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NBA’s Top 10 Plays Of The Night | January 8, 2024



NBA’s Top 10 Plays Of The Night | January 8, 2024

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27 Comments

  6. @davidd.6004

    Jalen Smith; aka Roger 'Raj' Thomas grabbing the #1 spot on the NBA Top Ten!

    GOATMENTATOR ………….. nowhere to be found. Send out an APB!

  8. @nbalip4636

    I'm reading the comments before I'm watching the video to make sure we have top 10 and not top 9 or to 7 Tonight 😂😂🤡🤡🤡

  11. @AleksandarAcanski

    How the hell did the refs not call the travel on Giannis;
    I mean, yeah they don't watch the feet, they watch what's going on above the waistline.
    But even from just watching his chest it's clear he traveled.
    He did a full 180 in place.
    It's comical

  16. @sakshamdwivedi4273

    He got clowned on for calling himself one of the most unselfish players ever. But Beardman's been sacrificing his talents his whole career with very little pouting.

    In OKC, Scott Brooks played him as 6th man for 3 years in, despite being one of the most talented players on the team.

    In Houston, Tim Fertitta refused to go over the luxury tax and surround him with better players, despite being one game away from an NBA finals in 2018. (The next year he averaged 36ppg 7rpg 8apg)

    In Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving played less games then Harden, despite Harden being injured.

    In Philadelphia, he took a pay cut so the Doc Rivers could sign more depth, despite being owed $15million more.

    Generational talent that's been adapting and being unselfish since he entered the league

    when the 2019 rockets are down 0-2 and he averages 40/10/5 the next 2 games to tie it up, it doesn't count. when he puts up 35/8/5 and has more points/rebounds/assists/steals than steph in game 6, he sucked and steph was legendary to win without KD.

    in the bubble he put up 30 ppg on 67 TS% against an elite lakers defense that was just doubling him near halfcourt and leaving russ wide open. but he sucked.

    he also tends to have his best games end in near losses, which unless he has a time machine, i'm not sure what he can do about. putting up 39/10/9 on 62% shooting (field goal, not TS%) against the #1 defense 2015 warriors and being +12 in 41 minutes, only for the rockets to be -13 in his 7 minutes off so he loses by 1 gets forgotten. still a great game.

    he goes up 3-2 on the most talented team ever but cp3 gets injured so no credit for harden. he's had some disappointing playoff moments, but people way overplay it.

    I mean Harden does have 9 playoff games where he scored 40+ points, including 3 in the 2018 playoff run alone.

    Curry has 7 such games in his career.

    Butler has 6.

    Melo had 4.

    Harden certainly deserves plenty of criticism. But this idea that he’s never gone off in the playoffs is ridiculous. He generally had just kind of ok supporting casts and regularly made some decent playoff runs.

    His Rockets were also the only team to really give a healthy KD Warriors any real trouble. Cavs got swept and lost in 5.

    I think if you take "Most Valuable Player" literally, Harden should have won. Take Steph Curry off of that Warriors team, and that's still a good team. Take James Harden off of that Rockets team (keep in mind that Dwight was also missing for most of the season), and that team is very close to the very bottom of the West.

    Steph Curry had a phenomenal season, but I'm tired of team performance being taken into account so heavily in individual accolades.

    Harden 2014-15. With out Harden the Rockets probably dont make the playoffs. With out Curry the Warriors still make the playoffs, just not as the first seed. I feel like considering that Dwight was injured most of the season and Harden fucking went ham to keep his team a float, that the MVP should have gone to him. The only knock on Harden was his percentages, but Harden still averaged 27.4 points, 7 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals for the season. Dem be MVP numbuhs.

    James Harden is an underrated defender and I will argue that to the grave

    The only reason mainstream media views harden as a bad defensive player is because of lowlight tapes where harden doesn’t sprint across the court to guard a speedy fast break but when Lebron sags on defense it’s considered conserving energy.

    Efficiency wise if a player is a huge plus on offense it makes sense to have them expend the majority of their energy getting points instead of making high energy cost/low return defensive plays. Especially when that player is by far the most effective offensive player on the team.

    Lebrons famous 48 minute playoff games utilize this strategy and Harden is the highest usage player in league history so it’s less about defensive skill as opposed to a strategic decision.

    This is why Harden prefers to guard bigs in the post where his style is more about stealing low rather than jumping to block. And when looking at his defensive efficiency in the post it’s up there with the best in the league.

    Defense isn’t necessarily about the flashy blocks of a Giannis or the scrappy pestering of a Pat Beverly. It’s about not letting the other team score the ball and Harden does a good not great job at that. I rest my case.

    At their peaks, Harden IS a better offensive player than Jordan (and Kobe) by every imaginable metric.

    Harden is a better offensive player at his peak than Jordan. Some of this is going to sound repetitive but follow along.

    Kobe averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists in his 35.1ppg season. He did that on 27 FGAs, and a 56% TS

    Jordan averaged 5 rebounds and 4.5 assists in his 37ppg season. He did that on 28 FGAs, and a 56% TS.

    Harden averaged 7 rebounds and 8 assists in his 36.1ppg season. He's doing that on 24 FGAs and a 61% TS.

    Yeah well Harden shoots too many free throws.

    Harden: 11 FTA (88%)

    Jordan: 11.9 FTA (85.7%)

    Kobe: 10.2 FTA (85%)

    Yeah well Harden shoots too many threes that's why his TS is high.

    Harden: 54.1 eFG%, 52.9% from 2, 36.8% from 3

    Kobe: 49.1 eFG%, 48.2% from 2, 34.7% from 3

    MJ: 48.4 eFG%, 49.1% from 2, 18.2% from 3 (only on 0.8 attempts though)

    Yeah well the game was much slower back then.

    Per 100 Possessions:

    Harden: 48.2 PPG (highest of all time)

    MJ: 46.4 PPG

    Kobe: 45.6 PPG

    Yeah well compared to their league, Jordan stood out more.

    Then let's compare to the league average.

    Harden: 54.1 eFG% and 61.7 TS%, League Average: 52.4 eFG% and 55.7 TS%

    Kobe: 49.1 eFG% and 55.9 TS%, League Average: 49 eFG% and 53.5 TS%

    MJ: 48.4 eFG% and 56.2 TS%, League Average: 48.8 eFG% and 53.8 TS%

    This isn't even factoring in seasons Harden has averaged 10+ assists, and he's done that many times.

    Harden is a very capable defender when he tries. For majority of the game Harden plays defense but allows blowbys to avoid risking picking up fouls. Due to his heavy minutes, especially when he was in Houston, harden lacked in defense to avoid getting fouls, which is why he is known as a bad defender. However, in late game situations, especially in the playoffs, he locks in and is one of the better perimeter defensive players in the league. As for his post defense, he has been number one in the league statistically since 2019, and has even been second in the league in perimeter isolation points allowed per possession in 2020. In addition to all of that, he is an extremely smart player defensively. He knows when to help, where other players need to stand and is known for his defensive communication. His Houston rockets had the number one defense in the playoffs and in the bubble of 2020. Statistically James has been top 5 in steals for many seasons, number one in deflections for a few years, and has the most blocks by any guard since joining Houston. He has crucial defensive saves in important games including against Giannis, Porzingis, in game 7 of okc thunder, and even against embiid in the 2020 rockets 76ers matchup, where embiid got in a little skirmish with him after harden stopped him on back to back possessions. He may not play it the whole game, but when he tries harden is a top defender in almost every aspect, and a beneficial one to have on the court due to his intelligence.

    And people talking bout his defense are idiots, hes locked up and then shit on Kawhi/PG/Beverly in a 1v3 lmaoooo he has the most points on every team too plus like 3 years of 10+ assists and the others are 8-9 assists on top of 30-36.6 points. He's the only one who even challenged the KD Era warriors and lost because of blatant ref fixing and Ariza going 0-12 on wide open threes generated by Harden along with his second best player CP3 going down and Capela getting sonned by a rookie Looney. Harden was literally dunking on draymond all day and dray got pissed and shoved him like 30 seconds into a game because he got scored on twice fast. That's not even mentioning all that happened while facing the KD warriors who had 5 star players, 2 of which were the number one and number two best shooters in the history of the league, Dpoy draymond, a top 2-3 scorer in Durant, Iggy dpoy. Then waiving off 12 of Hardens points but not making the same call if he missed the 3…blatant lmao

    Harden has been a top 3 hardest working player for the past 10 years. Just because he likes strip clubs and partying doesn't mean he disregards practice and conditioning. This sub is just going with assuming narratives instead of taking 5 minutes to find out that Harden's workouts have been Kobe-levels insane for many seasons, doing HIT lifting after having played 40 minutes in an NBA game with historic usage and scoring rate for entire seasons because the durability demanded from Harden forced him to be insanely well conditioned.

    There are countless stories as well as statements by his staff and teammates about it, it's just easier to shit on a player for partying instead. Literally everybody who's ever played with Harden attests to his one-of-a-kind work ethic. The reason Harden has been struggling are injuries and playing through them as well as the miles on his body but it's 10000% not because he's lazy. He ONCE forced Houstons hand for 3 weeks because they wouldn't trade him despite his demands many months before the situation escalated. Other than that he's been more than textbook when it comes to work ethic, you don't become such a legendary offensive Superstar without working your ass off every day for many years. And yes Harden can come back, he's one of the most skilled players ever and he works out like a madman

  19. @henningniehues8023

    that beat is truly awful. hope you didnt have to pay some nepo baby for that, NBA. bc it sounds like someone doing someone else a solid

  24. @clearclub

    Experience the heart-pounding excitement of the NBA's Top 10 plays of the night, featuring the most incredible moments from January 8, 2024! 🏀🔥 Prepare to be blown away by an electric compilation that showcases breathtaking dunks, mind-bending assists, and awe-inspiring blocks. From sensational crossovers to clutch shots, this collection has it all. Sit back, enjoy, and witness the top 10 plays that will leave you in awe of the extraordinary talent on display in the NBA! 🌟🎥 #NBAHighlights #Top10Plays #BasketballThrills

  25. @Dzad00

    We finally get a complete Top 10 and it’s one of the weakest tops 10s all years. Half the plays were just standard multiple times per game plays.

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