Boston and Washington playing well on the road tonight and looking to advance to the 2nd round.
Washington up big at the moment. but they have an enraging habit of letting teams hang around and come back.
Wall’s playin’ angry. It’s all over for you now, Atlanta.
<snipped>
I’d rather the Pacers acquired Westbrook than the other way around, thanks.
When the Raptors blew a 25-point lead in the fourth quarter a couple days ago I was ready to “implode with the truculence” but then was pleasantly surprised by the 7 - 0 run they made right near the end to finish the series off. Norm Powell has been impressive, proving himself. I realise almost all teams go through rollercoater-y rides in performance levels throughout a play-off series, but the way the Bucks went from play-off contenders in games 2 and 3, but then sucked yak farts otherwise made me wonder how a team could have that wild a swing in performance. Cool getting a good extended look at Atentokounmpo - what an amazing all around player.
And just 22.
Christ.
Had no idea it was no NBA games on TV today:eek:
Anyone got predictions for Game 7, Clippers vs. Jazz? I’ll go with the Jazz, from a purely selfish standpoint: I think given Blake Griffin’s injury, the Jazz are more equipped to give the Warriors a halfway decent fight in Round 2 (before losing).
I think the Clippers in a rout now they have momentum and back home in front of their fans.
Too bad Kyle Lowry’s back is killing him. Even if the Raptors stand half a Morley Safer’s chance in hell of contending against the Cavs, both he and Derozan have to come out with guns blazing, and sustain it, if they hope to bring the series to at least a sixth or possibly seventh game. Their improved D with Tucker and “I-blocka” (and even Derozan, who picked up that part of his game after Tuck rightly called him out on it about a month ago) should stand up well against the Cav’s defense considering the latter has been quite…shall we say…porous…for extended stretches this season.
Not play-off related but the profile of Elfrid Payton’s hair is increasingly offending me - luckily it’ll be another five months before I’ll have to contend with that again.
He should get a buzzcut.
I hope he’s reading this.
Wow, the Jazz send the Clip Joint packing after round one. I think LAC needs to blow up the roster. Time to be done with Blake Griffin. Dude can jump over a Kia, but that’s about it. And only when he’s healthy, which is not often enough.
No, it really isn’t. And even if he’s telling other stars “come play in OKC with me” - which for all you know he is - he can’t force OKC to sign them.
Blaming a team’s best player for its failures is a classic fallacy. Doing it because you think constructing the roster is a player’s job is that fallacy taken to silly extremes. When it comes to roster composition, the buck starts and stops at Sam Presti’s desk.
QUOTE=Eddie The Horrible]Too bad Kyle Lowry’s back is killing him. Even if the Raptors stand half a Morley Safer’s chance in hell of contending against the Cavs, both he and Derozan have to come out with guns blazing, and sustain it, if they hope to bring the series to at least a sixth or possibly seventh game.
[/QUOTE]
Toronto took Cleveland to six games last year - after playing two exhausting 7-game series - so I’m not sure what reason there is to think they can’t do it this year. Granted, they were annihilated in the four losses, but this isn’t last year’s Cavs.
Winning the series would be a hell of an upset largely because I simply don’t believe Lowry is a hundred percent. If Lowry was 100 percent, I would gladly take the Raptors at light odds - four to one, say. But if he’s not 100 percent, the Raptors are weak at a position where not only are they relying on their best player, but it’s the position where they have the weakest options for a different look. Anyone else can be replaced by a pretty good mix of lineups, but Lowry’s backup is Cory Joseph, who is a terrible defensive player and whose offensive skills are… unpredictable.
Which leads me to my question, which is this; why the hell did Kyle Lowry play 37.4 minutes a game (a career high, and higher than any player in the league not named “LeBron”) this year? Look, I know he’s a great player, the best player on the team, but it’s not like the Raptors scraped into the playoffs. Two years ago Lowry had a terrific season and was visibly broken down in the playoffs. Last year he had a better season and was visibly broken down in the playoffs, though God bless him he played through it. This year he had a terrific season and he is visibly not the same player in the playoffs. He’s a small guy who can’t take the kind of punishment big guys can - Lowry claims to be six feet tall and I’ll tell you right now that I’ve been speaking distance from the guy and he ain’t six feet tall - and you can just tell he’s really beaten up. Not for the life of me can I fathom why Casey couldn’t find a few more minutes for someone else here and there down the stretch.
The way the Jazz stepped their game up on the road and stole two games from the Clippers, I would be surprised if they were swept by Golden State.
Well, I don’t blame Westbrook for OKC having a shitty roster. I’m just pointing out that if he wants to stay there and he wants to have a good supporting cast, he’s expected to do some recruiting. That is just how the NBA works now. I mentioned above all the cases of star players recruiting other stars. The flipside is Derrick Rose (of course) who when Carmelo Anthony was a free agent was rather outspoken about how recruiting wasn’t his job. Not saying that’s why 'Melo went to NY, but probably didn’t help.
To be fair, if I was an NBA player and thought Carmelo might sign with my team, I’d go into anti-recruiting mode, too.
(Though I might disguise it. Maybe invite him to town and intentionally take him to the crappiest club, or better yet bowling alley…)
Was curious how the Cavs would look after a nice period of rest between series. And the answer is they look really good. I think that’s at least partially thanks to being a veteran team. And Lowry played a decent game, it was DeRozen this time who was flustered by Cleveland’s defense.
I have this spidey feeling that Irving will do more damage to the Raps than Lebron will. Just watching him for certain stretches last night - even when he wasn’t making baskets. I have no statistical basis for this claim, and I hope I’m dead wrong on it, too. Manoman if Lowry and Derozan could EVER get it going, AT THE SAME TIME. All I ask is that they get, say, at least 24 points, each, in more than two games, in a series. That really isn’t asking the moon, considering what they’re capable of in the season. I wish Casey started Powell instead of JV last game.
Wondering if the Wizards will respond tonight
2 minutes left in the 3rd quarter and Washington has been in control most of this game. I think they’re gonna win this series. And I also think they’re the tougher match up for Cleveland.
The momentum is shifting to boston as they are about to cut the lead to 87-82
Blake’s a talented athlete, but injury prone and I’m not sure he has the kind of grit and toughness that Doc Rivers wants / needs. But hell, look at Deandre Jordan and his 40% FT percentage - pathetic. He can dunk, I guess.
The only guy on that team that you absolutely must keep is CP3 – that’s it. Everyone else is expendable.