Raptors 127, Pacers 81. Dear God.
If I had to bet money on the Finals matchup I’d bet Bucks-Lakers. The Bucks are an objectively better team than the Raptors.
The Raptors, Clippers and Celtics are all good enough to stage an upset, though. I’m not sold on the Nuggets.
The thing is, I would say some of the teams that the Raptors beat last year were objectively better than Toronto. And the Raptors have lost a number of close games with huge numbers of injuries. Without these, their record would clearly be better than it is.
The Raptors don’t have someone like Giannis. The question is how much they could shut him down. They have had some successes in shutting down some very good players who are not as good as Giannis. On their side is one of the most creative coaches in the league. The Bucks are better. But not so much better the ball couldn’t roll their way if the Bucks had some tough series or injuries. I’m not sure they have the bench depth Toronto does.
The Lakers seem objectively better than the Clippers. The reason the league rocks this year is a whole bunch of teams are good enough to win with a little luck and momentum.
Just the Bucks, and not by much. The Warriors maybe would have been but the loss of Kevin Durant meant they were not.
And, of course, this is a matter of probabilities. You have to win four playoff series and none are truly guaranteed. Even last year, they didn’t beat the Sixers - definitely an inferior team by any measure - until literally after time was up in Game Seven. The Bucks-Lakers matchup is the most PROBABLE one. It’s not certain.
The one reason I think the Bucks might not win it all is that in the playoffs, the pace is much slower. Giannis loves the running game; taking advantage of his athleticism in the open court. In a more half-court setting, guys will give him space to shoot the 3, and I don’t think he can consistently make them. I wonder how many teams will throw a zone, maybe even a double-team at times and let Middleton beat them, which is another question. They have a pretty deep team and with more experience, it could be very competitive.
I just hope there are no injuries. Let the best of the best win.
It remains subjective, but I would say that both the Bucks and Warriors were often better teams last year than Toronto, which with Leonard and Green were surprisingly good. Still, they did better than almost anyone thought. I thought they made a big mistake trading for Gasol. This is why I am not Nick Nurse.
The Bucks finished better and were up 2-0 early in the division final. And though Leonard is good, the Warriors had Durant, Thompson and Curry who are all amazing when uninjured. The Raptors barely beat the 76ers. But without injuries this season, I guess their record would be a little worse than Miluakee’s. Like last year.
Yeah, the Raptors were deserving champs last year, but I’m always a bit amazed how it worked out, when any of the last three series could very easily have gone against them. The Philly series came down to the last shot, the Bucks were up 2-0 and game 3 went to double overtime, and Curry had a shot to win game 6, not to mention the Durant and Klay injuries. Each series could’ve been flipped by a single basket going the other way.
The margins are so small sometimes. There are a lot of talking heads saying how the Kawhi trade is the example to be emulated now, and they’d probably be saying the opposite if the Philly shot had bounced out.
Post facto analysis is so darn easy 
I mean, how many champs in any sport just roll to the title? It does happen; the 2005 White Sox, 1989 49ers, 75-76 Canadiens, and 90-91 Bulls were never in any trouble. But most championships have their tight moments.
It’s not that the Raptors were unusually lucky to win. As NBA champions go they weren’t a weak example at all; they are *at worst *middle of the pack among champions, a truly championship level squad. It’s just that ALMOST ALL champions are at least partially lucky.
The Raptors defence played well against the Bucks. And their bench played well. But the Bucks run at the end of the first half when the Raptors were up by 12 changed the momentum. Ibaka (2/14) couldn’t sink his shots. The officiating didn’t break the Raptors way - Lopez got away with a lot. The Raptors turned the ball over a lot.
A 108-97 Bucks win. But Giannis held to 19, then Middleton stepped up with 22. The Bucks didn’t look like a better team in the first half. Will make a great playoff if Gasol and Powell are back. They play again twice beginning of April. Might be harder to win in Milwaukee though.
The Thunder just tied a franchise record 9th straight road win. Unfortunately, their next road game is the second game of a back-to-back at Milwaukee. :rollseyes:
What scares me the most is that Giannis has been averaging only 30 min. per game this season. For someone whom I’ll bet will win, hands down, the MVP, that’s low, even compared to Lowry’s 36 mpg (who also crazily takes charges when up by 30).
GA will be fresh as a daisy come play-offs. That is a very scary thing.
Raptors will need everyone. Nice to see their bench really strong this season so far.
Powell’s shoulder has been such an ongoing thing that I fear it’s gonna always be with him.
Credit where due, the Bucks are a solid team. The Raptors played a great first half. They often look weaker in the third quarter and will have to fix this to improve their chances. The Bucks deserved to win, but the only difference was guys like Ibaka and VanVleet not sinking shots at the usual rate. They had plenty of clean looks. The Bucks defence held. Looking forward to the playoffs.
Not often the Raptors have an off night. But they were given a 91% chance of beating Charlotte and didn’t do it. True - Gasol, VanVleet and Ibaka were out. Powell was back and did okay. But the team didn’t show up until the final quarter. One game means nothing, except the guys are going to have to work harder if they want to dance at the big final.
Instead of even making a run at a franchise record of 10 straight road wins, the Thunder lose by 47. Awesome.
Stick a fork in the Blazers. They lost to Atlanta last night, for cripe’s sake. Lillard is still benched and it’s clear that their big men are not coming back this season. I see Whiteside opting out of his contract and going to play for someone who has a chance for next year; it will be a huge loss for Portland when he goes.
Lakers-Pelicans… Davis isn’t playing, so the New Orleans fans boo every time *Lebron *gets the ball.
It seems players miss a lot of games against their former teams.
That’s All, Folks
A pleasure to see Curry return vs the Raptors tonight. A good game. San Fran looked a little like their halcyon team, but the Raptors played well with Powell scoring 35+ points and Anunoby with his fifth straight game in double digits. With Gasol and VanVleet out, Anunoby has played better than I could have guessed. But it was a different team with Ibaka back; one which could play defence and not allow 40 point quarters.
And the Raptors qualify for the playoffs. Earliest date ever.
Curry’s shot was off a bit but he looked healthy and did a lot.
His runners, though…
Raptors pull out another not-too-steady win over the Kings last night, with Sacramento’s bench outscoring the Raptors bench 51 - 7. Awesome to finally see Gasol back, albeit understandably rusty. Norm Powell continues with his torrid pace with 31 points, and Lowry solid as ever, playing the full fourth quarter without fouling out. Didn’t like seeing him repeatedly hurting his hand throughout the game, at one or two points actually holding it - not cool. Wish I could see McCaw start to rise up a little more - kinda due.
So, Lebron says he won’t play in an empty arena.
Hm, well, let’s see if that would actually pan out.