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Celebrating 25 Years Of The West Wing

The NBA

xaxat

By xaxat
in Sports

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Ashforth
Ashforth

So I'll be the turd in the punchbowl. All of the news is about how great and wonderful Kobe was. Sure, he was a phenomenally talented athlete and apparently supported good causes. But he was also, in

twoods
twoods

Nobody is glossing over the alleged rape. In every single article I’ve seen (ESPN, NY times, SI, etc) there was a paragraph about his checkered past. It’s in the third or fourth paragraph, not in the

AimingforYoko
AimingforYoko

WNBA is 99% vaccinated, 0 positive tests this season. It's almost like there's a correlation.

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Fukui San

Fukui San

Kind of expecting Denver to roll, but that’s what all of the Heat’s other opponents were thinking.  

These Celtics were baffling to the last. No idea what they should do now. Game 7 of the conference finals isn’t nothing, but the way they got there was so unsatisfying. It just feels like untapped potential and lapses of concentration. 

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Carey

Carey

Couldn't agree more.  I mean, I guess this series was supposed to go 7 games.  However, I figured that Miami would've been the one forcing it, after a back & forth series.  The way this went down was just so bizarre

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Fukui San

Fukui San

I mean last year losing to Golden State, you shrug and say “Well, that’s Steph for you.” This year you lose by not even showing up for Game 3 and Brown having unforced errors all Game 7. At least 1 or 2 games each series just fumbled through mental lapses. At some point that’s just what you are. 

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baldryanr

baldryanr

The TD Garden - where 8 seeds go to win game 7s.

I hope it was just typical bland spin, but Mazzulla's reply about how the Celts weren't too reliant on the 3 was crap.  If your only game plan is to rain threes and hope they go in then your plan sucks.

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Black Knight

Black Knight

11 hours ago, Fukui San said:

I mean last year losing to Golden State, you shrug and say “Well, that’s Steph for you.” This year you lose by not even showing up for Game 3 and Brown having unforced errors all Game 7. At least 1 or 2 games each series just fumbled through mental lapses. At some point that’s just what you are. 

That doesn't take into account the ages of the Celtics' Js. They'll only just be entering their prime now. Look at the ages LeBron, Curry, MBJ were when they got their first rings. It's rare for even the greatest of NBA stars to win a ring before 27. The Celtics core has gained a lot of valuable playoff experience, and I suspect Boston will win a championship within the next couple of seasons as the Js move into their prime.

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Fukui San

Fukui San

I'd like to think so, but Jaylen needs resigning if that's the case and he's Max eligible. Will he ever improve his ballhandling? Our depth may take a hit. Horford is only going to get older. Windows aren't open forever.

Tatum taking another step is a possibility. Can he be Game 7 Philly Series Tatum all of the time?

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JTMacc99

JTMacc99

5 hours ago, baldryanr said:

If your only game plan is to rain threes and hope they go in then your plan sucks.

That was Barkley's take on it at halftime.  If my numbers are correct, they say the Celtics were 4-21 from three at halftime in this clip. They finished 9-42, which means it sure sounds like that was the plan given that they did exactly the same thing in the second half with virtually no difference in the success of the plan.

 

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Carey

Carey

9 minutes ago, Magog said:

Maybe, he can somehow find a way to make Cade Cunningham a bona fide superstar & the Pistons relevant again.

We'll see.

On the NBA front, no surprise that Denver is favored.  It's by nine over Miami for Game One, where the over/under is 219.

For the series, the Heat's chances to win are about 3.5 to 1.  Of course, that's subject to change as the series plays out

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baldryanr

baldryanr

8 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Congrats to him for getting his money, but damn. To go from coaching KD/Book/CP3 in Phoenix to one of the perennial worst teams in the league. 

KD, the superstar who seems to have drama follow him everywhere?  CP3, the 38 year old point guard who always wears down and (along with Booker) had one of the worst game 7 performances ever last year as a 1 seed?  Oh, and toss in a new owner who has already shown some, ahem, questionable tendencies?  Speaking of the new owner, there's also a chance his closest unofficial advisor is Isiah Thomas, yet another example of how awesome players make for mediocre executives.  Detroit has many issues, but Phoenix is not going to be a goof place to be.

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Carey

Carey

Well, I wasn't supposed to watch these NBA Finals due to my earlier decision to stop watching.  Except I inadvertently saw the score from Monday's game, and that led to me changing my mind (obviously).

That's a great thing.  While I think Denver will win (in Six) anything can happen.  It's great & refreshing to see a couple stars in Jokic & Butler where I don't have to root against either one.  Really the only thing I'm rooting against is a quick/ugly series.

Miami has come a long way & are capable of beating anyone.  No way Denver loses both of their first 2 games, but I actually think the matchup here is not too much for Miami to handle

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Carey

Carey

1 hour ago, twoods said:

Clearly can tell who’s the better rested team. The Nuggets are a very deep team and are showing they don’t need their MVP to win games.

I would hope not, especially after having nine days off which started before the East champs had a chance at 8 days.  Instead they travelled 3 times back and forth to the same cities, and they're no longer undefeated in the opening game of the series.

That being said, all things equal, I still think Denver would've won Game 1.  It is also possible that the West Champs win each of the next 3 games, but I think it's too early to think it'll be a quick series.  Especially with a couple home games on the other side of the country, and we'll see how Herro's return makes a difference

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Carey

Carey

(edited)

I wouldn't be surprised if they booted him for all of 2023-2024.  I think I definitely agree that it's at least for the remainder of this calendar year; while 82-112 games might seem like it's a lot, it might take "a lot" for the guy to get the message & hold onto it

Edited by Carey
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grommit2

grommit2

Hmmm...tried to watch the Miami-Denver 1st Finals game.
My local sports channel had a split screen.
The game was shown on the left.
And there were several talking heads on the right. Chattering, talking over the game. Very annoying presentation.  I wanted to see the game, not have to ignore the chattering nabobs. I gave up...switched to the Boston-Cincy baseball game. Oh well.

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Salacious Kitty

Salacious Kitty

53 minutes ago, grommit2 said:

Hmmm...tried to watch the Miami-Denver 1st Finals game.
My local sports channel had a split screen.
The game was shown on the left.
And there were several talking heads on the right. Chattering, talking over the game. Very annoying presentation.  I wanted to see the game, not have to ignore the chattering nabobs. I gave up...switched to the Boston-Cincy baseball game. Oh well.

Sounds like you watched the Stephen A Smith broadcast on ESPN2. The actual game was on ABC.

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Magog

Magog

Hopefully, Jimmy Butler will show up tonight & the Heat will find a way to win tonight. His 13 points in Game 1 will not get the job done. 

For the Heat's sake, this is probably a must win for them. Because there is a pretty good chance that it'll be a miracle if it gets to a Game 6 if the Heat lose tonight.

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Salacious Kitty

Salacious Kitty

1 hour ago, Magog said:

Hopefully, Jimmy Butler will show up tonight & the Heat will find a way to win tonight. His 13 points in Game 1 will not get the job done. 

For the Heat's sake, this is probably a must win for them. Because there is a pretty good chance that it'll be a miracle if it gets to a Game 6 if the Heat lose tonight.

Denver hasn't lost at home this entire post session. I haven't seen the spread, but I imagine they're a solid favorite. 

Hopefully Jimmy Buckets shows up and makes it interesting, or even pulls out a big upset. 

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Carey

Carey

To be fair to Miami, they're pretty good at home.  Not factoring in Scott Foster + 0.1 seconds, they're unbeatable at home too.  Furthermore, Denver will be travelling East & playing in a different time zone.  In addition, Games 3 & 4 is the only segment of the finals were there is only one day off between games.

Maybe that helps the Heat; maybe not.  Denver is undefeated at home, but not all of the games have been blowouts.  I think it would help the Heat try to steal one on the road; while they'll be fine at home, Denver is more than capable of stealing one in South Beach to offset the possibility of Miami earning homecourt with a win tonight

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DoctorAtomic

DoctorAtomic

After the 3rd quarter, I didn't think Miami would be able to come back. Bam was the mvp of this game for sure. I don't know why Denver just didn't play through on the pick and rolls on him. It will be interesting to see if they adjust. 

I would have called a time out at the end because you need the 3, and you want Murray to take it. If it was only 2, then you have more options. 

 

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Marley

Marley

I like both teams so as stupid as it sounds I am kind of rooting for both lol. Glad it’s tied now. Would be cool if it went to a very exciting game 7 that went to the very last seconds.

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Carey

Carey

6 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I didn't think miami would come back. Good for them. 

Still can't see them winning the series though.  

Murray in and out on the last shot 1/2 an inch short. 

For me, it was no surprise that Miami would come back.  They never gave up in Game 1 as the team that had played a game 3 days prior & 4 since Denver swept.  Game 1 was too much to handle, and the Heat were down a lot more than 11.  They've faced a lot of great teams in the East & persevered, plus the coaching & some of the experience is, IMO, slightly better.  Not the talent, but people like Riley, Spoelstra, Butler, Love, Lowry, etc have been part of this highest level of play in the NBA.  Helps to have a great culture especially with several undrafted people on the team.

That being said, I don't think Miami will win the series.  However, I can see it & believe it if the Heat do happen to knock off the Nuggets.  Helps to have home court advantage now.  Though really it helps that the Heat won Game 2 since Denver is more than capable of winning (at least) one game in South Beach.  If there is a split in Miami, I'm not going to say that Miami is on life support again since I think 2-2 leads to Denver winning big in Game 5, Miami surviving in Game 6, and a true winner-take-all after that.  Yep, I'm definitely not that guy saying must-win both games at home, but it does help to do so!

I actually thought Murray's shot was going in.  A 3 was needed to achieve a tie at best, but to be fair, they were fortunate to get to that point.  From a 3 pointer to get to within 3, followed by a couple Heat clutch FF, then another Nuggets basket, before a stop to get one more chance.

Good on Miami for not fouling up 3.  That might've given Denver the chance at an outright regulation win.

1 hour ago, Marley said:

I like both teams so as stupid as it sounds I am kind of rooting for both lol. Glad it’s tied now. Would be cool if it went to a very exciting game 7 that went to the very last seconds.

If it sounds stupid, then that makes 2 of us.  Though there are a lot of things that make me stupid.  I'm glad it's tied since I hardly think either team is winning 3 straight (4 for Miami).  I don't know if I'd love to see a buzzer beater to end Game 7.  That would be great.  Except I'm getting Breen on the call over Harlan.  However, I don't know if I'd love to see it since one of these 2 teams would be the victim of a painful series loss.  I imagine afterwards, cooler heads would prevail & you'll see post series respect from both sides.  Sorta like the 2016 Tournament Final to cap off the Final Four 7 years ago.  IMO, the best ending would be a competitive Game 7 but then the eventual winning pulls away at the end to win by 4 or 5

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DrSpaceman73

DrSpaceman73

I hate the NBA spreading out the games so much.  You need 3 days off for travel?   Why is it a Friday Monday schedule and not Friday Sunday with two weekend games?  Especially this time of year Sundays when baseball and nothing else is on?  I could see it if it's us open weekend but that's the Sunday after. 

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Carey

Carey

16 hours ago, DrSpaceman73 said:

I hate the NBA spreading out the games so much.  You need 3 days off for travel?   Why is it a Friday Monday schedule and not Friday Sunday with two weekend games?  Especially this time of year Sundays when baseball and nothing else is on?  I could see it if it's us open weekend but that's the Sunday after. 

I don't have a problem with it.  It's really 2 days off.  One to travel/rest, and then one to rest/practice.  Plus, you have to factor in the Stanley Cup Finals.  While that gives the viewers 2 days of sports, and one day off before another 2 days (when necessary), I'm fine with it given the fact that we're heading into a 2-month period of no sports* before football gets going away.

There used to be some structure with the NBA finals.  No Monday or Saturday games, always Sundays, and everything else based on the network that had them.  I believe it was Tuesday/Thursdays for ABC & CBS, and Wednesday/Friday for NBC.  However, these were done with a 2-3-2 format.  Now with 2-2-1-1-1 it's unique based on how many consecutive games & then travel.  I guess the NBA Finals starting on Thursday instead of Friday didn't kill anyone, but I still do understand the frustration

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DrSpaceman73

DrSpaceman73

13 minutes ago, Carey said:

I don't have a problem with it.  It's really 2 days off.  One to travel/rest, and then one to rest/practice.  Plus, you have to factor in the Stanley Cup Finals.  While that gives the viewers 2 days of sports, and one day off before another 2 days (when necessary), I'm fine with it given the fact that we're heading into a 2-month period of no sports* before football gets going away.

There used to be some structure with the NBA finals.  No Monday or Saturday games, always Sundays, and everything else based on the network that had them.  I believe it was Tuesday/Thursdays for ABC & CBS, and Wednesday/Friday for NBC.  However, these were done with a 2-3-2 format.  Now with 2-2-1-1-1 it's unique based on how many consecutive games & then travel.  I guess the NBA Finals starting on Thursday instead of Friday didn't kill anyone, but I still do understand the frustration

'Travel' anymore is 2 or 3 hours on a chartered plane. You dont need a whole day for that.  This always gives me a big eye roll for the nfl as well when they talk about travel miles.  Nfl travels like two days before the game. Is another hour or two on a plane really that much of a difference two days prior.  London and overseas sure but within the continental us, makes little difference. 

They have back to back games all the time during the season mostly to get prime tv schedule games and then in the playoffs they get 3 days off and do a Saturday Monday instead of Friday Sunday.  Makes no sense to me. 

I'm not suggesting they need back to backs in the playoffs but two days rest is plenty for changing cities.

 

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Black Knight

Black Knight

In football there's a whole lot of standing around and most times a team gets six days before playing again.

It seems to me that giving the NBA Finals teams an extra day at a couple of points in the series is a good thing. Gives the players a little bit of extra time to heal up in between, making for better quality games. By this point basically everyone is hurting somewhat, and they have to run around a lot more than football players do on much less rest, even when there's one extra day inserted. Super Bowl teams get to have two weeks rest.

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Magog

Magog

(edited)

Nuggets 109 - Heat 94

DJ Khaled was at the game tonight so that's a good enough reason for wanting the Heat to lose tonight. 

As for the game, it was close at halftime. Then Denver got it going at the start of the 3rd Quarter & pretty much never looked back. 

Edited by Magog
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DoctorAtomic

DoctorAtomic

I'm wondering if Murray and Jokic played a little too many minutes when they got up by 12+ to be fresh for Friday. 

Denver seemed to defend against the pick and roll better than on Sunday. 

Denver came out in the 3rd basically playing the same, but I think Miami had some bad shot selection and got a little tight throwing up some shots they didn't need to. Butler faded a little. 

That happened in game 2, and they came back though. I don't know if this time they got away from the shorter shots and drives or if Denver was a little better on defense. And it was still only a 10 point gap with about 2 minutes to go. 

I think Denver just made better adjustments. 

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