NBA Thread

[CanDB]

It's been an unusual year in my opinion, with 2 teams in the final that I would have not expected....though Curry can be a force with some help.

I am not a GS fan, but I would not bet against them when healthy. Now we will see if The Celtics comeback was a turning point, or more of a one time event. If Tatum gets going, and if they win game 2, hmmmm......

[broncolee]

What’s up the Nets all acting a fool?

Everybody wants out now.

[Spice 1]

I think, for the first time, I actually feel for KD. For all I know, he's basically getting trashed because Khris Middleton got hurt. Not saying the Bucks would've beaten the dubs, but when you consider that Boston at minimum gets a 7th game if they don't eat the ball at the end of game 4, you have to think it's a real possibility. And there's no way Curry wins the MVP over Giannis if that happens. Curry fans are entering Kobe Bryant and Manny Pacquiao fan territory, and the media has been feeding off of that. Durant is getting a heavy dose of unqualified criticism retroactively. There are surely other factors in his decision to get out, but I would bet he realizes that it's not going to work with Kyrie and Simmons. He wants to get on a team that is ready to win, because he knows damn well the media will only look at the result. If he joins the Suns, he's the best player on that team. If he joins the Heat, though it's closer between he and Butler right now, he's still the best player. He wins that game if he wins a championship. So, honestly, more power to him at this point. He was criticized already for joining the Warriors. He took his lumps. He tried to play through an injury, and it almost cost him his career. What he did last year against the Bucks was impressive. As impressive as anything I've seen Curry do in the post season given the adverse circumstances.

People want to put Curry in their top ten players of all time all of a sudden, and they have to criticize Durant in order to qualify that. I personally don't think he is. I think he's a top fifteen player, but the size of your fan base matters. Curry has a massive fan base.

As far as Kyrie goes. Seems to be Kyrie doing Kyrie things. I doubt that Durant's main issue is with Kyrie unless he knows something about some kind of trade to send Kyrie out of Brooklyn. The main issue is that Simmons can't shoot. Guys like Simmons and Wall would've been fine in the old NBA. In the modern game though, few teams even want them. The value of perimeter shooting in the modern game trumps everything else. As a complete player, I don't even know if Curry is one of the 5 best players in the league right now. He could be the most valuable player in the league though, because he's the best three point shooter in the game and he gets his own shot. Defensive ability, scoring versatility, and facilitating are devalued in the modern NBA. If you don't shoot threes as a guard, you can't play. Doesn't much matter how good or bad you are at the other things.

[CanDB]

Lots of players/picks waiting to be moved to Brooklyn. I hope GS does not make the deal, given how good they are with their core players. Phoenix is interesting. As a Raptors fan I am interested but most Raps fans do not want Scottie Barnes to be part of the package.

BTW, I realize that NFL QBs get paid....but NBA makes $50M/year look like a common signing these days!

[Hadez]

Getting away from sports in general. Just saw the Nuggets having a really good year.


Go Nuggets!

[Spice 1]

Looks like the Nuggets are about all I have left to root for at this point. Bickerstaff screwed up putting Lavert in the starting lineup and taking Okoro off of Brunson. Brunson was shooting .390 through two games in the series, and once he let Garland, Mitchell, and Lavert spend more time on him, Brunson has essentially become Michael Jordan in MSG.

The biggest issue, and it's been the issue against the Knicks all year, is defensive rebounding. They just can't rebound against this team. End of discussion. Until they find a way to do that, it's a wrap. I doubt Garland and Lavert are going to find any consistency offensively going forward.

Kind of find myself rooting for the Lakers and Kings as well though. Might just be because the Kings are playing the Warriors. I love watching Jimmy Butler play (the players who voted him overrated can kiss my ass), but the Heat have no chance of making it out of the east if they hold on against Milwaukee, which they may not if Giannis comes back.

Nuggets are my favorites to win it all right now. Main reason is how well Nikola is playing as the 2-3 anchor as opposed to how he looked a month ago. Middle man is the most important player in that zone, and when your best player puts in work like that it's contagious. It elevates everyone else defensively. As long as he's doing that, I like the Nuggets. Offense has never been the problem with that team.

[Spice 1]

I guess nobody in here wants to talk about the other games? The Warriors/Lakers series is pretty crazy. It's a classic case of trying to fix what isn't broken.

Why are you doubling Stephen Curry so much in game two? Why are you settling for perimeter shots in game two?

The Curry/Thompson Warriors have made 20 threes in a playoff game 7 times in their history. Two of those have taken place in the 2023 Conference Semi-Finals... In the 5 previous games where this happened, the Warriors were 4-1. In the one game they lost, the Houston Rockets shot .566 from the field and 43 free throws. In game one of this series, the Lakers shot .467 from the field and 29 free throws. In game one they shot 17 three pointers. In game two, the Lakers shot .423 from the field, shot 28 three pointers, and shot 17 free throws. On the season, the Lakers shoot .346 from three and hold opponents to .344 from three. The Warriors, who shoot .385 from three, shot .396 from three in game one. In game two, they shot .500.

The Warriors have 4 players who shoot over the team average (.385) from three. Why would you change what you do and double one of them? Why would you change what you do and settle for perimeter shooting? Game one was an anomaly. Game two was stupidity. Steve Kerr started JaMychal Green for Looney in game 2. This spaces the floor and makes pick and roll more viable. Makes 5 Out offense more viable. In other words, harder to rotate. JaMychal Green is a .378 three point shooter. Last night he was a .500 three point shooter. Why would you double the player initiating the offense 23+ feet from the hoop, forcing rotation, in this situation? Why would you not utilize post game offensively in this situation?

I don't care who they start. Defend them straight up and live with makes. The law of averages will be what it is. Offensively. Attack the interior. In other words, what the Los Angeles Lakers do.

[Spice 1]

Which is a better shot? A .430 three point shooter with a chase defender or a .390 shooter wide ass open? Curry is the best three point shooter in NBA History, but he's not the only three point shooter on the GS Warriors. You can't defend him like Reggie Miller.

[Hadez]

Go Nuggets!! One more game to Conf finals.

Would be nice to see Nuggets in NBA finals!!

[GMTD]

I'm not sure playing Embiid largeky as a defender is the way to go for the 76ers. He's the scoring champion and the Celtics are not going to score 110-115. Play him as a forward.

[GMTD]

Sixers fire Doc Rivers.

[broncolee]

Sixers fire Doc Rivers.

No surprise. I think Rivers has a reputation for sucking in Game 7.

[Hadez]

Nuggets in Finals!!

[broncolee]

History will record that the Heat vs Celtics was a dog fight.

Will it also record an NBA first? Hard to imagine that another Boston team could repeat the feat. Everyone outside of New England should be a Heat fan Monday night. Can you imagine how much more obnoxious that fan base will be, if the Celtics win?

On the flip side, I don’t know that I would want the Miami fan base to have reason to celebrate. They have a reputation for only showing up when things are rolling high.

The series really is a tale of two different teams, bad Celtics and good Celtics. Did they find out too late that they are the better team? We shall see.

[GMTD]

History will record that the Heat vs Celtics was a dog fight.

Will it also record an NBA first? Hard to imagine that another Boston team could repeat the feat. Everyone outside of New England should be a Heat fan Monday night. Can you imagine how much more obnoxious that fan base will be, if the Celtics win?

On the flip side, I don’t know that I would want the Miami fan base to have reason to celebrate. They have a reputation for only showing up when things are rolling high.

The series really is a tale of two different teams, bad Celtics and good Celtics. Did they find out too late that they are the better team? We shall see.

Is there a Good Celtics and a Bad Celtics or just a single Celtics team that in general don't score a lot of points? When they play very good/great D, unless Jimmy Butler is on fire they will probably win. If they fall off from those defensive standards, Miami are just better offensively and so will generally beat them.

There is another factor - this time with both teams. They play better as the underdog. Boston have played their bear basketball down 1-3 to the Sixers, and 0-3 to Miami, but they started off as favorites for both series. Miami lost their first play-in game (that there were expected to.win), and after winning the 8th place game, have been playing and beating higher seeds in every round. They then crashed when at 3-0 up they were heavily favoured to win this series.

For both of the above reasons, I like Miami tonight The game will be top too tensw and the teams too mentally tired for the Celtics to play elite D, so I expect Miami to have too much scoring power for them. And Miami as underdog will be more comfortable.