Jedd Pagaduan Articles - Page 134

Given how unconvincingly the Denver Nuggets ended the 2022-23 regular season, a few pundits believed that they could be vulnerable to a first-round upset. Even head coach Michael Malone believed that if the Nuggets didn’t get their act together, they might as well be first-round fodder. But the Minnesota Timberwolves learned the hard way that […]

Many wrote off the Los Angeles Clippers before the 2023 NBA playoffs even began. After all, facing the new-look Phoenix Suns with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Chris Paul was already a difficult enough task on its own, but with Paul George out, the Clippers will have to rely on other more inconsistent role players […]

It has been a long time coming, but the Sacramento Kings have done it. They won their first playoff game in 17 years, outlasting the defending champion Golden State Warriors in an explosive back-and-forth affair. But can the ascendant Kings repeat their impressive offensive performance in Game 1? Here we will take a look at […]

The Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings treated neutral fans to such an enthralling contest in Game 1 of their 2023 NBA playoff first round series. Both teams played at such a breakneck pace, with either side trading baskets and exchanging leads in the fourth period. Here we’re making a few bold predictions for […]

The gap between the 1-seed and 8-seed is as big as it is for a reason. As the Denver Nuggets showed in their debut performance in the 2023 NBA playoffs, their sustained excellence throughout the course of the regular season can be too much to overcome, especially for a team that just came out of […]

The Memphis Grizzlies have had to weather adversity to end the year, particularly with Ja Morant’s off-court troubles, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to become a distraction in their series against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are coming off a huge play-in tournament victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves, so they will be […]

The Golden State Warriors did not have one of the best title-defending regular seasons ever. They were excellent as per usual at home, as they played like their championship-winning selves in the friendly confines of Chase Center, but they seemed to forget how to play basketball away from San Francisco. Throughout the 2022-23 campaign, the […]

The New Orleans Pelicans surely did not expect that they would be sitting from the confines of their own homes to watch the rest of the 2023 NBA playoffs unfold like the majority of fans around the world, but here we are. Four months after sitting atop the Western Conference standings, the Pelicans’ fortunes quickly […]

The New Orleans Pelicans will have the next three or so months to have a long and hard think about all the missed opportunities they had during the 2022-23 regular season. For the first few months of the campaign, the Pelicans were in such a good position in the Western Conference standings, even sitting in […]

It has been quite the rollercoaster 2022-23 season for the Toronto Raptors. They began the season as a discombobulated unit, their lack of a true center proving costly en route to a below .500 start. This uninspiring start was disappointing, especially for a team that won 48 games last season and played a competitive series […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the biggest disappointments in the NBA this season. After starting the 2022-23 campaign with a 23-12 record, the Pelicans went 19-28 the rest of the way, a stretch that included a 10-game losing streak that ended up dooming their season. From having the look of a championship […]

It has been an inexplicable downfall for the Miami Heat in just the span of a year. Despite bringing back most of the core members of their 53-win, first-seeded 2021-22 team, time has not been kind to the Heat’s veteran roster, as they are now one loss away from seeing a premature end to their […]

Fans of the New Orleans Pelicans will have to take all of the social media clowning on the chin, especially from the ever-raucous fanbase of the Los Angeles Lakers. After beginning the season as one of the top seeds in the Western Conference, the Pelicans’ season reached its premature end after they failed to overcome […]

There’s a huge chance that the Minnesota Timberwolves, a team that finished with 46 wins during the 2021-22 season, jumped the gun after trading away a good chunk of their future, along with valuable role players, for Rudy Gobert. Last season, the Timberwolves boasted a modern offensive attack while starting five capable shooters from deep. […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have arrived well ahead of schedule. For a team pundits expected to win around 20 or so games, the Thunder are one step closer to making the playoffs in surprise fashion after they managed to defeat the ninth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans in the 9/10 matchup of the 2023 NBA Play-In tournament. […]

This definitely isn’t where Brooklyn Nets executives thought their team would be come April 2023 when they went on a tear back in December, but here they are, back to where they were before they signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. In fact, the parallels go beyond […]

The Oklahoma City Thunder are on the up-and-up. Even though their playoff future remains uncertain, as they will need to win one more play-in tournament game following their impressive 123-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, it’s clear that their future is blindingly bright. And that’s especially the case after Josh Giddey turned in arguably […]

The Los Angeles Clippers know that despite having the services of elite playoff performer Kawhi Leonard, defeating the new-look Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs will be such a difficult task. Slowing down Devin Booker was already a near-impossible task to begin with, but with Kevin Durant around, the Suns […]

It just keeps on getting better for the nascent Oklahoma City Thunder. With their backs against the wall in a win or go home matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans, a team that made the playoffs last season via the play-in, the young Thunder squad managed to squeak out a 123-118 victory, thanks in large […]

It will be a very interesting offseason for the Dallas Mavericks, especially after they finished with a disappointing 38-44 record, missing the play-in tournament entirely. How the Mavs front office decides to build around Luka Doncic will be fascinating. They know they will be on the clock as it is simply inexcusable for a team […]

It’s a bit confusing how the Memphis Grizzlies (and to a greater extent, the Sacramento Kings) still fail to command the respect a top-seeded team in the Western Conference deserves, but here we are. There’s been talk that the 3/6, 2/7 route to the Western Conference Finals is an easier path, and there’s certainly an […]

Some teams simply perform better while playing with house money, and the Atlanta Hawks seem to be the epitome of that kind of team. Not many fans and pundits expected the Hawks to beat the playoff-tested Miami Heat in the 7/8 play-in tournament game, but they did so in convincing fashion, proving the naysayers wrong […]

Not many people outside the team’s most loyal fans believe that the Los Angeles Clippers are capable of taking down one of the heavy favorites to win the 2023 NBA championship in the Phoenix Suns. And as much as fans believe in the Clippers’ ability to mount a stunning upset, it will be an extremely […]

Picking the 15 players who are the most deserving of becoming part of the illustrious 2023 All-NBA teams is a thankless task, especially when millions of dollars in real life money are on the line for players based on whether they make it or not. In today’s NBA, that task is even more difficult given […]

The Los Angeles Clippers may not have had the most impressive 2022-23 regular season campaign, finishing 44-38 despite all the championship prognoses they received during preseason. While the Clippers are one of those teams that many expect to turn it on when the playoffs begin, they have an extremely steep mountain to climb in the […]

There’s plenty of drama to be had in the first-round series between the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Clippers. Russell Westbrook will have the time of his life trying to get back at Kevin Durant for leaving him in free agency in 2016, the Clippers will have another opportunity to defeat old pal Chris […]

Not many expected the Oklahoma City Thunder to challenge for a 2023 NBA Play-In tournament spot to begin the year. Those doubters were certainly justified in their low expectations for the Thunder, especially when they were coming off a 24-win campaign and their reward for their putridity, Chet Holmgren, injured his foot before the season […]

The 9/10 matchup in the 2023 NBA Play-In tournament between the Chicago Bulls and Toronto Raptors will be a contest between two teams that almost sold off their All-Star level pieces, but chose to stand pat in the hopes of turning things around. And to an extent, the Bulls and Raptors, did, indeed, turn their […]

Damian Lillard is everything an NBA franchise wants from its star man — loyal, doesn’t “run from the grind”, and most of all, vocal of his desire to win it all for the franchise he’s spent the last 11 seasons playing for, the Portland Trail Blazers. However, Lillard is already 32 years old, and it […]

The New Orleans Pelicans, after weeks of such strong play, faltered when it mattered most. Instead of capitalizing on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ self-destruction, the Pelicans instead imploded en route to a 113-108 defeat. And now, they find themselves in a win or go home situation in the 2023 NBA Play-In Tournament against the nascent Oklahoma […]

Of all the junctures in the 2022-23 season to self-destruct, doing so just before the postseason begins is arguably the worst time to do so. This is the point of the campaign where the team needs to lock in to achieve the goal of, at the very least, making a deep playoff run. However, the […]

For the 14 teams that would miss the postseason, the 2023 NBA Draft looms as a beacon of hope to look forward to as they try to wash away the stench of their defeated past and build a sustainable contending squad for years to come. Thankfully for teams, life in the NBA functions differently as […]

The NBA churn never stops. At the conclusion of the 2023 NBA Finals, it will be time for every team–whether rebuilding, buying, or contending–to look for ways to improve their team, or, at the very least, mold their team into one that makes more sense given their timeline. And one way for teams to do […]

Preventing some of the most talented basketball players from putting the ball through the hoop has always been a thankless task. The old adage may say that “defense wins championships”, but at the end of the day, elite offense always beats good defense — especially in today’s NBA, where defenders seem to get whistled for […]

It may not be the most successful season for the Toronto Raptors, but at the very least, they still have a shot at making the playoffs via the play-in tournament despite their uneven start to the 2022-23 regular season campaign. But that may necessitate going up against two former franchise icons in the process, as […]

Following such a dismal start to the 2022-23 season, LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have managed to turn things around. Entering their Friday night contest against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers hold their playoff fates in the palm of their hands, as they still have a puncher’s chance to clinch a top-six berth […]

The Sacramento Kings, despite having little to play for in the dying moments of the 2022-23 NBA regular season, will want to end the season on the right foot and carry over some strong momentum into their first playoff appearance since 2006. It will also help that they still have a slim chance at stealing […]

There is always something riveting in the unknown. And in the NBA, there are no greater unknowns than rookies, tantalizing as they may be given the players they could become once they flesh out their games. It’s always exciting to watch the best young players figure out the ropes of the professional game, proving to […]

The Dallas Mavericks, following a late-season collapse, need everything to go their way just so they could make the play-in tournament. Missing the play-in tournament entirely will be such a disastrous outcome for a team that traded for Kyrie Irving two months ago. What the Mavs must do to give themselves a chance at staying […]