OT: NBA Thread

[4upmc]

4upmc talked about this a little earlier in the thread, but Porter has to start making some attempt to play defense. The sky is 100% the limit for him as long as he stays healthy.

The guy has so much offensive talent. It is amazing that he will work hard and smart on offense and then do absolutely nothing on D.

With Gary Harris, if Porter plays defense well enough for Malone to put him on the floor longer, they actually have a shot to beat the Clippers.

As poor as he is on D, I believe Malone made a mistake not having him on the court at the end of the last game. Murray was off on O and Jokic had no help. With the way Porter was playing on O and rebounding he probably could have contributed more than Millsap.

Jokic needs to be more aggressive on O. As great as passer as he is...at the end of the last game guys like Millsap & Grant couldn’t hit any of the wide open shots he was getting them.

 

[CougarClaws]

In a career full of remarkable accomplishments, LeBron James may be playing the best half he has ever played in a playoff basketball game. At least offensively.

Having only watched LeBron play a couple dozen times, I cannot believe how good he is as he approaches his 36th birthday. I will not be missing another Lakers game during these playoffs.

 

[Ski11585]

Having only watched LeBron play a couple dozen times, I cannot believe how good he is as he approaches his 36th birthday. I will not be missing another Lakers game during these playoffs.

Not just approaching his 36th birthday, but top 10 in minutes played all time.

 

[TheChair]

Having only watched LeBron play a couple dozen times, I cannot believe how good he is as he approaches his 36th birthday. I will not be missing another Lakers game during these playoffs.

Very few people in life deliver on all of their promise and expectation. James is one that has probably even succeeded his expectation. When they call you "the chosen one" at 16, the expectation level is absurdly high.

If he stays healthy, I think he has many more years because inevitably he should just be able to transition into the post and be a monster down there as a point forward. It is just about whether his body will hold up because even if he loses 2-3 steps athletically, he will still be athletic enough to play at a high level.

 

[TheChair]

Wanamaker has really played confidently over these past two days. He is making a huge difference for Boston right now, which is quite amazing.

Toronto needs to start hitting some shots if they want to make it to the next game. Like much of this series, they seem to have nothing offensively so far tonight.

 

[TheChair]

As poor as he is on D, I believe Malone made a mistake not having him on the court at the end of the last game. Murray was off on O and Jokic had no help. With the way Porter was playing on O and rebounding he probably could have contributed more than Millsap.

Jokic needs to be more aggressive on O. As great as passer as he is...at the end of the last game guys like Millsap & Grant couldn’t hit any of the wide open shots he was getting them.

I agree but I think Porter just has not earned the coach's trust. It is a rough situation when the coach feels that way yet the player has gifts that make him valuable.

For as good as he is, I think Jokic is still feeling a lot of the game out in terms of how dominant he actually is able to be. I would rather him stay in his zone of comfort than disrupt his game but I agree that they could have stood him taking more plays during the last game (and in some other games as well).

I think the pairing with him and Murray makes a lot of sense because Murray gets more into the disruption zone as an offensive threat (though he also has a tendency to disappear from time to time too).

 

[thirteenNINE]

Surprised that Nurse decided to play hero ball with Powell at the end of OT, down 3-2 you really need to force the action there.

 

[DT_PITT]

This game is crazy good and crazy intense.

 

[thirteenNINE]

The whole bubble has been great basketball but this is amazing basketball...

 

[King Of All Message Boards]

This game is crazy good and crazy intense.

Indeed. Extremely well played and tremendously entertaining.

 

[thirteenNINE]

Let's play 7.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

Hope the Raptors got one more in them! Gonna be very, very tough to pull off. What a game! Lowry!

 

[4upmc]

Big shot after big shot! Lowry is one tough dude.

 

[TheChair]

As poor as he is on D, I believe Malone made a mistake not having him on the court at the end of the last game. Murray was off on O and Jokic had no help. With the way Porter was playing on O and rebounding he probably could have contributed more than Millsap.

Jokic needs to be more aggressive on O. As great as passer as he is...at the end of the last game guys like Millsap & Grant couldn’t hit any of the wide open shots he was getting them.

Porter has shot Denver back into the game tonight. Seems like Malone came to the same conclusions that you did.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Porter has shot Denver back into the game tonight. Seems like Malone came to the same conclusions that you did.

Porter has been impressive. Denver could have a nice big 3 in Joker, Murray, and Porter moving forward.

 

[thirteenNINE]

Porter has shot Denver back into the game tonight. Seems like Malone came to the same conclusions that you did.

See, that's the issue. This game was over after 10 minutes because Paul Millsap is getting burn over Porter. At some point you have to put your best team on the floor.

 

[KennyTheKangaroo]

I can't believe that Paul Milsap is

A. Still in the league
B. Younger than me
C. Not collecting social security at this point

he has been around forever

 

[Ski11585]

I can't believe that Paul Milsap is

A. Still in the league
B. Younger than me
C. Not collecting social security at this point

he has been around forever

Bomani Jones' "He's still in the league?" is one of my favorite stupid recurring talk radio segments.

 

[h2p_5150]

It's not the exact same team, but it does amaze me that Lebron made a fairly similar Raptors team looks like total mincemeat on a yearly basis in the playoffs.

 

[JohnnyGossamer]

It's not the exact same team, but it does amaze me that Lebron made a fairly similar Raptors team looks like total mincemeat on a yearly basis in the playoffs.

That's why they made moves for Leonard, Green and Gasol. Beyond Leonard being a freak, wanted to add some playoff proven veterans. That team two years ago was the #1 seed in the East. Essentially flat blew 3 or the 4 in the series in which Cavs swept them. Just didn't have it to finish the job... At all. That Cavs team was easily the worst team Lebron played on during his run to eight straight finals. The Raptors should've won the East that season. Then they get flat swept by the Cavs and really just got in their own way enormously in three of the four games. Embarrassing as hell.

The year before that was Lebron's best Cavs team and they worked over everyone in the East before losing to GS in 5. This was Durant's first year in GS. The Cavs swept Toronto that year too but not as embarrassing because honestly that was a stellar Cavs team. I think it was playing better than the one that beat GS before they added Durant. Toronto wasn't the #1 seed either.

Year before that was the Cavs team that beat the Warriors in 7. The Durant-less Warriors. Raptors took that Cavs team to 6 in the East Finals.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Celtics - Raptors just one of the best basketball games I've watched. Wow. Always happy to see a box-and-one as well!

---

LeBron could finish #1 all time in scoring, maybe tie at #1 for all-star games, #1 in playoff scoring (done), #1 in VORP, #2 or #3 in PER, #2 in win shares, and #3 in assists. And ahead of MJ in those numbers except PER. Then of course comes the inevitable rings arguments etc.

(To be fair to Kareem, his numbers would have been bigger if he didn't do four amazing years at UCLA, though also maybe he wouldn't have been as dominant without spending his time at UCLA honing his skills and mind anyway.)

 

[4upmc]

Porter has shot Denver back into the game tonight. Seems like Malone came to the same conclusions that you did.

Didn’t see the game but as bad as his effort is on D they need more firepower on O...
Seems Millsap is at the end of the road. His D is not what it once was (still better than Porter) but he is absent on O.

When Porter improves on D & then they add Barton back they have a nice team. Barton is nothing special but he’s solid on D and another guy who can get his own shot.

 

[4upmc]

I can't believe that Paul Milsap is

A. Still in the league
B. Younger than me
C. Not collecting social security at this point

he has been around forever

Father Time seems to have caught up to him.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Father Time seems to have caught up to him.

He's had a very nice career but this 90 million over 3 years contract is going to be his last big pay day.

 

[Ski11585]

Lakers looking strong tonight.

 

[TheChair]

Lakers looking strong tonight.

The TNT guys believe that it is the Lakers' size wearing Houston down. I actually think tonight was a lot about the Lakers' defense. Much more solid until they shut things down a little too early coming down the stretch.

I wonder what Morey's next move for Houston will be. I think that the Westbrook trade has been mostly a bust at this point. I cannot really blame Westbrook too much as he is what he is. Chris Paul was a better fit though the personalities were not meshing.

 

[thirteenNINE]

The TNT guys believe that it is the Lakers' size wearing Houston down. I actually think tonight was a lot about the Lakers' defense. Much more solid until they shut things down a little too early coming down the stretch.

I wonder what Morey's next move for Houston will be. I think that the Westbrook trade has been mostly a bust at this point. I cannot really blame Westbrook too much as he is what he is. Chris Paul was a better fit though the personalities were not meshing.

Another big factor last night was Covington clearly not being 100% because the "microball" (which is a stupid name) lineup only works with Covington and Tucker playing at a high level. Jeff Green is still a nice player but he isn't papering over those cracks. I think that Houston going forward might not be wrong to stay the course with the current team and strategy because moving away from it is going to be very cost prohibitive and they don't have a lot of capital right now, they just need to find more depth pieces that fit.

 

[4upmc]

The TNT guys believe that it is the Lakers' size wearing Houston down. I actually think tonight was a lot about the Lakers' defense. Much more solid until they shut things down a little too early coming down the stretch.

I wonder what Morey's next move for Houston will be. I think that the Westbrook trade has been mostly a bust at this point. I cannot really blame Westbrook too much as he is what he is. Chris Paul was a better fit though the personalities were not meshing.

I think it was a combo of their defense & size. Real good D most of the game but they also killed the Rockets on the glass 52-26. Nice job trapping Harden & recovering with good rotations.

CP was a better fit but Harden didn’t like him...so we know the rest. I know they love small ball but you can’t win it all with Tucker at C...he’s super tough but I’ll take the rim protection and rebounding of Capela.

 

[Ski11585]

Zach Lowe has a nice piece yesterday about how the Lakers have defended Harden. They’ve done about as well as you can expect.

 

[TheSpecialSauce]

Porter should have received more minutes earlier in this game.

 

[TheChair]

The Nuggets have made an amazing comeback tonight. Hard to believe as the Clippers were dominating them until very late in this game.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

I think it was a combo of their defense & size. Real good D most of the game but they also killed the Rockets on the glass 52-26. Nice job trapping Harden & recovering with good rotations.

CP was a better fit but Harden didn’t like him...so we know the rest. I know they love small ball but you can’t win it all with Tucker at C...he’s super tough but I’ll take the rim protection and rebounding of Capela.

Nobody seems to like playing with cp for long

 

[4upmc]

Nobody seems to like playing with cp for long

For the most part that’s been true. The guys in OKC seemed to love him this year.

He has a rep for being as demanding or more demanding than many coaches because he want’s to win so bad. Harden didn’t like him because he got on his case about playing D. Plus he wanted Houston to run something else besides ISO ball. He was prob right. The same goes for guys like Blake Griffin.

 

[TheChair]

For the most part that’s been true. The guys in OKC seemed to love him this year.

He has a rep for being as demanding or more demanding than many coaches because he want’s to win so bad. Harden didn’t like him because he got on his case about playing D. Plus he wanted Houston to run something else besides ISO ball. He was prob right. The same goes for guys like Blake Griffin.

I think CP is probably the best player of his time that is generally not regarded as an all-time stud.

But, he is just like Jason Kidd, he shows up in places, the teams get magically a lot better and the players surrounding him magically get a lot better.

I think it has just been a matter of time and circumstance for him. The NBA approves that trade to LAK long ago and he likely runs with Kobe deep into the playoffs and has a shot at a championship if they pick up someone in the post. Kobe also probably does not play himself into the ground a few years later (he would have done it eventually, just maybe not at that moment).

 

[TheChair]

Like with much of this series, Toronto really needs to start hitting shots.

 

[4upmc]

I think CP is probably the best player of his time that is generally not regarded as an all-time stud.

But, he is just like Jason Kidd, he shows up in places, the teams get magically a lot better and the players surrounding him magically get a lot better.

I think it has just been a matter of time and circumstance for him. The NBA approves that trade to LAK long ago and he likely runs with Kobe deep into the playoffs and has a shot at a championship if they pick up someone in the post. Kobe also probably does not play himself into the ground a few years later (he would have done it eventually, just maybe not at that moment).

If he’s with the Lakers his rep is now different because Kobe would prob love him. Kobe loved guys like himself who didn’t hold back and would do anything to win. Plus as stated he would have many more playoff wins and that helps ones rep.

Very true that teams get better and the players get better with CP. No one had OKC making the playoffs in the deep West Conf. He took the young players under his wing and they all got better.

 

[TheChair]

If he’s with the Lakers his rep is now different because Kobe would prob love him. Kobe loved guys like himself who didn’t hold back and would do anything to win. Plus as stated he would have many more playoff wins and that helps ones rep.

Very true that teams get better and the players get better with CP. No one had OKC making the playoffs in the deep West Conf. He took the young players under his wing and they all got better.

Given his play this year, he may have some more playoff wins left in him. But, for such a great player, he just never has had luck in the playoffs.

 

[4upmc]

Given his play this year, he may have some more playoff wins left in him. But, for such a great player, he just never has had luck in the playoffs.

I read that the Bucks are going to try to trade for him. They could use a true PG/playmaker especially with the way he played this year. The Bucks are going to go all in knowing this could be the last year with Giannis.

 

[DT_PITT]

Like with much of this series, Toronto really needs to start hitting shots.

Another tremendous basketball game. Boston is really finding itself. Boston - Miami looks like another 7 game series which should be amazing to watch.

Final note ... as much as I love watching Brad Wannamaker who makes the Celtics my favorite team, it was so clear tonight how he's a notch below the top players. I don't want this to sound like that much of a put down to Brad. He's a great sub. But the top players play at such a high level!

 

[Pitt20-20]

Caruso makes sick passes and block shots...... love that guy.
Go Lakers!