They had better go away from it. It's amazing that with that short rotation and a terrible night from 3 that they almost won the game. If they don't go completely stupid in the next game, I think they will win and force a 7th game. If that happens then look out, because a one game deal against a team that will fire up 40 threes could be pretty crazy.
NBA Post-Season Thread
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They had better go away from it. It's amazing that with that short rotation and a terrible night from 3 that they almost won the game. If they don't go completely stupid in the next game, I think they will win and force a 7th game. If that happens then look out, because a one game deal against a team that will fire up 40 threes could be pretty crazy.
Yes, that hurts Capela for sure, but they can't afford to have Harden sucking wind at the end of the game. They simply have to play Dekker some and alter their lineups so that he is fresh at the end. I know it isn't the way they would like to play, but in the playoffs you can't afford to be stubborn, certainly not with your season on the line as it now is for them.
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Insane. No Kawhi and no Tony Parker either. They absolutely embarrassed the Rockets. Total domination.
I agree on the gutless part. Right from the start, especially James Harden. Who could have foreseen that? I think it was one of the most disgraceful performances I have ever seen on the professional level, and Harden should be especially ashamed of himself. His "effort" was a disgrace to the game of basketball.
I still can't believe what I watched last night. I almost never get to the place where I want to see an athlete called out by the entire world, but Harden was so pathetic last night that I hope he has to go into hiding to escape the humiliation that he deserves to have heaped on him. I actually felt bad for D'Antoni because you know that he really would have liked to just tell Harden to piss off and leave him on the bench when he first sat him in the first quarter, but there is almost no one in the NBA that can get away with that when it comes to dealing with their star player. What a historically pathetic performance.
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Interesting, it harkens back to the long-forgotten time when OKC traded Harden after he was exposed and collapsed in the finals against LeBron. Now it legitimately was silly to sell Harden at that moment b/c he was the 3rd guy on a team, but also remember at the time the stories about his amazing OKC success focused on Harden being ok with coming off the bench and not being 'the man'.
Since that time Harden's skillset has grown considerably and he's capable and seemingly more comfortable with being the man. But he's not an alpha along the line of even Kawhi, Curry, Wade, Dirk, Pierce - guys that have emerged and carried teams to at least one finals victory. Remember too that in Houston's previous best playoff moment Harden was disinterested on the bench when the reserves rallied out from the hole Harden helped dig vs the Clippers.
Lastly amusing how now both the Russ & Harden MVP cases have taken a serious hit. Notwithstanding their win without him, Kawhi's still stands. I would have voted Westbrook though, he owned the regular season and I think was most valuable simply because he rallied a lesser cast and LeBron's playoff value is justifiably dependent upon conserving effort in regular season.
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Wow. What a horribly dirty play by the GSW on Leonard. Were heading hard for a 1st game home loss and big do-do in the series and the guy blatantly slides his foot under Leonard. Dirty, dirty. People tune in to watch guys like Leonard. What a shame. The effect is probably going to be to take an exciting series where the GSW are playing the first decent team they're facing and make it into a laugher. May be a 1 game suspension. Really, if you take a guy out on a dirty play, should be lifetime ban from the post-season.
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Agree, such a dirty play. Guys used to do that to kobe a lot. Should be a rule against it, or some type of punishment for outcomes like this
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That is the Bruce Bowen move.
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Yup. Tough to feel bad for the Spurs IMO.
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It's pretty easy to feel bad for Kawhi, though.
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Even if Kawhi were healthy that series was at best going 6, especially because it was Pop vs. Mike Brown (who is improved, but not very good). I think a lot of the first half was just that the Warriors hadn't played much recently, and hadn't played a really good team since before the playoffs.
kobe
Power Conference Enjoyer (Big 12)
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I feel like the Spurs haven't been closed out at home in forever which is why I though if they won this one, there was a chance it could go 7. Now we have nothing to look forward until the Final because if the Celtics advance they are going to get massacred by the Cavs.
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The number of major injuries that opponents of the Warriors have had during this several year playoff run is ducking incredible. I think the only series they've won where a team was mostly healthy was against the Thunder last year.
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I absolutely despise the warriors but am I the only one who thinks this talk of Zaza doing this intentionally is ridiculous? Watch the replay in no way does it seem as though it's in purpose. His eyes are on Kawhi the entire time and he's simply closing out and challenging him as best he can.
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It absolutely looks intentional. He shuffles his foot even closer after the shot is already up. Also you have to remember that Zaza is one of the dirtiest players in the game and it isn't the first time he's tried to injure Kawhi.
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Can't say I agree, even considering his past. I feel that second shuffle that undercuts Kawhi is a natural motion and also to perfectly place his foot under his landing spot without looking? I don't know. I think it's a cop out calling it a dirty play.
"In that split-second, Pachulia was probably just thinking about getting a hand up. He probably didn’t have the foresight to think, “Man, what if I shoved my foot under his foot?” then stare at the ground, locate the spot where he needed to put his foot, and execute. Even if he did, I’m not so sure a big clumsy doof like Pachulia could execute."
Source: Did Zaza Pachulia Intentionally Try to Injure Kawhi Leonard?
Gives both sides of the coin
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Being a dirty play is a different argument from it being intentional or not. It's a dirty play regardless of intent. Like, hooray for you for not intentionally doing it it just happened incidentally because you're playing like a reckless a**hole. Hoo f*-kng ray. Like, do you really think you are all that upstanding of a guy because you just wanted the shooter to worry about your foot and break concentration enough to affect the shot?
It's the same with Draymond's kicks. Hooray for Draymond he's an upstanding enough guy to not intentionally kick someone in the junk, he just wants the benefit of defenders worrying about his flailing arms and legs enough to give him extra space.
These players all are insanely athletic, even the " clumsy doofs" like Zaza. They know exactly where their bodies are on the court.
Zaza putting his foot out is psychological and intentional, he was trying to get Kawhi to alter his landing or duck with him on his shot concentration/follow through. So yes, it's dirty, because Kawhi was injured as a result of his gamesmanship even if he initially isn't trying to hurt him. Zaza has a reputation for being dirty so not sure why anyone would even rush to defend that.
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He lunged forward like another foot and a half or two feet after the ball was released.
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Big and clumsy. The Of Mice and Men defense.
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I'm reposting an edited version of this post because I think my last one had too much swearing and got moderated out.
Being a dirty play is a different argument from it being intentional or not. It's a dirty play regardless of intent. Like, hooray for you for not intentionally doing it it just happened incidentally because you're playing like a reckless a hole. Like, do you really think you are all that upstanding of a guy because you just wanted the shooter to worry about your foot and break concentration enough to affect the shot? It's the same with Draymond's kicks. Hooray for Draymond he's an upstanding enough guy to not intentionally kick someone in the junk, he just wants the benefit of defenders worrying about his flailing arms and legs enough to give him extra space.
These players all are insanely athletic, even the "clumsy doofs" like Zaza. They know exactly where their bodies are on the court.
Zaza putting his foot out is psychological and intentional, he was trying to get Kawhi to alter his landing or F with him on his shot concentration/follow through. So yes, it's dirty, because Kawhi was injured as a result of his gamesmanship even if he initially isn't trying to hurt him. Zaza has a reputation for being dirty so not sure why anyone would even rush to defend that.