# NBA Playoffs 2014 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 26, 2014, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016 "2014-04-26T02:51:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/81 "2014-05-10T18:59:59Z")
That was the classic Wizards that I know and understand. “We’re not uptight about being in the playoffs; we’re going to play like the game doesn’t even matter!” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/82 "2014-05-11T04:04:50Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I’m sure nearly all of you were smart like me and elected not to watch the Pacers-Wiz game after taking a gander at the halftime box score, but holy crap, what a dogshit game by Washington. They shot 33% and were outscored 51-30 in the second half. In front of a home crowd. I’d have asked for a refund. > > What a disgusting series. Tell me about it. I’m watching the Failblazers tanking their 3rd straight. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/83 "2014-05-12T09:19:31Z")
Interesting second-round Sunday. Both games looked to be rather boring blowouts well into the second half, then ended up being close and fun. I was rather surprised the Clippers ended up winning their game, but I wasn’t surprised Indiana won theirs – Hibbert might still be up and down, but as a team the Pacers are pretty close to back on track. I don’t remember Paul Pierce ever looking as happy as he did when the Nets beat the Heat on Saturday. Miami will surely win that series (duh), but it’s fun to see Brooklyn grab a game. I attended a game there (Brooklyn’s nice new Barclay’s Center) back in December, and was not impressed with the fans (seemed like they were too cool to cheer, or an I just imagining Brooklyn hipsterism infusing the crowd?), but it seemed like they managed to make some noise toward the end of Saturday’s game. ---
**Author:** ![davidw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@davidw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidw)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/84 "2014-05-12T13:33:23Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I attended a game there (Brooklyn’s nice new Barclay’s Center) back in December, and was not impressed with the fans (seemed like they were too cool to cheer, or an I just imagining Brooklyn hipsterism infusing the crowd?), but it seemed like they managed to make some noise toward the end of Saturday’s game. I’ve attended a few games there, and I think many of the “fans” are like me: Knicks fans who live in Brooklyn who figure “hey, why not attend a few Net’s games since it’s so close?” But hopefully the playoff crowd is more “real” Nets fans. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/85 "2014-05-12T19:03:08Z")
I’m sad that the Blazers are putting up no fight in their series. The 2nd round has been a real downer after that spectacular 1st round. The teams are better, but the matchups just seems to favor one team over another. I think the Spurs sweep tonight and Miami’s lost their 1 game before the conference finals, they won’t lose again. I was really bummed that the Wizards lost, that could have been an interesting series but now I don’t think they have a chance even with the Pacers recent fumbles. Nice job to the Clippers, that seems like the only series worth watching. Gutsy desperation coaching by Rivers, putting Paul on Durant. It seems that every story I read about that game makes Durant taller and Paul shorter. As Charles Barkley said, Chris Paul is 5’11 in heels 😃 But Brooks needed to draw up better plays for Durant to be open. They tried to do the right thing which was post up, but Clippers were sending double teams from every direction and Durant had 3 turnovers in that 4th quarter. And why wasn’t he demanding the ball for that last shot?? He’s the damn MVP! ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/86 "2014-05-12T19:15:24Z")
I was high on the Blazers, because I was impressed by how they handled Houston (while not forgetting that Houston is young and very inconsistent on defense). But the Parker-Lillard matchup hasn’t been close. Now we’ve all been reminded that Lillard is only in his 2nd year, and he needed to go through this. The Spurs…they’re a freakin’ machine. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/87 "2014-05-12T19:16:55Z")
Well, my guys at least won a game. Heading back to Indiana, Hibbert’s back on track and Paul George is setting career highs, I think it’s all over for the Wizards. They blew a 19 point lead, then couldn’t come up with a big shot to win or tie at the end. Not looking good for Washington. However, they weren’t supposed to be competitive in the first round, let alone get through to the second, so frankly they don’t really have anything to hang their heads about. They could have played better during the regular season, but still would have ended up in this same place anyhow. It’s forward progress, and after how completely terrible they’ve been for years, I’m happy with where they are. Looking ahead, I’m not sure there are a lot of moves to make this offseason to try and improve. They traded away their 1st round pick for Gortat (which was worth it, IMO) and they have a decision to make whether or not to keep Ariza; sooner or later they have to find out if Otto Porter can play. To summarize, I congratulate the Wizards for a respectable season, and I preemptively wish the Pacers good luck with Miami. . . . ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/88 "2014-05-12T19:23:48Z")
John Wall is having a pretty terrible series. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/89 "2014-05-12T19:35:19Z")
Wall’s not been great, no. While he’s always been laser-fast, and his shot has drastically improved since he came into the league, he’s still not a clutch scorer, but he seems to _desperately want to be_. Someone needs to make him realize that he’s just not that guy, and furthermore, he can still be great _without_ being that guy. I think he knows deep down that he’s not that guy, but the desire to _want_ to be that guy is pretty hard to fight, and that’s kind of been killing them against Indiana. He’s still young. He’ll get it eventually, just not in the next 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/90 "2014-05-13T14:07:46Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I was high on the Blazers, because I was impressed by how they handled Houston (while not forgetting that Houston is young and very inconsistent on defense). But the Parker-Lillard matchup hasn’t been close. Now we’ve all been reminded that Lillard is only in his 2nd year, and he needed to go through this. > > The Spurs…they’re a freakin’ machine. Well, the Blazers staved off a sweep by playing the brilliant ball they are capable of. They’re still going to lose the series, but at least they gave the home crowd a good show and managed to contain Parker for the most part. I wish Batum was more consistent; he’s been asleep up until now. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/91 "2014-05-14T11:55:04Z")
The last two Clippers-Thunder games were perfect mirrors of each other – final-minute-or-two comeback wins, after being way behind for so much of the game. Fun. Even when the Wizards don’t win, I love how they play lately. So fluid and confident on offense, and so alert on defense and rebounding. Are we witnessing the rise of a major contender for the next several years, or is this their glory moment? ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/92 "2014-05-14T13:30:03Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Even when the Wizards don’t win, I love how they play lately. So fluid and confident on offense, and so alert on defense and rebounding. Are we witnessing the rise of a major contender for the next several years, or is this their glory moment? When they’re playing well, when Wall is hitting his shots, and when someone besides Beal comes to play, they’re unbeatable. Unfortunately, they only play that way a little over 50% of the time. This _should_ be the start of something good for them. Wall is 23, Beal is just 20, so barring major injury, they’ll be a fearsome backcourt for the next decade or so. What they need is some youth up front; Nene is 31 and fragile as ever, and Gortat is 30 and while capable of monster games (see last night), he’s not a reliable force on his own. If Otto Porter turns out to be a good player, they could be the Pistons circa early 00s. . . . ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/93 "2014-05-14T13:35:49Z")
Doc Rivers complaining about that play costing them the game is pretty ridiculous. Yeah, it was a bad call but so was not calling a foul on them in the first place, if that play had been called right then OKC would have been shooting free-throws instead of getting the ball out of bounds. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/94 "2014-05-14T13:46:54Z")
Naw, those officials are among the leagues worst. Bill Simmons tweeted before the tipoff: “Bennett Salvatore, Tom Washington, and Tony Brothers reffing a genuinely important NBA playoff game - what could possible go wrong?” Called it. Salvatore just sucks. Not to lean on Simmons again, but his classic 2008 NBA Finals rant pretty much says it all: > **[The Sports Guy: Let's play two - ESPN Page 2](https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons%2F060620)** > > As we head to Dallas for Game 6, Bill Simmons worries about the state of the NBA if Miami wins the championship. > [@](#): > > “2. Bennett Salvatore – Always one of the worst, he took it to another level this season. If you see him on the court at the start of the game, get ready for about six technicals, two near-brawls and both coaches having to be restrained by their assistants at various times.” > > Why is this relevant? Not only did Salvatore officiate Game 4 of the Suns-Lakers series (the one where Kobe tied it at the end of regulation and won it at the end of OT on two shaky non-calls on Nash, both by Salvatore), not only did Salvatore officiate Sunday night’s Game 5 (in which Miami had a 40-12 free-throw advantage at one point), but Salvatore called the foul on Wade’s final drive in overtime (remember, the call where ABC couldn’t find a replay to show that anyone touched him?) even though he was standing at midcourt a full 35-40 feet from the play, and even though two other refs were closer to the play. Not only was that NOT his call, he butchered it. > > Considering I brought this up LAST spring, do you find any of this a little strange? Why aren’t the best referees calling these games? Why do the worst ones always seem to get assigned to games in which it would be better for the league if the home team won? Why am I the only one who notices this stuff or seems to care? Why do I find myself watching these games and concentrating more on the one-sided officiating than some of Wade’s spectacular plays? As my buddy House e-mailed on Monday morning: “I don’t think I can take much more of NBA refs insisting on controlling the outcomes of the most significant games. The NBA is a disgrace and should be completely embarrassed. I hate this game.” > > And that’s coming from one of the last 19 NBA diehards – I can only imagine what the casual fans thought after watching such a one-sided travesty. Look, we all love Dwyane Wade. He’s fantastic. But there’s absolutely no scenario in which a 2-guard should be attempting as many free throws as everyone on the other team. It’s absolutely unfathomable. And here’s what really kills me: If there’s a Game 7, you KNOW they’ll come up with the best possible officials for that particular game. So why wouldn’t every Finals game work like that? We have seven possible games spread over 17 days … they couldn’t pick the best three or four refs and have them work every game, like how MLB picks the best seven umps to comprise the World Series crew? Why wouldn’t that work? Is there a single reason you can come up with? > **[The Sports Guy: Let's play two - ESPN Page 2](https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons%2F060620)** > > As we head to Dallas for Game 6, Bill Simmons worries about the state of the NBA if Miami wins the championship. Remember, Salvatore is the guy that inspired the first time analytics was used to judge a games referees (again, game 5 of Heat/Mavericks) [NBA Finals Game 5 Officiating breakdown -- from 82games.com](http://82games.com/game5refs.htm) So, sorry - Doc has every right to complain because the refs (especially Salvatore) have a history of blowing it more often than a $5 whore. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/95 "2014-05-14T13:52:07Z")
I wasn’t saying they didn’t blow it, i said they blew it in his favor. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/96 "2014-05-14T13:55:38Z")
Even if the officials were bad, LA still had a chance to win it at the end and blew it. 6 seconds is a lifetime in basketball, they had the ball in Chris Paul’s hands and they couldn’t even get up a shot? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/97 "2014-05-14T15:17:44Z")
That out of bounds non-call was terrible, as was the call on Chris Paul on Westbrook’s 3 point attempt. How can the refs justify handing a team 3 free throws when they’re down 2 on such a dubious call? Terrible. On a related note, Barkley and Kenny Smith were giving the players some well deserved criticism for their sloppy play, and how there has been something like 60+ fouls committed on 3 point attempts. Granted, teams are shooting the 3 a lot, but quit fouling! And my fascination with Indiana, possibly the worst 1 seed ever, continues. At home in an elimination game, and they get out-rebounded 62-23. They should all have to run the stairs in the gym after that kind of performance. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/98 "2014-05-14T16:36:15Z")
That Indiana game was just…its hard to describe. If they make it to the next round, there’s a good chance Miami sweeps them or takes them out in 5. No heart, no toughness, no sense of urgency. WTF?? And that Clippers loss…wow, tough. It was a good game though, but man it must be hard to lose like that ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/99 "2014-05-14T23:53:42Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > That Indiana game was just…its hard to describe. If they make it to the next round, there’s a good chance Miami sweeps them or takes them out in 5. No heart, no toughness, no sense of urgency. WTF?? > > And that Clippers loss…wow, tough. It was a good game though, but man it must be hard to lose like that The Clippers bought and paid for that loss. OKC should have never gotten back into it, let alone caught them, but LAC fell asleep when they should have been most alert. The Blazers game should either be extremely tense or a complete blowout. I’m betting on SA, as they’re going to want to close this out in front of the home team. But I really hope Portland makes a game of it. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016/100 "2014-05-15T01:02:49Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > The Clippers bought and paid for that loss. OKC should have never gotten back into it, let alone caught them, but LAC fell asleep when they should have been most alert. More specifically, Chris Paul made some really bad plays in that last minute which trump anything the refs did. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-2014/687016.md?page=6)