NBA Playoffs

[EBonz30]

And it looks like Love is definitely out. Huge for the Celtics.

Love out for Game 7 after entering protocol

Love there or not doesn’t really matter, he’s not very good, he hasn’t had one good or important moment in this series.

He’s a career 40 percent shooter in the playoffs and this year he is 38 percent from the field.

Don’t get hung up on if he plays or not, doesn’t really matter, & like I said before no matter who plays and who doesn’t there has been one constant for almost a decade now and that is the KING will be on the court driving his team to the NBA Finals, we will see if he can do it again in another 12 hours?

 

[EBonz30]

I guarantee Warriors win game 7, I’ll be rooting for the Rockets, especially if the KING finds a way to win tonight.

To me, it looks like Houston is the better team. I'd bet on Houston in game 7, with or without Paul.
Problem with GS is that both Durant and Curry are guys who are the best in the world when they are leading. Give them a 10 point lead and an up tempo game, and they might be the best two players players on the planet.
Problem is, Durant and Curry lose that shine when the game is tight and every shot matters - Curry in particular. Him throwing the ball away on the behind the back pass two years ago is the classic moment - it's like he doesn't grasp the moment and doesn't tighten up his game, and, if anything, becomes more reckless with his shots. That doesn't even contemplate his defense, which is very weak. Durant just seems to get bound up.

Thompson, Green, Iggy, and Livingston, on the other hand, are all VERY clutch players. Particularly Thompson and Green.
Durant was 6-17 and 1 of 5 from three. Dude is a flat out choker. Curry ended up 12 for 23 and 5 for 13, but several of those were only after GS was up 10, and he played poorly until Klay got them the lead.
.

If GS wants to win game 7, they need to go through Green and Thompson and Livingston.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

10. Chick sitting next to me last night stole my free shirt.

You were being invited to negotiate it back to a trade.

 

[MadDogRevival]

Regarding Curry and Durant . . .
True, I'm not a Durant fan, but that doesn't, by itself, make me biased.
Fact is, in the last two losses against Houston, he's 17 of 46 with 3 assists. Those were 3 and 4 point losses. If he had simply played decently in either game, this series is over. He's a flat out choker, and it's an embarrassment that he left OKC for the number 1 team and hasn't appeared to make them substantially better, if at all. GS is a great team that has had the benefit of fairly easy runs through the playoffs in its two finals appearances. First time, every team they played had significant injuries. Second time, they are head and shoulders better than the Cavs in the finals. This year? If they get past the Rockets they needed an injury to the 2nd best player on the Rockets to get the win. They should be known as the "asterisk five."
This year, against this Rockets team, GS has its first significant test and Durant is MIA, hoping to ride the coattails of Thompson and Curry. Curry played poorly enough during this series for people to again bring up the "he's hurt" nonsense.

Curry appears to be more streaky than he has been in the past, and was part of the 3-1 choke after an "historic" season. He wears the choke badge until he earns taking it off. He'll have a chance tomorrow night.

And hey, if the Cavs pull off the miracle and make it through, and GS parlays the Paul injury into a finals, I'm expecting Durant to go for 40 a game because there's nobody on the Cavs who can D him or throw a little adversity his way, and maybe he'll get another finals MVP. Wouldn't that be ironic.

BTW - I watch the games, but the stats tell the story too, with or without context. Durant's shooting has been crap. If the argument is they've double teamed him or make life tough for him, then where are his assists? He's got Curry and Thompson, for the love of all that's holy! Curry and Thompson!!!!!!! Can you imagine if you swapped out LeBron for Durant and they tried to double James or throw gimmick defenses at him? Lawd o Lawd Curry and Thompson would each go for 40 and James would have 20 assists.

 

[EBonz30]

Regarding Curry and Durant . . .
True, I'm not a Durant fan, but that doesn't, by itself, make me biased.
Fact is, in the last two losses against Houston, he's 17 of 46 with 3 assists. Those were 3 and 4 point losses. If he had simply played decently in either game, this series is over. He's a flat out choker, and it's an embarrassment that he left OKC for the number 1 team and hasn't appeared to make them substantially better, if at all. GS is a great team that has had the benefit of fairly easy runs through the playoffs in its two finals appearances. First time, every team they played had significant injuries. Second time, they are head and shoulders better than the Cavs in the finals. This year? If they get past the Rockets they needed an injury to the 2nd best player on the Rockets to get the win. They should be known as the "asterisk five."
This year, against this Rockets team, GS has its first significant test and Durant is MIA, hoping to ride the coattails of Thompson and Curry. Curry played poorly enough during this series for people to again bring up the "he's hurt" nonsense.

Curry appears to be more streaky than he has been in the past, and was part of the 3-1 choke after an "historic" season. He wears the choke badge until he earns taking it off. He'll have a chance tomorrow night.

And hey, if the Cavs pull off the miracle and make it through, and GS parlays the Paul injury into a finals, I'm expecting Durant to go for 40 a game because there's nobody on the Cavs who can D him or throw a little adversity his way, and maybe he'll get another finals MVP. Wouldn't that be ironic.

BTW - I watch the games, but the stats tell the story too, with or without context. Durant's shooting has been crap. If the argument is they've double teamed him or make life tough for him, then where are his assists? He's got Curry and Thompson, for the love of all that's holy! Curry and Thompson!!!!!!! Can you imagine if you swapped out LeBron for Durant and they tried to double James or throw gimmick defenses at him? Lawd o Lawd Curry and Thompson would each go for 40 and James would have 20 assists.

All this is minutiae, besides Iguodala being out, the number one reason why the Warriors haven’t won this series already is the following...

- In Game 4 Kevin Durant’s last shot was at the 3:47 mark

- In Game 5 Kevin Durant’s last shot was at the 3:48 mark

Kevin Durant is the reason why the Warriors are better than the Rockets, he’s the best player on the floor, for KD not to get a shot in the last 3:45+ in the two close games in the series is moronic.

Now, let’s ask you something else and put something else in perspective...

Imagine the KING not taking a shot in the 3:45+ in the two only close games in the series??

Talk about different standards, nobody plays with more scrutiny and pressure than LeBron, maybe that’s why we call him the KING!!

 

[4in16]

NBA gets what they wanted ... Two game 7s.

 

[traitor71]

Kevin Durant is the reason why the Warriors are better than the Rockets, he’s the best player on the floor, for KD not to get a shot in the last 3:45+ in the two close games in the series is moronic.

Now, let’s ask you something else and put something else in perspective...

Imagine the KING not taking a shot in the 3:45+ in the two only close games in the series??

Talk about different standards, nobody plays with more scrutiny and pressure than LeBron, maybe that’s why we call him the KING!!

Lebron would be getting killed if it were him in those situations. Unfortunately it seems to be part of the price he pays for being the best player in the world.

I'm not so sure Golden State is better than Houston though. I feel pretty confident that the Rockets would win game seven if Paul was healthy. Houston had the best record in the league, they have played GS nine times this season and won 5, they have held up against them in this series, so it's been a pretty even match between them this year. That's enough evidence right there for them to get some respect in terms of being a really good team. I'll be real curious to see how Golden State performs if this game is close in the 4th quarter as that seems to be their kryptonite.

 

[the Q]

You seem like you take stats without regarding context but even so. Look at Green and Livingston's percentages throughout the series. I respect your opinion in almost all areas but you are so biased against KD that I have a hard time taking your opinion on this series credibly.

When is @the Q going to correct his statement that he doesn't actually watch the NBA? How can something generate so many hot takes without watching?

Why are you asking me to lie?

 

[champs99and04]

All this is minutiae, besides Iguodala being out, the number one reason why the Warriors haven’t won this series already is the following...

- In Game 4 Kevin Durant’s last shot was at the 3:47 mark

- In Game 5 Kevin Durant’s last shot was at the 3:48 mark

Kevin Durant is the reason why the Warriors are better than the Rockets, he’s the best player on the floor, for KD not to get a shot in the last 3:45+ in the two close games in the series is moronic.

Now, let’s ask you something else and put something else in perspective...

Imagine the KING not taking a shot in the 3:45+ in the two only close games in the series??

Talk about different standards, nobody plays with more scrutiny and pressure than LeBron, maybe that’s why we call him the KING!!

Getting KD shots in crunch-time has been a problem his whole career. Russ was an easy scapegoat for a while, but how long can we continue to act like he's not a huge part of the problem? He gets pushed off his spot on the block and can't dribble through tight spaces. As a result, he tends to launch long, low-reward twos that don't make sense for an offense that's at its best when Curry is peeling through the paint.

This isn't a new opinion because I've said this about KD forever. He's a brilliant, brilliant basketball player who has never developed into the one on one killer people wanted him to be. That doesn't mean he isn't still one of the best iso players in the league, but he's not the dude who busts through the residential gates to hold your kids for ransom. Without Russ five years ago, the Thunder lost to Memphis in 5 and he shot 42%. Four years ago against Memphis he shot 44% and turned it over more than he assisted. Two years ago against Golden State he shot 42%. If you want to go back to Dallas in 2011, he shot 43%. (He shot a remarkable 55% against Miami in the finals six years ago, but turned it over twice as often as he assisted).

He's not LeBron. He needs structure to succeed. If Houston begging him to beat them one on one hasn't proven that, I don't know what will. Unless your name is LeBron James, every player has strengths and weaknesses. KD's struggles are likely to mimic the struggles of the Warriors as a whole, and vice versa. He might be the best player on the floor but right now he would not be the best offensive player on either team. When you're talking about a sample of four minutes, it's hard for me to call it moronic that he didn't get a shot. Teams are obviously going to guard him. At that point, it becomes a matter of whether you want Steph or Draymond creating or KD. I'll take Steph on a big or Draymond probing a 4 on 3 before I take a KD turnaround from the baseline.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I think both games 7s will be blowouts.

 

[intlzncster]

Love there or not doesn’t really matter, he’s not very good, he hasn’t had one good or important moment in this series.

He’s a career 40 percent shooter in the playoffs and this year he is 38 percent from the field.

Don’t get hung up on if he plays or not, doesn’t really matter, & like I said before no matter who plays and who doesn’t there has been one constant for almost a decade now and that is the KING will be on the court driving his team to the NBA Finals, we will see if he can do it again in another 12 hours?

LeBron can score sixty and have a triple double, but if no one else shows up...it's not going to matter. Love is the 2nd leading scorer on that team in the playoffs. And the leading rebounder.

Subtracting him makes a big difference.

 

[huskypantz]

I think both games 7s will be blowouts.

C's or Cavs? You must be picking the C's, there is no way they get blown out at home.

 

[tzznandrew]

LeBron can score sixty and have a triple double, but if no one else shows up...it's not going to matter. Love is the 2nd leading scorer on that team in the playoffs. And the leading rebounder.

Subtracting him makes a big difference.

He's also the only big who can shoot, so the paint is going to be more crowded.

I'm not willing to bet against LeBron, but Kevin Love being out isn't a good thing for them.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

C's or Cavs? You must be picking the C's, there is no way they get blown out at home.

I want the Cav's to win but I just don't see it. The Celts would have to have a massive meltdown. Blowout in favor of Celts. It would be a close win for Cavs.

 

[huskypantz]

He's also the only big who can shoot, so the paint is going to be more crowded.

I'm not willing to bet against LeBron, but Kevin Love being out isn't a good thing for them.

They desperately need Hill or Nance or (anyone) to step up and score on the road.

 

[tzznandrew]

I want the Cav's to win but I just don't see it. The Celts would have to have a massive meltdown. Blowout in favor of Celts. It would be a close win for Cavs.

LeBron might put up 50. If Korver and Smith both show up, they have a chance. But without Love--who has had some good games on the road (22 and 15 in G2)--they're going to need some people who have been on ice to ball.

 

[EBonz30]

LeBron can score sixty and have a triple double, but if no one else shows up...it's not going to matter. Love is the 2nd leading scorer on that team in the playoffs. And the leading rebounder.

Subtracting him makes a big difference.

Not having Love is not a big deal, he’s awful on defense, can’t create his own shot, & is shooting 37 percent from the field for the series.

Not sure why anyone would think Love is a big deal, he’s pretty awful, that is the reality, true story.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Not having Love is not a big deal, he’s awful on defense, can’t create his own shot, & is shooting 37 percent from the field for the series.

Not sure why anyone would think Love is a big deal, he’s pretty awful, that is the reality, true story.

Then the Cavs must suck, since he may be their second best player.

 

[tzznandrew]

Then the Cavs must suck, since he may be their second best player.

No "may be." He's absolutely their second best player.

 

[HuskyHawk]

No "may be." He's absolutely their second best player.

In this series, and this game so far, the officials are their second best player.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

Then the Cavs must suck, since he may be their second best player.

He is their second best player and they do suck. Lebron's greatness covers up a lot of ugly on that team.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Oof Marcus nice flop

 

[HuskyHawk]

Oof Marcus nice flop

He’s trying out for the Italian or Spanish National team next year. Nicely sold. Refs evened things up a bit after some very favorable calls for the Cavs.

 

[tzznandrew]

Jesus, these two teams can't shoot today.

 

[Kemba'sYogurt]

Personally, I'm a Celtics fan being from Boston. But right now, I'm just trying to enjoy watching LeBron at the height of his powers. With all the minutes he's playing, who knows how much longer we'll have this version of one of the all-time greats.