NBA Playoffs: Round One Game Thread

Kliq

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mabrowndog said:
What a great call by Tirico as well. He saw it coming as soon as the pass was in the air.
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Say whatever you want about his workplace attitude and his faliure to find humor in Tony Kornheiser jokes, but the man is a good play-by-play guy.
 
deconstruction

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mandro ramtinez said:
Jesus, how do you let Lillard get that good a look?
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It was a great play call, but, yes, letting him get that open was indefensible. Parsons was SO FAR behind Lillard from the moment he started cutting towards the ball--before he was around the double screen. He was playing him too close in the bunch and has to know he's not going to be able to keep up with Lillard when he curls around. Plus, there was absolutely no help--maybe Parsons thought there would be. Harden just watches Lillard, already clapping for the ball, run by; and Jones was basically doing nothing against Batum on the inbounds and could've been more present. I didn't care who won but Houston's horrible defensive execution there was disappointing.  
 
jmcc5400

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 Love love love to see Howard going home after the first round again.
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I get it, as I had nothing but disdain for him while he was here in LA, but he earned my respect again during this series.  I thought he played his ass off.  That rotation and block that prevented Portland from going up 87-81 was vintage Howard and turned the game on a dime.  Incredible series. 
 
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teezy

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deconstruction said:
 
It was a great play call, but, yes, letting him get that open was indefensible. Parsons was SO FAR behind Lillard from the moment he started cutting towards the ball--before he was around the double screen. He was playing him too close in the bunch and has to know he's not going to be able to keep up with Lillard when he curls around. Plus, there was absolutely no help--maybe Parsons thought there would be. Harden just watches Lillard, already clapping for the ball, run by; and Jones was basically doing nothing against Batum on the inbounds and could've been more present. I didn't care who won but Houston's horrible defensive execution there was disappointing.  
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It looks like a pretty vanilla play with 2 guys curling around a Matthews screen and with just 1 second left you have to switch everything. In my opinion Parsons was expecting someone on the Rockets (James Harden) to switch or help as Lillard ran past them. What the hell is James Harden, notably an awful defender, doing on the court in that situation??
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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teezy said:
 
It looks like a pretty vanilla play with 2 guys curling around a Matthews screen and with just 1 second left you have to switch everything. In my opinion Parsons was expecting someone on the Rockets (James Harden) to switch or help as Lillard ran past them. What the hell is James Harden, notably an awful defender, doing on the court in that situation??
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James Harden is the star of that team - a team, I might add, that has a fairly weak bench.  He wasn't coming off the floor with a two point lead and one second left on the clock.  As was cited upthread, Houston needs a PG and some bench help.  The fact that they utilized (and got good production) a D-league guy in this series tells you a lot about the state of their roster.  
 
Tony C

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jmcc5400 said:
 
I get it, as I had nothing but disdain for him while he was here in LA, but he earned my respect again during this series.  I thought he played his ass off.  That rotation and block that prevented Portland from going up 87-81 was vintage Howard and turned the game on a dime.  Incredible series. 
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Howard was a monster, really restored his rep in this series. Houston makes a few additions and they'll be in great shape (the Asik/Lin contracts will be rough next year, though).  
 
And how badly did the Nets screw themselves by tanking at the end in order to avoid Chicago? Chicago was an easy out while Toronto is tough. Even if they beat Toronto, due to their seeding they'll face a rested Miami in the next round rather than the Indy-Atlanta winner (and I'll take the Wizards over either of those two teams).
 
Could have had two relatively easy series.
 
HomeRunBaker

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DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
 
James Harden is the star of that team - a team, I might add, that has a fairly weak bench.  He wasn't coming off the floor with a two point lead and one second left on the clock.  As was cited upthread, Houston needs a PG and some bench help.  The fact that they utilized (and got good production) a D-league guy in this series tells you a lot about the state of their roster.  
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Dirk Nowitzki is the star of the Mavericks.....and Carlisle had him on the bench over the final 25 seconds last night and in other playoff games as well when a defensive stop was needed.

It is fair to criticize Harden being on the floor there......very fair.
 
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Tony C said:
 
Howard was a monster, really restored his rep in this series. Houston makes a few additions and they'll be in great shape (the Asik/Lin contracts will be rough next year, though).  
 
 
 
 
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I wouldn't go that far.  Howard does not pass well out of a double team, and Portland was able to generate some key 4th quarter turnovers by bringing over a second defender at the last second.  Good coaching by Stotts.  Dwight got most of his points when single-covered by Lopez.
 
Houston's guard play wasn't terrible.  I thought Lin played reasonably well (although Beverly didn't).  I was also a little surprised to see Asik play so many minutes.  He did a decent job on Aldridge, but provided no offense, and the Rockets may have been better served by giving some of those minutes to Terrence Jones, who might have forced Aldridge to expend more energy on defense. 
 
I thought one of the Blazers' unsung heroes was Thomas Robinson, who made several key plays off the bench, including a monster jam after cutting down the lane.  Lopez and Batum also had solid games.
 
nocode51

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nocode51 said:
I'll go with the home teams sweeping tonight. 
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Actually that's rather boring, I'm going to say down go the Pacers. Memphis is missing too many key parts and the Clippers are just a better team with superior coaching. 
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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RedOctober3829 said:
So who wins tonight?  I say Indiana, OKC, and Golden State.
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I think you are right on the first two (especially with no ZBo tonight) and I am praying for the latter.  I think if CP3 were healthy and the Sterling stuff wasn't an issue, the Clippers would be a lock at home.  But its clear Paul's hammy is an issue as Curry has been running around him of late.  The keys to that game will be how well Green defends Griffin and how much production the Warriors get out of their other guys (Green, Iguodala, Barnes, Jordan Awful and...ugh...Speights).
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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David West fouled Carroll, the refs didn't call it and then West proceeds to talk shit to Carroll. Such a Dbag...
 
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HomeRunBaker said:
Dirk Nowitzki is the star of the Mavericks.....and Carlisle had him on the bench over the final 25 seconds last night and in other playoff games as well when a defensive stop was needed.

It is fair to criticize Harden being on the floor there......very fair.
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Yup. I don't know their defensive strategy and if Harden was supposed to switch on that screen (I think he should have).  But either way, he should be off the floor.
 
Houston could use some more depth, but their biggest problem is that Harden is an absolutely atrocious defender.  That seems to be largely effort related, so maybe if that changes, they will be able to improve without much roster movement. 
 
NWsoxophile

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DeJesus Built My Hotrod said:
I think he was talking shit.
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That's exactly what he said. Camera was right on him and you could plainly hear it. If you have dvr check it. Not very inflammatory, but I don't think the refs liked him walking in the direction of the Atlanta bench.
 
jon abbey

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Marc Gasol is amazing, so funny to think back on all the people who mocked that Lakers trade for being so one-sided.
 
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I will enjoy the NBA playoffs roughly 100% more when Derek Fisher finally retires and I don't have to watch him flop around the court.  It's incredible refs still fall for it. 
 
mabrowndog

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I can't believe this is the same Thunder team that we watched in the first quarter. They've been absolutely on fire since the start of the 2nd.
 
AMS25

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mabrowndog said:
I can't believe this is the same Thunder team that we watched in the first quarter. They've been absolutely on fire since the start of the 2nd.
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The only thing consistent about the Thunder this year has been their inconsistency.
 
mabrowndog

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I'm just wondering why it took a whole 12 minutes of ineptitude for them to realize Zach Randolph wasn't playing for Memphis today.
 
AMS25

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mabrowndog said:
I'm just wondering why it took a whole 12 minutes of ineptitude for them to realize Zach Randolph wasn't playing for Memphis today.
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Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about Scott Brooks' future if the Thunder make an early exit. True, it's been a weird year, with Westbrook's injury and the attempts to better integrate some of the young guys. But, there's been a lot of kvetching about Brooks and his inability to maximize the talent on the team.
 
HomeRunBaker

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AMS25 said:
 
Yeah, there's been a lot of talk about Scott Brooks' future if the Thunder make an early exit. True, it's been a weird year, with Westbrook's injury and the attempts to better integrate some of the young guys. But, there's been a lot of kvetching about Brooks and his inability to maximize the talent on the team.
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He's only had back-to-back 60 win seasons with Westbrook out of the lineup for half of this year and losing to Memphis after he went down last spring.

Nearly all NBA Head Coaches have as much impact as their teams 8th man which is typically about why they are paid in a similar range. These teams will go as far as their superstar will lead them......all the coach has to do is be competent enough to earn their players respect and get out of the way.
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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HomeRunBaker said:
He's only had back-to-back 60 win seasons with Westbrook out of the lineup for half of this year and losing to Memphis after he went down last spring.

Nearly all NBA Head Coaches have as much impact as their teams 8th man which is typically about why they are paid in a similar range. These teams will go as far as their superstar will lead them......all the coach has to do is be competent enough to earn their players respect and get out of the way.
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Couldn't agree more with this post.  Its a shame that Golden State's owners and management don't recognize this because its all but over for Mark Jackson with the Warriors, win or lose.
 
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Doc Rivers must not enjoy watching Jordan Crawford score against him in the playoffs....
 
mabrowndog

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So in between the Warriors 6-0 start and their 9-1 finish, the Clippers outscored them 21-17 [/silver lining].
 
Dollar

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I think I was going to get the new Samsung Galaxy phone, but after that horrible LeBron commercial... I'm not so sure anymore.
 
mabrowndog

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Dollar said:
I think I was going to get the new Samsung Galaxy phone, but after that horrible LeBron commercial... I'm not so sure anymore.
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I'm still hoping to find that extra-special super-secret McDonald's -- that undisclosed location where the best of the best go to eat stuff McDonald's makes just for them and not for the rest of us, unless of course LeBron selflessly suggests "they should serve this to everybody!"
 
DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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The Warriors are playing a great game except that Jamal Crawford is having one of those nights.  I have seen this before from him not only in Los Angeles but also when he played for Golden State.  The problem is, when Crawford goes cold, you need to pull him out of the game or he will brick you to death.  Of course Doc knows this and will yank him at just the right time.  
 
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