NBA Playoffs Thread

[hatsbo]

First things first, props to the Boston damn Celtics for making the playoffs, whodathunkit? Kudos for Brad Stevens for coaching, and Danny Ainge, who feverishly stockpiled draft picks this season while putting together a decent team. Their reward, the retooled and dangerous Cavaliers. The west is still best, the fact that Boston got in shows how weak the east is. A surprising Golden State leads the west, Steve Kerr has done a hell of a job as has GM Bob Myers. They'll be moving back to San Fran in 2018, a last chance for Oakland to get a title before they leave?

 

[LesClaypool]

The Spurs have been coasting all season until about 2 weeks ago. They're beating all of the western conference playoffs teams w/ease as they head into the first round. They are by far and away my favorites to win the title (again).

 

[kooterridesagain]

Yeah I want Cavs to win but Spurs are gonna cake walk through a west that handed them the two seed. Spurs easiest favorites I can recall in a decade.
I'm not buying the Warriors as I keep seeing west teams double every perimeter player which is ridiculous. Honestly with injuries the west is overrated at this point. Blazers and grizz and iverson/Westbrook thunder easy targets, mavs hate each other and the rockets have playoff choke masters Howard and harden. That leaves the clippers who I don't buy. So Spurs over warriors,

East not good just sayin west major issues compared to a month ago.
Celts nice work. Raptors probably threw 3 seed tonight to Bulls who are injured but loaded. Pacers are so talented now.
Let's see how Hawks do

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[DFSNOLE]

Right now Vegas has Cleveland 2/1, Golden State 2/1, Spurs 3/1, Hawks 18/1. So in the East it's the Cavs or bust.

 

[kooterridesagain]

Surprised by those odds, Lebron is gonna need his inexperienced teammates to grow up fast. Love needs to step up now to say the least
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[GwinnettNole]

Interesting that you guys think the spurs will beat the warriors..... I was actually thinking it was the warriors year. But like you all implied-- Pop knows it's a long season and this team knows how to turn it on during the playoffs.

Lets see if Coach Bud, a Pop disciple, can do the same as the hawks have not played their best basketball since January/ February. I know he's been resting a lot of players....

 

[kooterridesagain]

Hawks are about to get lucky missing the Bulls and Cavs until third round. They'll have time to develop unless they start off with pacers who will challenge them IMHO.

Something about the Warriors I just don't quite buy. But again they'll have an easy road if they miss say Spurs and clippers
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[NolaNole9]

How bout them Pels!! Anthony Davis is a straight BEAST!
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[kooterridesagain]

Crazy upset by Pelicans west just got a lot more interesting
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[fsu67810]

Who you guys got? My heart says Bulls but head says Spurs repeat.

East:

Hawks over Nets in 5
Wizards over Raptors in 6
Bulls over Bucks in 5
Cavs over Celtics in 4

Hawks over Wizards in 7
Cavs over Bulls in 5

Cavs over Hawks in 6

West:

Warriors over Pelicans in 6
Grizzlies over Blazers in 6
Spurs over Clippers in 6
Rockets over Mavs in 5

Warriors over Grizzlies in 7
Spurs over Rockets in 6

Spurs over Warriors in 6

Spurs over Cavs in 5
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[kooterridesagain]

East
Hawks over nets in 6
Cavs over celtics in 5
Bulls over bucks in 6
Raptors over wizards in 6

Hawks over raptors in 7
Cavs over Bulls in 6

Cavs over Hawks in 5

West
Warriors over Pelicans in 6
Rockets over mavs in 7
Spurs over clippers in 7
Grizzlies over Blazers in 5

Warriors over Grizzlies in 5
Spurs over rockets in 6

Spurs over warriors in 7

Cavs over Spurs in 6(Spurs exhausted at this point and lose s rare home game)


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[hatsbo]

East:

Hawks over Nets in 5
Wizards over Raptors in 6
Bulls over Bucks in 6
Cavs over Celtics in 5

Hawks over Wizards in 5
Cavs over Bulls in 6

Cavs over Hawks in 7

West:

Warriors over Pelicans in 5
Grizzlies over Blazers in 6
Spurs over Clippers in 7
Mavs over Rockets in 7

Warriors over Grizzlies in 6
Spurs over Mavs in 6

Warriors over Spurs in 7

Warriors over Cavs in 7

 

[fmol4]

Don't sleep on the Rockets in the West. I think most any team out of the West could give Cleveland a strong challenge.

 

[seminoleed]

Spurs over the Hawks in 6 for the title. You heard it here first.

 

[Bill From Tampa]

Don't sleep on the Rockets in the West.

It isn't even the end of the first qtr, but if the Mavs are going to play like this against the Rockets, it will be a quick series.

 

[kooterridesagain]

0% chance rockets make finals with harden and Howard. Only two legit west teams are Spurs and warriors. Don't let the records fool you in the west IMHO
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[NolaNole9]

Originally posted by kooterridesagain:
0% chance rockets make finals with harden and Howard. Only two legit west teams are Spurs and warriors. Don't let the records fool you in the west IMHO
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This. Harden is so overrated. Only reason he averages 26-27 a game is because he shoots 90% of the time down the court.
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[fmol4]

Originally posted by NolaNole9:

Originally posted by kooterridesagain:
0% chance rockets make finals with harden and Howard. Only two legit west teams are Spurs and warriors. Don't let the records fool you in the west IMHO
Posted from Rivals Mobile

This. Harden is so overrated. Only reason he averages 26-27 a game is because he shoots 90% of the time down the court.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

So how do you explain 7 players in double figures and Harden with 11 assists last night? Howard was gone half the season, so something must have helped them get the 2nd most road wins of all NBA teams and tied for 3rd best record in the league.

Every team has fleas including Golden State and Spurs. Curry only hit 4 of 13 3's last night and they missed 13 FT's as a team. The Spurs had to rely on hack a Smith to barely beat the Rockets last week. Teams do not beat them consistently straight up. I think the records are more accurate than kooter wants to give them credit for in the West.

 

[seminoleed]

So now they've finally admitted it. Watching the Hawks/Nets just now, and the color announcer disagreed with a foul call, saying , "This is the playoffs and that's no longer a foul. The ref missed that one."

Huh? So they call the game differently in the playoffs? WTF?

 

[fmol4]

I was hearing the same stuff in the Dallas-Houston game last night. They said it was not high school ball and to let them play.

 

[kooterridesagain]

Yeah nba refs as usual make a mess of it in the playoffs, sometimes they let them play, other times they whistle you for intensity almost like they're not used to seeing it. Hopefully gets a bit better by round 2. Also the flagrantly from the season they called, they've let go so far but players must be so confused.

Typical comments by Paul Pierce, that's who he is. My issue is why not say it a year ago, rather than hide behind media when you don't see those guys anymore.


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[Bill From Tampa]

Rondo has just not worked out with Dallas. Tonight he is just going through the motions and playing horribly. Cuban should cut him loose after the season is over.

 

[kooterridesagain]

Bill,
Do you think they'll not dress rondo game 3? I hope not he's an embarrassment.

No dog in that fight but as bad as the Mavs are 80-45 foul shot advantage for rockets is unbelievable.

Cavs should have lost last night but LeBron was circa 2007, interestingly he wasn't upset after the game he knows how inexperienced his team is now. So I thought it was an important win though many outside Irving and mozgov played poorly. It was kind of funny to see a few LeBron passes to where teammates should be as they stood around and weren't ready and sailed out bounds. They really had no idea how to win until this season kind of fun to watch.
Cavs have to play much better to win in Boston the celtics have actually played confident good basketball so far. Cavs defense on 3's had to improve.

Raptors what is going on? Wizards were horrible the last two months and raptors are making them look like the Spurs.

 

[Bill From Tampa]

Bill,
Do you think they'll not dress rondo game 3? I hope not he's an embarrassment.

No dog in that fight but as bad as the Mavs are 80-45 foul shot advantage for rockets is unbelievable.

Cavs should have lost last night but LeBron was circa 2007, interestingly he wasn't upset after the game he knows how inexperienced his team is now. So I thought it was an important win though many outside Irving and mozgov played poorly. It was kind of funny to see a few LeBron passes to where teammates should be as they stood around and weren't ready and sailed out bounds. They really had no idea how to win until this season kind of fun to watch.
Cavs have to play much better to win in Boston the celtics have actually played confident good basketball so far. Cavs defense on 3's had to improve.

Raptors what is going on? Wizards were horrible the last two months and raptors are making them look like the Spurs.

Given how short handed they are with Chandler Parsons out and Devin Harris not 100% Rick has to play Rondo.

This is very un-Rondo like who has usually shown up to play in the playoffs. Not this season. Given the flare up between the two in the regular season where Rondo was briefly suspended, I just don't think he likes it in Dallas.

Was not able to see any of the Cavs game. Sounds like it was interesting.

Caught game one and some of game 2 last night of the Wizards game. They are playing like they want to be there and they do have some darn good talent. Being a 4/5 seed game this one could have gone either way. Right now it is going Washington's way. But surprisingly a little easier than you would expect. I can only think that Washington stepped it up and may just not be a good match up for Toronto.

 

[Bill From Tampa]

Well, I was wrong. Rondo is done as a Maverick. They are calling it a back injury suffered in the first quarter last night that is ending his season. I would be skeptical of that since Carlisle has made it clear Rondo will not be back and essentially quit on the Mavs last night.

We sure have had some memorable moments in team history when it comes to locker room issues. Roy Tarley, Jason Kidd and Jimmy Jackson, Lamar Odom probably being the most bizarre one. But this really ranks up there. Just a bad fit all the way around.

 

[kooterridesagain]

I applaud Carlisle, well done.

How do the clippers lose a home game when Tony Parker has 1 point? Spurs do it again.....

 

[hatsbo]

With the loss of Parsons and now Rondo, looks like Houston is in the drivers seat, although I don't expect Dallas to throw in the towel. I questioned Ainge for trading Rondo but not living in Boston, I didn't realize what a cancer he had been on the team until he left. It's a shame he's as big of an ass as he is a talent. Boston has 8 first round picks in the next 4 years. Hawks squeak by the Nets again, both ATL and the Warriors have their hands full.

 

[NolaNole9]

What an absolute choke job by the Pelicans.

 

[Bill From Tampa]

What an absolute choke job by the Pelicans.

Could not agree more. Glad I did stay up to watch and see something like that though. But obviously NO is done in the playoffs. No one in the NBA has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit as I recall.

 

[Bill From Tampa]

Nice to see great defense played tonight in the Mavs/Rockets' game.

Man, I hate losing to the Rockets. Can we win just one game please before we call it a season?

 

[fmol4]

Go Rockets. I like seeing that the Commissioner is going to put at stop to this Hack-a-Shaq type crap that teams like San Antonio and Dallas among others do rather than play straight up.

 

[DFSNOLE]

Go Rockets. I like seeing that the Commissioner is going to put at stop to this Hack-a-Shaq type crap that teams like San Antonio and Dallas among others do rather than play straight up.

I heard Silver say they are going to address it during the owner's meetings but what can they really do? Do you really want a ref making a call on the intent of a foul?

 

[fmol4]

DFS, when one team deliberately fouls a guy without the ball possession after possession, that does not require too much inference from the ref. Or the league can apply penalties after a game that will alter future behavior and the same result. I think it cheapens the game, especially during the playoffs when you expect teams to step up.

 

[Bill From Tampa]

Go Rockets. I like seeing that the Commissioner is going to put at stop to this Hack-a-Shaq type crap that teams like San Antonio and Dallas among others do rather than play straight up.

Dallas plays hack a shaq? That would be news to me. The reason the Rockets see so often is they have several really poor FT shooters.

 

[NoleinATL]

DFS, when one team deliberately fouls a guy without the ball possession after possession, that does not require too much inference from the ref. Or the league can apply penalties after a game that will alter future behavior and the same result. I think it cheapens the game, especially during the playoffs when you expect teams to step up.

Do you mean step up like make a free throw?

I agree the games suck that this happens, but the league doesn't need to stop this, players do, make 60 percent of your FREE throws and it stops immediately

 

[kooterridesagain]

Celtics tried hack in second quarter last game but Thompson hit 3/4 so stopped. Just add free throws and ball and it's gone. I agree make free throws but it's ugly.

Bulls should be 2-2. Odd team, when rose dunleavy and gasol are in, plus not a healthy Noah I don't think, they're bad defensively. Butler is only guy who can keep anyone in front. But now butler improving shooting they're great offensively. It's polar opposite of how Bulls usually are. Bucks are terrible on offense but last few games are getting any looks they want. Cavs should be able to really hang points on Bulls.

 

[fmol4]

Bill,

Dallas did it in game 3 and they referenced Carlisle as a coach who uses that tactic. I saw San Antonio do it in their last two games during the regular season.

NIA,

Josh Smith did make free throws the other night and Dallas stopped it, but this type of play hurts the league and viewership. Deliberate fouls to stop the clock at the end of games are one thing, repeated and targeted fouls well before the end of the game are another IMO.

 

[NoleinATL]

Bill,

NIA,

Josh Smith did make free throws the other night and Dallas stopped it, but this type of play hurts the league and viewership. Deliberate fouls to stop the clock at the end of games are one thing, repeated and targeted fouls well before the end of the game are another IMO.

I dont disagree fmol, I just want players to make the strategy obsolete.
Practice more, go to the granny shot , just do something , anything to make it less desirable to be fouled other than making the powers that be make another rule

side note
Love's injury looked painful today

 

[kooterridesagain]

If Love hurt Cavs are done. Fingers crossed for that diagnosis but how was that not a flagrant? It was zero to do with a play on the ball which by definition should have been reviewed looked bad.

Cavs got it done but at what cost plus a dumb jr smith suspension coming. That kid Crowder pissed off every cav in this series he's the new Garnett verbally.

Do clippers put up a fight today?

 

[Bill From Tampa]

Well at least the Mavs got one out of this series.