NBA Playoffs 2023

[Ratso]

danny to the sixers

best job ever & the best jersey shore home @ asbury park

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Good to see that your bad takes transcend UConn and college hoops. Keep it going!!

You are pro flop. Got it.

 

[MJ1]

Butler, Lowry, who else are you counting Caron?

Max Strus, DePaul and on the bench Omer Yurtseven, Georgetown. I know the later is a stretch. Having Caron from UConn on the coaching staff is a big plus as well. 3 key players a coach and a bench warmer, not too bad.

 

[Matrim55]

Quite a statement game from Tatum today. Really want to see more guys get going. Hated the first half offense from Boston. Too many contested drives.

Those drives are key against Embiid. Even if he’s a monster in the first quarter and sets the defensive tone it’s worth it because his conditioning is so bad. Every one of those chasedown blocks depletes his stamina bar by like 15%, so as soon as I saw the Celtics going to the hole to start this one, I knew it was over.

Embiid’s first quarter defensive rating in this series: 104.
Embiid’s fourth quarter defensive rating in this series: 116

You could make a highlight reel of him getting dusted on 4th quarter switches, or of guys drilling 3-pointers in his eye because he’s too gassed to even get a hand up, let alone close out hard & with good technique.

Great regular season player. Pure playoff fraud. Worse than Harden.

 

[Matrim55]

Just the biggest loser, man. Most mentally soft "superstar" I've ever seen in this league.

Dude's a center who's shot over 50% from the floor 3 times in 11 series. He's shot below 45% five times. He had 3 rebounds in the first three quarters today.

Guy's 7-1 290 and got shut down by a 6-foot-8 guy he outweighs by 40 pounds. Pick and pop? Foul line fadeaway? WTF man, take him down to the block. Work as hard on your post game as you do on your posting. Learn how to pass out of a double.

Career East semis stats over the course of five series:

24/11/3 on 43/29/83 shooting splits and a negative a/to ratio. Philly's 0-5.

I'm sure they'll blame Harden and Doc, and they both deserve a lot. But an MVP is supposed to set the tone like Jokic did, or like LeBron did. Or like Tatum did! He finallly went to work on the block in this one and the Sixers were food.

Just a big, fat old loser.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Just the biggest loser, man. Most mentally soft "superstar" I've ever seen in this league.

Dude's a center who's shot over 50% from the floor 3 times in 11 series. He's shot below 45% five times. He had 3 rebounds in the first three quarters today.

Guy's 7-1 290 and got shut down by a 6-foot-8 guy he outweighs by 40 pounds. Pick and pop? Foul line fadeaway? WTF man, take him down to the block. Work as hard on your post game as you do on your posting. Learn how to pass out of a double.

Career East semis stats over the course of five series:

24/11/3 on 43/29/83 shooting splits and a negative a/to ratio. Philly's 0-5.

I'm sure they'll blame Harden and Doc, and they both deserve a lot. But an MVP is supposed to set the tone like Jokic did, or like LeBron did. Or like Tatum did! He finallly went to work on the block in this one and the Sixers were food.

Just a big, fat old loser.

Yeah Embiid’s mindset is easy to see out there and it’s terrible. He pretty much gave up at the end of game 6 with it within reach. Terrible body language and all and it’s like, this is a close out game man. If you do your part your team wins that instead of complaining about the help you don’t have.

Embiid should, rightfully, get a lot of criticism this summer. Can’t believe he threw his teammates under the bus after not showing up for two straight games.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Those drives are key against Embiid. Even if he’s a monster in the first quarter and sets the defensive tone it’s worth it because his conditioning is so bad. Every one of those chasedown blocks depletes his stamina bar by like 15%, so as soon as I saw the Celtics going to the hole to start this one, I knew it was over.

Embiid’s first quarter defensive rating in this series: 104.
Embiid’s fourth quarter defensive rating in this series: 116

You could make a highlight reel of him getting dusted on 4th quarter switches, or of guys drilling 3-pointers in his eye because he’s too gassed to even get a hand up, let alone close out hard & with good technique.

Great regular season player. Pure playoff fraud. Worse than Harden.

I don’t get why people can’t just appreciate good play, and instead have to tear everyone apart. The “Pure playoff fraud” will be the only player to take the Celtics to 7 games this postseason. The Celtics are a mortal lock to win the NBA title, and neither the Heat or the West winner will get past 6 games or will ever have a lead in their series against the Celtics.

Next up: Butler and the Heat are chokers, and then Jokic can’t win the big game.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Flop. That was as clear as a charge gets. Shoulder to the chest.

Embiid s slowing down because he’s gassed. Nothing to do with that play. They hunted him on D Ian the first half and wore him down. He wasn’t even going up court at times. But he’s not the problem, the Philly guards are crap defenders.

If it wasn’t for the refs conspiracy against the Celtics, the Celtics would have won 4 straight by 40 points each game.

 

[Scoe]

Tatum looked like he was saving his wad a little bit this season. A full NBA season is longer then an MLB season.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Those drives are key against Embiid. Even if he’s a monster in the first quarter and sets the defensive tone it’s worth it because his conditioning is so bad. Every one of those chasedown blocks depletes his stamina bar by like 15%, so as soon as I saw the Celtics going to the hole to start this one, I knew it was over.

Embiid’s first quarter defensive rating in this series: 104.
Embiid’s fourth quarter defensive rating in this series: 116

You could make a highlight reel of him getting dusted on 4th quarter switches, or of guys drilling 3-pointers in his eye because he’s too gassed to even get a hand up, let alone close out hard & with good technique.

Great regular season player. Pure playoff fraud. Worse than Harden.

He's no fraud, but the Celtics knew Doc had him switching on JT, so they just ran him all over the court, and attacked him on P&R. He had no help on the defensive end really. Guys his size can't do that and I'm not sure he ever came out of the game. Philly needs a lot of bench help.

Several years ago LeBron lost about 20 pounds, said he had gotten too big, which is tough on the knees but also consumes more energy. Embiid needs to shed about 20 pounds. He used to be quicker.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

Unfortunately he never got much of a chance to do it in the playoffs, but I remember seeing a stat that for regular season Kemba was one of the best for those situations

 

[Madmannsucks]

My son picked up a part time job working security at Ball Arena. So he has seen all the home playoff games.

 

[HooperScooper]

Niang was on the bench and just grabbed at Jaylen Brown's knee to prevent him from getting up the court after Brown jumped into the Sixers bench to get the save

Brown started talking to him afterwards, and ended up in a double technical

In my opinion, if a player on the bench makes physical contact that prevents a player on the other team from running, especially grabbing a knee, that should be an automatic flagrant 2 and ejection. Insane that Brown got a technical out of that

Really fun game so far though!

Good to see the NBA do the right thing and rescind Brown's technical. Although what if the Celtics had lost by a point or the game went to OT and the Celtics ultimately lost? Would have been a lot of angst from the Celtics.

NBA Rescinds Scott Foster's Technical Foul On Jaylen Brown

Celtics guard Jaylen was understandably furious after being given a technical foul in Game 7 against the 76ers, which the NBA reviewed.

nesn.com

 

[Husky25]

Good to see the NBA do the right thing and rescind Brown's technical. Although what if the Celtics had lost by a point or the game went to OT and the Celtics ultimately lost? Would have been a lot of angst from the Celtics.

NBA Rescinds Scott Foster's Technical Foul On Jaylen Brown

Celtics guard Jaylen was understandably furious after being given a technical foul in Game 7 against the 76ers, which the NBA reviewed.

nesn.com

Evidently, once a tech is assessed within the course of the game, it cannot be rescinded even after the officials review the video. With how often replay is used, that is a stupid rule.

Niang should have to face additional consequences, as well.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Geez Nuggs with 72 and Jokic with near triple double in the first half

 

[nelsonmuntz]

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

 

[Deleted at users request]

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.

 

[Deleted at users request]

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.

 

[Deleted at users request]

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.