2021 NBA Playoffs Gamethread

Kliq

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Mar 31, 2013
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Trae was a non-factor in the fourth. This series will suck if he's done.

Very strong fourth quarter for the Bucks though. It helps Trae was hobbled but offensively they performed very well to put this game away.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
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Trae was a non-factor in the fourth. This series will suck if he's done.

Very strong fourth quarter for the Bucks though. It helps Trae was hobbled but offensively they performed very well to put this game away.
Basically was all the ankle. Bucks made a run with him out and then he had nothing when he came back. Too bad. This series probably goes 5 now.
 

ElUno20

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Jul 19, 2005
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That Middleton stretch in the 4th, when the game was kinda in the balance, may have put this series to bed.
 
Oh well. We had a great run.

I mean, I know the Hawks came back from 2-1 down against the Sixers, and the Bucks aren't necessarily any more talented than the Sixers were (Simmons' self-immolation notwithstanding). But if Trae is at all impeded going forward, that really is it, because the Hawks don't have enough fully healthy players capable of going off like Huerter did in Game 7 vs. Philly to pick up the slack. I've warmed to Collins somewhat over the last few weeks, but he's still too inconsistent from night to night. Capela is a limited player whose limitations are really shown up against players like Embiid and Giannis. Bogdanovic is too injured. (Hunter is injured, period.) Neither Huerter nor Gallinari are good enough to be expected to score 25+ points more than once in a series. And so on. It's still been a magical season, but at this point, taking the series to Game 6 feels like it would be an achievement. And I never felt that way against Philadelphia.
 

Tony C

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It's funny, over the 1st 3 quarters I was thinking "enough of this Hawks as underdog stuff, they're simply better than the Bucks." That obviously changed in the 4th Q partly due to Trae's injury but perhaps not wholly -- I don't think that explains the Bucks' offense/Middleton coming to life, could well be the Bucks would have won anyway.

Weird playoffs. One of the deepest I can recall, but now that we're at the final 4 each of the 4 teams looks tired and not great. Partly that's just that playoffs are a Survivor contest, partly it's the injuries, partly it's just that there's not 1 great team. I'm pretty sure 3/4 of the teams eliminated in the 1st round are justifiably thinking they're just as good as the 4 teams remaining.
 

Kliq

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It's funny, over the 1st 3 quarters I was thinking "enough of this Hawks as underdog stuff, they're simply better than the Bucks." That obviously changed in the 4th Q partly due to Trae's injury but perhaps not wholly -- I don't think that explains the Bucks' offense/Middleton coming to life, could well be the Bucks would have won anyway.

Weird playoffs. One of the deepest I can recall, but now that we're at the final 4 each of the 4 teams looks tired and not great. Partly that's just that playoffs are a Survivor contest, partly it's the injuries, partly it's just that there's not 1 great team. I'm pretty sure 3/4 of the teams eliminated in the 1st round are justifiably thinking they're just as good as the 4 teams remaining.
I thought the same thing about the Hawks up until Trae's injury. Milwaukee wasn't playing bad, but the Hawks were just really good. Trae was terrific, but they just have a lot of guys that can shoot and create their own shot, plus athletic big men that work really hard. They were playing really well, and then Trae got hurt and it slipped away. Milwaukee shot 10-12 from the field over the final seven minutes of the game; which is just crazy. Some of it was good ball-movement/bad defense, but there were a lot of crazy shot makes in that stretch. Giannis hit a one-legged Dirk fade away and Middleton was trapped in the corner and just tossed up a deep two and cashed it. There was nothing Atlanta could really do.
 

Jimbodandy

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Jan 31, 2006
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It's funny, over the 1st 3 quarters I was thinking "enough of this Hawks as underdog stuff, they're simply better than the Bucks." That obviously changed in the 4th Q partly due to Trae's injury but perhaps not wholly -- I don't think that explains the Bucks' offense/Middleton coming to life, could well be the Bucks would have won anyway.

Weird playoffs. One of the deepest I can recall, but now that we're at the final 4 each of the 4 teams looks tired and not great. Partly that's just that playoffs are a Survivor contest, partly it's the injuries, partly it's just that there's not 1 great team. I'm pretty sure 3/4 of the teams eliminated in the 1st round are justifiably thinking they're just as good as the 4 teams remaining.
There's a lot to be said for this year's playoffs as a war of attrition. Studs out, second tier guys out...that shit happens. But it feels like more guys out than usual. More though is the effect of the compressed schedule. I know that people take a "playing is their job" POV on this, but these guys aren't used to playing basically every other day for six months, and there aren't load management days in the playoffs. Guys are more dinged up than usual, and I think that the younger teams have benefited from their youth.
 

Cesar Crespo

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There's a lot to be said for this year's playoffs as a war of attrition. Studs out, second tier guys out...that shit happens. But it feels like more guys out than usual. More though is the effect of the compressed schedule. I know that people take a "playing is their job" POV on this, but these guys aren't used to playing basically every other day for six months, and there aren't load management days in the playoffs. Guys are more dinged up than usual, and I think that the younger teams have benefited from their youth.
I think some of it is just the passing of the torch. Or at least I hope some of it is.

A lot of the top players are older players that are hobbled and on the downside of their careers.
 

Jimbodandy

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I think some of it is just the passing of the torch. Or at least I hope some of it is.

A lot of the top players are older players that are hobbled and on the downside of their careers.
Yeah for sure there's some of that. But I think that we'll someday be talking about the effects of the compressed schedule this year the same way that we remember the shooting backdrops and lack of fans in the bubble. It changes things. Definitely not complaining about the results, but I'd be surprised to see this many top 10 players watching the playoffs ever again.
 
Yeah for sure there's some of that. But I think that we'll someday be talking about the effects of the compressed schedule this year the same way that we remember the shooting backdrops and lack of fans in the bubble. It changes things. Definitely not complaining about the results, but I'd be surprised to see this many top 10 players watching the playoffs ever again.
The flip side of this is that this might - might - be as close as teams like the Hawks (and maybe the Suns) get to a title. I'm certainly not taking it for granted that the Hawks are definitely an elite team going forward now.
 

osori

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I love Ayton, but am I crazy to think that the gap between TL and Ayton is pretty minimal aside from durability issues?
 

Kliq

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Another day, another reminder that I can't believe Mark Jackson is a color guy on the #1 broadcast team for NBA games.
 

Pablo's TB Lover

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I love Ayton, but am I crazy to think that the gap between TL and Ayton is pretty minimal aside from durability issues?
Honestly I think it is a sizable gap. Ayton has been very available at 30 mins/game, and even when RWIII is healthy he can't be relied upon for starter's minutes due to foul trouble or small ball lineups. That does count for something.

Ayton does hold his own even against small ball lineups. I also think his FG percentage and scoring potential is higher given FT shooting in the mid 70s as opposed to TL's 60% FT shooting.

TL is the more "explosive" player but am thinking his ceiling is going to come quicker and be a shorter peak than Ayton IMO.
 

Cellar-Door

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Aug 1, 2006
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Lol, and as soon as I wonder if PG13 is tired he takes over for a stretch and the Clips are back up 10.
George has been amazing since Kawhi went down