2019 NBA Playoff Discussion

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Toronto played great...but, this was overall a very poorly officiated game.

 

[Hoop Head]

Why pull him? They get plenty of rest by Saturday. The only chance they had was Curry so why pull him.

I might pull him now it's 13 again but I have no problem playing him this long.

The game has been over for a little while now. I know Curry was leading the charge to get them back into it but with how banged up they are they can't afford to lose another starter because they were playing when the game was essentially over.

 

[elindholm]

VanVleet is an assassin! You'd never think this was his first deep playoff run.

 

[Dback Jon]

VanVleet is an assassin! You'd never think this was his first deep playoff run.

And an undrafted free agent

 

[95pro]

Was it me or was that a badly reffed game in favor of the Warriors?

 

[Russ Smith]

Man you sure have to give it up to Danny Green and Lowry tonight. 11-20 from 3 and really solid ball handling and decision making, 10 assists 4 turnovers lowry was 9 to 3.

THe Warriors defense tonight was like we know we're short handed so we can't foul so they gave up a ton of easy baskets 53 overall 45 from 3 for Toronto.

 

[Hoop Head]

This has been a great series so far. I know the score wasn't as close tonight but a 10 point lead over the Warriors is like a 4 point lead over another team, it can be wiped out quickly. I want to see this go 7 but at the same time I want to see the Raptors win a title.

I'm not rooting for the Warriors to lose, I might be if Durant was playing but I like their original core of Steph, Klay, Green, and Iggy. The next game is a must win for the Warriors and they'll need Klay back if they hope to win. I would be surprised if he doesn't play. They talked about that in the postgame on ABC 15 and whether that was a good move to sit him, apparently he was lobbying to play before the game but they elected to sit him instead. I think Kerr could have used him in a limited role off the bench but if he gets hurt further that could be the series. Without Klay they can explain the loss easier and use his return to boost their play more so I understand why they sat him entirely.

 

[Russ Smith]

Balanced by a no travel call on Leonard

That sequence was so bad missed double dribble on steph, missed walk by Leonard, missed foul by Draymond on the 3 pointer. 3 missed calls in 20 seconds.

 

[Russ Smith]

This has been a great series so far. I know the score wasn't as close tonight but a 10 point lead over the Warriors is like a 4 point lead over another team, it can be wiped out quickly. I want to see this go 7 but at the same time I want to see the Raptors win a title.

I'm not rooting for the Warriors to lose, I might be if Durant was playing but I like their original core of Steph, Klay, Green, and Iggy. The next game is a must win for the Warriors and they'll need Klay back if they hope to win. I would be surprised if he doesn't play. They talked about that in the postgame on ABC 15 and whether that was a good move to sit him, apparently he was lobbying to play before the game but they elected to sit him instead. I think Kerr could have used him in a limited role off the bench but if he gets hurt further that could be the series. Without Klay they can explain the loss easier and use his return to boost their play more so I understand why they sat him entirely.

Postgame they said that the decision was made on their concern about what would happen when he came out of the game and tried to go back in later. They were concerned it wasn't good enough yet that when he sat it wouldn't tighten up. They were afraid they'd get X minutes out of him, pull him, and have to sit him the rest of the game due to tightening up.

Obviously game 4 is a must win even if they get Klay and Durant for game 5 if they're down 3-1 in Toronto with Durant not having played in awhile it's still iffy.

They really needed Livingston and Boogie to play better.

I will say this, if they call that last goaltend on Ibaka it's 10 points with 3 minutes left. To be that close as badly as they played and as well as Green and Lowry played actually surprised me. If I didn't know the score I'd have thought we were down 20 at that point not 12 with a chance to go to 10. No goaltend, McKinnie then misses both FT's and Bogut basket interferes that was basically the game

 

[SirStefan32]

Officiating was awful. It probably didn't change the outcome, but it was awful. Warriors just don't have enough NBA players. Cousins can barely move, Durant and Thompson are out, which means they have to put their two actual NBA-level players in the starting lineup, which leaves their bench with zero NBA players since Looney is out as well.

I was having flashbacks of watching the Suns during the regular season. They need Thompson back if they are going to even have a chance to win this series. Even then, the big three need to have near-perfect games to have a shot while a couple of other players manage to contribute something.

 

[ArizonaSportsFan]

The NBA is damn near impossible to ref. Curry drew two fouls early by literally jumping into Raptors near him. Flopping on shots is the new way to play. Drawing fouls is the new offense AND the new defense. I had to fast forward through the game after the first quarter.

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Was it me or was that a badly reffed game in favor of the Warriors?

Not. It was bad for both teams...it was very poorly officiated to equal effect.

 

[Hoop Head]

Outside of their starters or their big 5 in Cousins, Draymond, KD, Klay, and Steph the Warriors don't have much offense. They need to address that this offseason if they hope to continue their run at the top of the west. They'll still be a high seeded team without KD but they won't be the favorites throughout the playoffs without him unless they can add some bench help.

They have some good defenders in Looney, Bell, and Livingston but none of those guys are going to light up the boxscore offensively. Iggy is on his last leg and they'll miss him when he's gone but he's not the same as he was even 3 years ago. They have Quinn Cook as a bench scorer and that's about it. I know Jerebko went off in game 1 but that's not going to happen very often.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Outside of their starters or their big 5 in Cousins, Draymond, KD, Klay, and Steph the Warriors don't have much offense. They need to address that this offseason if they hope to continue their run at the top of the west. They'll still be a high seeded team without KD but they won't be the favorites throughout the playoffs without him unless they can add some bench help.

They have some good defenders in Looney, Bell, and Livingston but none of those guys are going to light up the boxscore offensively. Iggy is on his last leg and they'll miss him when he's gone but he's not the same as he was even 3 years ago. They have Quinn Cook as a bench scorer and that's about it. I know Jerebko went off in game 1 but that's not going to happen very often.

I agree with most of this but I don't think I'd put Bell in the "good defender" category.

 

[Russ Smith]

The game has been over for a little while now. I know Curry was leading the charge to get them back into it but with how banged up they are they can't afford to lose another starter because they were playing when the game was essentially over.

FYI I thought game 4 was Sat not Fri so I'm more inclined to agree with you with one less day to rest.

 

[Russ Smith]

I agree with most of this but I don't think I'd put Bell in the "good defender" category.

Yeah great shot blocker but still very raw in the nuances of NBA defense. Very early in the game he is in a double with Draymond on Kawhi and gives up the baseline for a left hand dunk. Draymond "politely" explained to him what he'd done wrong there.

 

[Russ Smith]

Discussing with a UCLA fan on a UCLA board and he says oh who cares about Durant and Klay and Looney you still have 3 all stars any team with 3 all stars is good enough to win a title against a mediocre team like Toronto. So I ask him to name the 3 and he says Curry, Draymond and Cousins. So I point out to him using that logic, Toronto has 3 all stars too, Kawhi(3), Gasol(3) and Lowry(5). He says that's a terrible comparison Gasol is nowhere near an all star now and Lowry hasn't been for years. So I point out Gasol in his current form is closer to an all star than Boogie in his current form is, 30 games then serious injury again just got back. And Lowry played in THIS seasons all star game, I'm not aruging he's as good as Curry or Klay but if we're counting all stars he's an all star. I also pointed out if he's just going to ignore current status, Iggy is an all star too he made one.

So of course he's now arguing the warriors started 4 all stars last night and Toronto only has 1

For this series my worst fear going in was guarding Gasol and he's been great in 2 of the 3 games. That Danny Green has been on fire has not helped, he's 11 for 22 from 3 in the games in this series after going 5 for 23 in the Milwaukee series and 13 for 35 in the Philly series and 10 for 28 in the opening round. The problem is the shots he's making are WIDE open, he hit a couple of fluky ones last night but for the most part they are having so many issues handling the other guys they're leaving him and Gasol wide open at the 3 and Green is knocking them down.

 

[Yuma]

Discussing with a UCLA fan on a UCLA board and he says oh who cares about Durant and Klay and Looney you still have 3 all stars any team with 3 all stars is good enough to win a title against a mediocre team like Toronto. So I ask him to name the 3 and he says Curry, Draymond and Cousins. So I point out to him using that logic, Toronto has 3 all stars too, Kawhi(3), Gasol(3) and Lowry(5). He says that's a terrible comparison Gasol is nowhere near an all star now and Lowry hasn't been for years. So I point out Gasol in his current form is closer to an all star than Boogie in his current form is, 30 games then serious injury again just got back. And Lowry played in THIS seasons all star game, I'm not aruging he's as good as Curry or Klay but if we're counting all stars he's an all star. I also pointed out if he's just going to ignore current status, Iggy is an all star too he made one.

So of course he's now arguing the warriors started 4 all stars last night and Toronto only has 1

For this series my worst fear going in was guarding Gasol and he's been great in 2 of the 3 games. That Danny Green has been on fire has not helped, he's 11 for 22 from 3 in the games in this series after going 5 for 23 in the Milwaukee series and 13 for 35 in the Philly series and 10 for 28 in the opening round. The problem is the shots he's making are WIDE open, he hit a couple of fluky ones last night but for the most part they are having so many issues handling the other guys they're leaving him and Gasol wide open at the 3 and Green is knocking them down.

Literally Kyle Lowry was on this last year's All Star Team. Klay Thompson and Kevein Durant did not play last game, So literally Toronto had a 2-1 advantage in All Stars on the court last game. Tell UCLA to do his homework. So quite literally, the sucky Toronto team has two All Stars, while GS has three. Not quite the overwhelming advantage.

 

[Mainstreet]

It brings back memories.


Marc Stein‏Verified account @TheSteinLine

Some echoes of the Paul Westphal special tonight from Draymond at the podium: Win the next three games and everyone's gonna say what a great series it was ...


9:31 PM - 5 Jun 2019

 

[Yuma]

It brings back memories.


Marc Stein‏Verified account @TheSteinLine

Some echoes of the Paul Westphal special tonight from Draymond at the podium: Win the next three games and everyone's gonna say what a great series it was ...


9:31 PM - 5 Jun 2019

Nice shout out by Stein!

 

[Russ Smith]

Literally Kyle Lowry was on this last year's All Star Team. Klay Thompson and Kevein Durant did not play last game, So literally Toronto had a 2-1 advantage in All Stars on the court last game. Tell UCLA to do his homework. So quite literally, the sucky Toronto team has two All Stars, while GS has three. Not quite the overwhelming advantage.

Yeah Gasol right now is a better player than Cousins right now, calling Cousins an all star and Gasol past his prime is just disingenuous. Cousins had better stats during the season offensively, in only 30 games, but he's just now gotten back from the quad injury and when you account for defense, right now Gasol is the better player. If you count Boogie as an all star you have to count Gasol as one too.

Yes at full strength the Warriors have more talent and more all stars, but they haven't been close to full strength they played without 3 of their top 7 guys last night. Last night they were much closer to LeBron and the 7 dwarves the first year Cleveland and GSW played in the finals, with Curry playing LeBron. I know Draymond is better than the guys LeBron had but LeBron was better than Curry too.

AS soon as I saw Klay was out I expected a 20 point loss, I was surprised it wasn't double digits at the half.

 

[Mainstreet]

Yeah Gasol right now is a better player than Cousins right now, calling Cousins an all star and Gasol past his prime is just disingenuous. Cousins had better stats during the season offensively, in only 30 games, but he's just now gotten back from the quad injury and when you account for defense, right now Gasol is the better player. If you count Boogie as an all star you have to count Gasol as one too.

Yes at full strength the Warriors have more talent and more all stars, but they haven't been close to full strength they played without 3 of their top 7 guys last night. Last night they were much closer to LeBron and the 7 dwarves the first year Cleveland and GSW played in the finals, with Curry playing LeBron. I know Draymond is better than the guys LeBron had but LeBron was better than Curry too.

AS soon as I saw Klay was out I expected a 20 point loss, I was surprised it wasn't double digits at the half.

The Raptors had a chance to make a statement in their win and they didn't as far as I am concerned.

If the Warriors get back Thompson, I think they are still the favorites.

 

[Russ Smith]

The Raptors had a chance to make a statement in their win and they didn't as far as I am concerned.

If the Warriors get back Thompson, I think they are still the favorites.

I thought they did in that if Klay can't play Friday, it's going to be 3-1 because the Warriors could not guard Toronto. That is unless Durant magically plays and plays well and I still don't buy he's going to play.

But I was somewhat surprised the game was competitive that long. I thought there were some breaks, the bad call that gave Cousins 3 Ft's, I thought one Steph drew 3 on was a bad call, some others. But even that went both ways, 3 missed goaltends on Ibaka is 6 points, the late 3 by VV was a walk by Kawhi.

In the end I thought the game would be more one sided

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

I think the dubs biggest offseason mistake was letting JaVale Walk, they really miss him, IMO.

 

[Mainstreet]

I thought they did in that if Klay can't play Friday, it's going to be 3-1 because the Warriors could not guard Toronto. That is unless Durant magically plays and plays well and I still don't buy he's going to play.

But I was somewhat surprised the game was competitive that long. I thought there were some breaks, the bad call that gave Cousins 3 Ft's, I thought one Steph drew 3 on was a bad call, some others. But even that went both ways, 3 missed goaltends on Ibaka is 6 points, the late 3 by VV was a walk by Kawhi.

In the end I thought the game would be more one sided

The Warriors will need Thompson back for Friday's game for sure but I was surprised the Raptors didn't take full advantage of the weakened Warriors.

Mentally, I think they left the door open. The Warriors are a team that will take advantage.