NBA Playoffs | Page 19 | The Boneyard

NBA Playoffs

bballgrda said:
I need to see LeBron lose in the East before I pick against him.
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Give me LeBron against pretty much anyone. I think there's a chance he'd take this crap team over the Rockets if KD, Steph and gang haven't re-jelled yet.
 
"Bold" (quasi-counter-intuitive) predictions:

I like the Celtics over the Cavs.
The Sixers are going to win 2 more over the Celtics.
 
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auror said:
"Bold" (quasi-counter-intuitive) predictions:

I like the Celtics over the Cavs.
The Sixers are going to win 2 more over the Celtics.
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I've been wrong on both teams pretty much all season so I really have no idea. If there were ever going to be a 3-0 comeback in NBA history you'd think it would be now.
 
superjohn said:
Couldn't believe all the "experts" picking Toronto before the series. They have never been a real threat to do anything but this is just pathetic. It doesn't get any more overrated than Kyle Lowry.
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Raptors are soft watching the post game interviews they just still dont seem to get it, I knew not to trust them I said all year long I dont trust that team no matter how well they play during the regular season, that game in the regular season where the Raptors blew that huge lead against the Cavs should have given everyone an indication of what was to come.
 
The question is where do they go from here?

Their big contracts have 2 years left on them and they’re capped out thanks to questionable deals for Val and ibaka.

They really don’t have a path to the finals that doesn’t have Lebron and injury in the same sentence.
 
tzznandrew said:
Give me LeBron against pretty much anyone. I think there's a chance he'd take this crap team over the Rockets if KD, Steph and gang haven't re-jelled yet.
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I think that's right, if the finals are Rockets vs Cavs I think LeBron wins whereas Warriors v Cavs probably over in 5.
 
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the Q said:
The question is where do they go from here?

Their big contracts have 2 years left on them and they’re capped out thanks to questionable deals for Val and ibaka.

They really don’t have a path to the finals that doesn’t have Lebron and injury in the same sentence.
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Their path to Finals is LeBron goes to Lakers, Markelle Fultz's Monstar virus affects the rest of the Sixers, and Hayward/Irving just keep injuring themselves in the exact same way every season.
 
It is not a shock, persay, that Toronto went down in round 2 when you look at their regular season stats, you can see they feasted on the bottom teams to build up those 59 wins.

Record against teams with fewer than 30 wins: 25-2
Record against other non-playoff teams: 11-3
Record against teams seeded 5-8: 17-12
Record against teams seeded 1-4: 10-12

No, it is not a shock at all Cleveland beat them, BUT it is a shock they went down in 4 games. I figured it would be 4-2 Cleveland.
 
Dogdeacon said:
I think that's right, if the finals are Rockets vs Cavs I think LeBron wins whereas Warriors v Cavs probably over in 5.
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I get that angle but if you think the Warriors would beat the Cavs in 5, then wouldn't it be awfully difficult to pick the Cavs against the team that just beat the Warriors? I mean, if the Cavs and Rockets played tomorrow, fine. LeBron's rolling, other guys have started to step up, the regular season is a memory of the distant past. But in Golden State we're talking about, in my opinion, the greatest team of all-time. You don't beat them with some gimmick.
 
champs99and04 said:
I get that angle but if you think the Warriors would beat the Cavs in 5, then wouldn't it be awfully difficult to pick the Cavs against the team that just beat the Warriors? I mean, if the Cavs and Rockets played tomorrow, fine. LeBron's rolling, other guys have started to step up, the regular season is a memory of the distant past. But in Golden State we're talking about, in my opinion, the greatest team of all-time. You don't beat them with some gimmick.
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Rockets are good, no doubt - I just don't think they are completely mentally tough and the finals IS a different animal then the conference finals. Fact is they've been aiming for the Warriors for years and this is their big shot. Their goal is more to beat the Warriors than it is to win the NBA championship. So under this hypothesis they are laser focused for the series, matchup well with CP3 physical on Curry, Harden trying on defense v Thompson & some plan (Capella) to contend with Durant. And they've got the magic bullet 3 formula to win with 1 or 2 hot shooting games.
= So they get kinda hot or lucky and fulfill their goal.
Then letdown...
then bright lights of finals...
then LeBron who is incredibly relieved to not see Warriors again and on a mission from God to get a championship that's much more there for the taking (ala Jordan grabbing it from Mailman)...
then back to ye old playoff shriking violet Harden & CP3.
= Cavs in 5
 
the Q said:
The question is where do they go from here?

Their big contracts have 2 years left on them and they’re capped out thanks to questionable deals for Val and ibaka.

They really don’t have a path to the finals that doesn’t have Lebron and injury in the same sentence.
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I think they stand pat. See what LeBron does. The level of their main contracts leaves them few viable options.
 
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Dogdeacon said:
Rockets are good, no doubt - I just don't think they are completely mentally tough and the finals IS a different animal then the conference finals. Fact is they've been aiming for the Warriors for years and this is their big shot. Their goal is more to beat the Warriors than it is to win the NBA championship. So under this hypothesis they are laser focused for the series, matchup well with CP3 physical on Curry, Harden trying on defense v Thompson & some plan (Capella) to contend with Durant. And they've got the magic bullet 3 formula to win with 1 or 2 hot shooting games.
= So they get kinda hot or lucky and fulfill their goal.
Then letdown...
then bright lights of finals...
then LeBron who is incredibly relieved to not see Warriors again and on a mission from God to get a championship that's much more there for the taking (ala Jordan grabbing it from Mailman)...
then back to ye old playoff shriking violet Harden & CP3.
= Cavs in 5
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How in the hell would they guard Houston? It's impossible not to imagine Ariza, Tucker, Mbah a Moute, Eric Gordon, etc all not being wide open against Cleveland's defense. LeBron can't guard them all, so how do they handle that?
 
The refs are not ready for this series to end, that’s for sure.

Boston goes up 6, and they immediately put Philly on the line.
 
Whoever caught that in-bounds traveled. Brad Stevens is amazing though.
 
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I'm not the biggest proponent of the 'clutch gene' by any stretch, but that Sixers team gives off some serious UConn Amida Brimah/Rodney Purvis era vibes. Simmons and Embiid are built physically to dominate the sport, they put in the time to develop skills that allow them to do so, and they seem like willing learners who will improve through time. But there's something missing and it's obvious. Guys who were built to play basketball vs. guys who were born to play, or something like that. The best I can explain it is that you know the mistakes they're going to make before they make them.

For some reason I knew Redick was going to miss that wide open three that would have put them up five with a minute left. I knew Embiid was going to lose the ball in an act of clumsiness on the final possession. I knew somebody for Boston would slip to the basket unchecked amidst the chaos that followed the Saric turnover. It felt like prophecy and it felt like the right outcome, even though I was rooting for Philly and even though I think they're 'better.'
 
champs99and04 said:
I'm not the biggest proponent of the 'clutch gene' by any stretch, but that Sixers team gives off some serious UConn Amida Brimah/Rodney Purvis era vibes. Simmons and Embiid are built physically to dominate the sport, they put in the time to develop skills that allow them to do so, and they seem like willing learners who will improve through time. But there's something missing and it's obvious. Guys who were built to play basketball vs. guys who were born to play, or something like that. The best I can explain it is that you know the mistakes they're going to make before they make them.

For some reason I knew Redick was going to miss that wide open three that would have put them up five with a minute left. I knew Embiid was going to lose the ball in an act of clumsiness on the final possession. I knew somebody for Boston would slip to the basket unchecked amidst the chaos that followed the Saric turnover. It felt like prophecy and it felt like the right outcome, even though I was rooting for Philly and even though I think they're 'better.'
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What made you know Redick was going to miss that huge wide open three? Was it because he's missed that shot his entire career going back to Duke?
 
Brad Stevens is going to have a very long, very impressive career. I mean, it was obvious with what he did with Butler. Butler! But there's just no denying it.

I'm the most interested in both semis as I have been in a long time.
 
champs99and04 said:
I'm not the biggest proponent of the 'clutch gene' by any stretch, but that Sixers team gives off some serious UConn Amida Brimah/Rodney Purvis era vibes. Simmons and Embiid are built physically to dominate the sport, they put in the time to develop skills that allow them to do so, and they seem like willing learners who will improve through time. But there's something missing and it's obvious. Guys who were built to play basketball vs. guys who were born to play, or something like that. The best I can explain it is that you know the mistakes they're going to make before they make them.

For some reason I knew Redick was going to miss that wide open three that would have put them up five with a minute left. I knew Embiid was going to lose the ball in an act of clumsiness on the final possession. I knew somebody for Boston would slip to the basket unchecked amidst the chaos that followed the Saric turnover. It felt like prophecy and it felt like the right outcome, even though I was rooting for Philly and even though I think they're 'better.'
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Meh. It's their first playoffs. They had all sorts of opportunities to choke against the Heat and they didn't. Extrapolating one series when most of the best players are under 23 isn't a good idea. People said LeBron lacked a clutch gene in his first few playoff series as well...
 
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tzznandrew said:
Meh. It's their first playoffs. They had all sorts of opportunities to choke against the Heat and they didn't. Extrapolating one series when most of the best players are under 23 isn't a good idea. People said LeBron lacked a clutch gene in his first few playoff series as well...
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Those people watched him score 29 of his team final 32 points, 25 in a row, against the defending conference chance. They were idiots, and I agree with you. Conclusions about a team so young are foolish.
 
champs99and04 said:
I'm not the biggest proponent of the 'clutch gene' by any stretch, but that Sixers team gives off some serious UConn Amida Brimah/Rodney Purvis era vibes.
Expand ...

Including the guy who won a ring while making the single biggest shot (and FT) on a NC-winning team in your shade hurts your credibility.
 
It will take a Herculean effort and a growth spurt by Marcus Smart to stop LeBron
 
I'd be so frustrated if I were a Philly fan. So many frustrating, sloppy turnovers throughout the series. Sure, Boston's D deserves a fair amount of credit but Philly has been doing this all season. It's rare to see such an evenly matched series end 4-1. Moving on...

I'm curious to see how Stevens defends LeBron. I'm assuming they'll stick with their strategy vs Philly (stick to shooters and rarely help on Simmons & Embiid) and let LeBron get his, but shut down everyone else. GSW did that in the 2015 Finals and it worked pretty darn well. Let LeBron get 50, it won't matter if the supporting cast isn't doing a darn thing (especially since they no longer have a player of Kyrie's caliber to share the load).

My gut feeling is that Boston wins this thing in six or seven. They are so well-rounded and their defense is significantly better than Cleveland's. Kevin Love is going get attacked mercilessly on the defensive end of the floor. Cleveland is still a bit of a mess, we should all forget the series against those frauds from Canada. It means little; this series will be a return to reality and Cleveland will have their hands full. Then again, it's LeBron vs the East. He may find a way...
 
MilliniumPrince said:
Those people watched him score 29 of his team final 32 points, 25 in a row, against the defending conference chance. They were idiots, and I agree with you. Conclusions about a team so young are foolish.
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I think Philly will be more than fine, but it’s geting overlooked that Embiid is going to turn 25 next season. He should be closer to his prime than he is to being a young guy still figuring things out.
 
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