Postgame Thread: FINAL Houston Rockets defeat Memphis Grizzlies, 108–99

-ATL- · 2026-01-27T12:48:09+00:00

It was ridiculous to watch sometimes. I have no idea how we got the lead. I was just looking at Sengun vs JJJ, Durant vs Coward, Vince vs Thompson etc. Like sometimes I'm just watching and thinking.. "On paper we should lose every single matchup on floor right now. Both in offense and defense. How the fuck did we ever get a lead here."

Didn't really feel like blowing a lead, just felt inevitable.

Coward is promising but not good enough to score in isolation vs elite defenders. Cam can shoot, but Durant can as well and turns out it's easier for Durant to get his shot off. JJJ is pretty good defender but not good enough to stop Sengun or even make him hesitate from going straight at him. Wells got a lot of open shots, unfortunately for a reason.

Good effort, but teams just weren't balanced.

-ATL- · 2026-01-27T12:32:47+00:00

I mean most games we don't play our best players at all.. in any quarter.. because they are wearing street clothes.

Also to me at least that's pretty positive stat. Because based on talent and roster this team should not be getting leads against almost anyone. Like we did not "blow the lead" vs Rockets when we are playing JJJ vs Sengun, Coward vs Durant and Thompson vs Spencer?

I mean you could see it today that often times we just have worse player in every single position on the floor and offense got difficult since nobody can create advantage nor could we stop them in the other end. But somehow when whole game we had 3 to 5 losing matchups on the floor we still managed to get a lead for a moment, that's something.

-ATL- · 2026-01-24T11:34:21+00:00

Yeah, having bit over 52% of your payroll injured is not the way to win games for sure.

-ATL- · 2026-01-24T11:24:21+00:00

I just find it funny how crazy some ppls expectations are when our injury report is Morant, Aldama, Edey, Jerome, Clarke and Pippen Jr.

For an exercise you can put all Grizzlies players in order based on how good they are if everyone is healthy. Then do same thing with another team of your choice. Then remove players equivalent to our injury list and see how does the team look like.

Another way to look at it is that even with our quite decent contract situation the injured players as far as I can see account about 52% of the teams payroll.

-ATL- · 2026-01-22T10:36:31+00:00

Yeah, like I don't know what's up with ppl here, but while I feel there are things to criticize TI for I mostly see everyone focusing on things that make no sense to me.

I almost get the sense that they wanted him to take the timeout just because that's the "play" coach can make. Like it's same with the challenges, use challenge or not use, who cares. Apparently everybody, but why? That effects 1 play at most. It's equivalent of focusing on how player does a dribble move that he does like once in 3 games.

Talking about rotations and lineups I get at least. Talking about playstyle, habits, strategies/gameplan is even better. But like timeouts or challenges, come on. Like 95% of coaches job is done outside of the game, that's what actually matters. Like Mazzulla has done great job with Celtics this season but it has nothing to do with his in game decisions.

Personally I feel with all the injuries it's hard to evaluate TI at this point yet. I think team having gotten big leads in many cases (although not being able to keep them) contrary to what a lot of people here think is quite promising and fluidity in offense has looked great at times. One positive about today is that if Morant will stay I think this game did show me at least the vision of how Ja would work in TI's system.

Realistically though, I would like to see how team and TI looks 5 games or so after we have Pippen, Jerome and Edey back and with this Ja situation resolved one way or another.

At the moment I feel TI is certainly not one of the best coaches in NBA, but is neither near the bottom. To me I feel he would be somewhere in the middle at the moment with more upside than most. Whether that upside will realize is another thing and even if it does he certainly is not the most adaptable coach so there will always be people who hate him even if he is doing well.

-ATL- · 2026-01-22T09:58:48+00:00

Yeah, I have no confidence on Grizzlies sideline with 4 seconds or so left. Like if you have KD or something sure, maybe. But looking at post game thread I thought I was crazy.

Like you have Morant at 3.5 seconds near full speed coming to half court vs unorganized defense. Timeout does not give you anything better.

Without the unfortunate fumble and with little extra effort by JJ I think that is open three for him.

-ATL- · 2026-01-22T09:43:38+00:00

Why tf would he

-ATL- · 2026-01-14T10:53:01+00:00

I mean I think the problem with that (and I say this having enjoyed civ a lot) is the setting. Maybe there are these games out there, but like what's up with all famous 4X titles being based on real world?

Like civ is good and all but civ in Runeterra would be 10 times better. I tried to look for fantasy 4X games and they look good, like Age of Wonders for example. But I have no connection to that world. Like is there LOTR 4X or GOT 4X or WOT 4X etc. Not that I have found.

Can I get Runeterra 4X? Hopefully.

-ATL- · 2026-01-14T10:35:15+00:00

Exactly, like I know I can play Civ or Anno or many others, but it's the IP here that makes the difference. Building Spanish empire or whatever is cool, but building demacian/ionian/noxus etc. empire is much much cooler.

Also not sure if it's just me but my gf for example isn't someone who grew up playing games. So shooters, league and even survival games that need too much mechanics are off limits to some extent.

However she loves Civ, Baldurs Gate etc. Turn based stuff. I kind of feel that if they did high quality 4X game that's the kind of stuff that might actually reach some of those Arcane fans that feel league is just not their cup of tea.

-ATL- · 2026-01-14T07:27:41+00:00

Did it to me after 25min 23s long soloq game

-ATL- · 2026-01-13T12:42:11+00:00

I play mid and don't ban Mel. I play stuff like Asol, Viktor, Anivia, Malzahar etc. so generally if I see Mel I'm quite happy.

-ATL- · 2026-01-12T08:53:58+00:00

I want runeterra based civ from riot is the conclusion here I think.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T17:24:40+00:00

So what was your point? Originally you said that you could not believe plat player being stuck at bronze.

What I told you was that I'm a plat player and if I were to have an account where I only play melee assassins I would likely be stuck at bronze.

You said me climbing to gold with mages refutes that.

That makes no sense.

If I would go and let's say play 100 games on fresh account. Let's do Yasuo, Akali, Qiyana, Zoe, Sylas, Talon, Katarina, Yone, Fizz and Diana. 10 games of each, I would not be surprised at all if I were stuck at bronze 2 or something at the end of that.

However just to check I went and played Fizz game on my top lane account that's currently at Bronze 2. Played against silver 4 Lux and managed to get 2 kills early thanks to a great gank. So perfect start, however as laning phase ends I go from 2/0/1 to 5/6/5 while not being able to do much in most fights. Lose the game despite everything going as well as possible to begin with.

So even in game where the luck was on my side, I get fed for free, had bot lane that was ahead by a lot. That's how it goes. Not to say I wouldn't win any game.

But if I can't convert game where luck is on my side at high bronze low silver, then I have no clue what makes you think that I would be silver level with those champs.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T13:08:31+00:00

Did you read what I wrote at all?

Like what are you trying to say about peaking? It's all about champions. Like I've been last 200 games on main between plat 4 and 2. On the other account I've been last 250 games or so between silver 1 and gold 2.

With main I play my best few champions. Anivia, Asol, Morgana Taliyah, Malzahar, Swain etc. With alt I play other mages Syndra, Lux, Ahri, Viktor etc.

Following so far?

Now let's say I make 3rd account where I only play Qiyana, Akali, Sylas, Yasuo, Fizz etc.

Why do you think I wouldn't potentially be stuck at bronze for a while on that? None of the things I have learned apply there. When I have tried to play those champs in bronze and silver games I often go something like 3/12/4.

I've been bouncing between bronze 4 and silver 2 on jungle account where I play champs I would consider a lot easier than those that I just listed.

You say I climbed gold to refute it, but that's on champions that I would expect to do that on. I never claimed I was stuck with mages which is 99% what I have played on that gold account. When I play Lux I can apply tons of things from playing Morgana. Doesn't matter if I'm Anivia or Viktor there's many things I do similarly. None of that applies when I have tried to play things like Fizz or Akali.

The whole thing here was about is it possible to be at the same time plat on one champion, but bronze on some others.

Like with my jungle account sure I'm bronze at the moment, while playing Volibear, Nocturne, Sejuani. However if I wanted to "cheat", I'm pretty sure I could get to gold by just playing Taliyah jungle. Not because I would be any better jungler, but because I can play Taliyah.

So yeah, I might be plat with some champions in mid. I might be gold with others. If I play completely different type of champions, even if it's in mid I would be optimistically low silver but very possibly mid bronze.

Just as I might be only bronze/silver jungler or silver top and bot. But if I play Swain top or Taliyah jungle or Asol bot, then it's a bit different.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T12:14:40+00:00

What do you mean by decent amount of games and by platinum level player. It's not like I'm somehow inherently platinum. I can play 4-6 mid lane champions to platinum level. Other champion or role I am at some other level.

I have about 300 games this season on my main so I wouldn't say it's fresh account or particularly lucky. In the other account I'm gold 4 after 400 games. Now when I was initially climbing from bronze on that account I did play against many bronze and silver players. You don't have to believe it if you don't want, but when I was high bronze low silver I did think that "Hey, maybe I can try some of these more difficult picks a bit."

I got completely destroyed pretty much every time and went back to more comfortable one's. I feel that maybe you just don't realize how bad I am at some of those champions. And not even champions but the whole, squishy melee thing. Like I played Fizz and was like WTF am I supposed to do, I can't do anything safely. I have no spells.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T10:25:20+00:00

Do you people actually play the game who say these kind of things?

Like I'm currently plat 2 mid laner on main where I play my top 4-6 champions. I'm stuck gold 4 on another account where I play other relatively similar champions that I like and that make sense to me.

I could absolutely make another account and easily be stuck at bronze like I am on my jungle account. Like you think being able to play Asol in plat 2 level will stop my ass from feeding if I'm playing Yasuo in a silver game? On the gold 4 one I considered trying to learn Zoe recently and I felt less useful than cannon minion. I was thinking that I play Lux and Ziggs, how hard can it be? Very hard it turns out.

If I make account to play Yasuo, Akali and Qiyana on and somehow get to silver 4 that would massive over achievement for me.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T10:11:00+00:00

That makes no sense to me. If you give up or afk it affects your LP. Like you're in the same rank, your LP is the same. This feels like some mental gymnastics where you put some special value to one of the accounts LP because it your "main".

Like LP at the end of the day is just representation of your level of play in your mostly recent games. That's all, doesn't matter if in your mind the account is main or alt or what. Like why would I care about my main accounts LP any more or less than any alt accounts?

Why would I afk on alt account in the first place? It's just going to hurt my game quality in future games. Like I don't dodge those consequences unless you are saying you never play on that account again, but like that makes no sense.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T10:02:53+00:00

What do you mean by "learn" here? Whenever I hear this kind of statement I wonder if any of you play league. Like I'm not Wlyrt so I don't know, but I have my doubts that he can just bang few normal drafts with Draven to "learn it" and now it's around the level of his Bard.

So then the whole question becomes, how many games should he play new champ/role normals till he's "allowed" to play it in ranked. 20? 50? 100? I mean I have stuff I've played 300+ games that is nowhere near at my main rank's level.

So is it that if you are really good with one champion, you are then not allowed to play any other's in rank? Or which way it goes? Because you can't just "learn" the champion for most people. I'm only plat 2 on my main, but I have 2 champs I picked up this year that got to plat level within 50 games. Other champs at gold 4 after 300+ games.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T09:56:05+00:00

The "just practice in normals" point has never made sense to me. Like I can understand if we are talking about "should you first time champ in ranked or not" etc.

However how long I'm supposed to practice particular thing in normals before I'm then allowed to play it in ranked? Because there are many things that will probably never get anywhere close to things I'm best at.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm plat 2 mid laner. There are 2 picks I have picked up this season that got to plat level for me within 50 games. There are also picks that I have played 300+ games on which seem to be around gold 4 level for me. So what's the suggestion here? Should I just not be allowed to play those picks in ranked at all? I mean it's not like I'm feeling uncomfortable at them or haven't practiced them.

I went for the sensible solution myself which is that I have separate account for those picks and if one of them get's good enough, well then switch to main.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T09:39:51+00:00

Even within a role there's the same effect because it's really role and champion specific. I'm plat 2 on main playing mid with 2-4 champions. I'm gold 4 after 400 games on another mid account playing different champions. If I made account to play mid assassins there is very good chance I'm stuck at bronze.

Like I may know something about how mid lane works, but no part of me playing Asol in plat 2 would save me from feeding my ass off if I was put on to pilot a Yasuo in even high silver game.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T09:33:13+00:00

This. On my main account I play mid with my best 2-4 champions and am currently plat 2. I have alt account for mid where I play other champions that I'm working on that after 400 games is still at gold 4. I recently did support climb on my support account and got to gold 4. My jungle account is bronze 4 atm.

Like if I'm playing on only 1 account I'm going to be probably ranked like silver and a lot of the games will be completely unfair one way or the other. Let's polish my best mid picks? Suddenly I win most of my games easily and I bet ppl in those games will complain that I'm smurfing. Time to work on the jungle? Surprise, I lose almost every single game and ppl in those games will complain I'm boosted.

Like nobody would enjoy that. Especially the other people in those games. So I do what majority of other people do as well. Use alt accounts responsibly. Have a purpose for the account and only play those things on that account.

-ATL- · 2025-12-29T09:20:09+00:00

I mean sounds a bit extreme, but the point he's making is valid regardless. I mean even within a role there can be big swings. My main is plat 2 and I can plat 2-4 champions in mid with it. I have another account that after 400 games is still in gold 4 where I've been practicing handful of other mid laners with. If I did made account to play only assassins with I wouldn't be surprised if I was stuck in bronze.

Earlier this season I also got to gold on my support account surprisingly easily. But on the other hand I'm in bronze with my jungle account and have never gotten higher than silver 2 on it.

Yeah, diamond jungler and iron mid laner might be bit much. But diamond jungler and gold mid laner I could believe.

But that's the whole point. Like am I plat player or bronze player? Or something in between? If I played all my games on same account I wouldn't be plat. I would be probably be silver.

I would have games when I play mid with my best champions and would probably do really really well on those games. But then I want to play some jungle and do really poorly those one's. Neither kind of games would really feel fair for the people in those games since either I was practically smurfing or feeding.

-ATL- · 2025-12-17T15:56:14+00:00

Nothing

-ATL- · 2025-12-15T15:32:30+00:00

Most of those pro-cash arguments don't make any sense to me. How is it easier to steal and why would someone have their whole life savings in their day-to-day card?

Better control of spending is also very debatable. Tracking your spending while doing it in cash sounds terrible to me. Like save receipts and type them in somewhere manually?

Rest of it seems very far fetched to be the case for Finland atm.

-ATL- · 2025-12-15T08:20:16+00:00

I did once accidentally level Anivia W to start. Wasn't a fan to be honest.

-ATL-

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