Cavs would beat the Warriors without Steph. However, if Steph is 100%, they'll lose that series in 6. I agree that the Cavs are a lot better than people are giving them credit for. Warriors just need to be healthy. That's why I support Curry coming back in Game 3....let him play 20-25 minutes and then slowly ramp him up. You don't want his first game back to be in the WCF.... In other news...OKC had a great start to this game but the Spurs have stormed back to take the lead.....I'm rooting for Spurs to sweep the Thunder...makes it more possible for KD to leave!
noteworthy: almost all of SA's first half offense was on post-ups and isos. that's not how they want to play, I don't think. but it's working. okc has figured out how to exploit SA's lack of shotblocking (something nobody really did all year), but they're turning the ball over too much and not hitting jumpshots.
OKC looks like a completely different team right now. Their defensive intensity is much higher yet the Spurs still have 53 points. Ball movement is better and Westbrook is doing a good job orchestrating.
Damn. Was hoping OKC would blow this one again. I still expect them to lose this game and the Spurs to make a run. But they've responded well to all of Spurs runs. Westbrook is beasting it.
Donovan is terrible. Just terrible. San Antonio keeps making their run with this horrible lineup on the floor.
hilarious I never enjoy watching the Spurs games but this one was fantastic. Thunder was lucky, Mills didn't know what he was doing.
Interestingly while not more important than Durant, Westbrook is the fire (dare I say swag?), dynamo and heart of this Thunder team. Makes me think how nice young Kobe and Durant could have worked together. He needs someone with that energy so Durant can do that low-key leader thing like Gasol specialised in.
I have no dog in this fight, don't give a crap who wins, so I can honestly say Waiters committed an offensive foul to finish this game. Should have been Spurs ball, you can't bend in from out of bounds and elbow a guy to push him away from you, out of bounds player and defender cannot be touching. If Ginobili touches him, they call a foul for sure, has to go both ways. Then after the Spurs stole the ball, Aldridge might have been fouled right at the end too. I like letting players decide the end of games when there is contact so bad that doesn't make someone miss a shot or lose the ball, but a foul is a foul in the first 10 seconds or the last.
yeah there should have been a delay of game warning after Manu step out of bounds, technical for touching the inbounder, before they can call whatever that elbow to the chest was.
Pop should have brought Parker sooner in the 4th imo . Mills killed the comeback by himself with his terrible decision making ( and isn't a penetration threat). I'm glad the series is tied and Ginoflopi didn't get that call .
Watched the play again... Mills should have had a layup but Green couldn't make a proper pass ... fundamentals
True, but the play should have been whistled dead before that as Ginobili stepped on the out of bounds line to crowd Waiters. Then the final scrum was just ridiculous. Did you see the fan holding Adams out of bounds? I mean the whole thing was just a nightmare.
yeah, the media has seized upon waiters' odd play, but it wouldn't have come to that if inbounds situations at the ends of games aren't the freaking thunderdome. if anything, this might prompt the league to clean this stuff up. you can see leonard with a handful of westbrook's jersey as waiters is elbowing manu. when i was watching it live, i thought "waiters is either a genius or an idiot". it's probably the latter, given his history, but i think an intelligent person might have done something similar, for different reasons. to clarify: elbowing him because you're frustrated is stupid, but elbowing him as a means to demonstrate the ridiculousness of what's happening is sort of smart. risky, but smart. not sure if anyone except maybe jason kidd would have the presence of mind to do this intentionally in the heat of battle, though.
Oh I definitely think he was frustrated and let it out in a stupid way, but hey it worked. It'll never work again, but it worked that time. Manu's infraction was the kind of clever/smart/gamesmanship thing you're referring to. If the ref isn't going to blow the whistle and force you step away from the line, then get as close as you can. Sure. You can't get mad though when you catch an elbow if you're leaning out of bounds.