For some odd reason this reminds me of the OKC vs SAS series in 2011/12. SAS took a 2-0 lead before losing the next 4. The first two games were similar losses, a blow out with a comeback and a close loss. Hoping we can now hold home court. Then we just need to get one in Denver before closing it out. Fingers crossed!
careful, you're going to really piss off mike malone. anyway, i agree. overall, we played them pretty well in game 2. our stars both had bad shooting nights, their secondary guy hit some crazy shots to bring home the win. take your hat off to murray and see if he has two more of those in him.
LOL! They're favored by most of the media and yet they feel underappreciated? They're not just bozos but "woe is us" crybabies. It's just their mantra to keep focus but whatever. Just hold serve on our floor to see what happens.
While it is true that we're talked about more than them, that just comes with being the Lakers. We are pretty much the most popular basketball team in the world and that obviously means they talk more about us. They also talk more about Real Madrid or Barcelona in Soccer than about Sevilla or Athletic Bilbao. That said, if they want to be talked about more, I also invite them to receive the amounts of backlash and hate we receive day-to-day, and the pressure that's put on our team's shoulders, because that's also definitely nowhere near close to what Denver receives. Half of the internet loves to diminish our 2020 title because of the bubble and half of the internet is always saying the refs are rigged to let us win (lol, considering last game) and refuse us to give us credit where it's due. No matter the year. Be careful with what you wish for Mr. Malone and the rest of the Nuggets team, because maybe the grass is not that green on the other side.
amen. try having the league block a trade that dooms your franchise for a decade while everyone tapdances on your grave, too. it's fun!
Was it Pincus or someone else on BR that suggested that this off-season we go for Chris Paul? LOL How would the world react if that happened now? I don’t think he’d be super worth it, but still. And overall, yeah. I have to say, to start as bad as we did but get to where we are. That’s a huge win already. Few more bigger role players on the bench and we could make 2020 look like more than “Bubble Luck” or whatever. I think they can win the next 2 in LA, but also oh well if we lose the series (not really as a fan, but you know what I mean). I wonder if Myers does walk away if Rob could convince him to come. That’s super unlikely, but still…………
It’s all about how this team responds in Game 3 if the Lakers win all of a sudden they have momentum and the Nuggets start feeling some pressure. However, if we lose on Saturday night it’s probably a sweep.
i mentioned paul as a possibility if we couldn't find common contract ground with russell. but in a straight swap, i'd want more compensation, as russell is younger and, at this point, probably the better player, all things considered. plan A is still to lock up russell to a reasonable contract for me. paul would be salvaging a bad situation. edit: this all belongs in the transactions thread. back on topic? really interested to see how we respond in game 3. i honestly have no idea what to expect. i think we're just as good as denver, and we didn't play our best in either of the first two games. are we out of gas?
We started off lethargic in Game 1 and couldn't seal the deal in Game 2. We'll have the home crowd to pick us up in Game 3. If not, the tank is on E.
Yeah we stay positive but when your two best offensive players have to be your two best defensive players too , are injured , playing every other day , one in year 20 , it's not substainable at all . Denver may win this in 5 unless we involve even more Reaves and Rui offensively or DLO wakes up
eh, i think lebron and AD are paid and expected to be elite two-way players (this is why lebron's regular season defense annoys me sometimes). it's so rare that both have that bad a game on offense on the same night. maybe they're gassed, or maybe it was a fluke. we'll know by middle of next week.
the last time LeBron was down 0-2 in a conference finals was against C Bags n 2018 (which he came back and won) and C Bags won game 5 as well . Lakers in 7
The role players are doing their job...Lebron, AD and D'Angelo came up lacking last night. Lebron is banged up, but there is nothing physically wrong with AD or D'Angelo.
That OKC/Spurs series in 2012 is one of the most underrated series of the last 20 years, the level of play was exceptionally high. It’s an interesting comparison. The Spurs went up 2-0 by out-executing a young undisciplined Thunder team, the Thunder won the next 4 by overwhelming the Spurs with their athleticism. The Thunder found the one thing that veteran Spurs team couldn’t counter. The Nuggets are really good, but not invincible. They’re smart enough and talented enough to have reasonable counters to our counters. The one thing they can’t counter is our size and physicality IMO. Porter/Gordon/Jokic is a big frontline but not a very physical one. Even Gordon has been easier to get by than I expected. It has to be LeBron and AD living in the paint and converting at a high rate. Mercilessly attacking physical mismatches with Murray. If we don’t blow like 4 layups last night we win. I don’t like Vando on Murray because Vando isn’t very good at navigating on-ball screens. He was much better chasing Curry through screens off-ball, when they started spamming Curry P&R they struggled. I think we start Rui (helps with the size and physicality thing) and either start Dennis to guard Murray or ask Reaves to do it. Dennis and DLo also need to get going offensively to spell LeBron on that end a bit. LeBron is doing a ton right now on defense and hunting mismatches on offense.
Murray cooked everybody but Vanderbilt last night. Sometimes I wonder if you guys are actually watching these games. Reaves and Dennis are not the ideal defenders for Jamal Murray at all. He's a little too quick for Austin, and a lil too big for Dennis. I thought this last game was pretty simple. Lebron forced up some bad shots late, and Murray took over the 4th quarter. That pretty much sums it up to me.
Murray was getting open jumpers off Jokic screens all night, he was just missing them. Vando is good at a lot of things defensively, navigating high pick and roll is not one of them.
So the 23 pts he scored in the 4th quarter had absolutely nothing to do with Vanderbilt not playing? Is that your position?
