2018 Playoffs Thread

[Mainstreet]

And confirmation by the league Lebron goal tended the shot.

"I got a step on him. Felt like I even got grabbed on the way to the rim," Oladipo said. "I tried to shoot a layup, it hit the backboard, then he blocked it. ... It was a goaltend. It's hard to even speak on it. It just sucks, honestly. It really sucks. We fought our way back, we tied the game up, that layup is huge."

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...g-final-block-nba-says-last-two-minute-report

 

[sunsfan88]

yeah... in super slow-mo. NBA refs don't have that luxury watching games live.

you mean like the play right before where the Pacers knocked the ball out of bounds and they called it off LeBron?

What's the excuse for missing this BLATANT foul on Oladipo's drive on that same final Pacers possession?

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[leclerc]

It's Bron. He can grab. Cavs should win any way possible. Refs can also call tick tack fouls on opposing players to make sure they don't alter the predefined outcome.

 

[Ronin]

Cavs' George Hill (back) is questionable for Game 6 tonight.

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[Ronin]

BREAKING: Otto Porter Jr. is undergoing a small procedure on his left leg today to address a build up of blood flow in the area of his contusion, the Washington Post has learned. He is OUT for Game 6, as well as the rest of the series if it continues. Story coming

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[Ronin]

RaptorsMR (@RaptorsMR) tweeted at 3:40 PM on Fri, Apr 27, 2018:
Status update: Fred Van Vleet is available tonight at Washington.

 

[Ronin]

Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) tweeted at 3:45 PM on Fri, Apr 27, 2018:
Warriors say Stephen Curry (left MCL sprain) is questionable for Game 1 against the Pelicans

 

[Ronin]

Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixYS) tweeted at 4:31 PM on Fri, Apr 27, 2018:
Ty Lue says no decision made on George Hill’s status tonight

 

[Ronin]

Jason Lloyd (@JasonLloydNBA) tweeted at 5:14 PM on Fri, Apr 27, 2018:
George Hill out tonight for Cavs.

 

[Hoop Head]

Where will the blame fall if Cleveland can't get past the Pacers? Lebron will more than likely leave in free agency but the Cavs have done their best to make him happy. I know he wanted them to keep Kyrie but that could have blown up. IT was an MVP candidate last year and he was frozen out by the Cavs the day he tried coming back. They couldn't get Derrick Rose to work, they sent Wade packing back to Miami, and swapped half of their roster at the deadline in an effort to get younger and add more offense. At Lebron's age I don't think he'd have the power he has in Cleveland on any other team. He gets to play GM and coach for the Cavs and they've paid a fortune for the team he has around him. It's largely his fault that they're paying guys like Tristan Thompson and JR Smith ridiculous amounts of money that limit their flexibility.

 

[GatorAZ]

#1 for Westbrook and #16/Chandler/Dudley for Whiteside. Who’s with me?

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[AzStevenCal]

I know he wanted them to keep Kyrie but that could have blown up.

Wasn't Lebron's desire to keep Irving brought about by the rumor they were trading him for Thomas? Regardless, Kyrie, at one time, was convinced that Lebron wanted him out and that apparently precipitated his trade demand.

 

[AzStevenCal]

#1 for Westbrook and #16/Chandler/Dudley for Whiteside. Who’s with me?

Is this humor? I hope.

 

[Hoop Head]

#1 for Westbrook and #16/Chandler/Dudley for Whiteside. Who’s with me?

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I love Westbrook but what makes you think the Suns would be any better than OKC has been? I'd rather not trade the future to be able to be first round fodder for the next few years.

 

[Hoop Head]

Wasn't Lebron's desire to keep Irving brought about by the rumor they were trading him for Thomas? Regardless, Kyrie, at one time, was convinced that Lebron wanted him out and that apparently precipitated his trade demand.

I've heard multiple reports on why Kyrie wanted out but he wanted away from Lebron. Lebron was all for the trade involving Kyrie that would have brought them Bledsoe and Paul George before the draft or during the draft. When that fell apart he thought he could repair his relationship with Kyrie and wanted management to keep him. I'm not sure if that had to do with IT or not. If Lebron hadn't pushed for the Cavs to make the trade involving Kyrie that fell through then they wouldn't have been in the position they ended up in.

If Lebron stayed in Miami and let Riley rebuild around him I think he would have won more than 1 title. He hasn't been able to sit back and let the office work and do his job as franchise centerpiece. I understand that Cleveland failed putting a solid team around him before he bolted to Miami but Riley knew how to build a winner and he would have been able to reload the Heat for Lebron but he wasn't given a chance. It may have taken a year to do that but it would have been done. He decided to return to Cleveland where they had a plethora of assets since they'd been at the bottom of the league since Lebron left. They took a shortcut to being contenders to appease Lebron but had they waited they could have built a better lasting team around him also. They traded 2 #1 overall picks for Kevin Love when they could have done better had they waited. I know Anthony Bennett sucked but Wiggins had real value and his value wouldn't have fallen off a cliff if he played with Lebron for a little while.

 

[Hoop Head]

The end of this Thunder/Jazz game has been great. OKC has worked their way back into it and they just had 3 attempts to tie it and kept grabbing the boards.

 

[Hoop Head]

The refs screwed OKC out of a foul call on PG's 3 and then OKC fouled Utah a few times before the refs finally blew the whistle.

 

[elindholm]

The refs screwed OKC out of a foul call on PG's 3 and then OKC fouled Utah a few times before the refs finally blew the whistle.

It will be a crushing blow for the Thunder if Oladipo knocks James out of the playoffs while George went 2-16 in a do-or-die.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

The refs screwed OKC out of a foul call on PG's 3 and then OKC fouled Utah a few times before the refs finally blew the whistle.

Paul George had no confidence and shot that shot with the goal of drawing a foul. He worked to initiate the contact. I'm glad he wasn't rewarded for that crap. Then, OKC's effort to foul after that was dubious at best. The Thunder have nobody to blame but themselves imho

(But yes...precedent has been set so it should have been a foul.)

 

[Cheesebeef]

The refs screwed OKC out of a foul call on PG's 3 and then OKC fouled Utah a few times before the refs finally blew the whistle.

Yeah... I don’t know how George didn’t get that call. That was terrible.

 

[Hoop Head]

It will be a crushing blow for the Thunder if Oladipo knocks James out of the playoffs while George went 2-16 in a do-or-die.

If they can't resign George that trade will look awful. I hope they can keep him because Russ gives them a chance of challenging the Warriors. They're an odd team in that they don't play that hard night in and night out but they do play up to the level of their competition and beat the Warriors a few times this year easily. Russ is determined to hand as many losses to KD as he can and it sucks we haven't seen them meet in the playoffs yet and it will be 1 more year before that could happen. I think if they can keep George and lose Melo they'll be better than they were this year. Russ can share the spotlight with 1 guy and George seems ok being his second fiddle but Melo is too old to give them much and he's not at the point in his career where he accepts his limitations.

 

[ColdPickleNachos]

I have to imagine Paul George is as good as gone. Russell Westbrook is insanely talented, but if I were a good NBA player I certainly wouldn't want to play with him all the time.

 

[Hoop Head]

Paul George had no confidence and shot that shot with the goal of drawing a foul. He worked to initiate the contact. I'm glad he wasn't rewarded for that crap. Then, OKC's effort to foul after that was dubious at best. The Thunder have nobody to blame but themselves imho

I don't like those fouls either but that was clearly a foul and it would have been called had it taken place during the previous 47 minutes of the game. The refs swallowed their whistles there because the game was on the line and I don't agree with them deciding to call things differently on that play because the game was on the line. It might have been easier to accept had the clock been close to 0 and that truly was the last play/shot of the game but it wasn't. There were still 30 seconds left in regulation so not calling it was questionable at best. Had that game been in OKC then I think it would have been called but since it was in Utah they decided not to.

 

[GatorAZ]

I love Westbrook but what makes you think the Suns would be any better than OKC has been? I'd rather not trade the future to be able to be first round fodder for the next few years.

He’s a superstar under contract for 5 years.

 

[GatorAZ]

My Goodness Donovan was such a puss in his press conference. He did he felt bad for the official b/c it was a tough call to make. He’s getting fired.