2018 Playoffs Thread

[Ronin]

James Harden is averaging 28.5 PPG, 7.4 APG, 5 RPG, 2.3 SPG through 10 games in this year's #NBAPlayoffs for the @HoustonRockets. (link: https://on.nba.com/2IaMZhZ) on.nba.com/2IaMZhZ

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[Ronin]

NBA.com/Stats‏Verified account@nbastats 47s48 seconds ago

Through 10 games in this year's #NBAPlayoffs, Kevin Durant is averaging 28 PPG, 49.3 FG%, 8 RPG, 5 APG, 1 SPG, 1 BPG for the @warriors. https://on.nba.com/2wjVDsW

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[Ronin]

NBA.com/Stats‏Verified account@nbastats 5m5 minutes ago

Kevin Love and Kyle Korver's numbers in this year's Eastern Conference Semi-Finals for the @cavs: Love - 20.5 PPG, 47.5 FG%, 11.5 RPG, 1 SPG, 1 BPG Korver - 14.5 PPG, 58.3 FG%, 56 3P%

 

[Ronin]

NBA on TNT‏Verified account@NBAonTNT 20s20 seconds ago

.@warriors are on a mission to defend their title. Western Conference Finals - Monday on TNT!

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[Ronin]

Brian Mahoney‏Verified account@briancmahoney 1m1 minute ago

TNT had its most-viewed second round of the NBA playoffs since 2013. Averaged 4.9 million viewers, an increase of 6 percent from last year.

 

[Russ Smith]

Side question, am I the only one who thinks the last Boston and Philly game ended prematurely? Philly down 2 inbounds with 2.4 seconds left, Simmons throws a long pass, Smart jumps up, steals it in mid air, lands, walks, then starts celebrating, and then the clock goes to 0. I was sitting there at home waiting for the refs to figure out how much time was on the clock after he walked and give Philly the ball back but they never did.

 

[Ronin]

https://thisiswhyweplay.nba.com/conference-finals-officials/

 

[GatorAZ]

Was the Madhouse ever as loud as the Garden?

 

[Cheesebeef]

Was the Madhouse ever as loud as the Garden?

I remember Ainge holding his fingers in his ear during that 1992 2OT Game 4 loss against the Blazers when Stevie Burt missed a gimme turnaround jumper to beat them.

 

[Errntknght]

Wow, nary a comment on the Celtics laying the wood on the Cavs! Looks like the Cavs were expecting Boston to roll over for them the way the Raptors did. I haven't watched the game yet but the box score made the grim outcome pretty clear. Tristan was only Cav to have a decent line and Celts had good performances pretty much across the board.

 

[sunsfan88]

I hope all the LeBron GOAT opinions will die with this series.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Boston showing you can win with just players. Not guys who are transcendent in one or two aspects, but solid players who play all aspects of the game and play hard.

Players like Mikal Bridges or Josh Jackson.

I sometimes wonder if Booker’s defensive deficiencies will be a problem for this team’s overall success in the future.

Blasphemy, I know.

 

[Errntknght]

Boston showing you can win with just players. Not guys who are transcendent in one or two aspects, but solid players who play all aspects of the game and play hard.

Players like Mikal Bridges or Josh Jackson.

I sometimes wonder if Booker’s defensive deficiencies will be a problem for this team’s overall success in the future.

Blasphemy, I know.

Not blasphemy at all. I really don't like pairing him with a PG who is also a weak defender like Young or, to a lesser extent, Doncic. Guys like Caanan(if healthy) or Harrison would be passable on defense, IMO.

 

[Finito]

Boston showing you can win with just players. Not guys who are transcendent in one or two aspects, but solid players who play all aspects of the game and play hard.

Players like Mikal Bridges or Josh Jackson.

I sometimes wonder if Booker’s defensive deficiencies will be a problem for this team’s overall success in the future.

Blasphemy, I know.

If they do beat the Cavs that's great but they'll lose by 20 in each game and get swept against the Warriors

 

[GatorAZ]

If they do beat the Cavs that's great but they'll lose by 20 in each game and get swept against the Warriors

I think they play good enough defense to keep the games close but ultimately gets swept in 4-5 games. It wouldn’t be an indictment on Boston considering they’re missing two top-20 players.

They might win a game at home.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I think they play good enough defense to keep the games close but ultimately gets swept in 4-5 games. It wouldn’t be an indictment on Boston considering they’re missing two top-20 players.

They might win a game at home.

Boston is doing quite well considering they are playing without Kyrie and Hayward. They are really looking good for the future, they have the ability to keep going in spite of injuries better than any team in the league, maybe save the Warriors. But you can only play 5 at a time. So when everyone is healthy, they will be better, but maybe not as much better as people might think.

 

[Errntknght]

Boston won't go down without a fight in the finals - and I expect them to get there. They play quite good defense and team basketball on the offensive end. I wouldn't bet on them to win but I expect them to make a close series of it, going at least six games and probably seven.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

See I don’t think booker should be an atrocious defender. He’s got good size and at least average athleticism (if I recall correctly he tested much higher than expected leading up to his draft). So I pin it on (a) terrible coaching (I know, shocking), and (b) culture (Ainge/Stevens wouldn’t allow for poor effort).

You’ve got some defensive minded guys on the Celtics, but a Baynes isn’t physically gifted. Tatum and Jaylen were panned for their defense coming outta college. Kyrie was killed on this board last year for no defense. But they bought into the organizations philosophy and Stevens taught them and held them to a high standard. Now a guy like Trae might have physical limitations that hold him back defensively, but we really don’t have anyone in this roster that should fit that mold at present. We have a lot of athletes.

 

[Mainstreet]

Marcus Morris is getting a lot of praise for being the primary defender on Lebron. Also he had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...boston-celtics-bottles-lebron-james-back-talk

 

[Hoop Head]

The Celtics remind me of the 2004 Pistons that beat the Lakers in the finals. They're winning by playing team ball, even more than that team did, great defense, and everyone buying into the system. I don't think they'll get past the Western Conference champs but I didn't think they'd embarrass the Cavs either.

Worth noting Lebron had the worst +/- of any Cav's player today, -32, second worst was JR Smith at -17.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Marcus Morris is getting a lot of praise for being the primary defender on Lebron. Also he had 21 points and 10 rebounds.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...boston-celtics-bottles-lebron-james-back-talk

Ooops. That kind of press means Marcus is in trouble. You know a whoopin' is coming. LeBron has a history of responding to stuff like this.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Ooops. That kind of press means Marcus is in trouble. You know a whoopin' is coming. LeBron has a history of responding to stuff like this.

I thought Marcus was very reasonable in his comments though. He acknowledged that he loved the challenge of guarding the best player in the game but it took a team effort to slow James down. But yeah, Lebron will likely respond with a strong game.

 

[Mainstreet]

Ooops. That kind of press means Marcus is in trouble. You know a whoopin' is coming. LeBron has a history of responding to stuff like this.

It's a bit frustrating to see former Suns go on to play well for other team. I'm not saying the Suns made the wrong move, but the Suns have had some problems with working through issues with some of their former players.

 

[Hoop Head]

It's a bit frustrating to see former Suns go on to play well for other team. I'm not saying the Suns made the wrong move, but the Suns have had some problems with working through issues with some of their former players.

They gave Marcus away, which was a mistake. I know it was in an attempt to sign Aldridge but that didn't happen so they shouldn't have traded him for nothing. That's one deal that McD made that I was against at the time and that I still view as a big mistake. Could have gotten something or someone for him.

 

[Mainstreet]

They gave Marcus away, which was a mistake. I know it was in an attempt to sign Aldridge but that didn't happen so they shouldn't have traded him for nothing. That's one deal that McD made that I was against at the time and that I still view as a big mistake. Could have gotten something or someone for him.

I think we can say or hope some of these moves were learning steps for a new GM. The Knight trade still hurts the most.