NBA Playoffs 2023

[nelsonmuntz]

If you think NBA teams play too much defense, then I suggest you watch the Nuggets/Lakers game. Defense is optional tonight.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

If you think NBA teams play too much defense, then I suggest you watch the Nuggets/Lakers game. Defense is optional tonight.

Because Darvin Ham made the dumb move to give a three guard lineup the most minutes against the best offensive team in the NBA.

Lol at asking Schroeder to guard a Murray and Jokic pick and roll after seeing how Vanderbilt affected Steph for a whole series. That and LA is getting destroyed on the boards. He needs to throw that 3 guard lineup away for the rest of the series.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I was half joking with my earlier post. I thought both teams played well tonight. Three thoughts on this series:

1) how did the Lakers find this much talent dumpster diving the free agent market and with no draft picks? Hachimura, Vanderbilt, Schroder, Walker and Reaves aren’t great, but they are good enough to play with Davis and Lebron.

2) Davis would have been one of the best ever if he could stay healthy.

3) How did the Lakers find all that talent on the NBA scrap heap, and the Nuggets have Bruce Brown and Jeff Green for their bench?

 

[Waquoit]

For all of those gaudy numbers last night, the Joker wasn't all that impressive in the last 5 minutes.

 

[Matrim55]

Lol at asking Schroeder to guard a Murray and Jokic pick and roll after seeing how Vanderbilt affected Steph for a whole series.

The final four games of that series Vanderbilt played 15 mins, 11 minutes, 11 minutes and 4 minutes. I hate Schroeder but he was the one who was the primary defender on Steph for most of it.

Great game last night featuring two of the best players ever to play the sport (yeah, Jokic's at that level). Ham's second-half adjustment was a good one -- I've seen the Celtics give the Nuggs trouble over the past few years by sticking either Al or Grant on Joker, and having Rob Williams in the free safety role a la AD in the second half last night.

Curious to see if Malone's got an adjustment of his own beyond "Aaron Gordon, you better hit some shots."

 

[QDOG5]

I'm all in on the Nuggets but the Lakers made some great adjustments in the second half and I'm nervous going forward.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

The final four games of that series Vanderbilt played 15 mins, 11 minutes, 11 minutes and 4 minutes. I hate Schroeder but he was the one who was the primary defender on Steph for most of it.

Great game last night featuring two of the best players ever to play the sport (yeah, Jokic's at that level). Ham's second-half adjustment was a good one -- I've seen the Celtics give the Nuggs trouble over the past few years by sticking either Al or Grant on Joker, and having Rob Williams in the free safety role a la AD in the second half last night.

Curious to see if Malone's got an adjustment of his own beyond "Aaron Gordon, you better hit some shots."

Steph had his best games during that time scoring wise. Ham decided more offense was important for that series and the Nuggets have a lot more size to deal with than GSW where that lineup just isn’t going to work.

This series is going to need more defense. Three of Bron, AD, Rui, and Vandy should be on the floor at all times. Nuggets aren’t as deep or versatile imo to match what LA can throw at them.

I’m for sure looking forward to more of this Jokic vs AD battle. Great hoops!

 

[tzznandrew]

I'm all in on the Nuggets but the Lakers made some great adjustments in the second half and I'm nervous going forward.

It was a simple adjustment or two, but it's not something Jokic and the Nuggets can't adjust to.

Honestly, I felt as though the Lakers had A+ games from some guys (like Davis) who you can't fully count on, and in those scenarios they need to win. I don't think history suggests Davis is getting 40+ regularly; meanwhile, Jokic is doing what he did every night.

Lakers are going to make this a series—LeBron is amazing—but the Lakers need A+ games from a lot of players to win this series. Or LeBron has to go nuclear for 4 games in the next 6. Can he do that, at this age?

 

[CardiacAndre7]

It was a simple adjustment or two, but it's not something Jokic and the Nuggets can't adjust to.

Honestly, I felt as though the Lakers had A+ games from some guys (like Davis) who you can't fully count on, and in those scenarios they need to win. I don't think history suggests Davis is getting 40+ regularly; meanwhile, Jokic is doing what he did every night.

Lakers are going to make this a series—LeBron is amazing—but the Lakers need A+ games from a lot of players to win this series. Or LeBron has to go nuclear for 4 games in the next 6. Can he do that, at this age?

The Nuggs as a whole pretty much played A+ though too. DLo, Schroeder and the bench (besides Rui) pretty much didn’t show up.

 

[tzznandrew]

The Nuggs as a whole pretty much played A+ though too. DLo, Schroeder and the bench (besides Rui) pretty much didn’t show up.

Gordon was not great. The Nuggets were good, but this is more or less what they looked like during the regular season. The Lakers were good to end the season, but it's not like they were particularly impressive. DLo and Schröder aren't really all that good—and for them to look better they need to take some of AD or Reaves' shots.

DLo is who he is—he'll have a very good game or half that will win them a game. You can't can't on him, though, and I sort of feel like the Lakers needed to win the 40-10 AD game in which LeBron was just an assist away from a triple double.

Now...if AD keeps this up (he hasn't in these playoffs), that changes things. Or, if LeBron can reach back to 2017 LeBron for an extended period, that does too. But I guess I imagine the Nuggets and their staff will be able to figure out how to deal with AD guarding Gordon in the dunker spot (i.e. roaming) and Rui guarding Jokic.

Offensively and defensively Rui played as well as he possibly could—and he'll need to do that consistently if the Nuggets can't solve AD guarding Gordon. Color me skeptical on that front.

Nuggets were a 1-seed for a reason; Lakers were a 7-seed for a reason. Both teams are also in the WCF for a reason, too, though.

 

[superjohn]

The Nuggs as a whole pretty much played A+ though too. DLo, Schroeder and the bench (besides Rui) pretty much didn’t show up.

Not sure what Malone was doing last night. Ham made the adjustments to pick up Jokic when he was bringing the ball up and on the perimeter by throwing Hachimura on him and making AD the rim protector "rover." As amazing as Jokic is it's pretty damn hard for him to go through the first line of defense and then have to finish over AD near the rim. Malone didn't look ready for it and then on the other end Murray was getting abused, he was constantly getting switched off onto Lebron who he can't guard or he was in no man's land not guarding anyone. Going to have to run a ton of pick and rolls with Jokic and Murray with some wrinkles and then get Gordon on Lebron.

Scary game for the Nuggets in that they gave up a huge lead at home when they were playing so great offensively. Really interesting series, Jokic is the best player in the world but AD and Lebron are the next two best players in the series. Murray, Porter Jr. and Gordon should have advantages over the next best Lakers guys but the Lakers are peaking at such a high level right now. Reaves is just flat out really good and the mid-season additions give them so much depth and versatility.

Both teams played awesome offensively and the Nuggets should have the better offensive team to sustain that but AD changes so much with his defense. It feels like the Lakers are playing a bit out of their arse offensively in these playoffs but they keep doing it night after night. Hardly missing any ft's, barely ever turning it over, making their jumpshots.

As a Nuggets fan you kind of have to hope AD and Lebron tire out some but it seems like Lebron never tires. AD is the key to the series, he always is.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Boston - Miami roughly even after one Q. Miami is just so much better in the playoffs than the regular season. Now Lowry going off and Boston throwing the ball away. Celtics are at their worst when they think they should win.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Whereas most teams build through the draft and augment strategically with free agents, Miami hits on a draft pick (Adebayo), signs a second tier star who had worn out his welcome on his previous two teams (Butler), and then fills in with flotsam and jetsam who no one else wants but all turn out to be productive players.

How does Miami do it? Are Reilly and Spoelstra just that much smarter than everyone else?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Miami is shooting lights out and Boston is doing its usual of making dumb plays in close games. As I said before, they remind me of UConn. Blow you out or lose.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Why has Tatum completely abandoned the mid range game during the playoffs? When you’re only settling for threes or trying to get to the rim at the end of games that’s a recipe for failure unless you’re just hot shooting wise.

 

[Matrim55]

Spo vs. Joey Mazz is such a mismatch, my god.

 

[Rocktheworld]

It was a simple adjustment or two, but it's not something Jokic and the Nuggets can't adjust to.

Honestly, I felt as though the Lakers had A+ games from some guys (like Davis) who you can't fully count on, and in those scenarios they need to win. I don't think history suggests Davis is getting 40+ regularly; meanwhile, Jokic is doing what he did every night.

Lakers are going to make this a series—LeBron is amazing—but the Lakers need A+ games from a lot of players to win this series. Or LeBron has to go nuclear for 4 games in the next 6. Can he do that, at this age?

I definitely don’t think we can count on the Nuggets scoring 130+ every game. I think the Lakers will adjust and Denver will have more trouble adjusting. I think they played their best defensive hand in game 1. Should be a great game tonight

 

[REB1094]

I definitely don’t think we can count on the Nuggets scoring 130+ every game. I think the Lakers will adjust and Denver will have more trouble adjusting. I think they played their best defensive hand in game 1. Should be a great game tonight

If you take away Denver’s hot start and LA’s hot end and just look at the numbers, both teams actually shot pretty much identically.

Denver shot 54.9% FG (vs 50.4% regular season), Lakers shot 54.8% (vs 48.2% regular season). 0.1% difference

Denver shot 46.9% from three (vs 37.9% regular season), Lakers shot 45.8% (vs 34.6% regular season). 1.1% difference

And the Lakers took an extra 6 points from the line

Looking as a whole, the efficiencies were pretty much the same. The variances between the regular season averages was also pretty much the same. It just came down to who shot more. Nuggets took 7 more shots, due to 10 more offensive rebounds.

Sure the Nuggets won’t score 132 again, but will the Lakers shoot 55/46/89 again?

Looking forward to the adjustments from both teams. I bet LA goes Vanderbilt on Murray, and I bet Denver puts Gordon in the corner when AD is on him

 

[Rocktheworld]

If you take away Denver’s hot start and LA’s hot end and just look at the numbers, both teams actually shot pretty much identically.

Denver shot 54.9% FG (vs 50.4% regular season), Lakers shot 54.8% (vs 48.2% regular season). 0.1% difference

Denver shot 46.9% from three (vs 37.9% regular season), Lakers shot 45.8% (vs 34.6% regular season). 1.1% difference

And the Lakers took an extra 6 points from the line

Looking as a whole, the efficiencies were pretty much the same. The variances between the regular season averages was also pretty much the same. It just came down to who shot more. Nuggets took 7 more shots, due to 10 more offensive rebounds.

Sure the Nuggets won’t score 132 again, but will the Lakers shoot 55/46/89 again?

Looking forward to the adjustments from both teams. I bet LA goes Vanderbilt on Murray, and I bet Denver puts Gordon in the corner when AD is on him

Honestly the biggest difference easily was rebounds

 

[How Sway?!]

Is Spo the best coach in the NBA? Taken the heat to three conference finals in 4 years with good but not great teams.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Honestly the biggest difference easily was rebounds

Putting Rui on Jokic and having Bron and AD roam should help alleviate the rebounding. Jokic and Gordon were killing them on the boards early

 

[CardiacAndre7]

What is the point of starting Vanderbilt if he’s gonna play awful defense?

 

[nelsonmuntz]

That was not a flagrant foul by Russell. Basketball is a contact sport, and some collisions are going to be hard. It doesn't make it a dirty play. Russell was going for the ball.

Edit: Goaltending on Davis was a bad call too. Van Gundy is right. The international rule (ball is live once it hits rim) is a cleaner way to handle offensive goaltending.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

That was not a flagrant foul by Russell. Basketball is a contact sport, and some collisions are going to be hard. It doesn't make it a dirty play. Russell was going for the ball.

Edit: Goaltending on Davis was a bad call too. Van Gundy is right. The international rule (ball is live once it hits rim) is a cleaner way to handle offensive goaltending.

Terrible flagrant call, agreed. Bad call on the AD putback too, but I don’t love the international rule, it fits their game better than ours though.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The LeBron missed dunks memes will be strong tomorrow.