OT: NBA Playoffs

[cease10]

I wish 50 Cent would have turned around and knocked that guy out at the Knicks game.

Somebody needs to hold that guy accountable for his actions. Banned from the arena is not enough.

I understand Trae not wanting to press charges, but someone needs to hold him accountable.

I wish someone would plaster their names and faces across social media so they can experience some cancel culture.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Lakers look to be getting their mojo back.

 

[Ski11585]

Lakers look to be getting their mojo back.

Hope LeBron’s ankle doesn’t hold him back.

Bucks sure looked good again tonight.

 

[Gep Dawg]

76ers over Lakers. Two best defensive teams in the league. And a rematch of the 2001 Finals on its 20th anniversary

 

[Wanstash21]

Hope LeBron’s ankle doesn’t hold him back.

Bucks sure looked good again tonight.

he's hardly asserted himself.. kinda shows what he thinks of this Phoenix team. He's out here getting his guys involved, making sure they're ready for this stretch run.

I'm gonna call it now.. Gentleman's sweep (5 games) or clean sweep the rest of the way to the Finals.

Davis has it rolling now too.. they're just wayyyyyyyyy too good.

 

[Ski11585]

he's hardly asserted himself.. kinda shows what he thinks of this Phoenix team. He's out here getting his guys involved, making sure they're ready for this stretch run.

I'm gonna call it now.. Gentleman's sweep (5 games) or clean sweep the rest of the way to the Finals.

Davis has it rolling now too.. they're just wayyyyyyyyy too good.

He absolutely toyed with Crowder last night. Dude didn’t have a prayer.

 

[Ski11585]

He absolutely toyed with Crowder last night. Dude didn’t have a prayer.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Some spectacular individual performances tonight.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Some spectacular individual performances tonight.

Tatum. Wow. That said, he might have to scoring 50+ for the Celtics to win another game in that series. Great game overall!

Mavs Clips was excellent. Leonard, George and Luka all showing out.

 

[cease10]

Tatum is spectacular and so special. And he's so young. It's scary to imagine how much better he can become.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

CP3 and DBook say…NOT SO FAST!!!!!

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Without AD, Lakers likely lose in 7. Suns have really good team. Really good. Lakers probably need both AD and LeBron out there to win the series.

If the Grizzles win tonight, all West series 2-2.

Bucks look awesome... Still sucks DiVincenzo is now out. They will give the Nets a hell of series. Could even potentially heat them in a long series.

Mavs look to be in trouble if Luka's injury continues to hinder his play.

Hawks just look better than the Knicks right now. Knicks I think win Game 5 but lose in 6.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Hopefully Embiid is okay.

Grizzlies fighting like hell but Jazz likely just too much.

Tonight's games should be a lot of fun.

 

[Wanstash21]

CP3 and DBook say…NOT SO FAST!!!!!

it helps when one of the top 5 guys in the NBA doesn't play the 2nd half.

 

[DT_PITT]

Dame is silly great. That is all.

 

[DT_PITT]

Silly, silly, silly great.

 

[Drew1208]

Dame is silly great. That is all.

Ridiculous

 

[Ski11585]

Dear basketball gods....

Please no Clippers-Nets finals.

 

[Wanstash21]

Dear basketball gods....

Please no Clippers-Nets finals.

Davis needs to get healthy. If he can't go a full 35-38, there won't be a game 7. He needs to get back on the court. If he does, I still like LA in 7.

 

[Ski11585]

Danny Aigne and Brad Stevens out in Boston.

It's about time. I think Stevens is a tad overrated and Aigne absolutely squandered their good position three four years ago.

ETA: Looks like Stevens is getting out of coaching and into the front office.

 

[PA_Panther]

Danny Aigne and Brad Stevens out in Boston.

It's about time. I think Stevens is a tad overrated and Aigne absolutely squandered their good position three four years ago.

ETA: Looks like Stevens is getting out of coaching and into the front office.

Just a weird day probably good for the Celtics. I’ll be very interested to see who gets the job. My guess at this point is Wes Unseld Jr. who has been with the Nuggets since 2015.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

it helps when one of the top 5 guys in the NBA doesn't play the 2nd half.

It helps when the Suns are the better team and the refs don’t gift the Lakers and LeFlop with every call.

 

[Ski11585]

It helps when the Suns are the better team and the refs don’t gift the Lakers and LeFlop with every call.

If both teams are healthy the Suns are not the better team.

 

[Wanstash21]

If both teams are healthy the Suns are not the better team.

if you think the Suns are better when both teams are fully healthy, you're going out of your way to be a troll.

The "LeFlop" comment is just icing on the cake. Lebron flops, as does everyone, but nobody, and I mean nobody, has flopped more than Chris Paul. He's the king of flopping.

 

[Duneaux Harm]

if you think the Suns are better when both teams are fully healthy, you're going out of your way to be a troll.

The "LeFlop" comment is just icing on the cake. Lebron flops, as does everyone, but nobody, and I mean nobody, has flopped more than Chris Paul. He's the king of flopping.

Have you watched the NBA this year? Their record was absolutely legit. So many people think Davis and Lebron and believe greatest team ever. The Lakers struggled at times even when both were healthy. No troll. I just understand the NBA.

 

[Wanstash21]

Have you watched the NBA this year? Their record was absolutely legit. So many people think Davis and Lebron and believe greatest team ever. The Lakers struggled at times even when both were healthy. No troll. I just understand the NBA.

I never said the Suns weren't good, but they aren't nearly as good as LA when those guys are healthy. It's not even a question. If you think 1 year of Phoenix getting the 2 seed is better than Davis and Lebron, you don't know the NBA at all.

 

[Ski11585]

if you think the Suns are better when both teams are fully healthy, you're going out of your way to be a troll.

The "LeFlop" comment is just icing on the cake. Lebron flops, as does everyone, but nobody, and I mean nobody, has flopped more than Chris Paul. He's the king of flopping.

And he hits dudes in the nuts. That’s way worse than flopping.

Have you watched the NBA this year? Their record was absolutely legit. So many people think Davis and Lebron and believe greatest team ever. The Lakers struggled at times even when both were healthy. No troll. I just understand the NBA.

The Lakers were in the hunt for the best record in the NBA and LeBron was a virtual lock for his 5th MVP before that team got hammered by injuries. The Suns are legit. But healthy the Lakers were the best team in the NBA.

 

[Wanstash21]

And he hits dudes in the nuts. That’s way worse than flopping.


The Lakers were in the hunt for the best record in the NBA and LeBron was a virtual lock for his 5th MVP before that team got hammered by injuries. The Suns are legit. But healthy the Lakers were the best team in the NBA.

Matthews boxing out...

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Dame is silly great. That is all.

He is, but the NBA got lucky that they didn't win that game after the refs completely screwed up that sequence at the end of reguation before he hit that first game tying three.

How does a ref who is standing in the perfect position to make the call not see that Rivers didn't even touch Lillard when he took that (first) shot? And then they go to the replay and "uphold" the call, except the call on the court was a foul on the shot and they decided to "uphold" the fact that Rivers hand lightly brushed up against Lillard while he was still dribbling. If THAT is the standard for a foul in the NBA there would be a foul called on literally more than 90% of all possessions, and by the time the game ended there would be no one left on either team to play the game. But after the refs looked at the replay and realized that they completely blew the call they didn't have the cajones to admit their error, so they just made something up.

That officiating was every bit as bad as Lillard's shot making was good. To use the phrase of another all time great, he's a bad man.

 

[cease10]

He is, but the NBA got lucky that they didn't win that game after the refs completely screwed up that sequence at the end of reguation before he hit that first game tying three.

How does a ref who is standing in the perfect position to make the call not see that Rivers didn't even touch Lillard when he took that (first) shot? And then they go to the replay and "uphold" the call, except the call on the court was a foul on the shot and they decided to "uphold" the fact that Rivers hand lightly brushed up against Lillard while he was still dribbling. If THAT is the standard for a foul in the NBA there would be a foul called on literally more than 90% of all possessions, and by the time the game ended there would be no one left on either team to play the game. But after the refs looked at the replay and realized that they completely blew the call they didn't have the cajones to admit their error, so they just made something up.

That officiating was every bit as bad as Lillard's shot making was good. To use the phrase of another all time great, he's a bad man.

Wasn't that big of a deal. I thought it was the right call in the end. Rivers did brush him on the side prior to the shot.

 

[DT_PITT]

Wasn't that big of a deal. I thought it was the right call in the end. Rivers did brush him on the side prior to the shot.

Not that big of a deal?!?! You obviously don't know Joe very well!! LOL!!

(I didn't think it was this big of a deal either. haha)

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

My problem with it is that if that is the standard for a foul then there would be dozens of fouls called every quarter. There is more contact on the guy with the ball than that on basically every possession in the NBA. If that much contact on the guy with the ball is a foul then Nikola Jokic should have been on the foul line on literally every possession that he touched the ball on offense.

And let's not forget, the contact was so slight that the refs actually DIDN'T call it a foul, until they looked at the replay and realized that the foul that they actually did call, the shooting foul, wasn't even close to being a foul. That wasn't a foul right up until the moment that the refs looked at the replay and saw that they were going to have to admit they screwed up, so they decided that rather than admit it they called something completely different than what they originally called.

 

[Ski11585]

Doncic is just unreal. What a game.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Doncic is just unreal. What a game.

I'm not ranking them as players, but Doncic is one of the only guys I can really think of like Harden or LeBron in his ability to just control a game. The tempo, the offensive strategy, the sort of thing you can only do as a great passer and scorer with a lot of trust from your coach.

 

[lilspainishflea]

ETA: Looks like Stevens is getting out of coaching and into the front office.

Stevens is protecting his name. He won't be as hot when the Celtics go .500 and get bounced in the first round again next year.

 

[lilspainishflea]

Thought the Sixers played a really great game overall last night. I can think of a big play from everyone, including George Hill who only had 2 points (FTs on a layup attempt with 1 on the shot clock midway through the 4th).

Sixers could potentially beat the Hawks without Embiid but they won't go further than that. I think their defense will give Atlanta problems and their shooters (especially Harris, but to a lesser extent Curry and Green) are significantly better than anyone on the Knicks. Hopefully JoJo is ready soon.

 

[Ski11585]

I'm not ranking them as players, but Doncic is one of the only guys I can really think of like Harden or LeBron in his ability to just control a game. The tempo, the offensive strategy, the sort of thing you can only do as a great passer and scorer with a lot of trust from your coach.

He's a transcendent player in the making. I realize my nemesis, Skip Bayless, thinks he's overrated, but you are spot on comparing him to LeBron and Harden in terms of his ability to control the game.

He'll never be the player LeBron is/was, because he doesn't have the athleticism and will never be the same force on defense. LeBron in his prime could go from guarding MVP Derrick Rose to Pau Gasol without missing a beat.

But man, Doncic just finds ways to score. I know he's lost a step, but Kawhi is still a good defender. So is PG. And Doncic is still making it happen.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Thought the Sixers played a really great game overall last night. I can think of a big play from everyone, including George Hill who only had 2 points (FTs on a layup attempt with 1 on the shot clock midway through the 4th).

Sixers could potentially beat the Hawks without Embiid but they won't go further than that. I think their defense will give Atlanta problems and their shooters (especially Harris, but to a lesser extent Curry and Green) are significantly better than anyone on the Knicks. Hopefully JoJo is ready soon.

Is it possible Embiid will be back but have a minutes limitation or be limited to playing every other game or something? I don't really understand the range of possibilities here.

 

[lilspainishflea]

Is it possible Embiid will be back but have a minutes limitation or be limited to playing every other game or something? I don't really understand the range of possibilities here.

I think anything is possible at this point, including him sitting the remainder of the season. It's been called a "small tear" which could mean anything from a few millimeters to anything less than a complete tear through the meniscus. Sometimes these injuries are so small they're never even discovered, sometimes they require surgery (either repairing the meniscus or cutting off the damaged piece, which is worse).

Embiid was working out pre-game last night which suggests that the injury is probably on the very minor side. I suspect that he will return at some point during the playoffs. Not sure if he'll be a full go for 30-35 mins per night. But it's really just impossible to know if/when he'll be back until the Sixers clear him.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

I realize my nemesis, Skip Bayless, thinks he's overrated

Two thoughts:

1) If Skip Bayless thinks he's overrated he is almost certainly underrated.
2) If you are going to have a nemesis, a simpleton like Skip Bayless is a good one to pick.