insult to injury would be boston winning three straight without tatum, right? this after he wasn't finals mvp in their lone title. ouch. anunoby 1-12 from the floor made bridges's 4-14 look scorching. C Bags have won 2 games by a total of 48 points. the knicks have won 3 by a total of 12 lol. meanwhile, randle continues his contract-year playoffs espactulAR!
winning 3 in a row will be tough but yeah, wouldn't be a good look for certain parties and Thibs would join Doc Rivers in infamy.
Julius: making his best run now; the kind of spark I saw in his game as a rook w/us, but injuries or some mental thing who knows: never had him flourish. Got it together now. Rarely has he flourished in a long run of games like he has recently. Not like this. He is very bully-ball on the block and in the paint, to the border of "always fouling" offensively, but the refs seem to see it as his "style"? Anyway, he gettin' away with a lot. I guess we should consider that as part of the "art form"?: learning what you can get away with. He was supposed to replace KAT, and never really clicked until MIN's what? 11-3 ending to the season? Something like that. Now they on fire. He's been huge for MIN. Props, Julius! Was impressed DEN forced Game 7. But I don't see them winning it. MIN could give OKC the run. At least: the Bags are OUT. Sigh of relief in Lakerland.
yeah, i still don't trust the knicks. they've looked outclassed for large stretches of every game, including the last one, where tatum didn't play. it's possible tatum's absence helps the C Bags from going away from their game plan in crunch time and trying to match iso ball with brunson. the knicks have played iso brunson burner for years now. you've never been successful playing iso tatum or brown ball. anyway, pull it together, knicks. just need one win from you, then i don't care what happens.
WORD! Thass all we ask of ye, Loas: one more Knick win. Then we all be good. Pacers seem like the one "caught fire in the playoffs" team from the East; T-Wolves: West. But I really don't care as long as BOS is out. I have a hard time seeing DEN winning Game 7. I have a much easier time seeing OKC win it, and by 25 or 30, too. Feels like the Lake Show has been out of it for months already. Remember when we looked pretty strong in the 1st Q of Game 1? Good times.
Alright, gotta confess: I was nervous the Knicks would choke in MSG, and then definitely choke in BOS, so I made a little doll of Luke Kornet and stuck pins in his eyes. Then the Knicks went up by 40. Was I overdoing it? Bwahahahaaaahahahaha(cough)haha(choke cough spit)haaaaa: bye bye, Bags! The Loa hath spake my fiends.
I want Denver out, next. Let the new faces battle it out, Ant-man, Overrated Hali (my favorite), the foul merchants: Brunson and SGA, the so called MVP
Just saw that Aaron Gordon is listed as doubtful with a hammy for Game 7, in which: I think DEN is cooked.
Yeah I’m hoping for OKC to put Denver away regardless of Gordon. Then I’m good with whoever wins it all. Denver is the last team I have a grudge against.
I went into watching this game thinking DEN had no chance. DEN won the 1st Q by 5 and I actually thought, "Maybe this will be a good game after all." Dice? None whatsoever: OKC wins the 2nd by 19, the 3rd by 11. Not a contest after all. The only "thrill" I got was when Aaron Gordon elbowed SGA and got a flagrant 1. Small potatoes. SGA will probably get MVP, but he also deserves an elbow to the face every now and then, in my humble opinion. Let's face it: OKC won 68 games this year. Over the 8 playoff games they've won they've often clobbered the opponent. And they're all, like, 19 years old. Caruso is their Olde Man. It's really kinda horrifying to me. I find myself pulling for MIN, just for sanity's sake.
i'm spamming at this point, but i really haven't been impressed by okc in the playoffs. they blasted a reeling memphis team, then almost got taken out by a very shallow denver team. they just looked really shaky in close games, as if the pressure was getting to all of them. just missed wide open three after missed wide open three. that's mental. as was jalen williams's disappearing act, imo. let's see what they do the next two rounds before penciling in the dynasty (which also isn't happening because the rookie deals will expire, just like the last supposed okc dynasty).
I'm not "penciling in a dynasty", but they have won 76 games this year so far. And when they HAD to win, often it's been by 20-30, even 40. If a guy has an off night the others pick up for him. And if a guy has an off night shooting, it's for one game. They have a decent lob game with Hartenstein and Chet. Their D is really good. They move the ball and play good fundamental hoops all-around. But they are very young, and it's got to come 'round and bite 'em on the azz at some point. I do expect MIN to give them a good series, and I seriously think MIN can knock them out, which would be fine by me. Any predictions on the ECF? Pacers in 6, but that's winging it.
They have a ton of draft picks to replace the depth they'll be losing once they can't pay their current role players . They can deal with the new CBA better than the others teams imo .
i think the pacers are better than the knicks, but i think the league really wants the knicks in the finals. how many fts they giving brunson on those late game isos? pacers will have to be ahead by a lot at that point... but conspiracies aside, i'd say indy in 6, too. probably have okc in 7 over minny in a series similar to their last one. then i think okc beats ny or indy in the finals. if minny were to upset okc, i think indy or ny would have a shot at taking them out, though. just different matchups. few things. first, i remember this exact same story the last time okc was in this position, and it didn't go how everyone expected. second, i'm actually not talking as much about replacing role players as i am paying their top guys. okc has been notoriously cheap. after next season, holmgren and williams both project to be making basically the same money as SGA, which will put them in second apron territory. this is without any upgrades to the current team. finally, yes, they have a lot of draft picks, but if you look closely at them, i think only one is truly unprotected (a swap with dallas in 2028-i guess they have a complicated swap next year, but it's all projected playoff teams involved). almost all of them are top-5 protected and then turn into 2nds after a while. so, they'll probably have like, 8 extra mid-first round picks over the next few years. factor in that about 1/3 of these hit, and that it takes a couple years to develop most of these guys into playoff caliber rotation players, and i'm not as positive they all just step in. don't get me wrong--they're in a great position. it's just not at all inevitable that they'll contend forever, imo. the main thing they have in their favor is that SGA doesn't make supermax right now but produces at super max level (which almost nobody does, tbh). we'll have that with luka, too, i think. anyway, they don't really look dominant to me in the playoffs right now, and i think their best chance is this year and next before the costs start hitting. much like boston last year, actually. great position, clock ticking despite the core being relatively young.
