2018 NBA Playoffs: SEMIFINALS

[S.K.o.S.]

Could Brad Stevens have coached the Raptors to a series win over the Cavs?

Yes I'm still daydreaming about ways it could ever possibly happen.  Don't judge me.

[Jrag]

11 hours ago, Contentious C said:

If Hill and Korver don't show up, then after the season, LeBron is going to fire them. 

Into space. 

Korver is playing some of the best ball of his career.  He was on fire in Game 2.  Lebron has very little help, but it definitely isn't Korver's fault.

Those trades turned out to be terrible in the long run. The moment is clearly too much for Nance, Clarkson and Hood.  As funny as it is to say, the Cavs could really use D Wade (and even D Rose) right now.

This is the best possible scenario for those of us who want Lebron to take his talents to a team who could actually beat GS.  He might miss the Finals AND he didn't lose to Philly AND it looks like Houston isn't good enough to beat GS.  With the way everything is playing out, he will catch very little grief if he joined either one of those teams this off season. 

[Contentious C]

1 hour ago, Jrag said:

Korver is playing some of the best ball of his career.  He was on fire in Game 2.  Lebron has very little help, but it definitely isn't Korver's fault.

Those trades turned out to be terrible in the long run. The moment is clearly too much for Nance, Clarkson and Hood.  As funny as it is to say, the Cavs could really use D Wade (and even D Rose) right now.

This is the best possible scenario for those of us who want Lebron to take his talents to a team who could actually beat GS.  He might miss the Finals AND he didn't lose to Philly AND it looks like Houston isn't good enough to beat GS.  With the way everything is playing out, he will catch very little grief if he joined either one of those teams this off season. 

Are we talking about the same player here? Korver had 11 points, all of which were in the first half. Terry Rozier had as many points in the 3rd quarter as Korver and Hill had the entire game. "Best ball of his career" and "on fire" doesn't equate with zero scoring in an entire half of a playoff game to avoid going down 2-0, when you're ostensibly the best 3-point shooter not named Steph Curry. Maybe you were thinking of Kevin Love. #confusingwhiteguys

[Contentious C]

1 hour ago, S.K.o.S. said:

Could Brad Stevens have coached the Raptors to a series win over the Cavs?

Yes I'm still daydreaming about ways it could ever possibly happen.  Don't judge me.

Stevens is a hell of a coach, but with less fungible parts - i.e., if Brown and Tatum were knuckleheads instead of buying in 110% - this doesn't look the way it does. Boston's playing this well because they can play a tiny bit like Houston & GS, minus the sheer amount of shooting and shot creation. And Stevens has a second coach out there in Horford.

The puff pieces about trading Tatum + other assets for Kawhi are looking dumber by the game. 

[Lawful Metal]

Ain't nobody ever believe in Houston teams.  Even our newspapers disrespect us.  Can't be Clutch City without adversity.  All the narratives about how the Warriors are unbeatable.  Rockets gonna shock the world tonight!

[Jrag]

2 hours ago, Contentious C said:

Are we talking about the same player here? Korver had 11 points, all of which were in the first half. Terry Rozier had as many points in the 3rd quarter as Korver and Hill had the entire game. "Best ball of his career" and "on fire" doesn't equate with zero scoring in an entire half of a playoff game to avoid going down 2-0, when you're ostensibly the best 3-point shooter not named Steph Curry. Maybe you were thinking of Kevin Love. #confusingwhiteguys

Umm... Lue didn't play him all that much in the second half. Lue opted to ride JR despite the fact that he had not made a shot. I don't see your point in comparing him to Terry Rozier (who had a terrible first half BTW).  Two completely different players in completely different roles.

Korver is always in the right place on defense and he's always shooting somewhere close to 45/40/90 (Last night: 50/40/100.  2018 Playoffs 46/44/91). What were you expecting? The dude is doing his part.  Hell, he even took 17 shots in game 1 of the Toronto series.  That's the most shots he has taken in a game since he was a member of the SIXERS!

If you can't appreciate what Kyle Korver is doing out there I don't know what to tell you.  Bron surely appreciates it.

[Jrag]

14 hours ago, Niners Fan in CT said:

I don't believe so.  Al Horford is more valuable to the success of the team than Rozier.  His passing and ability to step out and knock down a 3 opens up everything and he torches Love in the post which makes Cleveland have to play Thompson and they really don't want to because the Cavs were designed to have LeBron and 4 shooters. 

That's not factoring in that Horford is also a tremendous defender.   Rozier is streaky.  He's nowhere near the level of Kyrie,  I hate that some people think Boston don't need Kyrie. 

Also,  the biggest thing of all this is every game Brown and Tatum get under their postseason belts is so valuable, they needed this experience and this year they've gotten it in spades.

Horford is playing with a confidence that I've never seen out of him before.  Somehow unstoppable in the post for the 2nd straight series. One of the best players in the league this postseason no doubt.  Still wrapping my head around the fact that he guarded and shut down both Embiid and Simmons.

It's funny to watch him flex on people. I didn't know cocky Al Horford existed, but sure enough there he is pointing to his biceps. Lmao.

[Jrag]

Lebron for sure has a concussion, right?  If any of you had that game recorded, go back and look at the excruciating long pause between free throws directly after he took that shot.  Dude was lost. 

[jaedmc]

1 hour ago, Jrag said:

Umm... Lue didn't play him all that much in the second half. Lue opted to ride JR despite the fact that he had not made a shot. I don't see your point in comparing him to Terry Rozier (who had a terrible first half BTW).  Two completely different players in completely different roles.

Korver is always in the right place on defense and he's always shooting somewhere close to 45/40/90 (Last night: 50/40/100.  2018 Playoffs 46/44/91). What were you expecting? The dude is doing his part.  Hell, he even took 17 shots in game 1 of the Toronto series.  That's the most shots he has taken in a game since he was a member of the SIXERS!

If you can't appreciate what Kyle Korver is doing out there I don't know what to tell you.  Bron surely appreciates it.

I haven't been watching because I started rehearsals, but the idea that Kyle Korver is in the right place on defense doesn't sound right at all. At least not the guy I remember playing in Chicago. 

[Jrag]

He really improved in Chicago under Thibs and has been a solid defender (with obvious physical flaws) since.  Rotates well, makes the smart play  etc... Obviously not a great defender, but he holds his own. His size helps.

My main point is the dude is 37 damn years old.  He is still shooting incredible percentages AND he is taking more shots in the last few rounds than he normally would. You can stick him on Tatum for small amounts of time and he doesn't get bum-hunted like JJ did last round. He even survived some switches onto Myles Turner in Round 1 (he had a couple big defensive plays in that match-up actually.).  Hard to ask for anything more from the guy. 

In no way whatsoever is he part of the problem for this Cavs team. I'm sure Lebron would take him with him this off-season if he could.

[SirFozzie]

stat of the moment: (h/t to ESPN) Open/Uncontested shots in the 2nd Half: Boston 20, Cleveland, THREE.

[jaedmc]

I wish the games were tighter for fun's sake, but I'm glad Rockets/Dubs is now a competitive series.

[_MJ_]

This Warriors team without Durant would be...

[Lawful Metal]

Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

Rockets can win this series. Nobody is unbeatable.

 

[Lawful Metal]

11 minutes ago, _MJ_ said:

This Warriors team without Durant would be...

A championship winning team? Warriors without Durant won a championship with freaking Harrison Barnes in his place. The Warriors didn’t need Durant on their team. They just needed him not to be on another team they’d have to play.

[sydneybrown]

Apparently the Warriors checked out this forum and assumed it was over too.

I have no dog in this fight, the only happy ending for me is both teams forfeiting after LeBron is swept (and I say that as a Lakers fan who fucking hates the Celtics, but I respect the shit out of how far they have come with what they have), but Tucker, Ariza, and Gordon stepped the fuck up and Golden State was practically a one-man band.  

If Game 3 is close (even if Houston loses), we have a series.  If the Warriors destroy them, I think we know what happens next.

[Jrag]

Gordon playing well is a big plus.  He's had a really rough playoffs.  Let's go 7!

[Niners Fan in CT]

The underrated thing that's going on right now is that Curry can't defend anyone on Houston and the Rockets know it.  They are taking turns on him over and over again.  I think he's healthy,  he's moving around well but whether he is or not makes no difference to me.  He was definitely healthy in the 2016 Finals but the sports media tried to spin it. Superstars are protected until they aren't cash cows anymore,  just the way it is. 

So tonight was one of the "Rockets role players hit a ton of 3's"  games I was talking about earlier in the thread. I don't know if Tucker/Ariza/Gordon  will travel well.  This still feels like 3-1 coming back to Houston but on the plus side CP3 hasn't had a breakout game yet and Harden shot very poorly tonight so you would expect to get at least one big game out of them.  

[Lawful Metal]

This gap between games is terrible 

[_MJ_]

On 5/16/2018 at 11:39 PM, Lawful Metal said:

A championship winning team? Warriors without Durant won a championship with freaking Harrison Barnes in his place. The Warriors didn’t need Durant on their team. They just needed him not to be on another team they’d have to play.

It's a "what if?" question which basically leads to nowhere, I know, but I think it's a bit more interesting than the usual ones due to Curry's injury history. Yes, the Warriors could have kept Barnes or maybe still gotten rid of Barnes and acquired some decent-to-good players who would have been less equal to Durant instead.  They still would have been a strong contending team if they all stayed healthy too. However, say Curry goes down before one of their playoff runs in this hypothetical universe I created like he did this year: Draymond/Klay/Barnes with a decent supporting cast is an alright team, but I'm sure the Pelicans would have rather seen that team than the version they played with Durant leading the way. Durant is their insurance policy against less than a 100 percent versions of Curry during this run.

Edited May 19, 2018 by _MJ_

[Wyld Samurai]

On 5/16/2018 at 8:39 PM, Lawful Metal said:

A championship winning team? Warriors without Durant won a championship with freaking Harrison Barnes in his place. The Warriors didn’t need Durant on their team. They just needed him not to be on another team they’d have to play.

Harrison Barnes isn't a scrub either. As a lifelong W's fan from the Run TMC era I can honestly say that we really did not want him to go... but you don't turn down the overtures of a Kevin Durant. 

Curry, Klay, Draymond is as solid a core as you could ever hope for. Barnes would have continued to grow into a leadership role on the team and we would be talking about a true home grown championship dynasty.

[Lawful Metal]

Wouldn’t it be nice if every team had the second best player in the league as an insurance policy for injury on their already championship dynasty level team?

GTFO. Durant to the Warriors was a bitch move by all parties. I hope they’re too bored and complacent because of their vast superiority  for game 3 and 4 too.

[_MJ_]

Don't think we're arguing here so I'm going to stay in.  Maybe grab a drink or two when the game is on and chit-chat about whether the step back is a travel or not.  Play Jenga at a bad bar. Enjoy the scenery.

[Lawful Metal]

Dang, Cavs.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Typical game 3 where the road team lets the foot off the gas,  role players gain a little confidence and it's never a game.   Happens way too often in the NBA.  Celtics better get their shit together though and this is where having a Kyrie or Hayward someone who has been in these situations helps A LOT.  Kyrie could have gone out and had a big first quarter to set the tone early.  

If Boston catches an L in Boston then they're toast.  If they continue to play how they have then I guess they won't need to win on the road here.