41 replies to this topic

[RoDaddy]

We’re probably still underdogs with 2 of the remaining 3 games in Miami, and Okla City/S.A. out west, but still, who’da thunk we’d be this close to a championship!? And we might also have a new unexpected weapon - Ray Ray! He scored 16 points tonight and went 46 minutes. I still wish the bench was better, and that Bradley never got hurt, but somehow, we’re still standing and anything can happen over the next 3 weeks.

Edited by RoDaddy, 06 June 2012 - 08:40 AM.

[Reverend]

Are you drunk?

Edit: Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Edited by Reverend, 04 June 2012 - 12:18 AM.

[Nick Kaufman]

In related news, I am one phone call away from a date with Shakira.

[phragle]

In related news, I am one phone call away from a date with Shakira.

Ew, butterface.

[Sille Skrub]

Anythinggggggggggggg's possibbbbllllllllllllllleeeeeeee!

[BannedbyNYYFans.com]

And the Pats are 19 wins away from a perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl. Don't get me wrong, I love the C's but I think their chances at winning the Championship are less than 20%.

[BigSoxFan]

And the Pats are 19 wins away from a perfect season culminating in a Super Bowl. Don't get me wrong, I love the C's but I think their chances at winning the Championship are less than 20%.

Before tonight, their Vegas odds were 20:1.

[knucklecup]

Celtics or Heat win it all this year.

[CaptainLaddie]

No way. Whoever comes out of the West is just a better team. They will destroy whoever they face.

Honestly, if the Celtics make the Finals, I'll be thrilled but I certainly won't be expecting anything.

[knucklecup]

Why?

I don't understand why its become a given that San Antonio and OKC are the two best teams left.

[TheoShmeo]

Why?

I don't understand why its become a given that San Antonio and OKC are the two best teams left.

Watch TNT tonight at 8:30 PM.

I love this Cs team, I despise LeBron, Wade and Riley, and really everything about the Heat team, and I am extremely invested in this series. Beating the Heat is a huge deal for me, regardless of what comes next.

But in my view, neither the Cs or Heat have the depth or overall game to keep up with either team from the West.

The Thunder's athleticism makes them a particularly bad match-up for the Celts. Really, I have trouble seeing the Celtics not getting run off the court by them. Imagine Boston trying to win a game by scoring 33 points in the last 29 minutes against an explosive and multi-headed team like the Thunder.

[bankshot1]

If the C's can get to the Finals, they have a half-decent chance against the Spurs, but IMO the Thunder wil cause them all sorts of match-up problems.

edit: but they would be big U-dogs to both.

Edited by bankshot1, 04 June 2012 - 08:20 AM.

[CaptainLaddie]

Why?

I don't understand why its become a given that San Antonio and OKC are the two best teams left.

Because both teams are deeper. The Spurs have three legitimate all-stars, including one of the ten best players of all time. The Thunder have five or six great to very good players, including the best player in the NBA. It's the depth, more than anything.

[Sheets]

Styles make fights.

OKC and SA play similar style games, just as the Celts and Miami play a similar game. Just because you see the Western teams getting up and down the court scoring now don't assume they will be able to do that at will against the Eastern opponent. I do think that that Western teams are better, but I don't think it'll be as lopsided as many/most people think. The difference in playing styles will make it interesting.

[Koufax]

There is no team that the Celtics can't beat. That is not to say that they are favorites, but they have a chance to go all the way. To me, that is enough to be fervently hoping for another banner. Let the old guys win one more.

[Nomar813]

Styles make fights.

OKC and SA play similar style games, just as the Celts and Miami play a similar game. Just because you see the Western teams getting up and down the court scoring now don't assume they will be able to do that at will against the Eastern opponent. I do think that that Western teams are better, but I don't think it'll be as lopsided as many/most people think. The difference in playing styles will make it interesting.

Right. One thing that seems to keep getting lost is the difference in defense. By points allowed per possession, the six best defensive teams in the league this year were in the east: Celtics, Bulls, Sixers, Heat, Knicks, and Hawks. The Spurs and Thunder ranked tenth and 11th in the league respectively.

[RoDaddy]

Five wins to banner 18!

[oumbi]

Five wins to banner 18!

It might be a good idea to amend the thread title.

Great win tonight.

[Koufax]

The phone is ringing. Shakira perhaps?

[SemperFidelisSox]

They can't really do this, can they? I mean, wow. Just an improbable run. Amazing. The Rose and Bosh injuries really opened things up in the eastern conference, but I still didn't expect this.

[phragle]

[JohnnyTheBone]

In related news, I am one phone call away from a date with Shakira.

The phone is ringing. Shakira perhaps?

Fucking tremendous!

[CaptainLaddie]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan said, "This is maybe the easiest path to the Finals any team has ever had."

He's not really wrong... can anyone think of an easier one?

[Hendu's Gait]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan said, "This is maybe the easiest path to the Finals any team has ever had."

He's not really wrong... can anyone think of an easier one?

New Jersey 2003

[lars10]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan said, "This is maybe the easiest path to the Finals any team has ever had."

He's not really wrong... can anyone think of an easier one?

young OKC, Utah, Phoenix.

and Utah, Houston, Denver...

geez Lakers fan should not be talking.

Edited by lars10, 06 June 2012 - 01:30 PM.

[Grin&MartyBarret]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan said, "This is maybe the easiest path to the Finals any team has ever had."

He's not really wrong... can anyone think of an easier one?

Philadelphia 2001. Had to beat a Vince Carter led Raptors team whose second and third leading scorers were Antonio Davis and Alvin Williams and a Bucks team that was solid but not spectacular with Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn Robinson.

[CaptainLaddie]

young OKC, Utah, Phoenix.

and Utah, Houston, Denver...

geez Lakers fan should not be talking.

The Suns still won 54 games and had Nash and Stoudemire along with Richardson.
The Jazz won 53 games and had Deron, Boozer, Okur and Millsap, along w/ AK47.
The Thunders still had a 30 ppg scorer in Durant.

I'm not diminishing the C's run this year, but that's certainly a more impressive run than what the C's have had to deal with.

[CaptainLaddie]

Philadelphia 2001. Had to beat a Vince Carter led Raptors team whose second and third leading scorers were Antonio Davis and Alvin Williams and a Bucks team that was solid but not spectacular with Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, and Glenn Robinson.

This might be it.

[Jed Zeppelin]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan

Here is where you lost me.

[lars10]

Also how easy this run has been? They had to play Atlanta (40-26) and Miami (46-20)...Sixers was obv not a great team, but at one point they were definitely good this season before having a bad second half. I wonder what the normal record against looks like.

[bankshot1]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan said, "This is maybe the easiest path to the Finals any team has ever had."

He's not really wrong... can anyone think of an easier one?

I'd suggest The LA Lakers of the '60s had a decade of the easist path to the Finals .

[lars10]

The Suns still won 54 games and had Nash and Stoudemire along with Richardson.
The Jazz won 53 games and had Deron, Boozer, Okur and Millsap, along w/ AK47.
The Thunders still had a 30 ppg scorer in Durant.

I'm not diminishing the C's run this year, but that's certainly a more impressive run than what the C's have had to deal with.

Do you think the Heat and Hawks would have won a similar number of games? (I don't honestly know the answer.)

Every team in the finals will have to face decent teams in the playoffs...just having Miami in the ECF seems like enough to put it in a not so easy path... Philly in the second round was obv fortuitous.

[Marbleheader]

In hindsight, the 2002 Lakers were pretty much guaranteed victory.

[BigSoxFan]

Do you think the Heat and Hawks would have won a similar number of games? (I don't honestly know the answer.)

Every team in the finals will have to face decent teams in the playoffs...just having Miami in the ECF seems like enough to put it in a not so easy path... Philly in the second round was obv fortuitous.

Yeah, Miami without homecourt ain't exactly a picnic. I'm stunned that this Celtics team not only has a chance to win the series but to do it at home in 6. I can't even imagine what the odds were of this before the series started.

[AimingForYoko]

A friend of mine who's a Lakers fan said, "This is maybe the easiest path to the Finals any team has ever had."

He's not really wrong... can anyone think of an easier one?

Why do have a Lakers fan for a friend? And I'd consider anything he says to be butthurt.

Also, I know that everyone has been ragging on the Heat but come on now, it's still Wade and Lebron and the refs in Miami. I don't consider that easy at all.

[TroyOLeary]

05 Pistons?

Beat a 43 win Sixers team in round 1, beat a 44 win Indiana team in round 2 (without Ron Artest because of the brawl) and played the 59 win Heat in the conference finals, who had the best record in the East, except Dwyane Wade was injured at the end of game 5 (which the Heat won, making the series 3-2 Heat). The injury caused him to miss game 6 entirely (an easy Detroit win), and while he did play in game 7, he was nowhere close to 100%.

Edited by TroyOLeary, 06 June 2012 - 02:04 PM.

[DannyDarwinism]

The Cs have been on the road against teams with the 8th (Atl) and 4th (Heat) best winning % in the NBA this year. I don't think that's particularly easy.

[NickEsasky]

Who even cares? The Celtics could rickroll the Washington Generals, Perkins School for the Blind, and Boy Scout Troop H on the way to the NBA title and I wouldn't give two shits over it.

[MentalDisabldLst]

Who even cares? The Celtics could rickroll the Washington Generals, Perkins School for the Blind, and Boy Scout Troop H on the way to the NBA title and I wouldn't give two shits over it.

They should do this anyway.

[CaptainLaddie]

Here is where you lost me.

Is that I have friends that confuses you?

[CaptainLaddie]

Oh, he's butthurt for sure. Make no mistake.

The fact that Rose and Bosh have both seriously harmed their teams chances of winning a title PLUS Howard deciding he didn't want to play anymore radically changed the East.

[collings94]

The excuse of the celtics being lucky is an excuse that will be used by Laker fans. IF the C's do win the championship, they will have had to gone through SA or OKC, two teams that everyone can agree on that they are deserving of being in the Finals.

Edited by collings94, 06 June 2012 - 03:12 PM.