2021 NBA Playoffs Gamethread

Auger34

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Apr 23, 2010
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There are very few players who I couldn’t root for even if they were on the Celtics. Pat Beverley is at the top of that list.

What a chickenshit loser. His whole gimmick is shit talking and he shoves a guy, from behind of course, over a wink? Fuck him
 

coremiller

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Amazing that, in a playoffs defined by everyone getting hurt, Chris Paul, the guy who could never manage to make it through a whole playoffs without getting hurt, is leading his team to the Finals.
 

Tony C

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I love him. He is the Tasmanian Devil incarnate.
Tasmanian Devil? The guy is 1) a lousy player and 2) and a consistently dirty player. Granted you posted that before this push -- but that push is par for the course for his "Tasmanian Devil" style of play. Total scumbag.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Paul George will get dragged by his critics but the dude just ran out of gas. He played brilliantly for most of the playoffs. I would love to have seen the Clippers ceiling if Leonard hadn't wrecked his knee but they wouldn't sniff this game were it not for George.
 

Jake Peavy's Demons

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The Phoenix Suns become the 1st non-Texan or non-Californian Western Conference Finalist representative since 2012 (OKC Thunder) & have a real chance at becoming the 1st non-Texan or non-Californian team in the West of winning it all since 1979 (Seattle SuperSonics). 42 years. Astounding.
 

Kliq

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In a different era there is no way Pat Bev would have walked over to another team's bench and shoved a star player from behind without being KO'd.
 

DJnVa

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Happy for the Suns. Beverly getting ejected is like the cherry on top.
I remember this

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/marcus-smart-says-hes-on-another-level-than-patrick-beverley-and-league-scouts-execs-agree-with-him/

After the game, Beverley was asked what it's like being on the court with someone like Smart.

Beverley didn't feel the idea that Smart, or anyone for that matter, might be on his level of intensity was even worth dignifying.

"That's funny," he said dismissively.

Of course, Smart was subsequently asked about Beverley's shrug-off response. In a manner that illustrates, perhaps, the starkest difference in the way Smart and Beverley go about their similar business, Smart was measured, respectful -- composed is probably the right word -- in his assessment. But in the end he said the same thing Beverley said: There's no comparison.
 

Jimbodandy

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Paul George will get dragged by his critics but the dude just ran out of gas. He played brilliantly for most of the playoffs. I would love to have seen the Clippers ceiling if Leonard hadn't wrecked his knee but they wouldn't sniff this game were it not for George.
Agreed. George did what he could and played well. Anyone who questions his work here is a moron.

Pleasure to watch the Suns close it out. Fun team.

Pat Bev running his mouth and taking cheap shots all series only to blow his cool at the end was hilarious. And Boogie mouthing off was great too. I bet CP3 told Boogie that at least he gets taken on road trips.
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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Paul George will get dragged by his critics but the dude just ran out of gas. He played brilliantly for most of the playoffs. I would love to have seen the Clippers ceiling if Leonard hadn't wrecked his knee but they wouldn't sniff this game were it not for George.
How the hell would George get dragged? He was amazing this postseason; easily the best run of his life, given the responsibility he had.
 

Humphrey

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In a different era there is no way Pat Bev would have walked over to another team's bench and shoved a star player from behind without being KO'd.
He ran right by some big (white, for no other reason than to narrow down the possibilities for who it was) to shove Paul. I assume that guy was caught by surprise by the act.
 

cheech13

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How the hell would George get dragged? He was amazing this postseason; easily the best run of his life, given the responsibility he had.
Nobody is going to be dragging Paul George. He was sensational, maybe the best all-around performance of any player in the playoffs this year. If anything I think the hot take crowd will go the other way and come knives out for Kawhi.
 
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DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Nobody is going to be graphing Paul George. He was sensational, maybe the best all-around performance of any player in the playoffs this year. If anything I think the hot take crowd will go the other way and come knives out for Kawhi.
There are posts in this very thread discussing his sub par performance last night and the media/socials noticed too.

My post wasn't intended to focus on the criticism but more how good he was this postseason. He just does so many things so well. Fatigue and a new Torrey Craig shirt finally slowed him down.
 

cheech13

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It will be interesting to see how the Clippers approach the off-season. With a healthy Kawhi they probably would have won this year but they still seem like they are a tier below the Lakers and Nets assuming full health. I’d assume Kawhi opts out and signs a long term deal, but with him who knows and the injury certainly complicates things. San Antonio’s handling of his injuries was basically the impetus for his departure there.
 

Kliq

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The NBA is wide-open next season as things currently stand and any team that thinks they have a shot should be going all-in. Who would of have thought Atlanta would be a legit contender even a few months ago?

The Lakers will need to prove it to me. We now have two out of the last three seasons where LeBron has gotten injured and hasn't been able to carry his team far in the playoffs, and Davis is always an injury risk. The Nets also have a very injury-prone core, and I think it would be foolish to accept that they are just going to roll everyone. I think it's wide open next year and a bunch of teams (Suns, Clippers, Jazz, Warriors, Nuggets, Sixers, Bucks, Celtics, Heat, Hawks) will have real title aspirations.
 

cardiacs

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Jul 15, 2005
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Nobody is going to be dragging Paul George. He was sensational, maybe the best all-around performance of any player in the playoffs this year. If anything I think the hot take crowd will go the other way and come knives out for Kawhi.
They showed him a few times on the sideline and I couldn't figure if he looked like he really wanted to be playing or not there at all.
 

Cellar-Door

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Aug 1, 2006
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I love Chris Paul. He's the guy people like to pretend Kobe and Jordan are....
IE, he's an absolutely ruthless compulsive competitor who makes opponents hate him by skirting every edge he can in terms of gamesmanship without being dirty.
The difference is where Kobe and Jordan were also just enormous self-absorbed assholes and generally shitty people, Paul's teammates seem to love him, and he's known as a guy who builds up and helps out young guys.
 

BigSoxFan

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I love Chris Paul. He's the guy people like to pretend Kobe and Jordan are....
IE, he's an absolutely ruthless compulsive competitor who makes opponents hate him by skirting every edge he can in terms of gamesmanship without being dirty.
The difference is where Kobe and Jordan were also just enormous self-absorbed assholes and generally shitty people, Paul's teammates seem to love him, and he's known as a guy who builds up and helps out young guys.
I would have loved to see what the Jay's + Paul instead of Kemba could have accomplished the last couple of years. I view Paul similar as KG - he doesn't need a ring for people to fully appreciate him but it'll probably help. This is an all-time great and I really hope he puts the cherry on the sundae of a great career. Still annoyed that he got hurt when Houston was about to KO the Warriors.
 

BigMike

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I love Chris Paul. He's the guy people like to pretend Kobe and Jordan are....
IE, he's an absolutely ruthless compulsive competitor who makes opponents hate him by skirting every edge he can in terms of gamesmanship without being dirty.
The difference is where Kobe and Jordan were also just enormous self-absorbed assholes and generally shitty people, Paul's teammates seem to love him, and he's known as a guy who builds up and helps out young guys.
Hard to believe 2 years ago this guy was dead and buried and listed as one of the worst contracts in NBA history . Now he is on his way to playoffs MVP, and potentially another 100 million dollar contract
 

Kliq

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I'm happy the Clippers are gone, because that leaves us with three teams very likable teams left, all of whom are where they are not because of some super-team formation, but because of smart drafting, strong player development and some ballsy trades. The playoffs have been wonky, but its nice to see in the age of stars just all agreeing to play with each other, franchises that have been able to build without the benefit of landing a collection of superstars are going to get rewarded.

He didn't play last night but I'm happy for Cameron Johnson. The Suns took a ton of shit from everyone for taking a player that old at #11 two years ago, but he has been a great role player for them who plays really smart basketball on both ends of the floor. It's nice seeing someone who played 5 years of college basketball proving the dratniks wrong.
 

cheech13

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Hard to believe 2 years ago this guy was dead and buried and listed as one of the worst contracts in NBA history . Now he is on his way to playoffs MVP, and potentially another 100 million dollar contract
Not only is he getting another $100mm, in the process he is going to opt out of the contract everyone thought was terrible because he is underpaid.
 

BigSoxFan

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I know that CP3 has a bit of a rep for this stuff. We must have a gif from a guy with 16 years in the league that's not from college.
Anecdotally, almost all my Spurs fan friends view him as dirty. Of course, they all defend Bruce Bowen so nobody is really unbiased here.