I’m not sure he stays unless they make the Finals. Lowry has completely shit the bed this year, especially against the 76ers. It’s always been known that the Raptors will only go as far as Leonard can take them, even with the emergence of Siakim this season. But if he’s having to do almost everything already in the second round, and STILL can’t get even the slightest help from anyone not from Cameroon, I can’t imagine he stays. Reddick was running roughshod on them until he turned his ankle, and Kawhi can’t guard EVERYONE. If Lowry/Ibaka/Gasol/Green can’t get their shit together and figure out what they’re doing, this series will end a lot faster than I expected, and Kawhi Leonard’s career in Canada will fall apart in similar fashion. I can’t think of a single non-Bay Area team that wouldn’t move mountains for him. He’s been absolutely ridiculous.
That said, I DO expect to see more of a challenge from them tomorrow night. You have two options after getting rocked in the mouth like they did last night - swing back or give up. There’s too many veterans on this Toronto team to just roll over.
This Sunday is Lowry’s last chance before I’ve permanently written him off.
Van Vleet is shooting an abysmal 31% from the field, 22% from 3 point range, and contributing 5 points a game. When there’s talk of “Hey, where’s Lin?” you know things are at the nadir with this team.
I might even drink a beer for this. But just after noon, though.:rolleyes: (on left coast)
Denver and Portland are now in the fourth overtime, the longest playoff game since 1953. A tie at the end of the period will make it the longest playoff game ever. Jokic has played the most minutes for any player seven feet or taller.
These guys are gonna be on IVs in the locker room.
And Rodney Hood comes in with two minutes to go to drop the final seven points for Portland before baby Curry made two clutch free throws to seal it with three seconds to go.
68 minutes total play time. Just incredible, even if it does mean I’m going to be really short of sleep tonight…
Pull Kanter off the roster so he can get some rest and hope that the Leonard/Collins duo can keep things steady underneath, and that his team can pull off the second home game.
Or keep him active but in reserve on the bench for the next game. The guy is just beat to shit and could get seriously hurt in another marathon game like this one. By the end of this last one, his left arm was just sort of hanging there, and he was limping badly.
That was, by the way, the first NBA 4OT playoff game since 1953. What a nail-biter!
Blazers should have won at the end of the 2nd OT with Lillard getting a good shot, and should have lost at the end of the 1st (down 2 without the ball) and 3rd being down by 4 with 30 seconds. What a game.
Is Leonard injured? He hasn’t played at all the last two games. I expected him to get more minutes with Kanter being iffy.
Nope. I don’t know why Stotts is working Kanter like a $2 mule. He’s sent in Collins as a sub, but Big Skinny can’t handle Jokic. At least Leonard can push him around.
Your last two sentences answer your first. If Jokic had been given rest, Kanter would have gotten a break. At this point, you can’t afford to rest someone you need unless you absolutely have to. If Kanter came out and Jokic completely bodied his replacement, what do you do? Call one of only two timeouts for the OT to get Kanter back, down two or more points than you would have been before? Ride with it, hoping something magically changes and you can slow Jokic down? Throw in the towel?
Even Hero Hood only came in when Harkless started cramping and couldn’t continue. Just gotta hope the hyperbaric chambers and fluids and trainers can work some magic by tomorrow night. Until the series ends, I don’t see Kanter getting a break unless he completely breaks on the floor. It’s the playoffs, baby. Only the Warriors get the luxury of coasting, now.
We’ll see who is starting this afternoon. This has become the series to watch, which I wouldn’t have thought could happen early in the season. Stotts made a comment about Jokic’s thuggery in the last game, where it looked like he deliberately aimed an elbow at Kanter’s bad shoulder. He thought it should have been an F1, and hoped that it would be charged under the game review. I agree.
Damn, a heart breaker. Lillard was ice cold from three, and Kanter wasn’t hitting anything, but they still only lost by four. That Murray kid is really something.
If the Raptors choke again it sure as hell won’t be because Kawhi Leonard didn’t show up.
Except for Siakam when he’s healthy, no one else is playing well with any sort of reliability, but here we are in the second round tied 2-2. Leonard has been astounding. He was ridiculous in Game 4 and nothing short of ridiculous would have allowed the Raptors to win.
The thing is, not even Leonard can keep this up; he can’t keep shooting 62%. Someone else has to play better.
Should be a barn-burner tonight for POR-DEN. Saw the last quarters of TOR-BOS and GSW-HOU. GS almost caught them, but blew two threes at the end. Nice to see Pat Connaughton getting court time with the Raptors. I always liked his work ethic when he was with the Blazers.
I’m wondering when the Nuggets are just going to run out of gas. Jokic has played a hell of a lot of minutes in these playoffs and even at his pace, I don’t know how long he can keep it up. I think whoever wins tonight wins the series.
I’ve been saying it for over a year, before the Cavs-Celtics trade… Kyrie is overrated, a bad fit… Last year, the Celtics were a GREAT team w/o Irvin and Hayward. Now they’re back, and they’ve ruined the chemistry with their play or lack of it… Way too many box-score fans on the internet. Even the "experts"on TV change their minds real quickly. Too much number-talk, instead of watching the game, and what’s happening off the ball. Hustle, character, chemistry, etc.
I don’t know why that’s stuck in my brain. My wife keeps correcting me, too. If Milwaukee takes it all, I’m sure that Paddy will be too polite to wave the ring in their faces.
