losing it to the Sixers. But the Sixers are still tanking hardcore. They also possess a first round Heat pick, which surprisingly - due to the Heat's injury plagued season - has become a possible top 5 pick too.

There's another team that could ruin the Lakers' hopes and dreams for Simmons: the Hornets currently have the worst record in the league and are at the "ideal" pace to keep it that way. With the way Memphis has been performing lately, look out for them to possibly land a top 3-5 pick also.