Missed that. All I saw was him catching the ball, dragging his foot, then going down and making a time out signal. Must have been called from the bench prior to that.
So this will make Lebron’s 6th straight trip to the finals?
I get not wanting to get killed by the 3 point shot, but you can’t just let a team score on layups and dunks at will. It’s like the Raptors cleared the way and put up flashing neon lights “This Way to the Rim!”
The only way Toronto would have a chance in this series, short of a LeBron injury, is if they out-hustle and out-effort the Cavs. That did not happen.
Watching Curry and Warriors during the 3rd period of the GS/OKC game last night reminded me of the fight scene in “The Great White Hype”. Challenger is starting to get in some good shots and the ridiculously under-trained, out-of-shape champ finally takes the fight seriously and it’s all over in seconds.
I get that it’s not really analogous since it’s still 1-1 and a lot of ball left to be played, but there was a moment when Curry appeared to get seriously fouled under the basket with no call. Curry looked up at the ref, got up, ran to the corner, got the ball, drained the 3, and it was all GS after that.
I personally would love to see a Raptors/Thunder series, and I say that even though the Raptors eliminated my Pacers. I bear no ill will towards Toronto; I’ve always liked them. But realistically it’ll be Cavs/Warriors II. And if that happens, I think Cleveland will win it this time.
If you watched the Raptors last night, you probably have no interest in seeing them play any more at all. Might as well call this series. What is going on with Kyle Lowry? Dude took a mental break in the locker room during the 2nd quarter! No injury or sickness or even a bathroom break. Just needed to level set his head or something. Not sure I’ve ever seen such a thing, especially in the playoffs.
Missed game two but caught nearly all of game one. The Warriors could have finished off the Thunder in game won but the Thunder kept making shots and hung around to win late. I think the Thunder’s starting five can make this a series but they’re going to be under constant pressure, which will take its toll over a few games. The Warriors are so deep, so versatile. When they bring all of their energy and when they shoot accurately and steal the ball on defense, they just have a way of running teams off the floor. I think it’s remarkable that Portland was able to keep up with them in those last few games.
Assuming GS goes on to win this series and assuming Cleveland does the same, this year’s finals rematch could be very, very interesting. And I’d probably give Cleveland a slight edge if they can win in regulation and stay out of foul trouble.
I didn’t watch it but Cleveland is just flat out overwhelming the Eastern Conference right now. Despite the fact that Toronto was probably more talented, I really thought Miami might have been a slightly tougher opponent, if only because guys like D-Wade and the veterans on the Heat would keep them from being mentally discouraged, which is probably what’s happening to this talented but relatively up-and-coming Raptors squad.
Gotta say I was wrong about Ty Lue. I see why that guy got praise from Doc Rivers. Lue learned from the very best coaches on the planet, from Phil Jackson to Doc Rivers. Both Rivers and Jackson are (were) excellent at managing egos. Lue seems to be following in their footsteps. I didn’t think he could do it, but he’s clearly getting that team (Lebron especially) to buy into a far more effective style of play.
LeBron’s been playing a pretty effective style for a little while now. I think the difference this year is Kevin Love (although I’m pretty sure the Irving/Love/LeBron trio was undefeated in the playoffs last year, too).
Nobody in the East really has any chance at all against Cleveland. Winning one game would be over achieving for every single other team that made the playoffs this year. This doesn’t really help the Cavs, free trips to the finals every year are just making Lebron look bad at this point.
So everyone I’m reading on Reddit except Warriors fans think Draymond Green did it on purpose, and that the NBA will be reluctant to suspend him because ratings (which is also why the TNT guys were defending him). What’s the general public reaction?
Dunno about the general public, but Adams’ reaction is pretty classic:
I have a slightly different take, based on some info I heard second hand. I think its an accident, plenty of guys jump up and raise their leg, but it turns into a kicking motion when the ball is stripped halfway. However, I heard the some broadcaster talk about how “its just like the last game with the Cavs/Raptors” and that the NBA already suspended a guy for that despite even less contact.
I didn’t see the Cavs/Raptors groin thing, so I cannot speak on whether that looked purposeful or not, but for the sake of fairness and transparency, if its true that a previous day’s groin attack led to suspension, Green should be suspended too for consistency
I only saw one angle of the Dahntay Jones kick to Biyombo and it was from a great enough distance that I could not tell if it was deliberate. But Jones did get suspended. After seeing the Draymond Green kick a hundred times, I can’t say for sure that it was deliberate, either. Honestly, if I saw that play in a regular season game, I’d be surprised if the player got suspended. With all the scrutiny of the playoffs and the fact that Jones was suspended for a similar play, who knows?
It’s really impossible to gauge intention but after watching it over and over again i would be leaning towards intentional.
Adams better gird his loins for the next game I guess.
So first I was like, hey let’s not anoint the Cavs champs of the East yet. Then games 1 and 2 happened and I said, yeah ok, they’re Eastern Conf champs. Then games 3 and 4 happened and I’m like never mind they’re done.
Actually, it sounds like people still aren’t worried about the Cavs. Maybe they’ll take care of business at home, maybe not. If we’ve learned anything, it’s that we never truly know what the hell LeBron is all about.
It looked intentional to me. Green is a nasty character with a bad temper, despite his disarming smile off court. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him really hurt someone eventually, take a swing at a ref, or get himself banned from the game.
If the Finals end up being OKC vs. Toronto, the David Stern era is well and truly over. 
The Warriors are in serious trouble. I know it’s not a done deal yet but if the Thunder go on to defeat the Warriors, it’ll make me question whether or not the Warriors are this decade’s version of the Houston Rockets. Maybe they came in and took home a title at just the right time, when the rest of the league was rebuilding.
I mean no disrespect to GS, but when you look at how OKC’s manhandling them, it’s clear what’s happening: the Thunder are using long arms to 1) disrupt the passing and shooting of the Warriors, and 2) to get extra grabs and extra shots on the boards. That’s classic high-percentage basketball. We were kinda led to believe over the past 18 months that maybe the Warriors insane shooting was somehow revolutionizing the game. Maybe that ain’t so.