Anthony Davis really needs to go away this summer and ask himself what kind of a basketball player he wants to be remembered as. Then he needs to find out what's in his bag because he's too easy to shut down offensively
Healthy Denver would sweep Golden State last season.Murray was injured and didn't play at all in playoffs .
LeBron's teams, down 0-3 -- 2007 Cavs vs. Spurs, Finals, lost 4-0 -- 2017 Cavs vs. Warriors, Finals, lost 4-1 -- 2018 Cavs vs. Warriors, Finals, lost 4-0 -- 2023 Lakers vs. Nuggets, WCF, TBD
Every player in NBA history to reach 350+ PTS, 150+ REB and 125+ AST in a playoffs has made it to the NBA Finals. Nikola Jokic has already reached those numbers. Players to reach those numbers — Nikola Jokic — Jayson Tatum — LeBron James (8x) — Draymond Green — Tim Duncan — Jason Kidd (2x) — Clyde Drexler (2x) — Scottie Pippen — Magic Johnson — Larry Bird (3x) — John Havlicek
Players to average 35/5/5 on 50+ FG% in a Conference Finals series: — Jamal Murray — Hakeem Olajuwon Hakeem went on to win Finals MVP. Jamal Murray in the Western Conference Finals: 37 PTS | 7 REB | 6 AST | 2 STL 37 PTS | 10 REB | 5 AST | 4 STL 31 PTS | 5 REB | 5 AST | 3 STL Averaging 35 PPG on 52/46/93% splits.
Feels a lot like that series against Dallas where we got swept. Simply outplayed by a better/hungrier team that is playing like a well-oiled machine at the perfect time. Incredible shot making from Denver including pretty much all their roleplayers that you can’t do anything against but tip your hat to. When you’re playing that kind of opponent, you have to be perfect to stand a chance. And we clearly haven’t been. Too many good looks missed, free throw trips split, “three pointers” with toe on the line, inopportune bounces and lost balls, etc Yeah it’s frustrating after we got so close, but it is what it is. We had a great run, I’m proud of this team.
They basically neutralized Jokic but Murray went nuclear and their roleplay all stepped up. Credit to Denver and Malone. Pretty clear who won the the WCF would win the title. So close
Congrats to the Nuggets , they answered every of our run/comeback with timely shots . Murray took care of the 1st half , Jokic the 2nd half and KCP had a very good 3rd quarter They were the better team .
The NBA is a rollercoaster man. When we made the trades, I thought it was more about next season. Then we go in a great run and I’m stunned that we’re down 3-0 and not going to the Finals in all likelihood. Now I’m disappointed that the WCF is all we get when that was a pipe dream 3 months ago. I don’t know if this is the start of a new run with LeBron and AD or the end of one. It’ll be an interesting off-season. It’s frustrating, but I’m just grateful that we f***ing went for it. We started off the year with Beverley and Russ starting with Matt Ryan and Kendrick Nunn playing 40 minutes a game. I’m grateful that we ended up having meaningful basketball in late May after a 2-10 start.
You guys think, we would get smoked similar to now, if we faced them in RD1? Anyways, that was a good run, hope to see you in may/june of next year again
I think the end result would be the same. They have been building this team for many years, tweaking it little by little. They finally found the right personels. I think they are hungrier now and at their prime. Lebron had enough energy for surpassing Kareem, but right after fell off the cliff, injury or not, this will be a yearly thing with him now. Add on that we have a rookie coach not knowing what to do and trying new things against a veteran coach, we got our a** kicked. For us to win, we need to find a closer, Lebron gets moved to the 3rd spot. Also get rid of our current coach and put in a veteran coach.
Unfortunately I think on top of everything else we’ve also finally run out of gas. we had to expend so much energy just to make the playoffs. Every game was a must win. Chasing around the Warriors was it. Team doesn’t appear to have anything left in the tank.
Agree with most of the above. Denver was better; lebron wasn’t himself; dlo didn’t show; we didn’t have much left after the gs series. I said before the playoffs that Denver was fully healthy and this was their best chance at a ring. Since we’re not getting it, hopefully they do.
With Lebron being 39 next year, I don't see this situation getting any better for us. Now that Denver going to beat us. I wouldn't mind the Heat winning it all.
I would have wanted Denver over C Bags for sure and was OK with them winning their first championship over Miami if they get there. But that was before Malone turned into an a-hole with his post game press conferences taking shots at us. Go Heat!!
They really do seem to be just 6 deep with talent and it’s crazy the good luck with health to be able to keep that up in the playoffs.