If LeBron’s jumper wasn’t broken he could’ve had a 50 point triple double. Hope he finds it by the finals.
I’m interested in seeing how TT fares against GSW’s frontline. I love watching him create havoc in the paint.
The weirdest part of the game was when LeBron was throwing a temper tantrum in the back court. Atlanta had the ball and the lead and should’ve let the clock run down but they saw the 4v5 and rushed it and TT blocked it. Crazy.
I came in here just to say that. The guys on the TNT broadcast, if they missed it, need to get their eyes checked. It was the first thing I noticed. If a guy’s falling down, you of course will look to see what took him down. Della didn’t fall down on his own, he was dragged into the other Hawks player THEN he fell. Its ironic that in trying to pull Della down, he almost suffered the same injury Korver received
By the way, who is this Dellavedova guy? How come I haven’t heard about him at all until like game 6 of the Bulls series? Is he some throwaway included in the Love trade? He seems like he can really play and would be a good role player on a decent team. He looks too old to be a rookie. The guy’s got the full beard of a 38 year old mountainman.
Back to the flagrant, there was one unanswered question I had about what happened. If Horford is assessed a flagrant 2, then why did Della get a technical foul? Seems like the logic of a flagrant 2 fails if Della had some blame, and should have gotten a flagrant 1 instead. They explained the flagrant 2 but not the tech
Somebody mentioned this on another board. Lebron was a bit gimpy because of the contact and fall, so he couldn’t just run back. He wasn’t sitting there pouting to the refs, but there wasn’t a camera on him so nobody can verify
I gotta’ confess: watching the game, I’m just curious how the Rockets’ll blow, what is now a 47-29 lead with about nine to go in the 2nd. Sure convinced they will, some how.
Well, Atlanta folded like a piece of kleenex, which I didn’t expect. Hell, Lebron didn’t even play in the fourth quarter; how insulting is that? I hope GS closes out on Houston tonight, although Houston might be a better match for another team that likes to brawl.
Harden shot 2-11 with 13 turnovers – a playoff record for butter fingers. Reminded me a little of John Starks going 2-18 in the finals.
Alright. Anyone want to give a rundown of the strengths and weaknesses of these teams relative each other
Ultimately, I was surprised at how easily the Cavs took out the Hawks. How often does a 60 win team get swept? Not having watched most of their games in their entirety (stupid early East coast start times), were they missing a go-to superstar like people keep saying they are? Isn’t Teague their’ go-to guy? He was the only one to sniff 30 points in their sweep.
Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but Horford’s flagrant 2 wasn’t downgraded, right? Isn’t that an automatic one game suspension? I was watching game 4 and couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t suspended.
No Kevin Love, a gimpy Kyrie, and Lebron adjusting to a new team with new starters and he still bowls over the East to the finals again? Its pretty amazing but some part of me wishes he played in the West just to see how well he’d do. And does this finals appearance guarantee Love staying? Looking at the landscape and how Thibs just got fired, if he wants to win, there’s no better place for him than Cleveland. I know, its Cleveland, but still, he’ll probably be contending for the next 3 or 4 years. Would anyone seriously be contemplating a move in his position if it was another city? Ok, maybe Minnesota, but still
And holy crap, Thibs got fired! Thank goodness we always have the fucked up Bulls management to make shitty decisions. Then again maybe they looked at what happened in Golden State with a brand new coach and thought “Me too!” But the Bulls aren’t getting any younger and Rose isn’t getting any healthier if history is any indication. I really can’t see who’s going to pose a challenge for Lebron next year. The East should have some major shakeups this summer.
I like how our local Lakers radio station christened the Warriors as “Lakers North”. “Jerry West! Michael’s kid!” they scream. But yeah, they are fun and I have nothing against them. I have a small rooting interest for the Cavs though. This will be the first finals in a long time that I’m not really pulling for anyone. If either team wins, I’ll be happy, I’m just glad to watch. And I’m really glad the traitor Dwight Howard failed again. Maybe next year they’ll get a healthy Beverly back, I’m not sure who’s under contract on that team. But today’s a happy day when I can laugh at a former Celtic and a Lakers traitor losing. McHale looked like he was going to cry in that interview after the game. And Dwight always looks like a baby.
If you pick up more than 3 points worth of flagrant fouls during the postseason, it’s a one game suspension. A Flagrant 2 is 2 points, which is under the threshold.
By contrast, if Dwight Howard’s elbow to Bogut had been upgraded to a Flagrant 2 after the league reviewed it, that would have been 4 points for him and he would have been suspended for game 5.
GSW has probably the best shooting back court of all time, homecourt, stacked like pancakes, motion/space offense isn’t as predictable as Cleveland’s Lebronball, best defense and offense of the regular season, arguably the better coach, and Curry has been on a mission. I’d be surprised if they don’t win.
I’ve seen people try to argue that Cleveland is tougher and will ugly the game up, but GS already delt with the Grizzlies. I don’t think Mozgov/TT will impress a team that already went through Z-Bo and Gasol, but I guess we’ll see. Cleveland has the best defensive numbers in the playoffs, but I’m not sure how much of that is from playing in the cupcake East.
It’s hard to believe a team that plays Delladova a lot of minutes could win in the finals. Plus there’s always worries of JR Smith going insane and getting suspended for some fool thing. And it’s not clear how effective Kyrie will be.
If the Cavs win I think it’ll take LeBron picking up his jump shot from the lost and found, JR and Shump hitting all their open threes, Curry and Klay going cold in the bright lights, Bogut getting in foul trouble off LeBron drives, and TT continuing his Rodman impression.
It’s just GSW has so many weapons. In the Houston series Dray had a 21/15 game with 5 blocks. In another, Barnes randomly went for 21/7. Before that, Livingston had 18/6 off the bench.
I’m interested in seeing how GSW defends LeBron. If Kerr is smart, which he is, I think they’ll do it San Antonio style. Just give him a cushion, don’t overreact to his post ups…let him drop 30-40 if he can, as long as he doesn’t pass to open shooters. LeBron’s jumper and handles have been suspect this playoffs.
One thing Cleveland has going for them is LeBron is a more experienced leader than anyone on GS. Kerr is experienced, but it’s not the same when it’s the coach IMO.
What makes McHale a traitor? Especially since he giftwrapped KG for Ainge, making them relevant for the first time in years.
I think he meant Howard when he wrote “traitor.” Although Howard didn’t cover himself in glory during his stint with the Lakers, (though he did give them a 17/12 average for 76 games) it was, what, less than a year? Aug 2012 to July 2013, IIRC. If Howard’s a traitor, what do you think of LeBron then, Yog? Though he brought them back to the Finals so all is forgiven, I guess?
Warriors in 5, and I’m trying to see how it won’t be a sweep, but I think LeBron will have a ridiculous game in there somewhere.
Yes, I meant Howard, the Lakers traitor, and McHale, the former Celtic who by definition I’m supposed to hate as a Lakers fan.
As for Lebron, I have a history of complicated feelings about him. I hated him from his first stint in Cleveland because I see him as competition to Kobe, and pounced on every weakness, real or perceived.
Then when he left, I hated him because of the way he left. He was my least favorite player in the league while in Miami, or one of them, because I thought he essentially fucked the whole city and was not smart enough or introspective enough to realize why he did what he did. I have no love for Cleveland, but he should have given them ample warning instead of dumping them on national TV like he did, and for all those defending him for donating the advertising money from The Decision to charity, I counter with if he really was a good person, he’d have donated the money without that embarrassing special. I don’t believe his claims that he made up his mind at the last minute, I think the writing was on the wall when he quit on his team vs. I think either Boston or Orlando in the playoffs.
But now that he’s back, I feel he’s atoned for what he did. With Kobe being injured so much these last few years, I no longer see him as competition for Lebron, so I can enjoy Kobe in his golden years and see Lebron as part of the new batch of stars in the post-Kobe world. Coming back must have been hard, and even if one accuses him of doing it for basketball reasons and not for making up for The Decision, at least he’s back. So even though I don’t live in Cleveland or care for that city, yeah, in my eyes, he’s forgiven
Just as LeBron’s court vision and decision making lifts the other guys on the floor, so does Steph Curry’s shooting ability and the space it creates. I think that’s the biggest factor in why the Warriors are viewed as having the better team than any qualitative advantage. Bogut/Green vs. Mozgov/Thompson is a wash, in my opinion. These teams are 1-2 in terms of opponent 3pt% in the playoffs, which will be key. The Cavs are a better rebounding team, the Warriors force more turnovers.
Cavs in 6.
It’s official: Thibodeau has been fired.
Too bad- but he’s too good a coach not to get some excellent opportunities.
This wait until Thursday for the Finals to start is a little ridiculous. And then another 2 nights off between games 1 and 2. Should the NBA playoffs really be 2 full months?
They need to bring the regular season down to 76 games and have a best of 5 opening round. The fact that they allow a week’s rest before the Finals suggests that the league knows its season is too long and wears the players out.
On a related note, Andrew Sharp’s article on Thibs is worth a read. He refers to him as a “defensive Mike D’Antoni,” which is a pretty good description. It’s obvious now that an NBA head coach’s #1 job isn’t drawing up plays, it’s managing lineups and minutes. If the league won’t reduce the number of games, then the coaches have to manage minutes and the front office has to assemble a deep enough roster not to end up like the Clippers. The players understand now that team success does not require that the starting 5 be ground into dust.
Seems like the schedule was a little compressed if anything - one day off between games in the series seems kinda rough. Shorten the regular season if you need basketball season to be shorter, it’s all just a warmup for the playoffs anyway.
Edit: They didn’t allow a week’s rest deliberately, did they? I thought the finals date was set in advance so they could make arrangements for the big games and it just so happened that both finals series were short, leaving a gap.
GSW wrapped their series up last Wednesday. Starting the Finals yesterday would have been justifiable.
I’m not complaining, it’s better if both teams are rested, but I do think the quality of the games from night to night suffers because of fatigue issues.
Yes, that is correct. In the past they have adjusted the schedules to prevent these sorts of gaps if all the series in a given round were short, but this year apparently the TV networks demanded a fixed schedule. Anyway, Warriors in five.
Compared to the rest of the Cavs playoffs, this game feels like it’s on turbo.
