God damn it, Suns…
NBA Snoozefest 2016-2017
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God damn it, Suns…
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I might do a longer post later on, but here's my predictions for Round 1:
GS in 4
SA in 4
HOU in 7
UTA in 6BOS in 5
CLE in 5
TOR in 6
WAS in 5I normally put my vote in before the start of the playoffs, but I am so against Durant winning that I can't vote Golden State. And Cleveland shit the bed for half a season so I don't want to vote them either. That just leaves the Nets and Sixers. I'll vote Nets out of pity since they did such a great job of tanking for us.
Given the face-value of their regular season performances, I believe the Rockets should beat the Thunder in less than 7 games. BUT I might be giving Westbrook a little too much credit here when I say this: He'll flip a switch for the playoffs. A basketball IQ switch. And a redirected effort switch. I think he'll actually close out on the Rockets instead of chasing rebounds and maybe leak out in transition on occasion instead of insisting on getting the ball at the opponent's free throw line. I could see him averaging less than 5 rebounds in this series. The triple double obsession is hopefully over and that would give the Rockets a tougher series in my opinion. With the firepower that Houston packs, a one-man show is exactly what they're looking to defend because there's no way any single player would be able to keep up with them. Westbrook will still get a ton of touches but the Thunder's frontcourt should be given the chance to produce more since they have an advantage over the Rockets. This is mostly just wishful thinking on my part. I want a long series.
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Giannis is the future of the league.
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Giannis is the future of the league.
Giannis is the closest thing we'll see to luffy in the nba. Dude looks like he is rubber sometimes
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Unbelievable performance by Isaiah given the circumstances….the guy's got nerves of steel. Unfortunately, the rest of the team needed to perform more on a night like this. We didn't play well, but I've seen worse this season many times. So the floor for the Celtics is lower than what we saw today. I see this game being a wake-up call for the Celtics, so I'm sticking with my prediction of the series going just 5 games. We're getting hot for at least 2 of the 4 wins and eking out the other win(s).
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I wanna see the Bulls beat the Celtics if only because I'd like to see an 8 seed take down a 1 seed :P
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Unbelievable performance by Isaiah given the circumstances….the guy's got nerves of steel. Unfortunately, the rest of the team needed to perform more on a night like this. We didn't play well, but I've seen worse this season many times. So the floor for the Celtics is lower than what we saw today. I see this game being a wake-up call for the Celtics, so I'm sticking with my prediction of the series going just 5 games. We're getting hot for at least 2 of the 4 wins and eking out the other win(s).
Wasn't gonna trash talk my friend (Boston fan) earlier but damn, that last out of bounds call was definitely bullshit. Seems like refs wanted this for IT3.
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@Uncanny:
Wasn't gonna trash talk my friend (Boston fan) earlier but damn, that last out of bounds call was definitely bullshit. Seems like refs wanted this for IT3.
He got called for a really soft t so i doubt it
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Man, the Celtics are just shitting the bed. Not enough effort out there at all. Isaiah's been inspiring, but we need guys to show up and let the basketball world know that this isn't a one-man team. I'm not asking anyone else to drop 30, not even 20. But let's box out, not make lazy passes in Rondo's direction, attack the ball on defense, maybe…play the percentages on some of their poor shooters and know who to play tight against? Oh, I haven't even gotten to the brick party yet. Making an open shot would be nice too, but the smaller things I mentioned are very much in their control and they just aren't doing it. I don't think anything could make me feel good about the team besides a wire-to-wire blowout tomorrow night. A gritty close game with late heroics would be exciting and all, but Game 3 should be about draining all the momentum the Bulls have. Anything less than that shouldn't give a fan much hope for the series.
As for Rockets/Thunder, I still think it could go the distance. Good teams defend home court against lesser seeds so I'm not shocked by the Rockets going up 2-0. But I think the way Westbrook lost last night just might flip that switch that I mentioned before. No amount of ball hogging is going to be successful against the Rockets, especially for a streaky shooter like him. I think he'll play differently the next two games, probably just more loose. The role players are at home so that should help their confidence (if there's any left) I could be giving WB too much credit again, but I see the Thunder taking the next two games.
I want to watch so much more of Round 1 but there's not enough time in the day. I haven't seen even a second of Bucks/Raptors and caught maybe a quarter of Jazz/Clippers. The other 4 series I've watched here and there.
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With Rondo injured, the Celtics just might win this in 6.
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Well I didn't want to say anything after Game 3, but Gerald fucking Green is apparently the answer to the Celtics catching up in the second chance points department. Amir Johnson getting perma-benched because he couldn't do anything against Lopez. Without that, he was a net negative and didn't have a place on the court. I actually like Amir but whatever it takes to win I can get behind. Horford doesn't do much better on Lopez but part of the reason why Horford didn't start the series guarding Lopez is because Brad didn't want him getting into foul trouble wrestling in the paint. When you're down 2-0 to hell with that logic. Tell Horford to man up and box out. And he did just that in Game 4.
I don't like when teams aren't healthy but the Celtics needed a win in a bad way and Rondo is being appreciated in the basketball world again. I think without the ACL tear he could've been on his way to a HoF career but it's good to see that he's raised his level of play again.
Loved this. I'll never not like reporters getting shit on.
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I never realized til that press conference how high Westbrook's voice is.
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We better not lose the series now. Little Fred's reaction is too good.
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Woo! The Wizards put me through a bit of a scare there, but they advanced!
Nate, what do you think their chances will be against either the Celtics or the Bulls?
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@Kaido:
Woo! The Wizards put me through a bit of a scare there, but they advanced!
Nate, what do you think their chances will be against either the Celtics or the Bulls?
Pssssh, the Wizards game finished 30 minutes before the Celtics one. And we were blowing them out at the time.
I should be worried about Wall/Beal but I think it's more important to make sure the other starters don't get confident. Porter and Morris give us problems on the glass despite not being the biggest players. Gortat is always an issue to deal with being one of the few actual centers in the league.
Looks like we're starting Green for this series…..expect that to change by Game 3 or 4 lol. I have a feeling he'll be a liability against the Wizards. We'll probably have a Jaylen Brown sighting.
I'm not a huge fan of how both teams played Friday night and now have to play Sunday afternoon. At least make it Sunday night.
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I'm wondering what's next for Chris Paul and the Clippers after another playoff exit.
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Another starter hurt facing the Celtics, yikes. I was looking forward to Morris and Olynyk battle each other at 100% That's just a fight waiting to happen. Morris says he'll come back next game but it doesn't seem like something he can fully recover from very quickly. He might actually hurt the Wizards a bit depending on when the Celtics decide to play small ball.
It'd be interesting if CP3 changed teams but I'm sure he loves being in LA. Everyone and their mom is predicting Griffin won't be there any longer. His stock has fell pretty far and hasn't made the last 2 All Star teams so LA just might not be interested in retaining him. Griffin, wouldn't voluntarily leave unless there's a situation like Wade's last offseason.
Got 2/8 predictions right last round. Incoming Round 2 predictions without write ups because
itsasnoozefestI'm lazy.GS in 5
SA in 5
BOS in 7
CLE in 6Can the same San Antonio team that needed 6 games to beat Memphis end the Rockets' season in just 5? Yeah, that's my long shot pick.
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Isaiah Thomas dropping 53 on his sister's birthday. Can't make this up.
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Assuming both teams keep it up, CLE vs CEL in the eastern finals will be a sight to behold.
On the other end, I feel like the Rockets' 3-point-mania might just be too much for the Spurs.
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Welcome to the blowout round of the playoffs….
Cavaliers and Warriors getting a week off in the playoffs? Well the Celtics are in the middle of their week off too. There hasn't been a game since the 2nd and they play again on the 10th.
! The Celtics did their very best to throw away the momentum from one of the all time best playoff performances by going consecutive games in which they gave up 20+ point runs. Even with homecourt advantage, I don't feel good about the series at all.
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Thank god for the NHL playoffs, at least that's not totally predictable.
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Spurs-Rockets has also been predictable, but in the "this is going to be a back and forth affair" sort of way. If Kawhi is out for more than a game though…
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Poor D'Antoni…getting beat by Pop yet again. I was surprised the Rockets got hot enough to win 2 games though. That series teased us in Game 5 but we're back to our normally scheduled blowouts. I wouldn't mind the Celtics blowing out the Wizards again though....we could even get a 40 point win by sitting Isaiah if tonight was any indication :ninja:
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I want a game 7 so bad from this series. Not a fan of either. Just want to see more competition. Neither Wiz nor BOS seem ready for Cavs.
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Some lucky shots at the end from Horford and Wall. But 3 is greater than 2. Now the pressure flips back to the Celtics in Game 7. I wish I could just hibernate until Monday.
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JOHN WALLLLL ;_;
I don't care what the Cavaliers might end up doing to us, I just want a Washington team to make it past the second round for once…
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That was a great win and overall a good series despite the blowouts of Games 3-5. Contract year Kelly Olynyk took about 6 months to show up but I'm glad he could get us to the ECF.
Celtics in 4. Isaiah gets a growth spurt from 5'9" to 9'5" and Jaylen Brown averages a quintuple double.
As for the other series, my Warriors hate is at an all-time high. I'm pretty pissed off that the Spurs were robbed off a win and their best player. If Kawhi can't suit up, I'm considering not even watching the series at all. KD with the hardest road….
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Uggh good game and good series Celtics ;_; I'll be rooting for you if only because I don't want the same Finals to happen again.
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That was a great win and overall a good series despite the blowouts of Games 3-5. Contract year Kelly Olynyk took about 6 months to show up but I'm glad he could get us to the ECF.
Celtics in 4. Isaiah gets a growth spurt from 5'9" to 9'5" and Jaylen Brown averages a quintuple double.
As for the other series, my Warriors hate is at an all-time high. I'm pretty pissed off that the Spurs were robbed off a win and their best player. If Kawhi can't suit up, I'm considering not even watching the series at all. KD with the hardest road….
congrats on the #1
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I don't follow college ball at all, but Fultz seems widely regarded as the best player in this draft so that'll be extremely exciting to add him to what we already have. Hopefully by the end of next season he's hovering around 25-30 minutes a game. Not sure how he'll manage with the backcourt already in place but there's no way all of Isaiah/Avery/Marcus are going to be on the team in the 2018-2019 season.
Getting the pick almost made yesterday's drubbing not feel too bad. The attempt at defending Lebron failed horribly to say the least. We would have been better off just hacking him with our disposable bigs and making him shoot 20+ free throws.
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I am now very glad that the Wizards did not advance.
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Anyone know when the Eastern Conference Finals are starting?
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I'm seeing double.
Well, it's official.
! WE'RE BETTER THAN THE PACERS!!!
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The title of this thread is extremely fitting right now. Thanks Durant.
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You know what would be hilarious?
If the Warriors became the first team in history to blow a 3-0 lead in the NBA Finals.
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I wonder what the payout would be for betting Cavs in 7. 100 times your money at least?
The Cavs played about as well as you can against the Warriors' defense and got more favorable calls from the refs. Their problem is that they give up too many easy points. Even if they find some miracle cure on defense AND shoot lights out for the rest of the series, the Warriors' offense is way too potent to beat 4 straight times. 4 out of 5 was a faint glimmer of hope but the Cavalier's average defense isn't going to be locked in for the 192 straight minutes needed for a series win.
Tonight was full of highlight plays but this finish from Irving got me jumping off the wall and just asking what the fuck happened. The layup itself wasn't particularly memorable but he had just finished another tough layup the possession before and just knifes his way through the whole Warriors team on the break.
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This feels so hollow lol. Pretty much lost interest in the playoffs after the second round.
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Gee that's an interesting lead the Warriors have…....it'd be a shame if something were to happen to it........again:ninja:
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Man I wished it were tied 2-2…
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Talk about an eyesore of a game. So many fouls, and way more that went uncalled.
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I can't believe we now live in a world where JaVale McGee is an NBA Champion.
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It's even more bizarre than JR Smith winning.
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Just a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
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Chris Paul to the Rockets?! That's pretty confusing. I could see him switching teams again next offseason.
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With the golden cloud hanging over the league that is the Warriors, it's hard to even get excited about getting a good free agent two offseasons in a row. You know things are fucked up when your #1 seed team definitively improves and there's still no way you're a contender.
! Salt aside, there was a little bit of celebration.
! >! I hate Durant. -
There's rumors of Kyrie wanting to get traded from Cleveland. This would have been more intriguing at the start of free agency when teams had more moving parts.
BUT (and it's a huge but) this does make me start to believe that Lebron would leave Cleveland again next offseason. I didn't pay attention to any rumblings before but if the team is imploding, he'll likely move on to the best situation he can put himself into. The tricky part is Kyrie is under contract for 3 more years so he's not anywhere near the driver's seat. And the Cavs don't even have a GM right now lol. As a Celtics fan, I'm going to try not to expect too much this upcoming season, but after that I'm smelling some finals appearances. If only the Warriors didn't exist, but I digress.
I'll be surprised if anything happens from this other than start a trade rumor dumpster fire with every team imaginable. Nothing to see here :ninja: Let's go back to wondering if Carmelo can force himself on the Rockets so they might hit their ceiling of getting swept in May.
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Let's be real, the Eastern teams should consider the conference finals as their big finals for at least a year or two. Even longer if Lebron goes to the West.
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TNT's always taking shots at Chuck