Yeah, basically the KW show, who’s been, dare I say, Jordan-like. What had been the NBA’s best three-point shooting team has been crappy from behind the arc these play-offs, as well as crappy in just about every other category. Kyle Lowry, who played his least crappiest in game four, has to be the one to get a fire lit under his butt, as evidenced by the fact that (almost) every time Brett Brown called a time-out, last game, was when Lowry sunk a basket or two (even when the Raps hadn’t been mounting any rallies). With a day’s rest between games now, Nick Nurse won’t be able to rely on just the six guys that he played last game.
Amazing with Kawhi, that in SA he had seven 30-point performances in 87 play-off games, while in TO he’s already had six 30-point play-off games. Part of that’s just related to growth, however he played only two or so more minutes per play-off game with TO than with SA, so, as some of the pundits have been saying, he’s been given more freedom under Nick Nurse. Pops would have been much more regimented, with a bit more focus on KW’s defensive game.
Funny seeing Ebiid lumbering into the hallways with the illness shuffle (maybe fakin it today?), wearing quite the goofy fluffy white hoodie.
I am not at all a basketball expert, but it didn’t look to me like Kawhi had an off night as much as the 76ers decided that they were absolutely not going to let him beat them. Unfortunately for them, getting help on Kawhi meant open looks for other Raptors, and the shots were falling for everybody today. Even Gasol hit three 3-pointers.
Now Philadelphia face the nasty dilemma that they’ve feared the whole series: do they continue to bring in help on Kawhi and hope that the open man doesn’t make his shots, or do they play more straight up and risk him taking over again.
Portland is down 18 at the half. Another lackluster performance by a team that doesn’t seem to want to win this. I don’t think they have the mindset to get back in this one.
Paul Millsap finally showed up for the Nuggets and Gary Harris is a really good defender. The Portland guards have not been shooting great, at least partially thanks to solid defense. I think Denver will win the series, but won’t be at all surprised if the Blazers take game 6 in Portland.
What a mess. I turned it off in the middle of the 3rd quarter. It pisses me off that other players on the team will just stand and watch the guards struggling on the perimeter and not give them any help. Also, who still thinks that run-and-gun is a good strategy? Seems like Stotts would be better off putting Collins and Leonard in and putting Kanter and Harkless in reserve.
Irving is a fucking joke. He’s just a poor man’s Kobe Bryant, but missing ALL of the stuff that made Kobe a winner (and not just Shaq ;)). He can’t carry a team, he has zero leadership, and he’ll never win anything without playing next to a true transcendent player like LeBron.
No shit. Do or die tonight. While nobody expects them to get to the finals, I’d sure like to see them get to the semis. POR can play smart ball, but they seem to get easily flustered by Denvers defense. When that happens, we’re then treated to the spectacle of Aminu trying to drive to the basket and do fancy shit that’s he’s not really capable of.
Glad to see Philly take it to game seven, but that span of time between the last 4th and 5th minutes of the game took about 20 minutes to get through. Did TOR really think they had a shot at catching them?
Right now, Blazers are leading DEN at halftime. Keep it up, guys.
Not surprised the Blazers managed to win at home. I think the Nuggs will close it out in Denver, but back to back 7 game series have to take a toll on them. Especially Jokic. Can’t imagine they’ll be very fresh against GSW.
Sometimes I think coach Stotts reads the Dope. He had Collins and Hood in the game for some lengthy work that paid off, and had Harkless and Aminu warming the bench for much of the game, it seemed. Hood has really been an asset in this series. On to game seven!
Agreed. I think he’s the MVP, and then he does stuff like that at the end of games. Hou -7.5 tonight, and while I don’t think they cover, they should win.
Game 7, assuming they get there, will be interesting with no KD. Be nice if Capela could show up for a game this series.