Other Playoff Games

It's early.

Um WOW! Cleveland destroyed on their home floor. 

Pacers are definitely 1 of the teams nobody wanted to play in the playoffs.

Long way to go yet...LeBronna has never lost a first round series.

Pacers are not a threat to anyone 

Cleveland disagrees... 

GS got the Spurs best shot tonight but it was too much Splash Brother. 

Draymond Green is easily the most hateable player in the NBA...

Eye Heart Draymond Green 

Philly might take the East. Toronto may not have the firepower to match them. Who in the East does? 

Indiana getting blown out at home 

People shoveling dirt on the Cavs is a bad idea.  LeBron is still the best player on the planet and can carry that team maybe all the way to the ECF 

And now Indiana returns the favor

Pretty good series 

So far officiating is atrocious.

Is Middleton ever hot.  Making everything.

Zeller doing some good space occupying.

OKC down 2-1. That’s surprising yet not. OKC super team got a really bad matchup with Utah- they’re capable of beating anyone. Mitchell is unbelievable- he’s a rookie??? Utah caught lightning in a bottle with that pick (13th pick). 

On the ROTY topic, I do not think Simmons should be the ROTY. He collected a paycheck, attended meetings, did all the things rookies do... LAST YEAR. He’s not a rookie. I think it’s ridiculous that he’s being considered, and that Embiid was considered last year. You don’t get a redshirt rookie year. 

Meanwhile, Portland came in riding high, had a great year- and got swept. And except for game one, they were all pretty decisive. Moving Jrue Holiday to 2G just sent that team to the stratosphere. Finally a compliment to Davis. No one gave much to the Pelicans for picking up Rondo- but he is playing as well as he has ever. If they go deep, do they make a run to keep Cousins? If they do, is thatvteam a real challenger in the West? They’ll run out of gas in round 2 against GS, but they’re suddenly looking like a dangerous team. 

The Timberwolves did what the Bucks did- got off their asses in game 3 to make it 2-1.  I know the consensus was a that KAT is a top 10 player, but he scored 8 in game 1, 5 in game 2. Tonight he had 18-16-3-1-2, butbit was really Butler and Teague hitting 7 threes that were the big shots. And Derrick Rose had 17 our of nowhere... we’ll if Minnesota and Milwaukee can follow up in game 4. 

Utah is pretty good and not sure anyone expected them to play this well.  Having the ROTY (Mitchell) helps.  I also think Quin Synder is really underrated as a coach.   OKC is just an enigma of a team but that’s what you get with a Westbrook led squad.  He’s a more talented version of Eric Bledsoe.   When he’s focused and motivated he’s unstoppable but his body language and attitude and antics can work the other way (bad for chemistry) so you take the good with the bad. 

Not surprised at all about how New Orleans is playing.  They are the classic fly under the radar team which is amazing because I think Anthony Davis might be the best player in the league that no one talks about.   To a lesser extent it’s the same thing with Holiday.   All I know is that’s the best 1-2 punch in the playoffs and they are going to give Golden State some problems. 

As for Minnesota,  I think they have a tougher path than the Bucks and was expecting more out of Towns.  He’s been a disappointment so far in the playoffs and not sure you can count on Derrick Rose scoring 17 again.  Butler is the key guy on that team anyway.  When he plays well they usually win. 

Washington ties it up 2-2.  The Raptors wilted down the stretch despite Beal fouling out with about 4 minutes remaining.  

Bronnie tied up the series

Wizards & Raptors also tied up at 2

The NBA is happy because it looks like every series in the EC will go 7

Pacers giving LeBron and the Cavs a second chance 

That play with Stephenson- how do you go from a jump ball to only a foul on him? Looked to me like both players were going at it... but they switch the call? At a crucial moment in the game? WTF???

If that’s what replay does, then the Bucks should have demanded a replay review so the officials could see that Snell got his jersey yanked, which lead to the turnover. Or on Giannis’ thunderous dunk that it should have been an and-one on Horford. Or on Horford’s layup on Parker where not only did Horford commit a flagrant foul by elbowing Parker in the face, he then proceeded to use Parker’s face as leverage to get the layup and then somehow complain to the officials about not getting a foul to boot and mysteriously holding his head as if he was the guy that got hit in the head. 

Horford sure seems to get a lot of love from the refs.   Half the time he has the ball he’s the one initiating contact yet the refs rarely call it. 

The pulling of the jersey (no call) was amazing.  How do you miss that. 

NBA refs control the game. It's been that way since the 80's

Thanks for the memories Wolves.  That was an ass kicking at home compliments of H Town 

Utah up by 14 on OKC

OKC = bunch of thugs when things aren't going their way. WAHHHH.....

Probably sacrificial lamb for Houston

Boy, no ****- PG doesn’t like Engles. I LOVE IT! That Aussie “get up in your sh*t” defense (like Delly). 

Wow... get chippy in SLC...

Lebron James with a block on one end and then a game winning buzzer beater. That was epic. 44 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists in a game where they scored 98. 

Just some horrific officiating here in the end of the 4Q.   People wonder why the home team wins like 95% of game 7s and this is why.  Indiana is getting hosed. 

Toronto getting schooled by LeBron and the Cavs in game 2 at home.  

 @Toronto

So what f you’re Toronto, what do you do? You’re all in on Kyle Lowrey and Demar Derozen... but they obviously aren’t enough. And I like Derozen- the dude can flat out fill it. They even changed their scheme, became a better passing team... how is Lebron and a bunch of dudes beating them???

The Cavs are in their heads.  LeBron has their number. 

#LeBronto

For as disappointing as Milwaukee finished I’m sure glad I am not a Raptors fan.  They did everything all year to get to this point to beat C Town.  Epic fail 

Big Al with 3 big plays at the end to win it.  Celts up 3 zip

The media can stick “the process” up their asses 

People ripped the Bucks for their dysfunction but at least they made the series v Boston competitive and interesting.  I can’t believe people bought into the Sixers hype 

Philly is laying down like a bunch of choking dogs and it looks like they will get swept or lose game 5 in Boston

I don’t think anyone saw this coming. Hottest team coming in... everything working. Boston is showing the coaching difference. 

This just proves that Bucks fans should be furious at the wasted opportunity this team had- get a GD coach on this team and take on this whole EC on a level playing field...

If Milwaukee gets past Boston I’m not sure Philly beats them either and I’d like to think they would give Cleveland everything they could handle as the Raptors are doing what they do. 

Total missed opportunity.  They could have made it to the conference finals without much trouble at all.   

I will say this though- Boston has one way to win- bang away and get away with it. And that’s what they’re getting. They did this to the Bucks- Giannis was met with shoulders and elbows and pushes and they rarely got called for (resulting in their massive advantage from the FT line). 

Boston is -10 in FT attempts so far in this series.  Philly is getting to the line a lot more than Milwaukee did against those guys. 

Honestly, I think Boston is the more consistent, tough, and clutch team.  The Sixers have Embiid and Simmons but not much else.   Boston is lacking their superstars but are more balanced as a team than Philly.  And Brad Stevens is making the opposing coaches look stupid in the playoffs. 

The Bucks still should have beaten those guys and nearly did.  They win game 1 and it’s us talking about the Bucks and Sixers instead of Celtics and Sixers. 

Is Toronto going to scuttle the roster? They have to be just completely beside themselves right now- swept? By this team? Just amazing... 

Toronto will be starting over courtesy #LeBronto

It will be interesting to see what LeBron does this offseason. It seemed like it was a foregone conclusion he was gone - maybe to LA, maybe to Philly. Now, there's a least a sliver of possibility he stays in Cleveland. I still think he goes though. Cleveland does have a lottery pick (originally Brooklyn's through Boston as part of the Kyrie Irving deal).

The Celtics look set to dominate the East at this point once LeBron makes his next move. They are making a playoff run without their two best All-Star players in Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. They'll get both back next year.  They somehow got out of paying a fan favorite, but very flawed one-dimensional player (Isaiah Thomas) big money and ended up with Kyrie for it.

The original 2013 Boston-Brooklyn deal looks worse by the year.

Brooklyn receives: Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Jason Terry and D.J. White

Boston receives: Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Kris Joseph, Keith Bogans, three first-round picks (2014, 2016 and 2018), plus the right to swap first-rounders in 2017.

After all was said done they missed on one pick and hit the jackpot on 3 (potentially 4 others). The 2014 pick was James Young who was a bust (17th pick). The 2016 pick was Jaylen Brown. The 2017 swap allowed them to trade their pick to Philly for what ended up being Jayson Tatum and what could be as high as the number 2 pick in this year's draft (they get the Lakers pick if it's the 2nd or 3rd pick) or Sacramento's 1st rounder in the 2019 draft. They also used the 2018 Brooklyn pick as the main piece of the package to get Kyrie.

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kyrie Irving, and another potential high lottery pick as a reward for jettisoning 36 year old Paul Pierce, 37 year old Kevin Garnett, and 36 year old Jason Terry.

Having said all that, the most important move Ainge made was hiring Brad Stevens. Put him on the Bucks and they are a 55 win team.

And just about everyone says the Celtics and Sixers are it in the EC. Maybe they’re right. I don’t want to believe that- but maybe they’re right. 

Just get the coach and get one more star. Then we’ll see...

I think Brad Stevens may have vaulted to the top of the list of nba coaches. 

Steph Curry proves he is game to the challenge. But if I am Houston, I keep pounding him. You just need one game to shift home court back. 

I think if any one player aside from Durant erupts, it is almost impossible for the Warriors to get beat.  Durant is a gimme for a decent amount of points.

phaedrus posted:

Durant is a gimme for a decent amount of points.

That's because Houston has NOBODY to even have a chance to defend him. Houston pretty much has to pray that Durant has an off night.

Here's the issue for Houston. There is NO WAY, Klay, Draymond, & Curry all have "off nights" including Durant.

If you remember from game #1, Nick Young popped (3) Three's while Curry was getting a blow. Curry scored less than 20 in each of the first 2 games.

BTW....Iggy is doubtful for game #4 - before anyone poo-poo's this his defense has been excellent & he causes lots of missed shots from the Rockets.

As bad as the W's beat them yesterday, the series ain't over yet. Warriors need to keep the pressure on by winning game #4 & keep home court advantage. Otherwise it would be a brand new series if Houston can steal game #4

There are a select few guys that have ever played that could even slow down Durant under the newer rules. The Bad Boy Pistons, the mid-80s Celtics, the mid-90s Knicks, etc. would have pounded the crap out of him, hand-checked him constantly on the ball, and would try to wear him down physically. That doesn't happen now (unless the NBA assigns certain officials to the games). But if they did start to allow hand-checking then Harden and Paul would be more affected than Durant.

Also, one of the underappreciated outcomes of the Rockets targeting Curry on switches possession after possession is that Durant really doesn't have to expend that much energy on defense. Ideally, you'd want to make him work on that end as much as possible.

The other thing that's likely to happen in one of the upcoming games is that Klay Thompson is likely to go nuclear. As good as Curry and Durant are (top 5 shooters all time), I would argue there is nothing like the energy you can feel even watching on TV when Thompson goes off.

I guess #LeBronto ain't going down easy.

Game 5 will be a very big deal - I'm hopeful the Celtics win, I really don't want to see Cleveland in the finals again

Lol!!! Drayage Green just front rimmed an open dunk...

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy...

Warriors on the verge of a massive, massive choke job right now.