2016-2017 NBA Playoffs

[the AntiPusher]

I only saw the last few minutes of the first half. I'm glad Boston is getting destroyed I just hope they don't start playing dirty. And the last play was one of the funniest sequences due to our good friend Marv Albert.

Cleveland up 39 and the record deficit at the half was 40, and after Love missed a 3 with 2 seconds left, JR smith gets the rebound but his back was facing the hoop. Albert says "so they won't set the record" and at that moment Smith basically chucks it after doing a crazy turnaround and it falls in for 41 point deficit and the record . Curse of Marv was glorious, Reggie Miller sounded like he was going to slap him after that.

The NBA has got to do some realignment..put the Spurs in the EAST..if not it will be a very boring 3-5 more years..

You could combine..the pacers, wizards, Celtics top two players and Lebron would still destroy those weak sisters

 

[DarthFed]

Well I actually think the power has started to shift a bit and is now a little more neutral than a few years ago. Clearly the Spurs are the 3rd best team in the league and this year you'd probably have Houston #4 (though they overachieved and would've caused Cleveland no problems IMO). After that it's pretty well balanced now and with teams like Bucks, 76ers, and Celtics on the rise there may be more of a shift in the next year or two.

If KD had come to Boston or Washington I think the East would probably be just as good as the West right now. He took the easy route, joining the best team possible and not having to face Lebron 4 times a year and earlier in the playoffs. Players at this point may look at the East and say "yeah they are weak overall but Lebron is there and he is still far and away the best player in the world"

 

[the AntiPusher]

Well I actually think the power has started to shift a bit and is now a little more neutral than a few years ago. Clearly the Spurs are the 3rd best team in the league and this year you'd probably have Houston #4 (though they overachieved and would've caused Cleveland no problems IMO). After that it's pretty well balanced now and with teams like Bucks, 76ers, and Celtics on the rise there may be more of a shift in the next year or two.

If KD had come to Boston or Washington I think the East would probably be just as good as the West right now. He took the easy route, joining the best team possible and not having to face Lebron 4 times a year and earlier in the playoffs. Players at this point may look at the East and say "yeah they are weak overall but Lebron is there and he is still far and away the best player in the world"

Nah..The wizards, raptors and Celtics were on the rise and they can barely win a quarter of a NBA versus Lebron. If Washington or Milwaukee was in the Celtics position right now, the results would most likely be very similar.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I only saw the last few minutes of the first half. I'm glad Boston is getting destroyed I just hope they don't start playing dirty. And the last play was one of the funniest sequences due to our good friend Marv Albert.

Cleveland up 39 and the record deficit at the half was 40, and after Love missed a 3 with 2 seconds left, JR smith gets the rebound but his back was facing the hoop. Albert says "so they won't set the record" and at that moment Smith basically chucks it after doing a crazy turnaround and it falls in for 41 point deficit and the record . Curse of Marv was glorious, Reggie Miller sounded like he was going to slap him after that.

Boston can't win a title with a 5-8 guy being your MVP..That tells me that all the bigger guy are just collecting pay checks

 

[DarthFed]

We will see. The Celtics simply aren't that good, Milwaukee has more defensive prowess and they have Giannis. I'm not saying they could seriously challenge Cleveland yet or even next year but they'd be doing better than this. Cleveland is much better than Boston obviously and they are also a nightmare matchup, Celtics can't rebound and Cleveland is probably the best rebounding team in the league. And they have absolutely no one inside or outside that can slow Bron even just a little.

 

[kskate2]

It was just announced, I Thomas is out the remainder of the series w/ right hip injury.

 

[the AntiPusher]

It was just announced, I Thomas is out the remainder of the series w/ right hip injury.

Actually that might help Boston..he was a huge liability on defense..Celtics should loose by 20 instead of 30 points each game

 

[DarthFed]

Yeah that will help their defense but who is left that can score aside from Horford? They are going to try to hold Cleveland to 80 and even that might not be enough.

 

[the AntiPusher]

I w

Yeah that will help their defense but who is left that can score aside from Horford? They are going to try to hold Cleveland to 80 and even that might not be enough.

if you stop Kryie, doulble team Lebron and live with or let JR have his shots

 

[DarthFed]

I w

if you stop Kryie, doulble team Lebron and live with or let JR have his shots

If you double LeBron he's way too good of a passer and no way you can stop Kyrie, Love, Korver, and co. from killing you from the outside. Best chance is to have a guy with the size and speed to at least guard him somewhat on the perimeter. Leonard and only a couple others fit that bill.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

One of the most boring conference finals in recent memory.

 

[DarthFed]

Yes it is overall the most boring playoffs I can ever remember. The Boston-Washington series was good and that's about it. Hoping the finals makes up for it, on paper this may be the best finals since LA-Boston in the 80's.

 

[DarthFed]

Embarrassing performance from the Cavs so far, in danger of blowing a 21 point lead

 

[DarthFed]

And LeBron playing extremely bad, pretty shocking.

 

[the AntiPusher]

Gre

If you double LeBron he's way too good of a passer and no way you can stop Kyrie, Love, Korver, and co. from killing you from the outside. Best chance is to have a guy with the size and speed to at least guard him somewhat on the perimeter. Leonard and only a couple others fit that bill.

great and gutsy win by the Celtics..I told you stop Lebron and live with the others taking shots..

 

[DarthFed]

LeBron was the worst player on the court. I don't think they stopped him, he pretty much stopped himself and was getting outworked on the glass too in the 2nd half. Pretty stunning but we've seen him suddenly disappear before in the playoffs. Celtics will carry a ton of momentum into game 4 and don't be surprised if that one is a nailbiter too.

 

[the AntiPusher]

LeBron was the worst player on the court. I don't think they stopped him, he pretty much stopped himself and was getting outworked on the glass too in the 2nd half. Pretty stunning but we've seen him suddenly disappear before in the playoffs. Celtics will carry a ton of momentum into game 4 and don't be surprised if that one is a nailbiter too.

Come on Darth ,,that's not fair..you can't say the Celtics didn't stop Lebron he stopped himself..that doesn't make sense.. Crowder or whatever his name played good defense..if it wasn't for Thompson, the Celtics may have won by 10,,Smart was the difference..IT is their MVP but to win in the playoffs, your best and most aggressive player can't be a 5-8 guard..Holford still plays too far from the basket ..

 

[DarthFed]

Come on Darth ,,that's not fair..you can't say the Celtics didn't stop Lebron he stopped himself..that doesn't make sense.. Crowder or whatever his name played good defense..if it wasn't for Thompson, the Celtics may have won by 10,,Smart was the difference..IT is their MVP but to win in the playoffs, your best and most aggressive player can't be a 5-8 guard..Holford still plays too far from the basket ..

LeBron was never looking to be aggressive and was settling for bad and contested shots. There is no reason he should only take 13 shots in a playoff game. Celtics didn't do anything different on him he just wasn't even looking to score.

 

[the AntiPusher]

LeBron was never looking to be aggressive and was settling for bad and contested shots. There is no reason he should only take 13 shots in a playoff game. Celtics didn't do anything different on him he just wasn't even looking to score.

The Celtics did apply some double team pressure to Lebron and he made them pay when he kicked it out to JR and Love for threes. However the goal was to prevent him from dominating inside the paint which I give the defense credit.

 

[DarthFed]

I think they were doubling him more in game 2. It's pretty suicidal with their shooters to do that. If he wants to get inside on Brown, Crowder, or one of their bigs, he will.

I think part of it is that Love and Irving were so hot in the first half that he kept feeding them all game even when they cooled off. And then he had no rhythm and still was playing too passively. Still they blew a 21 point lead at home and now it's a series instead of being completely done. In the playoffs you never play with your food, things can turn around very fast in a best of seven.