2023 NBA Playoffs
- Thread starter BaseballJones
- Start date
Okay, forgive the dyslexia. It was 2020 2nd round, and Miami beat the celts in the conf finals. Principal still hold.
Good. Losing sucks, especially when your season ends. This isn't a normal loss and my sense is that players are fine if guys just want to bounce.
Exhibit 235 of late leads being blown in the NBA. Too many good 3 point shooters and teams get lax on offense up big.
That was a terrible turnover by Powell. Late game execution is at such a premium this time of year.
Followed by a terrible turnover by Westbrook/Mann (not a great pass but Mann acted like it was tipped when it wasn't). Hard to kill the Clippers given the circumstances, but this is a rough way to end it.
Phoenix/Denver/Boston all have closeout games against far inferior opponents, all struggle to close the door and have to execute down the stretch to move on. Jokic shoots poorly, but puts up 28/17/12 along with 2 steals and 2 blocks, Denver moves on. Booker ends his excellent series with a 47/8/10 night, he was a monster. Tatum...fell short.
Westbrook turned back into a pumpkin, 3-18 from the field and 5 turnovers. Kind of funny to see LAC's centers combine to go 11-13 for 36 points and 20 rebounds, Ayton is such a creampuff.
Westbrook turned back into a pumpkin, 3-18 from the field and 5 turnovers. Kind of funny to see LAC's centers combine to go 11-13 for 36 points and 20 rebounds, Ayton is such a creampuff.
Gotta go with Memphis there. Never seen a team talk so much having accomplished so little.
Agreed. They seem like a team that might show up with Letterman Jackets or something like that!
Relatedly on Memphs, a couple of the hoops podcasters mentioned them around deadline as someone who SHOULD be in on Durant and I agree---recognizing he may not have wanted to go there, they are (and have for a year or two been) in a position where they need a consolidation trade to get one more impact guy. Instead, they seem to be happy as the 'perpetually frisky 50ish win team who doesn't have enough for the playoffs' and that's just not fun. They've done a great job drafting/developing but it gets wasted because they won't pull the trigger on an impact deal. Maybe that's about the owner/market and not wanting to crater but I feel like it's a roster that needs another piece and has the depth to go get it
My son was apparently at the game last night. He said tix were only about $50, a lot cheaper than Avalanche tix.
Durant is coming off injury and not integrated into the team... he's still better than Booker.
Durant even this year was across the board a better shooter from every spot (on the same or higher volume), a much better rebounder, and close as a passer. He's also a MUCH better defender than Booker.
These guys are not close as overall players. Healthy Durant is a top 3 player in the league, Booker is not at that level.
Edit- and one reason Booker is going off in the playoffs is because Durant gets the Superstar defense on him, opening things up.
View: https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1651227944277139457
Kawhi has a torn meniscus.... also Clips yet again not fully reporting injuries.
Kawhi has a torn meniscus.... also Clips yet again not fully reporting injuries.
Yeah like I understand that logic, and numbers-wise Durant still comes across as a player still at his peak But I can't help but think about Durant getting worked in the playoffs last year by Tatum/Brown, and in the playoffs this year it has been clear Booker is the driver of the Suns team and not Durant. I don't think Durant is bad; but I'd push back on him being a Top 3 player and I also think he has been kind of hollow in the playoffs over the last couple of seasons. Booker comes across like the alpha on the team, just like how it was clear during the series last year that Tatum was the alpha on the court and not the more established Durant. I think the NBA has moved slightly past Durant as a true top tier player.
Watching the end of Phoenix-Clips on-demand now, and I gotta say this for the Clips, win or lose: They sat two all-NBA players, for reasons of varying quality, and still gave a Phoenix team loaded with Durant, Booker and Chris Paul a bunch of trouble. Put healthy Kawhi and Paul George out there and it's a totally different story here.
I mean, we watched that series. For as great as Tatum was, Celtics also basically sent 2-3 guys at him at all times and all his teammates shit themselves. Year before he dragged a bench unit to within literally 2 inches of the NBA finals.
Booker is the driver in these playoffs because he's on fire shooting, he has the best matchups and Durant is deferring since he has barely played with this team.... and even then he's putting up 28.4/7.6/6.2 on 52/46/96 shooting with excellent defense.
We'll find out. I'm hedging a bit here in saying Durant is a little bit past his prime. Maybe past his prime is the wrong term; he's no longer a Top 5 player, or at that real elite tier.
.....aaaaand that'll do it. Clips got two possessions in the last 2 minutes, down 2, with a chance to tie or take the lead. The results: Batum clangs an open 3, and Powell flubs a dribble while under no pressure and turns it over leading to a Durant dunk on the break. Now down 4, Westbrook drives and kicks to an open Terrence Mann for a corner 3, pass is shoulder height, not perfect but not bad, and he fails to catch it and it goes out for another turnover. Durant hooks Powell on a drive and gets the foul call in his favor, drains 2. 6 point lead. Game, set and match. If you're a Clippers fan that's gotta be about as painful as the Celtics' loss tonight, just in the manner of how it went down in crunch time.
Also, one observation about Russell Westbrook. There's a twitter-famous meme a few years back about former US Men's National Team midfielder Darlington Nagbe, showing a "heat map" of how he does on the field:
and every time I watch Russ, similar thoughts flash through my mind. On the fast break he's still got incredible athleticism. Great intensity on D, even if he loses focus sometimes and has brain farts. But then he does stuff like get right to the hoop and blow a layup, or get a wide open 3 and miss a silly percentage of them, or call for a switch and then not do his part of it and drops a guy, and I'm left thinking "jesus, he can do the hard parts and then fuck up the easy parts".
Also, one observation about Russell Westbrook. There's a twitter-famous meme a few years back about former US Men's National Team midfielder Darlington Nagbe, showing a "heat map" of how he does on the field:
and every time I watch Russ, similar thoughts flash through my mind. On the fast break he's still got incredible athleticism. Great intensity on D, even if he loses focus sometimes and has brain farts. But then he does stuff like get right to the hoop and blow a layup, or get a wide open 3 and miss a silly percentage of them, or call for a switch and then not do his part of it and drops a guy, and I'm left thinking "jesus, he can do the hard parts and then fuck up the easy parts".
Edit: looking at the video, it doesn't look nearly as bad as I pictured in my head.
Stupid, hot-headed move by Edwards but clearly he’s not trying to hit anyone there. Criminal charges seems a little ridiculous.
First player to go for 40/10 in first career start (a few weeks ago against OKC).
G League rookie of the year. Amazing. 17 made field goals in a game is no joke.
Edwards lost his cool, clearly wasn’t trying to injure anyone and two security guards looking for a payday. That’s my take.
It is still a bit hard for me to accept that Lopez is a good player.
And who is going to win an MVP first: De'Aaron or Shai
And who is going to win an MVP first: De'Aaron or Shai
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