# NBA Playoffs are here! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 21, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259 "2011-04-21T18:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/182 "2011-06-03T03:58:22Z")
What a buzzkill of an ending. The Heat went to sleep and let a beaten and inferior opponent get back in the game. Too bad, but hopefully it won’t happen again. I never want to see Jason Kidd get a ring. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/183 "2011-06-03T03:59:30Z")
The Mavs aren’t inferior. They’d be up 2-0 if they’d hit their 3s in game 1. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/184 "2011-06-03T04:01:05Z")
The Mavs aren’t worth to carry the Heatles’ jocks. You can’t seriously think anyone on the Mavs is as good as either 'Bron or Wade. ETA, it’s also kind of lame to say a team would have won if they’d have made all their shots. Of course they would. You can say that about any losing team. The Heat missed a bunch of threes tonight. They thought they had the game won and started coasting and taking lazy shots. ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/185 "2011-06-03T04:01:28Z")
Well, didn’t expect that! Turned on PS3 with about 7 mins. to go. Checked score just in case. Tied at 90. Turned game back on to see Dirk’s 3, Mario’s 3 and Dirk’s rive. That’ll teach me. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/186 "2011-06-03T04:03:58Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The Mavs aren’t worth to carry the Heatles’ jocks. You can’t seriously think anyone on the Mavs is as good as either 'Bron or Wade. No, do you think anyone on the Heat’s bench is better than Terry or Barea? Do they have any answer on D to Dirk? It’s a team game. LeBron and Wade can’t just run around dunking and showboating and expect to win. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/187 "2011-06-03T04:05:44Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > No, do you think anyone on the Heat’s bench is better than Terry or Barea? Bibby. It’s not about the benches anyway. Did it matter who the Bulls had on the bench was Jordan was playing? > [@](#): > > Do they have any answer on D to Dirk LaBron on O. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/188 "2011-06-03T04:06:52Z")
Bibby? Well, I can see how current your basketball knowledge is. ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/189 "2011-06-03T04:10:49Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The Mavs aren’t worth to carry the Heatles’ jocks. You can’t seriously think anyone on the Mavs is as good as either 'Bron or Wade. Wade \< Dirk \< James ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/190 "2011-06-03T04:11:47Z")
Wade has a ring already. How many does Dirk have? ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/191 "2011-06-03T15:12:19Z")
It’s always satisfying to see frontrunning showboaters get their commpeupance. I guess they didn’t watch Dallas do this like 4 times on their road to the finals. **Dio:** Judging individual players by rings is extremely shortsighted and silly. > [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Did it matter who the Bulls had on the bench was Jordan was playing? Kerr and Paxson bailed out Jordan so many times it’s hilarious. Aren’t you a middle aged white dude? You should be all about the team and stuff, come on. Before he got a complete team he was getting stomped in the first round. Stop watching ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/192 "2011-06-03T15:18:06Z")
Indeed. That was the quintessential Bad LeBron game. Standing around the 3 point line and watching, not moving around, hoisting up bad 3s instead of trying to drive to the basket, celebrating before he’s won anything…really brought me back. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/193 "2011-06-03T17:22:02Z")
What do you have against Kidd, Dio? I hate the Heat, but mostly due to Lebron and Bosh (99% Lebron). Other than Terry, I don’t find anybody on the Mavs to be very objectionable. I like Dirk a lot, I want him to get a ring, and I think Chandler is pretty cool as well. And I LOVE Mark Cuban, he’s what I want every owner to be like ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/194 "2011-06-03T17:26:01Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > What do you have against Kidd, Dio? I don’t like wife beaters. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/195 "2011-06-03T17:50:20Z")
I like Dirk, and have really enjoyed the Mavs’ performance in the playoffs thus far. Plus I have a kind of perverse reason to root for the Mavs because like six years ago I pretended I thought Nowitzki was better than Lebron to infuriate my brother, and it worked, and I’ve still never let on that I didn’t mean it. If Nowitzki wins I can declare victory. That said, I’m with **Dio**. There’s a pretty wide gulf in class between these teams. The Heat are just fucking around, and they’ve been better than the Mavs for most of the two games thus far anyway. Admittedly, they’ve been fucking around like that pretty much all year, and games you lose because you don’t have your head on straight don’t count differently from ones you just lose, so 1-1 is a totally fair outcome. And there’s no reason the Mavs can’t bite them again if nothing changes. But the Heat are visibly running at about 60% capacity most of the time. Now is not the time to be talking about flipping the switch or whatever you want to call it, but I will be damned if I don’t think that, if I were on the Mavs, I’d be terrified that I wasn’t going to even get a shot at winning another game. Even fucking around, the Heat are too much to handle as long as one of them keeps attacking. Spoelstra doesn’t appear capable of keeping them from drifting, but maybe the fact that they just pissed away a game in the NBA Finals will. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/196 "2011-06-03T20:19:24Z")
FUCK ME. The whole reason I was watching this bullshit was to see the failure of LeBron James. The Heat had like a 15-0 run and they were up 15 with 6 or 7 minutes left to go, and I didn’t want to see that bullshit so I turned it off. I wake up today to find out APPARENTLY ABSURD AWESOME COMBACK PROBABLY MAKING LEBRON CRY and I missed it. FUCKING FUCK. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/197 "2011-06-03T21:26:31Z")
> [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](#): > > That said, I’m with **Dio**. There’s a pretty wide gulf in class between these teams. The Heat are just fucking around, and they’ve been better than the Mavs for most of the two games thus far anyway. I don’t know. I agree that they’re \*potentially \*worlds better than Dallas (especially since it turns out they play defense really well), but it could be that the problem isn’t so much the Heat fucking around, but rather that they just don’t know how to play together on offense. Compared to the Mavericks and their great ball movement, it’s really jarring: most of their offense is just Lebron and Wade taking turns working off of high screens, and maybe 1 possession in 8 they dump it to Bosh. For such an amazing group of talent, they’re pretty fucking boring. And the second half of that 4th quarter was some of the worst (or, at least, dumbest) basketball I’ve ever seen. Every possession was just (usually) Lebron dribbling around until the shot clock ran down, than hoisting up a long, contested fade-away. Or Haslan taking an 18-foot jumper. During the 20-2 run (or whatever it was), it’s no coincidence that those 2 points came on a drive that resulted in free throws. You could argue that that sort of thing is easily correctable and not really indicative of their true quality – and in the long run I’d say you’re right – but, for now, why then haven’t they corrected it? The '10-'11 Heat are a team with a muddled offense, and as such they can be beat. Dallas is a bit less than a 3-2 favorite to win Game 3, while Miami is a bit less than a 3-2 favorite to win the series. Those numbers seem about right to me. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/198 "2011-06-03T21:31:52Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > FUCK ME. > > The whole reason I was watching this bullshit was to see the failure of LeBron James. The Heat had like a 15-0 run and they were up 15 with 6 or 7 minutes left to go, and I didn’t want to see that bullshit so I turned it off. I wake up today to find out APPARENTLY ABSURD AWESOME COMBACK PROBABLY MAKING LEBRON CRY and I missed it. > > FUCKING FUCK. DVR, my friend. I recorded the game, so when it got up to 15 points, instead of turning off the TV, I had the option of just hitting fast forward to see if Dallas could make a game of it. Turned out they did. (Started watching again once the lead got down to 8, then went back after the game and watched the part that I’d skipped.) ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/199 "2011-06-06T01:54:26Z")
Do they heat keep going into DAMN WE’RE AWESOME TIME TO TAKE THE REST OF THE GAME OFF mode or something? Man what epic comeuppance this could be. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/200 "2011-06-06T02:27:52Z")
My non-expert opinion is that the refs are favoring the Mavs. I wonder if it’s the NBA (probably correctly) thinks they can keep more interest in the league by making the Heat the thwarted villains than having the bad guys win in year 1. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2011, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259/201 "2011-06-06T02:57:42Z")
Nice to see the Heat take back home court advantage and atone for giving game 2 away through sheer laziness. The refs were doing everything they could to help the Mavs in the 4th quarter (LaBron gets called of a DD after a deflection, but Nowitzki is allowed to tale 7 steps between every dribble without a call?), but at the end of the day, the Mavs are just outclassed. I predict they won’t win another game in the series. It won’t even go back to Miami. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nba-playoffs-are-here/579259.md?page=11)