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As advertised.

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This is going to be a NBA Finals for the ages. Unreal.
 
Simply aazing, the talent and shotmaking is as good as you will ever see on a basketball floor. If any bball fan says they aren't into this I don't know what to tell them, bball doesn't get any better.
 
superjohn said:
Simply aazing, the talent and shotmaking is as good as you will ever see on a basketball floor. If any bball fan says they aren't into this I don't know what to tell them, bball doesn't get any better.
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If only they tried as hard as college kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
superjohn said:
Simply aazing, the talent and shotmaking is as good as you will ever see on a basketball floor. If any bball fan says they aren't into this I don't know what to tell them, bball doesn't get any better.
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oh they're coming...
 
I think its funny that people were saying that Lebron is the best talent ever when IMO he isn't the best player in the series. KD is completely unguardable and his overall game improves leaps and bounds every year. The guy is 23.
 
Last night's game showed the contrast between a 23 man-child who is completely comfortable in his role leading a team (Kevin Durant) vice a 27 year old child man still trying to figure out how to translate his talents on to a championship team.

Durant was amazing in the fourth quarter and showed how he is in the Jordan and Magic mold of knowing when lead the team and when to straight take over games. A complete offensive assassin who rebounds and passes well too.
 
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Chin Diesel said:
Last night's game showed the contrast between a 23 man-child who is completely comfortable in his role leading a team (Kevin Durant) vice a 27 year old child man still trying to figure out how to translate his talents on to a championship team.

Durant was amazing in the fourth quarter and showed how he is in the Jordan and Magic mold of knowing when lead the team and when to straight take over games. A complete offensive assassin who rebounds and passes well too.
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Right. Yet if Lebron pulls his head out and plays the way he should, Miami takes this thing. One loss at OKC means nothing. If Miami is going to let Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier carry any part of the load, they gonna have a problem. For Miami to win, Lebron needs 40, Wade 35, Bosh 20, and everyone else can chip in whatever. They know this. Lebron just has to stop being lazy. He can't rest out there and let other people take shots. I'm sure they've already figured this out. Lebron needs to just take over like he used to in Cleveland. Miami takes game 2.
 
I've seen a lot of the Heat this season and pretty much knew what to expect from them. I haven't watched OKC at all, except for highlights, and have to admit to being blown away at the level of play. Durant definitely has me re-thinking my position that LeBron has the greatest physical skill set of anyone who has ever played the game. Really unbelievable how un-guardable he is. But then you add in Westbrook and I don't know if there is a better 1-2 punch. It will be fascinating to see how LeBron, Wade and the rest of the Heat respond; perhaps especially Bosh. The rest of OKC looked mighty impressive to me as well, though. From to Sefolosha's D to Collison's rebounding and timely scoring, to Ibaka's intensity. Oh, and Harden hardly even figured in this game--that's not likely to happen again.

I say it every year: the NBA Finals never fail to deliver the goods. I'm rooting for OKC, but more than anything I want to see six more great battles before this is over.
 
I don't think it's as simple as "LeBron taking over" or some other cliche. The guy seemingly has to do everything and seemingly has to play every minute of each game. Wade doesn't give them enough, Bosh isn't there yet, especially defensively and Spoelstra refuses to give some of his bench guys even a few minutes here and there to rest the big guns. When they were up, there was no reason for him not to give guys like Cole and Anthony some extended playing time. As a result, Spoelstra is running the risk of having a gassed team out there at the end of every game. They may have been able to get away with that against an old man team like Boston, but it isn't going to fly in this one. Even with all of that, they may still have won if Wade had done anything, but it seems that his days of being big game in and game out are behind him.
 
gars44 said:
Right. Yet if Lebron pulls his head out and plays the way he should, Miami takes this thing. One loss at OKC means nothing. If Miami is going to let Mario Chalmers and Shane Battier carry any part of the load, they gonna have a problem. For Miami to win, Lebron needs 40, Wade 35, Bosh 20, and everyone else can chip in whatever. They know this. Lebron just has to stop being lazy. He can't rest out there and let other people take shots. I'm sure they've already figured this out. Lebron needs to just take over like he used to in Cleveland. Miami takes game 2.
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Agreed that a playoff series doesn't start until the home team loses a game. Agreed that Miami can't be depending on Chalmers and Battier to contribute 30 points.

I think Lebron will get his during this series. Wade seems banged up, and, as the saying goes, is playing very old for his age. I think OKC matches up well with Bosh and I don't see him getting more than 15 ppg.

I won't ever call or insinuate that Lebron is lazy.

I do think he is still trying to figure out how to harness his talents in a team game at a championship level. He seems so mechanical with his thought processes too often. He may be the most lethal player ever on a fast break and is a very good catch and shoot shooter. But, the longer the ball is in his hands, the worst the decisions seem to go.
 
Durant in 4th had almost as many points as Wade did all game.

I thought a major issue was the Heat had an advantage, a big one early, in turnovers yet they were crushed in fast break points in the game. The heat aren't good enough offensively to rely on half court offense and not penalize okc for their turnover issues
 
Chin Diesel said:
I won't ever call or insinuate that Lebron is lazy.

I do think he is still trying to figure out how to harness his talents in a team game at a championship level. He seems so mechanical with his thought processes too often. He may be the most lethal player ever on a fast break and is a very good catch and shoot shooter. But, the longer the ball is in his hands, the worst the decisions seem to go.
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That's a better way to put it. Maybe it's mentally lazy then. It just seems that he could do so much more, and even with all his talent, allows himself to become a "given" instead of a game changer. He's a "given" that you just have to deal with, instead of a Michael, or a Kobe, or a Magic or a Larry - someone who's going to take you down. Durant is not at that level yet, but he's getting there fast.
 
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I am a die hard celtics fan and i used to hate lebron. But i had a realization yesterday, i actually feel bad for the guy. Ever since he was 15 years old he was pegged as the chosen one. Everything he does is under a microscope. The guy has a serious burden. And the thing is, he's not even a selfish superstar, all of the analysts and everyone who has met him says he is so unselfish and a great person. Obviously the way he had "The Decision" and all wasnt the best but i honestly feel bad for the guy now. I hope he gets a ring so everyone stops talking about him so much. I also dont think spoelstra knows how to coach. The heat are oblivious on defense and most of the offense ends up wade/bron driving and either putting up a ridiculous shot or dishing out for a 3.
 
Lebron probably has a better overall game than KD but the issue is that Lebron can be planned for because he actually has a weakness - he is a very inconsistent shooter and teams can lay off him a little. If he is hot, game 6 style, he is completely indefensible but Durant is almost always unguardable since he can get his shot off whenever now and is almost always lights out.
 
OKC is a complete team. You could swap out Durant for an average NBA wing and they'd still be pretty good. Take Lebron off the Heat and they're a trainwreck.
 
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BigErnMcCracken said:
OKC is a complete team. You could swap out Durant for an average NBA wing and they'd still be pretty good. Take Lebron off the Heat and they're a trainwreck.
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Agree, maybe not a trainwreck but a first round playoff loser particularly given whatever is up with Wade and Bosh in his current state. Very hard not to overreact to that one game, but certainly the theory that OKC's depth and speed is too much for the Heat has traction.

Early I thought Spoelstra had actually made a good tactical move by starting small and sticking with it. Miami doesn't lose a ton with smaller defenders on Perkins. And Ibaka is just as likely to take a good shot as a bad one. But then when Harden came into the game things changed and OKC's pace was clearly better than what Miami could sustain, just that early in the game OKC was missing shots and couldn't break thru. But it felt like a machine guy firing away and eventually some shots were gooing to hit their mark and Miami would tire from the pace. I think Miami has to find a way to get Norris Cole and some other reserves effective minutes otherwise they'll continue to fade.

In terms of competitiveness it really is a bummer that the Finals series is 2-3-2. Odds are pretty high that OKC wins the next one and then all they really have to do is go to Miami and get 1/3.
 
The problem for the Heat (among others) is that Wade is a shell of himself. Hes become a viable second option as opposed to the superstar he used to be. He doenst attack the rim nearly as much, settling instead for contested jumpers. Even his attitude. He looks really carefree out there. Stefo can help slow down Lebron and Wade. Westbrook can shut down Wade how hes playing now. Ibaka can handle Bosh. Harden did nothing last night and they still won. The Thunder appear to have a lot of answers.
 
The Heat will win or lose this series based on Wade. LeBron will do his part. Battier had a huge game. The role players do their thing. Wade had a bad game, for him.
 
I think the key for the Heat is LeBron playing as good or better than he did last night, and at least one of either Bosh or Wade having at least a B+/A- game. In the Indy series LeBron did a good job of adjusting and deferring to Wade to get him going when he needed to rebound from a worse performance and the same types of questions about whether he was too banged up. I know LeBron is not the coach, but he needs to figure out what it takes to get at least one of these guys going with him. And if LeBron doesn't do at least what he did last night, the Heat don't stand a chance.
 
Let's play this game.

If you swap Lebron and KD right now and put Bron Bron on OKC and KD on the Heat, who wins this series?
 
Chin Diesel said:
Let's play this game.

If you swap Lebron and KD right now and put Bron Bron on OKC and KD on the Heat, who wins this series?
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I think it still depends on the same factors. In other words, KD would still need at least a B+/A- game from at least one of either Bosh or Wade for the Heat to win in that scenario. And LeBron would be even more lethal if he has Westbrook doing what he did last night.
 
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Lebron may have been put on this earth to play the game of basketball, but Durant was put on this earth to score the basketball.

I don't know if Durant will ever be the ball-handler or passer of Lebron but he puts the ball in the hoop with much more ease.

I'm not convinced Wade can turn it on. If he could only muster what he did against a one-legged Ray Allen, he is going to have trouble being defended by the Thunder.

Bosh may be able to show something, but I doubt his shot is really as good as it looked against the Celtics in game 7.

I think the Thunder should have this fairly easily.
 
Wade hasn't been Wade since the Pacers series ended. I think his style of play and injuries have taken a toll on him. Maybe he'll turn it around, though; who knows.

As to Durant/James, I agree with Walker11 (as usual). It's funny, every NBA postseason, people's opinions change from game to game. Now Durant's the best player in the NBA? No, he's the best scorer in the NBA. If the game's tied and you need to score, nobody's better. He's not an overall better player than LeBron. LeBron also plays defense, for one thing, and is a terrific passer. But man is Durant fun to watch. Wow.
 
Chin Diesel said:
Let's play this game.

If you swap Lebron and KD right now and put Bron Bron on OKC and KD on the Heat, who wins this series?
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That's kind of a waste of time at this point, we don't know who wins with them on their current teams?! Plus LeBron won the MVP award, don't need to convince every single person or even every MVP voter that he's the MVP because... HE IS. Three times over no less. Durant doesn't have an MVP yet and even if he wins the Finals MVP that doesn't mean he's better than LeBron, much like no one argued that Dirk Nowitzki is better than LeBron - Dirk just happened to play better and be a more valuable piece in last year's Finals.

FWIW I think you could replace Durant with say Kobe and OKC would be just as good (so Durant has 1 comp) BUT only the Durant and LeBron swap puts both teams in the Finals (meaning Miami would need Durant as only possible replacement without major dropoff) and the outcome is TBD much like the current outcome.
 
nomar said:
Wade hasn't been Wade since the Pacers series ended. I think his style of play and injuries have taken a toll on him. Maybe he'll turn it around, though; who knows.

As to Durant/James, I agree with Walker11 (as usual). It's funny, every NBA postseason, people's opinions change from game to game. Now Durant's the best player in the NBA? No, he's the best scorer in the NBA. If the game's tied and you need to score, nobody's better. He's not an overall better player than LeBron. LeBron also plays defense, for one thing, and is a terrific passer. But man is Durant fun to watch. Wow.
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Durant is a terrific passer too.
 
nomar said:
LeBron also plays defense, for one thing, and is a terrific passer.
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Durant has actually developed into a good defender (although he can't guard LeBron 1-on-1) and a good passer. Unlike last year, there are no real holes in his game anymore.

I still think LeBron is better because he's good-to-great at so many things, but there's something to be said for Durant being the best 4th quarter player in the game. I just think the gap between the two becomes very small if Durant is able to lead his team to a championship at age 23.
 
KD was insane. He hit pretty much every shot that exists, with all types of defensive contest. He has THE entire array of shots, and he did most of it in the 4th quarter. LBJ is turning out to be way too one-sided. Like I said, if OKC would force him to take jump shots they would win.
 
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