2018 Playoffs Thread

[Ronin]

Damian Lillard scoring by defender this series vs. Jrue Holiday: 7 pts, 2-18 FG, 11 FG% vs. everyone else: 28 pts, 11-23 FG, 48 FG% (via @SecondSpectrum)

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[Cheesebeef]

That's definitely what you want to hear from a guy who is asking for a max extension. What a douchebag.

we don't agree on much, but on this I'm with ya 100.

 

[Russ Smith]

Jrue has been through a lot. Underwhelmed at UCLA, then said he had been dealing with Osgoods Schlatter and a shoulder injury in college. had some good years in Philly but had injury issues several years. Then his wife Lauren had a really bad health issue, benign tumor in her brain, while she was 6 months pregnant.

I think this is really the first year in awhile where Jrue didn't have either a bad injury or a major off court issue to deal with. having a terrific series against Portland.

 

[GatorAZ]

Jrue has been through a lot. Underwhelmed at UCLA, then said he had been dealing with Osgoods Schlatter and a shoulder injury in college. had some good years in Philly but had injury issues several years. Then his wife Lauren had a really bad health issue, benign tumor in her brain, while she was 6 months pregnant.

I think this is really the first year in awhile where Jrue didn't have either a bad injury or a major off court issue to deal with. having a terrific series against Portland.

Classic late bloomer. Had he come back for one more year under Howland he would’ve had a Westbrook-type Sophomore leap and gone top-5.

 

[Ronin]

Chris Mannix‏Verified account@ChrisMannixYS 2m2 minutes ago
Ty Lue says he’s thinking about a lineup change tonight, but isn’t ready to reveal right now.

 

[Ronin]

Chris Mannix‏Verified account@ChrisMannixYS 47s47 seconds ago
Lue says he needs his team to be aggressive on both ends. Says he was happy with the defensive effort in game one—offense the team needs to push the pace more, attack the basket more

 

[JCSunsfan]

I found out why Eric Bledsoe can't stop Terry Rozier from scoring in the Celtics-Bucks series...

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Wow. Either he is totally incompetent as a basketball player or an idiot with the press.

 

[Russ Smith]

Classic late bloomer. Had he come back for one more year under Howland he would’ve had a Westbrook-type Sophomore leap and gone top-5.

The claim is he played his whole season at UCLA with Osgoods Schlatter(knee pain) and a bum shoulder and it also had something to do with where he got drafted, so he may have still been injured as a soph if he came back to UCLA. But he would have been the PG which was what he wanted.

I felt he handled it poorly at the time but in hindsight he was far from the only one who had issues with Howland.

I'm happy to see him having a good year. It's actually been a good year for the family, Justin starting in Chicago, and Aaron playing his way into the first round at UCLA.

 

[Ronin]

USA TODAY NBA‏Verified account@usatodaynba 5m5 minutes ago
76ers star Joel Embiid, who's "sick and tired of being babied," unlikely to play in Game 3: https://usat.ly/2H8Rxc5

 

[Ronin]

Chris Mannix‏Verified account@ChrisMannixYS 1m1 minute ago
The NBA has rescinded the double technical fouls Boston’s Terry Rozier and Milwaukee’s Thon Maker picked up Tuesday night, per source. League looks at everything, determined the back and forth between Rozier, Maker didn’t rise to a technical foul level.

 

[Ronin]

SportsCenter‏Verified account@SportsCenter 43m43 minutes ago
Gregg Popovich will not coach the Spurs in Game 3 tonight following his wife's death. Ettore Messina will fill in as interim head coach.

 

[Ronin]

Tavan Parker‏@TavanParker 7m7 minutes ago
NBA rookie guards with at least 1000 minutes played, TS% at least .54, and usg% at least 29:

Michael Jordan
Donovan Mitchell

 

[JCSunsfan]

USA TODAY NBA‏Verified account@usatodaynba 5m5 minutes ago
76ers star Joel Embiid, who's "sick and tired of being babied," unlikely to play in Game 3: https://usat.ly/2H8Rxc5

Does Ayton have any injury history?

 

[Ronin]

CBS Sports NBA‏Verified account@CBSSportsNBA 2m2 minutes ago
Kevin Love injury update: Cavs big man to play in Game 3 after X-rays negative on 'jammed' thumb

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/kevin-love-injury-update-cavs-big-man-to-play-in-game-3-after-x-rays-negative-on-jammed-thumb/…

 

[Ronin]

Bledsoe says he’s focused on the Game 3, but he’s not walking back any of his Rozier comments. At the first mention of Rozier’s name, Bledsoe’s response was quick: “Who?”

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[Ronin]

In his first two games in this year's #NBAPlayoffs, Terry Rozier is averaging the following for the @celtics: 23 PPG 46.9 FG% 50 3P% 5.5 APG 3.5 RPG (link: https://on.nba.com/2HDXMEB) on.nba.com/2HDXMEB

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[Ronin]

http://nba.nbcsports.com/2018/04/19/76ers-joel-embiid-doubtful-for-game-3-against-heat/

 

[Ronin]

Brown says he is going back to Markelle Fultz as the backup point guard tonight.

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[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Bledsoe says he’s focused on the Game 3, but he’s not walking back any of his Rozier comments. At the first mention of Rozier’s name, Bledsoe’s response was quick: “Who?”

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I hope Rozier torches him again.

 

[Ronin]

Here's a stat I didn't see coming: LeBron James is 4 steals away from passing Scottie Pippen for most in NBA playoff history. (Steals were tracked starting in 1974). Per @ESPNStatsInfo

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[Cheesebeef]

I hope Rozier torches him again.

reverend!

 

[Hoop Head]

I didn't think I'd get the chance to see Bledsoe piss away any hope of getting a max extension in these playoffs but it's been quite entertaining. His attitude isn't helping his case either. If he were humble perhaps he'd still have a shot at a big extension but Rich Paul will try to get the Bucks to pay him the max this summer and I'd be shocked if they caved. That means he'll need to stay healthy all year next season if he hopes to get another big contract. I don't like his odds of doing that. The Suns definitely got away from him at the right time.

 

[Superbone]

I didn't think I'd get the chance to see Bledsoe piss away any hope of getting a max extension in these playoffs but it's been quite entertaining. His attitude isn't helping his case either. If he were humble perhaps he'd still have a shot at a big extension but Rich Paul will try to get the Bucks to pay him the max this summer and I'd be shocked if they caved. That means he'll need to stay healthy all year next season if he hopes to get another big contract. I don't like his odds of doing that. The Suns definitely got away from him at the right time.

I agree with most of what you said but they were waaaaay too late in parting with Bledsoe. They should have never given him the 70 million contract after the holdout in my opinion.

 

[Mainstreet]

I didn't think I'd get the chance to see Bledsoe piss away any hope of getting a max extension in these playoffs but it's been quite entertaining. His attitude isn't helping his case either. If he were humble perhaps he'd still have a shot at a big extension but Rich Paul will try to get the Bucks to pay him the max this summer and I'd be shocked if they caved. That means he'll need to stay healthy all year next season if he hopes to get another big contract. I don't like his odds of doing that. The Suns definitely got away from him at the right time.

I agree. Bledsoe wanting a max type extension two years early is beyond ridiculous.

He left himself vulnerable for this.

 

[Hoop Head]

I think the contract they gave him was necessary at that point in time. They had committed to him in a way that summer already by not spending that money elsewhere. They could have done that since they already had IT signed to take his place. After that first season with Bledsoe it looked like he and Dragic could be the beginning of a playoff team with IT backing them up and making sure the Suns didn't slip in the standings if one of them got injured. Of course McD didn't factor their personalities into that though so it ended up being an issue right away. It didn't help that Hornacek didn't manage the rotation that well but he only deserves a very small portion of the blame. The blame on Hornacek, IMO, was playing Bledsoe, Dragic, and IT together too often that it created more problems than if he juggled their minutes better so they all played around 32 minutes a night. There were 96 guard minutes available and it could have been split between those 3 but that didn't seem to be Hornacek's plan although that is how McD sold fans on it.