The enemy of the Lakers is my friend. The NBA finals thread.

Sam Ray Not

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Agree with that. I wonder if Davis' injury played any part in him not springing for that pass. In the moment that long rebound Horryfied me (2002 WC Finals) just as Davis's earlier putback on the airball gave me Artest flashbacks (2010 WC Finals)
Don’t forget the Bosh offensive rebound off the LeBron brick at the end of Game 6 2013 — without which The King is now 2-7 in his nine Finals appearances.
 

Sam Ray Not

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I completely understand why fans focus on a single sequence and especially the last play. But Morris' errant pass was really no more damaging than KCP's five missed threes, Kuzma going 0-4 from deep or a number of Laker misplays from earlier in the game.

It was a one possession game. By definition, every make and miss was meaningful from start to finish.

Again, I understand that the end of games carries more pressure for the players. However, that actually is an argument that missed easier looks earlier are more costly given the overall lower pressure nature.

What the Heat are doing as a team is remarkable. Its not just talent - they are playing great team basketball.
KCP was 3-8 from three for the game, which is pretty normal for him. Seems pretty natural to pay a bit more attention to one possession that could have ended with the Lakers’ 17th all-time Championship than to a 35% three-point shooter missing five of eight.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

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DannyDarwinism

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Honestly, I don't know how they just ignore this. It is 100% worthy of suspension.

Hey, if it helps set up a Game 7...
Yeah, I retract the “won’t happen”. I’d still be (pleasantly) surprised, but it is a blatant, intentional, closed-fist strike to the face. They have to address it and it should be a suspension. If the roles were reversed, Jae would be sitting for game six.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Question for docs: is it remotely possible to play basketball on a torn plantar fascia? Seems weird to me that they keep announcing Dragic’s status before each game rather than just declaring him out for the series.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Of course Davis is getting suspended. Adam Silver and his marketing team are sitting right at the intersection of preparation and opportunity. They will not left this gift, which significantly increases the odds of a game seven, get away from them imo.
 

DannyDarwinism

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Does the NBA suspend for an after-the-game missed flagrant 2?

IMO suspending him now smacks of orchestrating a more probable G7.

AD may get a fine
IMO bucking precedent by not suspending him smacks of favoritism, or at least an unreasonable concern for optics when a suspension is completed justified.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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KCP was 3-8 from three for the game, which is pretty normal for him. Seems pretty natural to pay a bit more attention to one possession that could have ended with the Lakers’ 17th all-time Championship than to a 35% three-point shooter missing five of eight.
But those other misses were just as big in the same context. The math doesn't lie.

To me it illustrates how crucial converting easy looks and bunnies are in these games. And when you don't, you know the later looks are likely to be so much harder and result in broken plays like Kieff's. It really underscores the difference between these games and those in early rounds as well as the regular season.
 

HowBoutDemSox

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They can retroactively assign a flagrant, which they already did once to AD in the Houston series. If he exceeds three points worth of flagrants during the postseason (one point per flagrant 1, two points per flagrant 2), it's an automatic suspension (which is what happened with Draymond in 2016, of course, not just the one nut shot to LeBron). Did he have any other flagrants during this postseason? I don't recall any but I didn't watch every Lakers game. Even if he gets a retroactive flagrant 2 from this one, I think he's still a point short of an automatic suspension. But if he gets one during Game 6, he'd be out for Game 7.
 

ElUno20

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Granted ive only followed the finals through this forum, but how did that get missed?

They spend hours reviewing meaningless calls and miss that?
 

radsoxfan

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Question for docs: is it remotely possible to play basketball on a torn plantar fascia? Seems weird to me that they keep announcing Dragic’s status before each game rather than just declaring him out for the series.
It's possible to play, a lot of it is a pain tolerance issue. The surgical treatment for some plantar fascia problems is to basically tear the fascia and loosen everything up.

If he has an acute full thickness tear (seems likely) there will be a ton of swelling and blood in there still. I'm not surprised he can't really play, but they are holding out hope the pain will subside enough he can give it a go soon. No great way to predict.

I doubt he's really at risk to any long term worsening at that site, though of course playing through a ton of pain and altering your gait does put you at risk for other injuries.
 

Euclis20

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I'm very surprised that Crowder didn't really react. He's generally somewhat of a hothead, and that probably would have led to a review and a flagrant call.
Two possibilities: He may have been a bit dazed from the hit (and he does seem to recover a bit slowly), or he may have thought it was a completely incidental hit from one of the players running by him (it looked like his back was to Davis, didn't know it was him) and not worth reacting to.
 

DannyDarwinism

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They can retroactively assign a flagrant, which they already did once to AD in the Houston series. If he exceeds three points worth of flagrants during the postseason (one point per flagrant 1, two points per flagrant 2), it's an automatic suspension (which is what happened with Draymond in 2016, of course, not just the one nut shot to LeBron). Did he have any other flagrants during this postseason? I don't recall any but I didn't watch every Lakers game. Even if he gets a retroactive flagrant 2 from this one, I think he's still a point short of an automatic suspension. But if he gets one during Game 6, he'd be out for Game 7.
Right, but that’s just for the automatic suspensions based off of the point system. The league also has discretion to suspend, and a punch is supposed to be an automatic ejection.
 

bankshot1

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IMO bucking precedent by not suspending him smacks of favoritism, or at least an unreasonable concern for optics when a suspension is completed justified.
It should have been called in real-time vut as it wasn't called in real-time, and the Heat never asked for a review of the play, it smells like the NBA fixing G6 to set-up G7.

Give AD a fine and make it clear he's lost the benefit of the doubt for questionable high contact in G6.
 

DannyDarwinism

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It should have been called in real-time vut as it wasn't called in real-time, and the Heat never asked for a review of the play, it smells like the NBA fixing G6 to set-up G7.

Give AD a fine and make it clear he's lost the benefit of the doubt for questionable high contact in G6.
There’s absolutely nothing “questionable” about that. Typically when refs miss an ejection-worthy closed-fist strike, the guy is suspended for the next game, at least in the regular season. I can’t think of any playoff analogs.

Edit- duh, JR Smith was suspended two games for the back-handed, closed-fist swipe a Crowder himself in the Cavs-Celtics in the Cavs first round sweep, though I don’t remember if JR had prior flagrants or if it was league discretion.
 
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bankshot1

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There’s absolutely nothing “questionable” about that. Typically when refs miss an ejection-worthy closed-fist strike, the guy is suspended for the next game, at least in the regular season. I can’t think of any playoff analogs.
I didn't call AD's punch questionable. I said he loses the BoD for anything "questionable" going forward.

I think suspending him now is a shitty after the fact make-up call. And poor precedent. IMO to do so after the fact smells like the fix is in to orchestrate a 7th game.

It wasn't called in real-time it wasn't asked to be reviewed.

Should the Heat also get 2 FTs and possession to start G6?

Fine him and attach such wording that puts him on very thin ice.
 

djbayko

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It should have been called in real-time vut as it wasn't called in real-time, and the Heat never asked for a review of the play, it smells like the NBA fixing G6 to set-up G7.

Give AD a fine and make it clear he's lost the benefit of the doubt for questionable high contact in G6.
Calls get missed in real time, and everyone knows this. I don't think it would smell like game fixing because the hit is right there on video for everyone to see. Lakers fans would whine, for sure. Not treating it consistent with similar incidents would be far worse.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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There’s absolutely nothing “questionable” about that. Typically when refs miss an ejection-worthy closed-fist strike, the guy is suspended for the next game, at least in the regular season. I can’t think of any playoff analogs.
View: https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1315017053808582658?s=19


JR was suspended the first two games of the 2015 2nd round vs the Cs. I had forgotten about this as well.

One of these things is not like the other of course but I cannot see the NBA letting this pass. It checks so many boxes at once that it really would be a wasted opportunity to extend the series, squelch or at least slow the narrative that the league is in the bag for James and aslo reinforce the idea that they try to get this stuff right generally.
 

DannyDarwinism

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I didn't call AD's punch questionable. I said he loses the BoD for anything "questionable" going forward.

I think suspending him now is a shitty after the fact make-up call. And poor precedent. IMO to do so after the fact smells like the fix is in to orchestrate a 7th game.

It wasn't called in real-time it wasn't asked to be reviewed.

Should the Heat also get 2 FTs and possession to start G6?

Fine him and attach such wording that puts him on very thin ice.
Lol, and think failing to follow an already-established precedent because your worried about how things “smell” to people who don’t pay much attention to how these things usually work is bad policy and weak leadership.

Dejesus- yeah, I caught that after. He was also kicked out of the game, in addition the two games. Plus JR was suspended for an elbow to Jason Terry’s face in the playoffs a couple of years earlier.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7wxjCKeME
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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There is a joke in here somewhere about JR suspensions actually helping LeBron but I don't have it.

Let's see how Silver plays this. The Lakers and their fans would clearly be livid. However its pretty cut a dried - bad act (a deliberate attempt to strike another player), which often results in a suspension and it was caught from multiple angles after the fact.

You can make the case that the cost of not suspending Davis is far greater to the NBA too. I think he sits next game but its not a lock.
 

bankshot1

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Lol, and think failing to follow an already-established precedent because your worried about how things “smell” to people who don’t pay much attention to how these things usually work is bad policy and weak leadership.

Dejesus- yeah, I caught that after. He was also kicked out of the game, in addition the two games. Plus JR was suspended for an elbow to Jason Terry’s face in the playoffs a couple of years earlier.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3W7wxjCKeME
We disagree.
 

ElUno20

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It's like past midday in Florida. Nothing's happening. I doubt they even looked at it.
 

joe dokes

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Two possibilities: He may have been a bit dazed from the hit (and he does seem to recover a bit slowly), or he may have thought it was a completely incidental hit from one of the players running by him (it looked like his back was to Davis, didn't know it was him) and not worth reacting to.
I think he knew ..... He was holding davis' foot in the crook of his knee.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Wow. I had that one wrong.

I see the obvious but I also wonder if the NBA kind of wants to just get on with things with as little controversy as possible given the overall climate.
 

ElUno20

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Well when the heat are down 20 in the 4th tomorrow, a few guys should just start punching people in the face. What an asinine and insulting statement to anyone with eyes.
 

BaseballJones

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If Davis isn’t 100% he very well may. Incredible how this series has turned around.
I don't think it's "turned around" yet. I think Miami got an incredible effort to barely stave off elimination in a game that the Lakers totally didn't "need" to win. If Miami wins game 6...well then...that's different.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I don't think it's "turned around" yet. I think Miami got an incredible effort to barely stave off elimination in a game that the Lakers totally didn't "need" to win. If Miami wins game 6...well then...that's different.
The Davis injury alone is what I feel turned this into a series and not necessarily the fact that it is 3-2 as you are correct that the Lakers kinda coasted when having 2 games in their pocket this series. The Lakers may be worse off with Dsvia out there hobbling. Without Davis this is Jordan without Pippen, Kobe without Shaq, etc.
 

BigSoxFan

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I would just like to congratulate the Lakers for their championship.

We all know they aren’t blowing a 3-1 Finals lead to the Miami Heat. Nobody has ever done that in the history of the NBA. Just isn’t happening.
 

TripleOT

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I would just like to congratulate the Lakers for their championship.

We all know they aren’t blowing a 3-1 Finals lead to the Miami Heat. Nobody has ever done that in the history of the NBA. Just isn’t happening.
LeBron has never ever seen a team lose the championship after being up 3-1. Plus, teams in the Western Conference with a 3-1 advantage always get that 4th win, especially in the bubble.
 

JohnnyTheBone

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So, no repercussions for an outright punch to the face? A suspension of disbelief is required to watch NBA basketball, but this is beyond the pale. What a farce. Just go ahead and name Lebron the Commissioner and get on with it.
 

scottyno

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good to know the rule about elbowing guys in the fact on drives doesn't apply to lebron either
 

PedroKsBambino

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I think when he walked over to Spoelstra he literally must have said “it’s LeBron”

All playoffs that was called