The ghost of CP playing in this series shouldnt be overlooked. Babied all year, asked to do very little, and still has nothing when it matters most.
So Houston is down to hoping KD doesnt play again in this series.
The 2nd Season - 2019 Playoff Thread
- Thread starter ElUno20
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So Houston is down to hoping KD doesnt play again in this series.
What a series. I really hate Draymond but fair play to that son of a bitch for hitting that 3 to break it open late.
Harden had 31 points on 20 shooting possessions, which is excellent. But I think he needs to take more shots in a game like this where nobody else can get much going offensively. Too often down the stretch the Warriors were able to get the ball out of his hands. He only attempted three shots in the fourth quarter. From 8:58 left until 18 seconds left he didn't attempt a shot. That's not good enough from an MVP-type player on the road in a close game.
Yeah he was out of bounds for sure. Ref just missed it. Oh well. Not going to blame the refs today. It was a well reffed game.
If CP3 wasn’t so shit scared of Looney, we win this game. This lost is on him. We’re underwater on his contract and the first year isn’t even over. What a disaster.
I apologize for the timing of this question and I am honestly not trying to be a dick, but as a neutral fan here, I haven't been able to stop thinking about whether HOU would have a better shot to take out GS if they still had LouWill and Harrell instead of Paul, I have wondered this for a while but even more after how well those two did against GS in the first round.
Is this way off base? I was surprised how much they gave up for Paul at the time (I have never liked him as much as the consensus), but also I thought Dekker was going to really blossom and he fizzled.
No one expected him to decline this fast. I mean, all that’s really required of him is to ISO a few plays when Harden is resting, and in crunch time do the same if Harden is being doubled.
Not only did he shoot really poorly today, he was throwing passes to players that didn’t have space to shoot, he was passive with the ball. I mean, Looney is a decent big but ffs he’s a role player. Paul is paid $40m. When Looney is switched on to him, you gotta get some points because that’s the type of mismatch that we gameplanned all year for. This is the sole reason for him being on the team.
Harden is an all-world player right now and the best player in this series given his workload and what he’s doing and who he’s doing it against; we really just need a respectable 2nd banana that can make teams pay when the d is completely geared up to stop Harden.
Let’s see how G6 goes. Hopefully there’s a G7. This was Paul’s worst playoff game ever IMO.
Gordon + Capela for Kyrie through a S&T?
Not only did he shoot really poorly today, he was throwing passes to players that didn’t have space to shoot, he was passive with the ball. I mean, Looney is a decent big but ffs he’s a role player. Paul is paid $40m. When Looney is switched on to him, you gotta get some points because that’s the type of mismatch that we gameplanned all year for. This is the sole reason for him being on the team.
Harden is an all-world player right now and the best player in this series given his workload and what he’s doing and who he’s doing it against; we really just need a respectable 2nd banana that can make teams pay when the d is completely geared up to stop Harden.
Let’s see how G6 goes. Hopefully there’s a G7. This was Paul’s worst playoff game ever IMO.
Gordon + Capela for Kyrie through a S&T?
Sounds about right, although the 2017 WC semis presented a strikingly similar situation: Spurs up 3-2 in a closely fought series, hobbling into a Game 6 in Houston without Parker or Kawhi, and everyone assuming a Game 7 back in SA, with hopefully a return by Kawhi.
Spurs by 39.
As the saying goes, no one knows anything.
Houston up to a -7.5 point favorite tomorrow night.
I don't want to say I hope the Warriors get by Houston and Curry is injured.....but with a tiny wager on Denver to come out of the West at 50-1 ($30 throwaway wager) that I made in December I wouldn't be totally upset with maybe a little ankle turn. Does this make me a bad person?
I'm in the same boat, except with a 50-1 wager on the Bucks to win the title. Rooting hard for some West injuries here.
Lou Will, Harrell, and Patrick Beverly. The Rockets would be way better off with those three instead of Paul, especially against the Warriors, where you need a lot of high energy firepower.
Ive got a tiny wager on the final four that now hinges on Durant not playing in game 7
I think there's another layer to this though. And this was brought up on Simmons' podcast, does CP3's presence cause Harden to take his game to the next level? Not on the court itself but the committment to another "star" and not just role players around him may have forced him to look at his development and preparation differently.
I'm in the he'd be at this level anyway camp but i can see that argument.
Wow that’s awesome too! GL
I’ll gladly take Milw beating Den in The Finals......and the network execs will be hating life with this matchup.
The league’s 2-minute report was released this afternoon and ruled it inconclusive.
This is not the same non-Durant core that won 73 games. Curry, Thompson, Iguodala are injured/inconsistent, they have no depth. They should be severe underdogs in these next two games.
Eh, the 2015-16 teams wasn't as deep as Kerr liked to pretend during the regular seasons and would also have struggled mightily to weather the loss of a key player (indeed, they missed Bogut a lot after he got hurt in the Finals, and no, I still don't understand why Kerr gave Ezeli and Varejao significant minutes in Game 7, it cost them the title).
They will need more from Steph and Klay on offense, but those guys can do that. The bigger problem without Durant is on defense -- they just don't have enough guys they trust who also have the necessary length and athleticism to switch everything and not get exposed. If they have to give Bogut or Jerebko big minutes the risk is Harden will eat them alive.
If nothing else, they can always get a high positive variance shooting night from Steph or Klay. That's (part of) what saved them against OKC 3 years ago.
Basically agreed. On the other hand:
If the Splash Bros play ~40 minutes each and both empty the clip, Dre + Dray (who have both been fantastic this series, exaggerated stories of their deaths notwithstanding) continue anchor the D, and Looney controls the glass like he did last night, they have a puncher's chance, imho. That's about 180 of the required 240 player minutes. Throw in a smattering of Creaky Livingston, Old Man Bogut setting screens for Steph and Klay and cleaning the glass, McKinnie, Swedish Harrison Barnes, and maybe some Quinn "6-foot KD" Cook for floor spacing, and they should be able to get to 240 without too many awful units on the floor.
I've heard early rumors that they might run out a starting 5 of Curry-Thompson-Iguodala-Green-Bogut, which would be fun for fans of the old organic team who turned on them when they became the evil empire.
But it got them KD.
Seriously, the ~20 combined minutes Kerr gave those two in that game (with younger Livingston and Barbosa both healthy, rested and available) remains Kerr's most inexplicable coaching decision to me. In retrospect (i.e two titles later) I now think of it charitably as his Obi-Wan death moment: "You can't win, LeBron. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine..."
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“Heavy” underdog? In a G7 at home the Warriors will be a small favorite! Tonight’s number is 3.5 to 4-points off from the games in Houston WITH Durant and the Warriors were -7 at home last night with him.
Ezeli and Varejao played a combined 17 minutes (I'm guessing with no overlap) in which they combined for 1 point (on 0-5 shooting), 1 rebound, and five fouls. The the Warriors were -18 in those minutes in a game they ultimately lost by 4. Barbosa played 4 minutes and was +5; Livingston played 16 minutes and was +8.But it got them KD.
Seriously, the ~20 combined minutes Kerr gave those two in that game (with younger Livingston and Barbosa both healthy, rested and available) remains Kerr's most inexplicable coaching decision to me. In retrospect (i.e two titles later) I now think of it as his Obi-Wan death moment: "You can't win, LeBron. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine..."
If the Warriors hadn't won the title the previous year this would have be considered an all-time nearly Grady-level choke job by Kerr.
And as a Ws fan I would trade the 2 KD titles for the 2016 title in a heartbeat.
To say the Warriors have a puncher’s chance is severely underestimating their chances. If Steph goes off in one of the next 2 games, it’s over no matter what. We know this because Harden has single-handedly won games for us all year against good teams. Steph can explode exactly like Harden does. Klay as well.
And yes, that G6 against the Spurs is in the back of every Rockets fan’s mind. No Kawhi, get crushed with Harden doing jack shit.
He’s not the same player he was 2 years ago but who knows.
And yes, that G6 against the Spurs is in the back of every Rockets fan’s mind. No Kawhi, get crushed with Harden doing jack shit.
He’s not the same player he was 2 years ago but who knows.
Curry has had one game this postseason where he’s “gone off”. Game 1 vs the Clippers. 8-12 from 3 and 38 points. He’s been Kyrie level bad from 3 in this series. I think it’s the ankle/finger. I don’t know if he has a 40+ minutes, 40 point game in him at this stage.
Hmm, not me. Winning a title is ridiculously hard, and 2 is twice as good as 1. The opportunity to close out the 73-win, unanimous MVP season narrows the margin, as does spunky homegrown core v. KD-fueled Superteam, but not enough to offset 2 > 1.
To use a Pats analogy: would any Pats fans here give up two of the three late-career Brady Superbowls for a perfect 19-0 in 2007-08? I feel like you gladly give up one (the Rams snoozefest, lol) but not two.
Yeah difference is that the Pats 6th title matches them for most titles all time. With the Warriors they obviously aren’t close to that so the total volume of titles doesn’t matter quite as much. If the Pats dynasty were to have ended at “only” 4 titles I’d have rather had 2007 than any of the subsequent titles. But the total number of rings changes the argument a bit.
Conversely, I think the symmetry with last year — home team wins a stirring a dramatic Game 5 to take a 3-2 lead, but loses a key player in the process, for the rest of the series, and goes on to drop Games 6 and 7 — is in the back of Warriors fans' minds.
But I'd agree with you that "puncher's chance" is understating things. I think it's pretty close to a 50-50 coin flip. Fwiw, 538 has it at 63/37 Warriors (which I believe factors in the KD injury). No one knows anything!
Which reminds me: I just watched Steven A ranting that this was not the 2015-16 Warriors team because they no longer had Boris Diaw on the bench, while Kellerman loudly agreed with him.
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Well, if the Ws could somehow pull out their 4th title in 5 years, it would be unprecedented in the modern era. (With all due reverence and awe for the Cs '60s dynasty, the NBA was not comparable to today's in terms of the depth and international breadth of the talent pool, and there were only 8-9 other teams in the league to contend with). But point taken. I'm all about piling up the 'chips — and I've always loved watching KD, since long before he was a Warrior — but I've encountered more than a few Ws fans who would rather have just the one "pure" title with the team remaining in its organic form than three titles with KD blocking Steph's limelight and hogging the Finals MVPs.
Winning games on the road seems to become more difficult the deeper you get in a series. I’d have you closer to 80-82% tomorrow and 40% or so in G7.
If the Rockets can get it going early tomorrow this has the potential to be an enormous rout with the Warriors packing it in and regrouping for a G7.
Edit: GS is currently -190 to win the series with the Rockets the underdog at +167.
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Depending on length of KD injury, his injury also raises the legit possibility of the Nuggets making the Finals.
This series is the best of any of the NBA playoffs thus far. Let these guys play each other until next fall.
Watching, and listening to Lillard, reinforces my notion of wishing Kyrie good fortune on the Knicks
Can we please keep the Kyrie slander to the other thread? And if you get your wish, get ready for the Celtics being involved in none of these rounds of the playoffs going forward...
Already got that result. But let's back it off and just appreciate Dame's skillset
Fair enough. I love Lillard but Dames don't grow on trees. And to be clear, the C's won't sniff the second round and may not even make the dance if they let Irving walk.