OKC: Part III - Tough ending in Milwaukee

It's been an adjustment from how I was playing with Westbrook. Paul is short and slow, so getting to the rim to score isn't really an option.

I wouldn't be surprised to see him average more assists than points this season.

11/11/19

Oklahoma City Thunder [4-5] vs Philadelphia 76ers [7-3]

Oklahoma City pull off another upset victory against a title contender

OKC | 33 | 29 | 24 | 33 | 119 |
PHI | 29 | 23 | 23 | 34 | 109 |

Player of the Game: Steven Adams
(22pts, 15reb, 2ast, 2stl, 7blk)
(7-14 FG, 8-12 FT)

Adams refuses to be scored on

Simmed Game

MIN | 27 | 14 | 26 | 29 | 96 |
OKC | 26 | 26 | 14 | 21 | 87 |

POTG: Jarrett Culver (26pts, 10reb, 5ast)


Record: 5-5

As far as gameplay is concerned, being an underdog seems to suit you!

13/11/19

Oklahoma City Thunder [5-5] vs Houston Rockets [5-5]

Melo scores last-second winner in Westbrook's first game back in Oklahoma City

OKC | 28 | 34 | 23 | 36 | 121 |
HOU | 25 | 31 | 26 | 38 | 120 |

Player of the Game: Clint Capela
(25pts, 22reb, 1ast, 3stl)
(12-13 FG, 1-2 FT)

Melo seals the game at the last second

Simmed Game

OKC | 26 | 17 | 30 | 24 | 197 |
BOS | 25 | 24 | 30 | 29 | 108 |

POTG: Kemba Walker (18pts, 4reb, 9ast, 5stl)


Record: 6-6

What a crazy finish. I think the lead changed hands at least 5 times in the final two minutes.

Part of me would have been okay if we had lost (because of the draft), but I'm glad that the shot fell at the end

Gamewinners are always satisfying, especially if you remember the days when jumpshots were barely viable in games.

It's funny how the whole 'tanking' plan goes out of the window when there is a chance to win the game in the dying seconds.

We play Houston again next up. Hopefully I can find a way to stop Capela from dominating this time.

As it should be in real life!

20/11/19

Houston Rockets [6-7] vs Oklahoma City Thunder [6-7]

Rockets overpower fatigued Thunder and get revenge for heartbreaking loss

HOU | 26 | 36 | 34 | 22 | 118 |
OKC | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 | 105 |

Player of the Game: Russell Westbrook
(21pts, 6reb, 12ast, 3stl)
(8-18 FG, 0-3 3PT, 5-8 FT)

Simmed Game

DAL | 28 | 32 | 29 | 23 | 112 |
OKC | 22 | 24 | 21 | 23 | 190 |

POTG: Luka Doncic (21pts, 9reb, 9ast, 3stl)


Record: 6-8

For some reason my starters were super fatigued during this game. It felt like they barely got on the court before they needed another rest.

Maybe I need to adjust some sliders or something.

Isn't there progressive fatigue in MyLEAGUE? Might've just been a once-off. Rockets will have you running all over the place, too.

Isn't there progressive fatigue in MyLEAGUE? Might've just been a once-off. Rockets will have you running all over the place, too.

Yeah, I think there is.

I guess having two 34-year-olds in my starting line-up means that fatigue will be an issue at times this season. I could always rotate my starters every few games and give some younger guys more playing time. That would play into the tanking narrative and would give me a better chance to see how many of the younger guys are worth keeping long-term.

Definitely might have to manage their minutes a little more and try to use them in spurts. Melo has a lot of mileage.

23/11/19

Boston Celtics [10-5] vs Oklahoma City Thunder [6-9]

Adams leads Thunder to dramatic overtime victory in Boston

BOS | 35 | 24 | 33 | 23 | 21 | 136 |
OKC | 23 | 33 | 29 | 30 | 25 | 140 |

Player of the Game: Steven Adams
(33pts, 20reb, 2ast, 2stl, 2blk)
(14-18 FG, 5-11 FT)

Simmed Game

NYK | 23 | 23 | 32 | 16 | 94 |
OKC | 26 | 21 | 18 | 26 | 91 |

POTG: Bobby Portis (17pts, 14reb, 2blk)


Record: 7-9

We found ourselves in a 30-15 hole late in the first quarter, but Nerlens Noel dug us out of it. He went 9/9 and had 18 points in the first half. Got us back to within 3 points by half time.

Chris Paul picked up 4 fouls in the first half and thus spent a lot of time on the bench. Him ending up with 11 assists is actually pretty impressive.


We basically trailed for the entire game until the fourth quarter. We had the lead in the final minute, but Boston tied it up. A last second Gallinari heave missed and it went to overtime.

As much as I want a high draft pick, it's just too hard to turn off my competitiveness during close games. Happy with the win

Another satisfying win there. I get what you mean about fighting the urge to tank, but I don't think that makes for a very fun gameplay experience. Tanking is better left to seasons where you're heavily simming, in my opinion.

Meanwhile, Adams is putting together an All-Star year. Great performance in that comeback victory!

I hope his stats will be enough to put him in over the bigger names. Right now he is averaging 17 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.

Even if he misses out on all-star selection, at least he'll be one of the favourites to win Most Improved Player.

27/11/19

Oklahoma City Thunder [7-10] vs Los Angeles Clippers [8-9]

Adams sets a new franchise rebound record in Paul George's first game back in Oklahoma City

OKC | 32 | 31 | 30 | 30 | 123 |
LAC | 24 | 30 | 26 | 35 | 115 |

Player of the Game: Steven Adams
(31pts, 32reb, 1ast, 1stl, 3blk)
(14-22 FG, 3-8 FT)

Simmed Game

IND | 28 | 28 | 31 | 23 | 110 |
OKC | 22 | 21 | 25 | 28 | 196 |

POTG: Victor Oladipo (28pts, 9reb, 5ast, 1stl, 2blk)


Record: 8-10

Adams takes the franchise record from Jim Fox (30 in 1974) (or himself (24 in 2019) if you like to keep the history separate).

Beasting on the boards! Really cool to see a record like that, as it has to happen organically compared to scoring records, or even breaking assist records.

Near the end of the game I was wondering to myself if Adams was anywhere near the NBA record for rebounds. But then I remembered that Wilt Chamberlain existed.

I also just realised the coincidence of Adams putting up these rebound numbers after Westbrook got traded

No correlation, surely!

29/11/19

Phoenix Suns [10-7] vs Oklahoma City Thunder [8-10]

Suns grab impressive win behind big performances from star duo

PHX | 27 | 30 | 34 | 27 | 118 |
OKC | 28 | 23 | 29 | 24 | 104 |

Player of the Game: DeAndre Ayton
(23pts, 11reb, 6ast, 2stl, 1blk)
(11-16 FG, 1-1 FT)

Simmed Game

LAC | 33 | 22 | 24 | 16 | 95 |
OKC | 26 | 19 | 17 | 21 | 83 |

POTG: Paul George (33pts, 9reb, 2ast, 1stl)


Record: 8-12

Booker picked up his fourth foul late in the second quarter. It didn't really slow him down though, as he and Ayton really took over in the second half.

Looks like three-pointers were the difference in that one.

1/12/19

November 2019 Summary




Division Standings

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Western Conference











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Playoff Seeds & Power Rankings

Eastern Conference




Western Conference




Power Rankings



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League Leaders













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Monthly and Weekly Awards











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Rookies Ranking




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Injuries




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2020 Mock Draft

Transactions
29/08/19 - Detroit center Zaza Pachulia retires to become front office consultant with Golden State
29/08/19 - Brooklyn forward Wilson Chandler suspended for 25 games for use of performance-enhancing drugs
04/09/19 - Houston re-signed guard Eric Gordon (4yr/$75.5m)

Definitely an unusual position for you to be in, but at the same time, it's a pretty close race for the eighth seed if you kept making a push throughout the season. Obviously that hurts your standing in the Draft, but an underdog run like last year's Clippers (in real life) would be cool to see.

Definitely an unusual position for you to be in, but at the same time, it's a pretty close race for the eighth seed if you kept making a push throughout the season. Obviously that hurts your standing in the Draft, but an underdog run like last year's Clippers (in real life) would be cool to see.

It'll be a tough ask, I think. Especially with the Pelicans and Suns having better-than-expected starts to the season. You would imagine the Rockets will come good at some point too and push into the playoff spots.

If the eighth seed is looking out of reach by mid-January I may pull the trigger and trade guys like Gallinari and Schroder for picks. No point holding on to them and finishing 9th.


Some early season observations:

- Rookie Zion is insane. At this stage he has to be in the MVP discussions

- The Anthony Davis trade has worked amazingly well so far for the Lakers.

- The Warriors haven't slipped as I expected them to, mainly because Curry is carrying them on his back.

- Utah have gone massively backwards since the Mike Conley trade. I really don't understand how a team with so much talent can be so bad.

- Kyrie has the Nets looking very strong, despite Durant's absence.

- Clippers, Nuggets and Bucks are looking a little worse than expected. Can't rule them out of contention though.

- The Knicks' group of misfits is actually playing well together. Who needs a star player when you can just sign a million free agent power forwards?

With the way the sim engine works, I'm not surprised about the Lakers' success. They just ran a sim in NBA 2K20, and the Lakers won 60+ games and stormed to the championship. I think there are going to be more teething problems in real life, but they probably are set to be a force, so it's not completely unrealistic.

4/12/19

Brooklyn Nets [15-6] vs Oklahoma City Thunder [8-13]

Adams and Jordan battle as Thunder grab surprise win in Brooklyn

BKN | 37 | 24 | 15 | 31 | 107 |
OKC | 27 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 117 |

Player of the Game: Steven Adams
(24pts, 19reb, 5ast, 2stl, 7blk)
(10-19 FG, 4-8 FT)

Simmed Game

OKC | 31 | 18 | 30 | 38 | 117 |
IND | 29 | 34 | 25 | 33 | 121 |

POTG: Domantas Sabonis (21pts, 17reb, 2ast, 1stl)


Record: 9-13