NBA Thread

[4/5]

Thoughts after a little bit of time to reflect.
Miami stole that game. It kinda encapsulated the entire Miami Heat experience where they looked alternatively awful and unstoppable, but that felt like a Celtics win for the majority of the game.

Reasons for Heat optimism:
--They survived a Marcus Smart 3 point barrage game and a terrific Tatum performance
--The Heat's defense seemed to totally overwhelm Boston late in the 4th and in OT
--Nobody on Miami really played much better offensively than you'd expect so nothing about the offensive performance feels unsustainable
--Who can guard Dragic?
--Boston isn't as deep as Miami

Reasons to pump the brakes:
--I don't remember Jaylen Brown doing much of anything on either end. That will change.
--Kemba will probably shoot better
--Stevens might run the offense more through Tatum than Kemba in crunch time
--Most of the game felt like it was being dictated by the Celtics. During both the 1st and the second half the 3rd quarter it just felt like the Celtics were clearly better. Not just that one team was hot and one was cold. That said, that might just be a game 1 feeling (and me thinking Boston was better going into the series) and if those same sequences happened in like game 5 I would have experienced it differently.


Idk. I'm definitely more optimistic today than I was yesterday. Miami's depth is their biggest advantage I think, but the longer the series goes and the shorter benches become the less that might matter. We'll see. Thrilled Miami got a victory in a game that could have easily gone the other way. I've been saying it all season, but this team is so much fun to watch.

[verb_to_trust]

It's going to great when the heat get swept by LeBron in the Finals. LeBron giveth, LeBron taketh away.

[Peeps]

simmons whinning about how easy other teams had getting to where they are is completely a bill simmons thing to do


when the lakers drew portland the question was can they keep up with the blazers
when they took on houston it was who can stop harden and russ

the celtics got pushed by the raptors who only had 1.5 stars at best and had little trouble with a philly team that had maybe what, 44% of a superstar?

i think the nuggets are going to give the lakers some problems because they do not have an answer for jokic. sure they have AD but AD is going to have to work his ass off to stop jokic and that may effect him on the offensive side of things. that means KCP and Kuzma are going to have to be relied on some more and will the wilt under that pressure?

[4/5]

simmons whinning about how easy other teams had getting to where they are is completely a bill simmons thing to do


when the lakers drew portland the question was can they keep up with the blazers
when they took on houston it was who can stop harden and russ

the celtics got pushed by the raptors who only had 1.5 stars at best and had little trouble with a philly team that had maybe what, 44% of a superstar?

i think the nuggets are going to give the lakers some problems because they do not have an answer for jokic. sure they have AD but AD is going to have to work his ass off to stop jokic and that may effect him on the offensive side of things. that means KCP and Kuzma are going to have to be relied on some more and will the wilt under that pressure?

Yeah I'm listening to that Simmons podcast rn. He can really be unintentionally hilarious. The Lakers haven't been tested narrative was hilarious as you pointed out based on him doubting them before each of those series. He also went on to say that the Nuggets can definitely beat them and he says the Heat will beat them if Miami makes it to the Finals.

He also said that Kawhi lost his "choose 1 player to win a series" title and that it might belong to Jokic right now.

The Nuggets are a lot of fun, I've enjoyed rooting for them and I expect them to give the Lakers some trouble but it's really hard for me to imagine this series going the distance or the Nuggets ever having a serious chance.

[Peeps]

i don't know. the fact they won 6 elimination games and scored they way they did i think gives them a chance

[4/5]

It's going to great when the heat get swept by LeBron in the Finals. LeBron giveth, LeBron taketh away.

I feel like you wouldn't find that great lol. If Miami made it that far it'd still be a great season, I don't think I'd be crushed by that L. It would be pretty incredible to beat LeBron, though. I kinda think Miami would have matched up better against the Clippers. Boston definitely would have.

[4/5]

i don't know. the fact they won 6 elimination games and scored they way they did i think gives them a chance

So I think something like 20% is about right. It's not nothing, but I think it would be a pretty major upset and in the playoffs the Lakers haven't given off those Clippers vibes, at least yet. The Clippers often struggled to score against a team that isn't very good defensively, they just weren't running a coherent offense. LeBron has made a career in the playoffs of targeting the weak link and abusing him until you can't play him anymore. I think they'll target Michael Porter Jr and try to turn him back into the round 1 version of himself. I still don't understand why the Clippers didn't do that.

[4/5]

Also that “foul” on DJJ when Smart flopped before the inbound was a travesty.

[verb_to_trust]

I think the Raptors are just as good as the Nuggets, maybe better, peeps.

[Peeps]

I don’t think the raptors played better than the nuggets but they are about the same on paper. There really is something to be said about team chemistry over a series

[4/5]

Matchups matter a lot. I think the Raptors are a tougher matchup than the Nuggets for the Heat or Lakers, but an easier matchup than the Nuggets for the Celtics or Clippers.

[4/5]

Prepared for a reality check.

[verb_to_trust]

Big Django Coffee or whatever Jimmy has been sipping didn't work tonight

[verb_to_trust]

Celtics gave back a pretty big lead. Danny can't be very happy with Brad about that.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

don't know why you guys are watching this when the bengals/browns is on

[4/5]

I love this team so much.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I love this team so much.

it's the iguodala effect

[4/5]

I love this team so much.

it's the iguodala effect

The last 9 Finals have featured either the Heat or Iggy.

[lennytheweedwhacker]

I love this team so much.

it's the iguodala effect

The last 9 Finals have featured either the Heat or Iggy.

interesting...iggy is easily my favorite heat player ever

[spike]

don't know why you guys are watching this when the bengals/browns is on

joe buck is a hofer