The 2nd Season - 2019 Playoff Thread

HomeRunBaker

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Jan 15, 2004
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Easter Sunday Table Setting! All entrees served EST

1:00pm (ABC) - Early Sunday start times are generally tough on the home team as their gameday routine is altered which sometimes results in ugly low-scoring games......now imagine that level of excitement being down 3-0 in a hopeless situation with the "reward" being a trip to Boston next week? I expect a less than stellar effort from the Pacers with several players beginning their summer vacation early as the Celtics continue the businesslike attitude of Kyrie's "coiuntdown to 16 wins" mantra. The Under is also looking for the 4-0 sweep and I've been on all 3 thus far so staying the course here.

Bos 97
Indy 79


3:30pm (ABC) - I had badly misplayed G3 of this series in failing to recognize that the comeback was more Oakland laying down than the Clipper stepping up (sans Lou doing Lou things but being allowed to with the momentum given to them). We are not making that mistake again and expect another focused effort by the Warriors who know they are facing a 2-2 series heading back home otherwise. Game opened -11 and O/U 237 with both quickly bet down to -8.5 and 235......and currently sitting at -9.5 and 236. The total seems maybe a tad high and the game line a bit low.

Oak 122
LAC 107


7:00pm (TNT) - This Tor/Orl series seems to be mirroring the 76ers/Nets and I expect a similarly close game. The Magic will grind, hit some 3's, get some points from Gordon and V in the paint, and make this another ugly grind it out game. In the end I don't feel Orlando has the shotmakers that the Nets have and this will again prove the difference. Tor is -5.5 and O/U 207 and a clear pass on both for me.

Tor 104
Orl 100


9:30pm (TNT) - Love this matchup to close out the quadrupleheader night (or tripleheader for those who don't wish to inflict pain by sitting through the Raptors/Magic game......no surprise the HRB household has Easter Dinner set for 6:30pm but I digress. We don't expect much to change from G3 to G4 here. The Blazers will have their Lillard CJ-led runs but in the end the better overall talent should again prevail on their home floor. For Portland to pull off the upset they will need BOTH guards firing on all cylinders along with another roleplayer stepping up.....not impossible, but not likely against playoff level defense on the road. OKC is 5.5 and 222. We like the Thunder and the low here.

OKC 112
Port 99




 

djbayko

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Jul 18, 2005
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Lol, this one is pretty impressive, even by the Beard's standards:


This one's more typical:

I guess this is why I could never be a ref. If I saw that, I’d never want to make a foul call in his favor ever again. You’ve shown yourself to be extremely dishonest and are making a mockery of the game.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Jan 15, 2004
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I guess this is why I could never be a ref. If I saw that, I’d never want to make a foul call in his favor ever again. You’ve shown yourself to be extremely dishonest and are making a mockery of the game.
It’s 2019 you’re selling the call. Smart does the same stuff for our team. Soccer has ruined sports for all of us.
 

johnmd20

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Why do people insist on calling the Warriors "Oakland"? Is that like calling the Patriots, Foxborough? I guess we should call the Cowboys the Arlington Cowboys?
 

johnmd20

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Why do people insist on calling the Warriors "Oakland"? Is that like calling the Patriots, Foxborough? I guess we should call the Cowboys the Arlington Cowboys?
Foxborough beat Arlington 27-10. It was a great game, filled with sports related activities.
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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Suspend him? Oh my
I mean obviously it’s not happening, I’m not an idiot.

But is there any good reason a league should NOT severely disincentize that type of behavior? It’s easy to stop, and serves no positive purpose.
 

Euclis20

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Aug 3, 2004
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Why do people insist on calling the Warriors "Oakland"? Is that like calling the Patriots, Foxborough? I guess we should call the Cowboys the Arlington Cowboys?
Unlike Foxborough (population 17k), Oakland is an actual city (population 425k), which matters here. And unlike Arlington which is mostly known for being between two larger cities, Oakland has an actual identity.

https://theundefeated.com/features/nba-warriors-to-show-oakland-some-love-with-debut-of-nike-the-town-jerseys/

Either way, it's temporary.
 

Euclis20

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I mean obviously it’s not happening, I’m not an idiot.

But is there any good reason a league should NOT severely disincentize that type of behavior? It’s easy to stop, and serves no positive purpose.
I think a technical foul should be issued after the fact. Get enough of those (16, I believe) and you get an automatic one game suspension (and then another every two techs after that). This way it's not necessarily a suspension, but there's the possibility for repeat offenders.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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The fact that the league doesn’t suspend him for that is disgraceful. Silver has zero balls.
$50,000 in Whine Fines' a game would stop this garbage. I'm not sure why they fine the players $25,000 in post-game pressers/interviews for derogatory comments towards refs (when 90% of sports fans have turned the game off). Then let the players/coaches pull antics and go verbally off on Refs all game long.

Antics/incessant complaining should go into the Post-season Awards equations.
 
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Spelunker

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Jul 17, 2005
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It’s 2019 you’re selling the call. Smart does the same stuff for our team. Soccer has ruined sports for all of us.
Suspend? There was contact, he just likely sold it a good bit. It wasn't entirely phantom the way you seem to think it was.

 

Cesar Crespo

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Dec 22, 2002
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Jokic singlehandedly destroyed the Nuggets defensive schemes each time Pop utilized PnR action toward him, which was often, on the way to 118 pts on 89 FGA which is a ridiculously efficient number for a team that only made 7 three's. Some have gone so far as to call him a Top-5 player in the league...….he wasn't a Top-5 player in the game last night due to being exposed defensively.
Seems like an overreaction based on 1 game. They could still lose to the Spurs but I think Jokic has proven he can play in the playoffs. I don't recall anyone calling him a top 5 player in the league either, just a top 5 MVP candidate. I don't think anyone considers Paul George to be a top 5 player either.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Suspend? There was contact, he just likely sold it a good bit. It wasn't entirely phantom the way you seem to think it was.
I think you quoted the wrong poster. I'm on the side of Harden selling the call and certainly not be suspended for effectively working the refs.
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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I think you quoted the wrong poster. I'm on the side of Harden selling the call and certainly not be suspended for effectively working the refs.
Yeah, it looks like the first video was an edit, I got fooled, there was contact in the actual clip.
 

johnmd20

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How can you not call the foul on Durant there? HOW? That's malpractice. And then they call the same play against the Clippers. OAKLAND doesn't need the help.
 

PC Drunken Friar

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They have to address the And-1's on the off-season. That last 4-point play was ridiculous. There was no advantage gained by Gallinari there. He let Durant land. Durant felt contact and fell over. It has to stop.
 

TripleOT

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Clips down six a the end of the half, and secure a rebound with 32 seconds left. Too little time for a two for one, but Williams sets up Harrell for an easy bucket, cutting the lead to four. There's no way I let KD iso me. I leave Green open and run a double at KD up top. Of course, Gallo fouls Durant, who makes a four point play.

Got to close out quarters properly to win in the playoffs, especially against the best teams.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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The Clippers deserve a lot of credit. They are so outgunned and yet are making the Warriors work incredibly hard to get buckets.
 

johnmd20

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Clips down six a the end of the half, and secure a rebound with 32 seconds left. Too little time for a two for one, but Williams sets up Harrell for an easy bucket, cutting the lead to four. There's no way I let KD iso me. I leave Green open and run a double at KD up top. Of course, Gallo fouls Durant, who makes a four point play.

Got to close out quarters properly to win in the playoffs, especially against the best teams.
This team from Oakland is exhausting. I can understand why people hate the Patriots the way they do. This is tiring and repetitive and boring. Anyone but Oakland.
 

lovegtm

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This team from Oakland is exhausting. I can understand why people hate the Patriots the way they do. This is tiring and repetitive and boring. Anyone but Oakland.
I mostly get annoyed that they’ve had such a run of injury luck both in their opponents getting hurt, and being healthy themselves when it counted (I suppose 2016 Finals Steph might be the exception).

I’d really love to see the Celtics get things together though, because Brown is basically designed to match up with KD, and Smart can also out-Beverly Beverly.
 

lovegtm

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Big fan of Jonathan Isaac--he's making such an impact in this series, from the minutes I've watched.
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
20,126
Santa Monica
Easter Sunday Table Setting! All entrees served EST

1:00pm (ABC) - Early Sunday start times are generally tough on the home team as their gameday routine is altered which sometimes results in ugly low-scoring games......now imagine that level of excitement being down 3-0 in a hopeless situation with the "reward" being a trip to Boston next week? I expect a less than stellar effort from the Pacers with several players beginning their summer vacation early as the Celtics continue the businesslike attitude of Kyrie's "coiuntdown to 16 wins" mantra. The Under is also looking for the 4-0 sweep and I've been on all 3 thus far so staying the course here.

Bos 97
Indy 79


3:30pm (ABC) - I had badly misplayed G3 of this series in failing to recognize that the comeback was more Oakland laying down than the Clipper stepping up (sans Lou doing Lou things but being allowed to with the momentum given to them). We are not making that mistake again and expect another focused effort by the Warriors who know they are facing a 2-2 series heading back home otherwise. Game opened -11 and O/U 237 with both quickly bet down to -8.5 and 235......and currently sitting at -9.5 and 236. The total seems maybe a tad high and the game line a bit low.

Oak 122
LAC 107


7:00pm (TNT) - This Tor/Orl series seems to be mirroring the 76ers/Nets and I expect a similarly close game. The Magic will grind, hit some 3's, get some points from Gordon and V in the paint, and make this another ugly grind it out game. In the end I don't feel Orlando has the shotmakers that the Nets have and this will again prove the difference. Tor is -5.5 and O/U 207 and a clear pass on both for me.

Tor 104
Orl 100


9:30pm (TNT) - Love this matchup to close out the quadrupleheader night (or tripleheader for those who don't wish to inflict pain by sitting through the Raptors/Magic game......no surprise the HRB household has Easter Dinner set for 6:30pm but I digress. We don't expect much to change from G3 to G4 here. The Blazers will have their Lillard CJ-led runs but in the end the better overall talent should again prevail on their home floor. For Portland to pull off the upset they will need BOTH guards firing on all cylinders along with another roleplayer stepping up.....not impossible, but not likely against playoff level defense on the road. OKC is 5.5 and 222. We like the Thunder and the low here.

OKC 112
Port 99



Great writeups and good luck with OKC tonight
 

InstaFace

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Sep 27, 2016
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The Refs are much better then they use to be and the players' behavior is much worse.

If you listen to the podcast, kids are mimicking their favorite players' antics at the local rec center.

Simple fix, the Whine Fine: if a player/coach gets in a refs face about a foul or non-foul AND the ref got it right, fine the coach/player $10,000/incident. If the ref got it wrong, the player/coach gets a pass for bitchin. Let the NBA replay center announce the Whine Fine list the day following the game. All funds in the Whine Fine fund goes to youth basketball.

Players/Coaches will think twice about complaining and working officials all game long.
This is great. I'll go further: review them in near real time, whenever the replay center isn't reviewing a play for competitive purposes, and announce them during timeouts.

"Jim, Embiid has gotten three fines for whining in barely two quarters, when is he going to learn not to trust his lying eyes?"

"I don't know, Bob, but the officials are doing yeomans' work tonight for the cause of youth basketball."
 

benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
20,126
Santa Monica
I would watch a loop of the previous nights whine fines for sure.

Where do I sign up?
they could keep a running tab on the nba.com website.

Show video of all the beautiful playgrounds being built with James Harden's Adidas money.

The top 5 whiniest players at year end? My guess
1. Harden
2. Durant
3. Draymond
4. Westbrook
5. Bron

Screw Adam Silver, I'm taking this idea to Bernie Sanders, this is the kind of income redistribution America could get behind.:popcorn:
 
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Sam Ray Not

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The only thing standing in Golden States way of another title is Houston in Round 2. If they get by then, it’s over.
The Eastern finalist is gonna be a legit contender too (if exhausted by the time they make it through). Not sure I’ve ever seen the Eastern Conference this stacked #1-4.

The one thing I feel pretty confident about is that whoever wins the GS-HOU series is gonna crush their opponent in the WCF.
 

lovegtm

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Apr 30, 2013
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I would very much not be looking forward to Brown trying to cover Durant .
I mean, he's done it before quite effectively. You're never excited about covering Durant because he's freaking amazing, but Brown is a better option for it than a lot of teams have.
 

TripleOT

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I would very much not be looking forward to Brown trying to cover Durant .
The Celtics defend and compete against the Warriors and Durant about as well as any team. Boston held KD to 38% shooting this season, although he got a lot of FTs and averaged 25 ppg. Last year, he shot 44% and only 30% from three and averaged 22 ppg.
 

TripleOT

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I think the Celtics are the best bet after Houston to dethrone the champs this season.
 
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jon abbey

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Road teams about to go 8 for 8 this weekend, it looks like every series will go just 4 or 5 except DEN/SAS.
 

bigq

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Westbrook and George combined are 13-40 from the floor. It's a wonder that OKC is only down 10 points.
 

lovegtm

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The highlight clip should be up somewhere soon, but that and-1 by Giannis over Drummond was ludicrous.
 

lovegtm

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Drummond whining about the foul call after he slapped downwards and got shoulder is hilarious. I wonder whether his kinesthetic awareness just sucks, and that’s why he can’t take advantage of his physical gifts?