2018 NBA Playoffs: SEMIFINALS

[Lawful Metal]

I forgot that the Warriors don’t get called for anything in Oracle. Credit to Curry for getting hot in the third.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Eh,  they were already up 15 when Curry got hot.   These playoffs are blowout, blowout,  blowout..  

[nofuture]

 

[_MJ_]

These Warriors 3rd quarters just get messy when things start to get out of hand. They probably have some of the wildest 3rd quarter stats of all time. 

[Lawful Metal]

Rockets shot 13 free throws all game. Weren’t in the bonus in the 1st, 2nd or 4th. Yeah, that makes sense. 

A lot easier to play great defense if nothing gets called.

And it’s a 40 point blowout and the only one getting chippy is Draymond.

Fuck a Draymond.

[Jiji]

We know Curry can play decent defense when he has to. Do we know that about Harden. 

[Brian Fowler]

4 minutes ago, Oyaji said:

We know Curry can play decent defense when he has to. Do we know that about Harden. 

Curry is a mediocre defender who probably could never be a great one just because of his size and frame.

Harden has the physical tools to be a really good defender (and, to his credit, his defense has improved a ton from the days of that famous "highlight" video)

[jaedmc]

If only the Rockets were able to shoot 40 more freethrows they could have made it a close game.

[sydneybrown]

4 minutes ago, jaedmc said:

If only the Rockets were able to shoot 40 more freethrows they could have made it a close game.

Well, no, by the stats, they would have missed 10 of them.  

I get the whole "fuck the refs" mentality if you lose by a bad call or whatever.  Houston got their fucking asses kicked tonight.  I say that as a Lakers fan who has watched my team get the shit beat out of them more times in the playoffs than I would care to revisit.  The NBA WANTS close games, they WANT 7 game series.  That's more money for them.  And the Rockets did nothing to encourage that.  

 

[Niners Fan in CT]

The one thing I know for sure is that most of these games have been terrible.  I'm enjoying these playoffs because of the young Celtics making it this far but I can only imagine if you are a fan with mild interest,  this shit is unwatchable.   There's no drama to any of the games at all.  I'd guess the best chance for a good game might be game 5 of Cavs/Celtics.   The NBA Finals will probably have zero good games. 

This all goes back to Durant and LeBron before him.   These 'superteams' can be fun to watch but after a year or so it's meh.  The Rockets don't have too many excuses,  they should be able to compete with the Warriors at least a little bit but the rest of the league has zero chance.  Durant signing with a 73-9 team was crazy when it happened and it's still crazy.  The league's best players teaming up instead of fighting each other.  

I can see why the Klitschkos didn't want to fight each other,  they are blood brothers. 

[Lawful Metal]

Say what you want about the dominance and greatness of the Warriors -- the Rockets have beaten themselves twice.  If the Rockets play to their capability, they can beat the Warriors.  I think it's safe to say that they haven't played up to their regular season potential for four quarters in any game this post-season.  Even in game 2 Harden and Paul were not their usual efficient selves.  I don't know how you teach yourself not to miss layups or make wide open threes, but they got to figure it out. 

 

[Lawful Metal]

Question on Houston Sports Radio this morning: if you could Tonya Harding one Warrior, would it be Durant or Curry?

the answer is Draymond, obviously. Fuck a Draymond.

[Contentious C]

And people say sports are so inspirational...

[Elsalvajeloco]

1 hour ago, Lawful Metal said:

Question on Houston Sports Radio this morning: if you could Tonya Harding one Warrior, would it be Durant or Curry?

the answer is Draymond, obviously. Fuck a Draymond.

You want to get impregnated by Draymond Green? 

[Contentious C]

3 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

You want to get impregnated by Draymond Green? 

And on a sex tape, no less.

[Lawful Metal]

Iguodala is doubtful for game 4 after bumping knees with Harden.

[Dolfan in NYC]

I feel we're all somehow sleeping on LeBron casually dropping 40+ AGAIN tonight.   Man is straight up bonkers. 

[Jrag]

*cough*

Edit: Bonus footage!

 

[Brian Fowler]

LeBron broke Kareem's record for career post season field goals btw.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Ehh yeah throw this one in the blowout column. Celts only got it down to 7 a couple times, Cavs were never threatened.

[Brian Fowler]

Celts did a great job of not letting Cleveland completely slam the door though. Cleveland is a hell of a lot older and the more minutes you can force them to play the key old dudes in a game you've already lost, the better.

[Contentious C]

Nothing but blowouts: bad for interesting basketball, bad for beauty salon strategies.

This is feeling a lot like the 2012 conference finals to me. Boston takes the next one, then the next two games are just going to suck. I hope either Houston or GS sends Boston a thank-you gift for gassing Cleveland. Even if it continues being all-blowouts and goes 7, this might still be the most interesting series of the entire playoffs, which speaks to how awful they've been.

 

[Lawful Metal]

Your referees for Game 4: Mike Callahan, Kane Fitzgerald and Derrick Stanford.

In case there was any question  as to who’s going to win tonight.

[Niners Fan in CT]

Watch,  I'll be at SDL and miss a good game.  Just kidding.  It'll suck. 

[jaedmc]

I'm losing the narrative. Are these the refs that call the ticky tacky shit or are these the ones that won't let the Rockets shoot 50 freethrows so they can catch up?