NBA Playoffs Thread

Screw Durant. The fakest superstar ever.

 

If Ben had a three point shot, he'd be better than Luka and probably the most coveted young NBA superstar in the league. Not having a three point shot automatically drops him 10-15 spots.

 

This is the most insane post season I've seen in the nearly 3 decades I've been watching basketball and I can't remember hearing about anything quite like this before that, either. Every single team has been without their marquee players.

That shifts the entire foundation of the playoffs. Several of those guys are trying to tough it out and either shouldn't or clearly have nothing to give out there.

The injury % might be that much higher than in years prior, but it's who's injured that is the real difference. When healthy players were dropping, guys like Kawhi and Kyrie were on borrowed time.

Silver should've cut more games off this season’s schedule and had a later start date. F the Olympics. I get not wanting to compete against it in ratings but would they really have been lower than a Jazz - Hawks finals?

My quick thoughts on who's left...
-Clipps, if Kawhi is done, so are they. As idiotic as Utah's offense is, I am not buying a single share of PG stock.
-Jazz-Conley has to give it a go. Even if it's as decoy or to give Spider some relief from handling the ball.
-Suns: how long is CP2 going to miss? Since he's vaccinated, should be shorter. But I don't think the kids have a chance without him. Uncharted territory. Paul is definitely cursed.

- Nets: KD's game 5 was one of the greatest showing of willing your team to a win that there's been. But as tonight showed that's not sustainable. Can't go all 48 every game. Too many games and not enough help. Beard's decoy game is doing more harm than good. He can't run or defend, making it hunting season out there.
-Bucks: Greek isn't 100%, but he's the best healthiest player left (Trae on his heels). Bud isn't going to coach them to a win, but they might fall into one accidentally.
-6ers: Doc is the greatest choke artist in today's league. It's remarkable. Joel isn't healthy and Ben isn't good enough to stay on the floor in the playoffs (can't shoot or hit FTs).
-Hawks: standing ovation to Nate. I think he's the best coach remaining. He has the pulse of his team. Motivated the hell out of them to rally when down by nearly 30. They have some guys scraped up too, but minor compared to everyone else. Wouldn't be at all surprised to see them in the finals at this point.

This is the asterisk season, not the bubble.

 

agree that conley needs to play at this point. they've sat him to the point of facing elimination while others are playing on similar injuries. he needs to at least try. it's not like they can start much worse than they did the other night. clippers are going to win that series because utah is just inept anyway. i think ibaka's injury may have ended up helping the clips to go small more often--particularly against utah, for whom it is kryptonite. when you can't play one of your max guys because the other team goes to a gimmick, he's not a max guy, imo.

the fact that the hawks have a shot at the finals kinda says it all. this is like, the league's 15th best team, folks.

anyway, i think the tweet above sort of overstates it a bit (lebron, luka, and cp were all healthy enough to play, for example--those kinds of injuries happen every year), but the spirit is accurate.

if kawhi and kyrie miss the rest of the playoffs, that's AD, kawhi, and kyrie--the three top contenders for the title lose their best/second-best player. i think that's unheard of.

 

Please, Bucks…save this season. You’re the only team worth rooting for.

 

Nets - Clippers Finals, kill me now.
Im seriously taking a break from basketball, this ruins it for me. We better go deep next year because im starting to watch games a year from now.
Harden and chicken s*** with a trophy or banner across the hall... great freakin choice. Go Kyrie i guess (puke emoji).

 

I still have no idea which team is going to win it all.

The probability of KD not getting injured soon is pretty low imo

 

i take it all back! he hurt them.

i know, right?

this is true, too--the war of attrition is not yet over. somebody else will go down before it's done, and the team to whom that doesn't happen will hoist the trophy.

seriously, the bubble at least had healthy teams.

 

well, yes, if you mean staying healthy. if you mean: carrying his team to victory on the strength of his ability, i've grown sadly dubious.

 

let the clippers have their moment

lakers won it all last season and have quite a few titles under their belt

 

No.

 

I can deal with Chris or Giannis getting their first ring.

All good.

 

Hell of a game from both KD and Giannis. The heavy minutes throughout the series ultimately took a toll on KD though.

 

I feel dirty rooting for CPflop and Booger, but the clips have to go home with the Nets to make me happy. After that, go Bucks!