Wow: No Zion for the Pels: no problem: nice to see the Kings eliminated. MIA played fast and won at home, w/o Jimmy Butler vs. CHI. To think we couldda had Jaquez (21/6/6) and starting, but got J H-S. Good luck with the Bags, Heat!
No way the Suns executives watch their team play all season long and told themselves " we're good , we don't need a PG" . The f*** they're doing on the floor ?
yeah, and everyone watched the C Bags lose to the last-legs warriors a couple years ago for the same reason. there's a lot of talk about teams with top floor generals (e.g., chris paul) not winning rings, but the opposite doesn't, either. to me, the biggest difference in minnesota from last year to this one is mike conley. if he switched teams, things look really different, imo.
weird challenge overturn near the end of the knicks/philly game that i thought might cost the knicks the game until that wild finish. i know the "old schoolers" (which i'm supposed to be now, i think) like the officials deciding the playoffs are a wrestling match, but i'm not loving it overall.
NBA's Last Two Minute report today says what we all saw: Maxey was fouled at least twice at the end of that game where the Knicks scored 6 in the last 30 secs after being down 5 to win it. Nick Nurse was signaling for a TO also, and the refs missed it. Just before Brunson hit that 3 that bounced on the rim and fell in, Embiid fouled DiVencenzo and it wasn't called. With a little over 1 min left, OG Anunoby committed a defensive 3-sec violation that wasn't called. "Human error" means the last 2 mins will not be replayed. If the league ruled that a "misapplication of playing rules" by the refs occurred, then the 76ers might get to file a complaint and win. But this is seen as not the case here. Man, the way we lost Game 2 on Jamaal's buzzer-beater was rough; this somehow seems more maddening to me, as a fan, and I don't really care about Philly at all. Play ON!
not sure if it made the report, but lowry hacked someone and they overturned it a la dlo, too. just bad calls all around. i can forgive missing a call in real time here and there, but all these clearly wrong reviews are insane. not to harp again, but how is swinging above the shoulders both a flagrant and also not a foul bc the shot was already released? how is this possible? who's sitting in that room, thinking that makes sense? I WANT TO SEE THEIR FACE!
I thought Phoenix had a good chance to upset Minnesota. Minnesota wins 2 at home. See how Phoenix responds.
i did too bc i thought towns would be rusty/not 100%. and he hasn't looked great in the minutes i've seen, but it hasn't mattered. like us, phx has some perimeter defense issues that are tough to manage. i thought it wouldn't matter as much against minny given their roster construction and style of play, but even alexander-walker is getting places he wants to go against them. i'm sure a couple of phx's stars will go nova and get them at least one win at home, but when i've tuned into those games, minny looked far superior.
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/...los-angeles-clippers-nba-playoffs-first-round dallas could still lose in the first round, but if they keep their guys together for next year, i think they could be the top seed in the west and a legit contender. luka's just so good, and they've rediscovered parts of the formula that got scuttled when brunson left.
And he's locking in on defense in crunch time Shame they're not in shambles. He needs to be a Laker. ANT and Tatum seem like the more likely targets. Boston's contract decisions are going to be the death of them and I just hope they don't get a ring or two before that happens. Ant seems to want that spotlight and Hollywood opportunities that would open up for him and I don't trust any team with Gobert to succeed at the highest level. Plus the drama over the sale of the team will hopefully be problematic for Minny.
Watched Game 2 in BOS and Jimmy-less MIA, the 8th seed, gave a full 48 mins and evened the series with BOS, and it was thrilling to watch TD Garden empty out quietly while the Heat pushed their lead back up to 11 with 2:24 left. Stan Van Gundy said "I don't know why people are leaving after what we saw in Madison Square Garden the other night." I guess that's just C-Bag fan character. Heat: 23 of 43 from 3. That's an anomaly. I don't think they can keep that up, but at least they dealt some pain to that franchise for at least one game. Anyway, thrilled with MIA winning a game in BOS. After the Lakers' showing in DEN the first two games, ya take what ya can get.
they're not right now, but they employ irving, so you can go from solid to shambles very quickly. i think luka's got a contention window open next year, possibly the year after. that year after is right before his player option. just sayin'. we need to keep a max slot open for that summer, if possible. yes, he may sign an extension, but until he does, i'm making sure 50+ million is there. boston and minny both have contract issues, but edwards is under contract long-term, and he'd be the last one minny would move. i think he's stuck there for several years, tbh. i'll be shocked if boston doesn't win the title this year, but i'd be equally shocked if they won it next year again. horford and porzingis are both huge injury risks (horford due to age, and zinger due to his being him), and there's a 0.2% chance they'd make it through two finals runs. that team is 6 players deep with only 2 frontcourt players and they don't have a lot of ways to upgrade the roster in the near term (only have their own late picks, no dead salary, way over tax apron). if they win it this year and then drop off the next year, that's leading into tatum's option year. now, will boston just use the supermax to keep him there? maybe. but again, i'd keep an eye on it and keep the flexibility if possible.
50 pts after having Bell's Palsy with a paralyzed face and then playing like prime Draymond (kicking groins and pulling legs) with James Harden foul baiting skills....
yeah, i'm not a fan. i don't find him fun to watch, nor do i enjoy his persona on or off the court. he can go away, and the game will be fine.
My gawd. Aside from the Lakers being a colossal drag against DEN, it's that time of year where my NBA fix does indeed feel like a fix. I say to myself, "I'll only watch the last 5 minutes..." and end up 3 hours later not getting any work done. For those of you who, like me, avoid the scores but DVR every game: the MIL@IND was a total thrill. Watch that one! Planned to watch only the last 5 mins, but thought I'd see how both teams looked coming out of the opening tip...and the next thing I've watched all 53 mins. It was worth it for my basketball jones. DAL switched on the defense and held the Tenants to 90 to go up 2-1 in DAL. Brick was 0-7 from the field and got ejected for playing like a worthless thug most of the game. Good riddance to obnoxious rubbish. Clips won the 1st Q by 5, then DAL won the 2nd 36-18 and that was it, basically. DAL hit the Clips with a barrage of lobs to Gafford and Lively, who together were 10 for 16, and I'm guessing they were all dunks off lobs. How does Lob City taste, Ballmer? PG-13 had one of those games he has all-too-often: 30 mins, 3 for 11, 1 for 6 from deep, 7/5/5. MIN goes into PHO up 2-0. At halftime the Wolves are up 59-53. Then in the 3rd they outscored PHO by 16 and only after the game was seriously in doubt did PHO start trying 3s again and they shot the lights out but it was too late. Vogel apparently said he'd be happy if they jacked up 40 3FGAs, 35 at least. For some reason - MIN chasing them off the arc - they didn't attempt any 3s for around 25 mins. When they started shooting from outside they hit, but it was too late. Suns look outmatched by a better team in the way the Lakers are outmatched, but worse. PHO looks listless. KD/Booker/Beal are making $150mil next year. It didn't work THIS year - not even close - so sucks to be them. Good, I despise them anyway. Eff Phoenix. MIN's D looked really good and all their role players clicked. Late in the game Rudy got an outlet pass from Ant and Okogie went in and wound up and nailed Rudy's neck/shoulder, missed the ball. He was going for the ball, I thought, if rather lamely: Flagrant 2: Okogie kicked out. Game was over anyway. Richard Jefferson, who after seeing the call on D-Lo that was ruled not even a foul and said he now wondered what he knew about basketball 'cuz that was a foul, said he thought the play was a Flagrant 1. And his reasoning was this: if Okogie isn't on a team getting waxed at home and ready to go into an 0-3 hole, and the game was garbage, but instead 3 minutes into the game, does he still get a Flagrant 2? R-Jeff seems to have more common sense than some of the refs, esp. the ones in the replay room.
So #4 seed CLE wins their first two at home, holding #5 seed ORL under 90 points. They go to ORL and the Magic holds CLE to 83 measly points to cut the series to 2-1 CLE. Yesterday in ORL the Cavs only managed 89 in a loss. Cavs led 60-51 at halftime. Then they only managed 29 points in the 2nd half. They only put up 10 in the 3rd Q: dismal! So far, the rule in this series: if you score 90 or more, you win. Neither team could possibly put up a fight against BOS if they face them. The East is so much weaker than the West this year. Yet again.
Man, it's Luka against the Clips and it ain't looking good. I hope he gets tired of playing alone and makes a trade demand
