turnovers. no reason why this team should be forcing us into turnovers. and no reason they should shoot 50% from the floor for a full game. that's laziness. which is sort of amazing in a finals game. gotta say i was surprised by this loss, and it worries me for the rest of the games. before this one, i said i was curious to see how they came out. i got my answer. if they do that even one more time this series, they'll lose the whole thing. i hope lebron, vogel, someone--maybe rondo, tbh--gets this across.
Unfortunately, this wake-up call comes at the expense of 1.) their players regaining confidence and 2.) the return of Adebayo... I really thought Lebron (and the rest of the team) was going to shift into "win mode" and close out that horrendous game, but it was more of the same thing we had seen during the previous 40 minutes or so. That being said, I don't care who they put on the floor, let's come back and crush them with a sharp performance tomorrow night. Just as I said during the Denver series, when we were also up 2-1, the winner of game 4 will win the series. If we go up 3-1, they aren't winning 3 in a row... but if we don't get our s*** together, and they manage to tie it up at 2, well, then, things could get dicey.
beat me to it... very accurate and succinct. yes, i too was surprised. where was the killer instinct? the sad part is that we kept it fairly close despite not even showing up at all. let's clean/tighten things up a bit and get a better showing from AD... and maybe make some 3's and/or get some higher percentage shots closer to the rim.
Heat made it to the Finals for a reason. Going in, I expected 5. After the first two and their injuries, I adjusted that to a sweep. But that was more along the lines of me thinking Butler wasn't going to be 100% than them being without Bam and Dragic. Nunn was in contention for ROY and Kelly, she really stretches the floor for them. As long as they have their culture changer in Butler, they're going to be a tough team. He wanted it more than anyone else on the court last night and put up a historic finals triple double. Our biggest issues... 1) sloppy play - 19 TOs, Bron alone had 8. To compare, we had 21 turnovers in game 1 & 2 combined. 2) They've both been f***ing bums the past two games. KCP at least found other ways to contribute in game 2, but not last night. Together they put up 7 points on 1-11 shooting. THT, JR, Waiters, Kuz need time or more time if that's what Dumb and Dumber are going to give us. KCP had been firing on all cylinders, so I give him a chance but pull him if he's off again. Picked a bad time to slump. Green, I DNP-CD his a**. 3) AD. Was a no show. Fouls took him out of the game and he never tried to reinsert himself in the 2nd half. Not the time to take a night off. Biggest stage of his career, top 5 player, best big in the game, and they have no answer... get to work.
We will win the next one and will be more focused tomorrow night, no doubt. Not that it matters but LeBron is something like 21-0 when his team has a 2-0 lead in a series. I'm actually more confident now then after game 2. We will be hoisting that Larry O'Brian trophy Thursday night!
This will be kinda hard to do since the game is played on Friday not Thursday but I still think we win.
I would like to accept personal responsibility for last night's loss. Two weeks ago, Liverpool beat Chelsea, the Cowboys won on a game winning field goal as time expired in that crazy comeback against the Falcons, then AD capped off the night with his game winning shot against the Nuggets. Yesterday morning, Dallas was getting blown out by Cleveland at the same time Liverpool was somehow losing to Aston Villa 7-2. I knew the Lakers were going to lose the game. This ones on me, guys. EDIT: Well, me and Danny Green.
Right. There’s no defending that performance. I definitely wanted to see us just step on their necks and end it. I do think we will step up and answer the call. This would really hurt LeBrons legacy if we don’t win and he knows that.
Are the LA radio and sports stations blasting Green (can’t shoot or defend)? I hope so. Vogel needs to sit him. Seriously, would rather JR start. Prefer THT, for defense and play making.
yeah, i really don't get why vogel sends green out there every game to do nothing but miss 3s hopefully the loss serves as a wake up call that they need to do something about butler. literally every time he drove to the basket he scored or got to the line
yeah, but you can start pressing. jimmy butler is playing this perfectly, psychologically. he basically guaranteed a win in game 4. if they lose, no biggie, everyone will forget, and it will be chalked up to motivational attempts. if they win, they start becoming a team of destiny or some such, and he starts to have a 2011 dirk moment. should have played harder from the jump in the last one. better send a message in the next one, or else something very bad can happen. and yes, losing to this heat team is very bad. they shouldn't be here.
I've been hating on Green for some time now. But I'm not sure who I'd replace him with at this time. Waiters has been out for too long for me to trust starting him since he hasn't even come off the bench in weeks. JR Smith is looking too long in the tooth for starters minutes. If Green states that he can't go because of his hip injury that's one thing but if he's cleared to play I don't see us demoting him. I just think he should play less minutes overall when he's not effective. That's just smart player management. Same for KCP. If those guys are sucking then limit them and play more Caruso, Rondo, Kuz and maybe give THT a shot with a few minutes. And try out Waiters for a few.
blowing this series will mar Lebron's legacy and relegate him to the second tier of "greatest ever" conversation.
