The 2024 NBA playoffs thread

Lorenzo

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Mavs built a balanced team, they have star power, they have a ton of role players who embrace it... I think they fall to Boston, who have built an even more balanced team despite less star power. If Portzingis is healthy, I think Boston wins in 5.

If Boston wins, they will do so without a top 10 player on their roster... maybe even top 15. I don't think Tatum is even remotely an MVP caliber player, but Boston has a roster with balance, depth and chemistry.
I could be wrong, but I doubt kristaps is healthy. And if his injury is rehabilitated he still hasn’t played games of late. It’s hard to come back and be effective without any type of tune up. I also don’t agree about Tatum. He is clearly a top player that can carry a team on his back when he’s on his game. He has the ability to be the best player in this series if he plays well.
 

Lorenzo

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The Celtics are 12-1 in the playoffs. Hard to be hotter than that.
Precisely, they’ve had an easier road to the finals, but they would be favored to win the west if they were in that conference. For Dallas I think this series will be closer to what they saw vs OKC with the difference of Boston being more experienced and having higher expectations. That means lively, gafford, and Washington have to put their stamp on this series. They have to come up big for Dallas. Something small to keep an eye on also is that Dallas got kleber back. He got 2 games under his belt. He has to hit 3’s for Dallas. He can’t be a bystander on offense and Dallas need his defense. Also hardy has basically absorbed hardaway jr’s spot in the lineup. He can score.
 

Proximo

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Props to the Mavericks front office. They made smart moves at the deadline that pushed them over the top. Without the Gafford/Washington trade, they'd be home just like the Suns right about now. It must be nice to have a GM who isn't a clown.
They had assets to make moves. James Jones had virtually none - thanks to ISHBIA who gave away the whole damn farm for KD. You wanna blame someone, blame the right person.
 

Proximo

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I got the Mavs winning this. Celtics don't have leadership, they will fold under any adversity, which Dallas is good enough to give them.
 

ajcardfan

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I got the Mavs winning this. Celtics don't have leadership, they will fold under any adversity, which Dallas is good enough to give them.
Huh. Kind of a strange thing to say with the way they pulled out a couple of those wins against the Pacers. They easily could've folded their tent the way the Nuggets did in their last game but did not.
 

Brian in Mesa

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i will be cheering for Boston for the first time in my life.
You should hate the team that defeated you for a championship far more than just another team you compete with to reach the finals, IMHO.

No way as a Lakers' fan I am ever rooting for the Celtics.
 

Covert Rain

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You should hate the team that defeated you for a championship far more than just another team you compete with to reach the finals, IMHO.

No way as a Lakers' fan I am ever rooting for the Celtics.
I will never root for the Spurs, Mavs or the Lakers. Period.
 

Covert Rain

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Gotcha. Our rivals are actual teams we lost titles to and not speed bumps along the way.

I won't ever root for the Celtics, 76ers, or Pistons.
Actually, I am not rooting FOR the Celtics as much as rooting for the Mavs to lose. You could <insert team here> vs Mavs and it wouldn't change.
 

Brian in Mesa

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But you are cool with the Hawks and the Knicks? How about some consistency?
I was naming the top 3, not all of them. Never lost in the Finals to the Hawks.

Have only lost in the Finals to the Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, Knicks, and Bulls.
 

ajcardfan

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I was naming the top 3, not all of them. Never lost in the Finals to the Hawks.

Have only lost in the Finals to the Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, Knicks, and Bulls.
I believe the St Louis team became the Hawks when they moved to Atlanta. I forgot about the Bulls.
 

Raindog

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They had assets to make moves. James Jones had virtually none - thanks to ISHBIA who gave away the whole damn farm for KD. You wanna blame someone, blame the right person.
As history has long proven, even if we had assets to trade, Jones would have fumbled it and/or sat on his hands. Or we would have (even more likely) gotten to see a third run of "The Torrey Craig Show" which Jones seems to view as an eternal solution to every problem.

I also wouldn't ignore James Jones contribution to the Suns being short of assets to trade. Ishbia might have been the driving force behind the Durant trade but let's stop pretending he is responsible for every personnel move since he bought the team.
 

Hoop Head

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As history has long proven, even if we had assets to trade, Jones would have fumbled it and/or sat on his hands. Or we would have (even more likely) gotten to see a third run of "The Torrey Craig Show" which Jones seems to view as an eternal solution to every problem.

I also wouldn't ignore James Jones contribution to the Suns being short of assets to trade. Ishbia might have been the driving force behind the Durant trade but let's stop pretending he is responsible for every personnel move since he bought the team.

James Jones sat on the Crowder mess for half of the season, killing any trade value he had. Jones did absolutely nothing to improve the team that off-season.

Ishbia isn't without fault but to absolve James Jones is to ignore all he's failed to do prior to the KD trade.
 

Suns_fan69

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SUPER LAME crap from Edwards there, bailing without shaking hands. If you’re gonna talk as much smack as he has to every opponent in the playoffs, it’s a really punk move not to stand and take your medicine after you fall flat on your face.
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Ouchie-Z-Clown

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They had assets to make moves. James Jones had virtually none - thanks to ISHBIA who gave away the whole damn farm for KD. You wanna blame someone, blame the right person.
6 more years of this, huh? Gonna be fun on ASFN!
 

Proximo

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As history has long proven, even if we had assets to trade, Jones would have fumbled it and/or sat on his hands. Or we would have (even more likely) gotten to see a third run of "The Torrey Craig Show" which Jones seems to view as an eternal solution to every problem.

I also wouldn't ignore James Jones contribution to the Suns being short of assets to trade. Ishbia might have been the driving force behind the Durant trade but let's stop pretending he is responsible for every personnel move since he bought the team.
You might very well be correct - but you can't blame someone for not doing something they had no ability to do in the first place.
 

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