Okay, okay: IND was missing Tyrese. But they were up 9 in the 4th Q, at home, in a must-win. At 3:33 Siakam made a shot to put them up 4, 102-98. The damned C-Bags closed out the game on a 7-0 run. Sweep. Hate to say it, but they're ridiculously good. It seems like they have 6 guys who are closers. Jeeez.
MIN wins Game 4 in DAL to stave off elimination. Ant was more aggressive, though Kidd's gameplan of 4 guys collapsing into the paint as soon as Ant makes a move to drive has worked pretty well so far. Ant had what? 14 in the 1st Q? Then KAT, after picking up his 5th foul halfway through the 3rd, came back in crunch and hit some bigtime 3s after going a dismal 0-8 from deep in Game 3. MIN shot 64% from the line and still won. The possible 4 point play very late by Luka was some sick-azz jit, man. He missed the FT. Then Anderson hit Naz on a long crosscourt inbounds play for an easy 2 and the win. Kyrie was 6 for 18 and 1/6 from deep and looked hesitant to shoot, which is rare. Dude always seems ready to shoot from anywhere on the court at any time. MIN benefited from Lively being out. But Gafford was really good, esp on defense. Yet another good game. Not boring at all. Thrilling throughout. Luka was playing Lebron-style D: not really guarding anyone, but laying in the weeds. I think he's trying to save energy and his knee strain, but it hurt them. Still: I thought going into the playoffs that MIN and DEN were the two best teams in the West, with us better than OKC, followed by DAL. I'd like to see MIN win Game 5 but I really ain't got a dog in this one. Just: someone beat the damned Bags?
minny's got a better shot against boston, but they'll need more dallas injuries to win 4 straight, imo.
Well, I guess one team was due to blow out the other, but if you told me DAL would blow out MIN in MIN, I'd say no way. But once it was 40-19 early in the 2nd I realized this was (probably) over. Lots of NBA teams come back from big deficits early in the game. So I continued to watch. 69-40 (40?) at half: I have better things to do. Prediction time: BOS in 6. Anyone else?
I’m curious how they did head to head this year Mavs have two good closers, some bigs, and solid defense. Based on how they have performed, it seems like they believe they have a chance if nothing else.
The Bags won both games: one by 19 (in January, before Mavs got Gafford) and by 28 (before Gafford was moved by Kidd to the starting lineup).
Boston was by far the best regular season team. I’m pretty sure everyone will be surprised if Dallas pulls it out, but I am rooting for them.
Matchups are everything - it’s part of the reason people wanted us to avoid Denver, as we had a better matchup against everyone else.
Sure because they swept us in the playoffs ..That being said , I agree with you , C Bags are definetely winning this if Zingis is close to himself .
dallas has the best player in the series (by a big margin). Boston then has 5 or 6 of the next 6 or 7 best players in the series. really interesting in that regard. what I don't like for Dallas is that they have to beat Boston at their own game--one they've basically been playing and fine tuning for several years now. Boston in 6 would also be my bet. really hoping i'm wrong, though. and my heart says Luka and kyrie can be very dangerous in a playoff series, even against a superior opponent.
Another early death in the Maravich family. Pete at the age of 40 of a heart attack from an unknown problem in a pickup basketball game and now one of his sons, Josh, at age 42 at home, no cause given yet. How sad for that family. RIP FILE - LSU senior Josh Maravich, left, shakes hands with coach John Brady as his mother, Jackie Maravich, center, watches during Senior Day events before LSU's NCAA college basketball game against Vanderbilt on March 5, 2005, at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La. Maravich, son of Pete Maravich, "COVINGTON, La. (AP) — Former LSU basketball player Josh Maravich, son of late Hall of Fame basketball player Pete Maravich, has died at age 42, the university announced Saturday night. He died at home on Friday, the LSU statement said. No cause of death has been released. Josh Maravich was a reserve for LSU — which plays home games in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center — from the 2001-02 to 2004-05 seasons under then-coach John Brady. For the younger Maravich, it was a childhood dream to play for LSU, where his father set the men's NCAA Division I scoring record of 3,667 points between 1967 and 1970. “I wanted to come here for my dad to make him proud,” Josh Maravich said in a 2005 article in The Daily Reveille, the LSU student newspaper. “I knew I wasn’t going to be a star player, but for me being a walk-on was what I always wanted to do.” Pete Maravich was a prolific scorer during an NBA career that was cut short in 1980 by lingering effects of a major knee injury a couple years prior. In 1988, at age 40, he died from a heart condition that had gone undetected. Earlier this year, he was back in the headlines when his Division I scoring mark — which went unmatched by any men's or women's player for more than half a century — was surpassed by Iowa star Caitlin Clark (3,951 points). In 2022, when LSU unveiled a bronze statue of Pete Maravich outside its basketball facility, sculptor Brian Hanlon credited Josh Maravich and his older brother Jaeson Maravich with the idea to depict their father — who was known for his showmanship and creativity — making a behind-the-back pass. ___ AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
