2021 NBA Playoffs Gamethread
- Thread starter JohnnyTheBone
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Probably but it was just game 1, the Spurs were up 20 at the time, and they had won 61 games that year (and had multiple role players with title experience in taking down the original super team in the Heat). Kawhi was 1st team all-NBA, 1st team all-defense and 3rd in the MVP voting, a legit 2-way superstar capable of being the best player in a matchup against multiple MVPs in their prime. Most dominant team ever or not, that Spurs team was no pushover.
The series went from interesting to over in an instant (and effectively ended the Spurs dynasty). Because the Warriors were such heavy favorites it's probably not as impactful as Kyrie and Love missing the finals in 2015 or Paul getting hurt in 2018 with Houston up 3-2 in the WCF, but it's still noteworthy. To put it in 2021 Suns context, it's Murray missing from the Denver series.
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Kawhi is talked about like he's Lebron carrying teams to the finals every year, no matter who he's playing with or where.
He has taken a total of one team to the finals, a stacked Toronto team in 2019. And he was a solid player on the Spurs when they won the title, but he was certainly not the guy. Otherwise, he usually flames out in the first or second round.
Yet, somehow he's a god.
edit - he flames out if he happens to even be playing. He's often hurt.
That Raptors team was stacked with roleplayers. But Kawhi was the star. The following season they would have been broomed out of the second round without a miracle shot at the buzzer in game 4 (they still lost the series, but it should have been 4-0). The following season that stack led Toronto to the fourth pick in the draft.
Leonard was a legitimate MVP level talent before the chronic injury he acquired as a result of the Count Pachulia cheap shot. This trash talking at Leonard's expense is the equivalent of trying to say that Cam Neely wasn't very good because he wasn't the same player after Ulf Samuelsson's cheap shot.
Leonard was a legitimate MVP level talent before the chronic injury he acquired as a result of the Count Pachulia cheap shot. This trash talking at Leonard's expense is the equivalent of trying to say that Cam Neely wasn't very good because he wasn't the same player after Ulf Samuelsson's cheap shot.
Toronto was stacked? If ever you wanted to find an example of one guy carrying a team that Raptors team has to be up there.
They had better winning percentages the year before and the year after Kawhi. That was a very good very deep team that deferred to Kawhi on offense because that was the best way to win. They were a lucky 4 bounce shot away from going out in the same round as they did the years before and after.
Kawhi is really good, but he wasn't some transformative force for that Raps team, they had been really good for years and just got stomped by LeBron every year.
Toronto went further in the playoffs the year after Kawhi left then the team Kawhi went to.
This was definitely the case after the Raptors win, but just because Kawhi is/was overrated doesn't change the fact that in 2017 he was a top 5 player, coming off back to back years as 1st team all NBA and 1st team all defense, and was a year removed from back to back DPOY awards. He's won two Finals MVP awards, an achievement that puts him in the same group as Lebron, Jordan, Bryant, Durant, Olajuwon, Bird, Kareem, Magic, Shaq and Willis Reed. He's not Lebron, but you have to work pretty hard to ignore Kawhi's place in NBA history.
Wasn't it a re-sprained ankle? Kawhi could have landed badly on another play and been out for the rest of the series anyway. (Not at all to minimize Zaza's play, but you can't assume that Kawhi would have been 100% for that series.)
I like the Suns, except for Chris Paul. If he goes down with a series ending injury, I could root for this Suns team, especially Crowder, Bridges, and Cam. Assuming Paul doesn’t blow a hammy, I’ll be looking to see Giannis rewarded for not skipping out on the Bucks for a more high profile, title ready team. Hopefully, he will start a trend of great players leading their teams to championships without joining up with their rival great players.
The ball punching, ridiculous flopping, stopping his dribble when a big man is running behind him, etc. And I really dislike the State Farm commercial.
Chris Paul is the Rodney Harrison of the NBA. Cheapshot reputation, but everyone wants him on their team and best at his position in a 20 year period.
I'm fine with that. There's no faster way to injure a shooter than not allowing him to land, and while there's some room for interpretation (when the defender goes straight up, or when the offensive player kicks their legs out or their momentum carries them into the defender), this one was pretty easy. Lopez' closeout was reckless and not only did his foot end up directly under Paul, he hit his leg as Paul was coming down. Easy call.
It was more than a sprained ankle. The right quad injury was diagnosed during a summer checkup following the playoffs. The right quad injury then led to a left quad injury (allegedly from overcompensating for the right quad injury) and the permanent handling with kid gloves.
Milwaukee might be the worst coached good team that I have ever seen. There was a five minute so run during the 3rd where they didn’t try to execute a single play. Not one.
Weren’t we discussing just like two or three years ago how the Bucks finally had a “real” coach with Budenholzer? What exactly happened?
It’s crazy, without a handful of absolutely ridiculous Middleton shots they’d have their bench warming up now.
Chris Paul is simply the most brilliant basketball mind this game has seen since my man Dre Miller. Drawing a foul on Giannis for the 3-point play while G is trailing him was Houdini-like.
The crowd chanting on Giannis’ FT’s seems to be giving him some rhythm to his routine. I’d stop that if I were them or switch it up with a countdown from 10 or something.