The 2017 NBA playoffs thread

[Finito]

Bout to be blowed up real good in Clipper land

 

[TJ]

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[JCSunsfan]

Watched the whole Jazz/Clips game. Do the Clips even run an offense? It looked like most of the game their guards just dribbled the baseline across into the corner and got trapped and threw up bad shots.

The Jordan lobs were fun though. He is such a beast. Then comes crunch time and foul city.

 

[elindholm]

Watched the whole Jazz/Clips game. Do the Clips even run an offense? It looked like most of the game their guards just dribbled the baseline across into the corner and got trapped and threw up bad shots.

Sounds perfect for the Suns. Hopefully they can go after Doc Rivers once he becomes available.

 

[Cheesebeef]

Clips went out with a whimper, huh? Super interesting off-season.

Wonder if Chris Paul opts out? I feel like if you put him on the spurs, they'd have a legit shot to bear GS.

 

[GatorAZ]

Clips went out with a whimper, huh? Super interesting off-season.

Wonder if Chris Paul opts out? I feel like if you put him on the spurs, they'd have a legit shot to bear GS.

He's not turning down the extra $50m to stay in LA. Plus San Antonio would have to semi-gut their team to make that work.

His best shot to make the Finals is going to Milwaukee but as I alluded to earlier he's not leaving $$ on the table IMO.

 

[Phrazbit]

He's not turning down the extra $50m to stay in LA. Plus San Antonio would have to semi-gut their team to make that work.

His best shot to make the Finals is going to Milwaukee but as I alluded to earlier he's not leaving $$ on the table IMO.

I disagree, I think San Antonio would be perfect for him. Parker is borderline finished and would accept a six man role. I also think Paul is totally down to ring chace this summer.

 

[Errntknght]

Watched the whole Jazz/Clips game. Do the Clips even run an offense? It looked like most of the game their guards just dribbled the baseline across into the corner and got trapped and threw up bad shots.

[QUOTE="elindholm, post: 3500938, member: 246"]Sounds perfect for the Suns. Hopefully they can go after Doc Rivers once he becomes available.[/QUOTE]

You got me on this one Eric... The highlighted part was seemingly sarcastic in this context but then it sounded like you really were hopeful we'd go after Rivers...

I expect him to be available but even though he'd be an upgrade I'm not sure I'd go after him, given the fact that his teams have underperformed every playoff of late. Maybe it's just the curse of the Clippers... but what if ts rubbed off on him?

 

[Hoop Head]

Without Griffin, the Clippers remind me of the Suns after Amare left, they're a fringe playoff team that is almost solely reliant on the play of their PG. Paul isn't the shooter or scorer that Nash is though so they struggle offensively. With Blake they are a contender but that has to do with the talent on the team rather than coaching, Del Negro even led them to 56 wins in the regular season. Griffin has missed 83 games over the last 3 seasons plus 6 of the last 13 playoff games, you'd think they'd have some sort of gameplan without him since he's missed that much time but apparently not. That will only get worse as time goes on since he had microfracture surgery about 8 years ago. Missing their window falls on Doc's shoulders as their coach and as the President of Basketball Operations. Even if they fire Doc, I'm not sure they can find a quality coach considering half of their team can leave this offseason.

They could go from contender to lottery this offseason depending on what they're able to do. Both Paul and Griffin have early termination options, which they're expected to exercise. JJ Reddick, Brandon Bass, and Raymond Felton's contracts have all expired. Paul Pierce has retired. Luc Mbah a Moute and Marreese Speights can and most likely will opt out, since they are set to make $2.3 and $1.4 million respectively. That's 4 of their 5 starters, in addition to 4 rotation players that can leave. They have $52 of a projected $102 million cap tied up between Jordan, Crawford, Austin Rivers, and Wesley Johnson. That doesn't give them much room to resign or replace their free agents. Paul has reportedly made a "verbal agreement" to a supermax contract which would cripple the Clippers financially for years to come, his 5 year max is estimated to be north of $200 million.

 

[Ronin]

Today's Games 5/1/17
Raptors Vs Cavaliers Game 1 (TNT) 4:00 p.m.
http://www.espn.com/nba/preview?gameId=400952462
Rockets Vs Spurs Game 1 (TNT) 6:30 p.m.
http://www.espn.com/nba/preview?gameId=400952490

 

[Ronin]

Jason Lloyd‏@JasonLloydNBA 3m3 minutes ago
Ok, no injuries tonight for Cavs. "TBD" was from yesterday because statuses aren't officially updated until day of game. So everyone healthy

 

[Ronin]

NBA.com/Stats‏Verified account@nbastats 6m6 minutes ago
As the @utahjazz advance to the 2nd round, Quin Snyder becomes the 4th coach to win a Game 7 on the road in his 1st #NBAPlayoffs appearance.

 

[Ronin]

Michael Grange‏Verified account@michaelgrange 4m4 minutes ago
I'm betting Jonas Valancuinas is back starting tonight; Tristan Thompson a better match-up vs. Frye.

 

[sunsfan88]

Utah has a very underrated front office & coaching staff.

 

[sunsfan88]

He's not turning down the extra $50m to stay in LA. Plus San Antonio would have to semi-gut their team to make that work.

His best shot to make the Finals is going to Milwaukee but as I alluded to earlier he's not leaving $$ on the table IMO.

Milwaukee is at their best with the ball in the hands of Giannis. Not sure cp3 dominating the ball would be good for them.

They just need better off ball scorers or Jabari Parker to stay healthy.

 

[sunsfan88]

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited to see Popocich/D'Antoni rematch in the playoffs. It's been almost ten years.

 

[Ronin]

Candace Buckner @CandaceDBuckner
Markieff Morris: "I'm playing tomorrow. That's final." Says his swelling has gone down a lot and will keep receiving treatment.

 

[leclerc]

Too bad that smuck got injured. Not often one gets to prove oneself (in the playoffs). I'm not a Morri supporter but I've moved on. He's got a lot on his plate already with the trial. Who am I kidding they're gonna pay their way out of it.

Not taking the time to watch any playoff games this year but next year I'll catch all Suns playoffs games, yeah!

 

[Cheesebeef]

Not gonna lie, I'm pretty excited to see Popocich/D'Antoni rematch in the playoffs. It's been almost ten years.

I'm guessing Pop's feeling the same way... DA, not so much.

 

[Ronin]

Derrick Favors (lower back soreness) did not practice on Monday and is being listed as questionable for Tuesday's Game 1 matchup with the Warriors.
Favors opting to sit out Monday's practice in order to really rest up his back should be viewed as a good thing, and it would be surprising to see him miss a playoff game with some back "soreness." We'll have a better idea on his status based on his activity at Tuesday morning's shootaround, but if he is forced to the sidelines, Boris Diaw and Jeff WIthey would be in line for an uptick in minutes.

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1713/derrick-favors

 

[Ronin]

CBS Sports NBA‏Verified account@CBSSportsNBA 19m19 minutes ago
Warriors not expecting ailing Steve Kerr to return for remainder of NBA playoffs. http://cbsprt.co/2ppm2jE

 

[Ronin]

Blake Murphy‏Verified account@BlakeMurphyODC 44s45 seconds ago
Valanciunas returns to starting lineup, per @SmithRaps

 

[Ronin]

Blake Murphy‏Verified account@BlakeMurphyODC 4m4 minutes ago
Interesting that Siakam is active over Nogueira, but given Cleveland frontcourt, Siakam speed as small C, I guess, the preference.

Former NMSU Aggie.

 

[Ronin]

Jonas Valanciunas will return to the starting lineup for Monday's Game 1 vs. the Cavs, sending Norman Powell back to the bench, according to Raptors' reporter Doug Smith.
Powell was brought into the starting five during Toronto's first-round series to better matchup with Milwaukee, but Dwane Casey will go back to his normal starting five of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll, Serge Ibaka and Valanciunas to go up against Cleveland's more traditional frontcourt. It'll be interesting to see how many minutes Powell gets with the second unit tonight. May 1 - 6:48 PM

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1832/jonas-valanciunas

 

[Ronin]

Wow, nice assist from Kyrie to Lebron James.
Raptors 3
Cavalier 10
9:15 left to go in the first quarter.