Holiday finishes off the Haliburton-less Pacers.
Boston came back, from being 18 points down, to beat the Pacers, 114-111. One more Boston win seals the coffin on the Pacers' post season hopes. T Wolves at the Mavs, tonight. Let's see if the Mavs go up 3-0, over the T Wolves. I'm sure the NBA wanted extended series in both Conferences. That doesn't appear likely, right now.
I think Minnesota was emotionally spent after beating Denver. Maybe they get back their mojo but if they lose tonight this series is over.
Minnesota is too young, and they need another reliable scorer. I do think that mentally they spent it all on Denver and can't find themselves against Dallas. Ant is outstanding, but they have no one else who can shoot reliably if Ant is off his game. And that last game had some of the worst plays at the worst times to help the Wolves lose. The bad pass by Ant, the horrible switch that put Gobert(!) on Luka, no one stepped up to help Gobert even as Luka had to spend several seconds juking Gobert, and then when they only need a 2 to set it up for Reid to take a 3... those were all plays that helped sink the Wolves.
If the Wolves don't win tonight, it will probably be a sweep by Dallas.
KAT is 4 for his last 30 from three. Some guys rise to the moment, some guys shrink.
Wolves go 4:30 without a FG and lose it on a 10-1 Mavs run.
@MichiganPacker2 posted:KAT is 4 for his last 30 from three. Some guys rise to the moment, some guys shrink.
And KAT misses two more times and he's 4 for his last 32 from three.
15 for 54 from the field in this series as well.
Dallas beats Minnesota 116-107 and have a 3-0 lead in this series. Put a fork in it, Minnesota.
Celtics finish off the sweep. I read somewhere (maybe the Ringer) where if you take the Wins Above Replacement for the injured players that had to sit out playoff games and subtract it from the team's overall win total, that this year's Eastern Conference playoffs had the easiest field in recent history.
The Celtics beat the following directly:
Miami was playing without Butler and Rozier. They were 46-36 those two combined for 12 WAR, so the Celtics beat the equivalent of a 34-48 team.
In the final game of the Cavs series, the Cavs played without Donavan Mitchell, J. Allen, and Lavert. If you take out that 21 WAR from those three players, the Celtics eliminated the equivalent of a 27-55 team.
If you take away Haliburton's 9 WAR, the Celtics advanced to the Finals by beating the equivalent of a 38-44 team.
The teams that the Pacers eliminated were ever more affected by injuries.
The Bucks without Giannis were the equivalent of a 36 win team. Without Giannis and Dame (who only played part of the series), it's the same as playing a 29 win team.
The Knicks played most of the Pacers series without Randall, Robinson, and Anunoby. That makes them equal to a 41 win team. If you take out Brunson as well like in the second half of Game 7, the Pacers beat a 29 win team to advance.
Other than a not-even-close-to-ready for prime-time Orlando Magic team, and a Sixers team with Embiid playing on one leg, that's the East.
Pacers and Celtics this year are a complete joke.
Please, just get this year over for the NBA. I lost most interest after the Bucks were eliminated. But follow along a bit. But with all the injuries it seems a foregone conclusion. Just get this year over, announce a champ and move on. It will be a tarnished championship anyway.
I think either Dallas or Minnesota will give Boston a run for their money. I still worry that Boston gets too complacent at times and they are prone to letting teams hang around which specifically will be an issue if they face the Mavericks. Luka and Kyrie are two very good closers.