NBA PLAYOFFS cont'd - Riders on the Storm

[DireWolfSpirit]

1 hour ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

None of those teams can hold a candle to this Thunder team. The point is, you can only beat the team that is put in front of you. The Clippers should've finished off the Rockets last season. They choked away a 30 point lead in Game 6. That wasn't the Warriors fault. The Spurs probably should've handled the Clips prior to that. And it's the Warriors fault that the Cavs couldn't stay healthy? So tired of that narrative. This Warriors-Thunder series has been the most evenly matched series in this playoffs, and the Warriors just took back homecourt in Game 6 from a team that would crush anyone in the East outside of the Cavs. Put it to bed, please.

The Thunder only went 3-3 against those teams in head to head play this year, if we include Cleveland in the equation then the Thunder went 3-5 in head to head with those teams (+Cle) for the season. I'll wait for the finals to see who prevails this year, i'm not convinced either of these Western squads will beat Cleveland till I see it happen on the floor.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

8 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

The Thunder only went 3-3 against those teams in head to head play this year, if we include Cleveland in the equation then the Thunder went 3-5 in head to head with those teams (+Cle) for the season. I'll wait for the finals to see who prevails this year, i'm not convinced either of these Western squads will beat Cleveland till I see it happen on the floor.

Oh yeah, I'm not questioning the potency of the Cavs. I think they will likely give either of these two teams all they can handle in the Finals. I'm just tired of hearing that the Warriors haven't earned their ring. Yes, they had a desirable path to the Championship last season. Thing is, they came back and won more regular season games than any team in history the very next season. 

[Relic]

Zero chance of OKC winning game 7. They gave it a good shot, but they are missing something.  

[Calibandar]

8 hours ago, David Selig said:

I suspected this would happen once the Thunder reverted to the idiotic "Walk the ball slowly upcourt, then waste another 6-7 seconds seconds trying to force the ball to Durant in a tough spot, then watch him completely ignore his teammates and force a bad shot" mode. Same thing happened over and over again in the regular season.

Donovan should have given KD and Westbrook a few more minutes of rest, both looked exhausted in the last 5-6 minutes. All the more reason not to play so dumb, but alas...

OKC played a fantastic game overall and so did Golden State.

This has been a massive slugfest. I didn't get to see game 5 but apparently that too was a rollercoaster and that was the game where I said at the time, OKC needs to close this out now, in 5, or lose the series.

It will happen like that I'm afraid. I just knew they were going to cough up this sixth game, I knew it, I dreaded it, I didn't even want to say anything about out of sheer superstition, and of course, it happens anyway.

Where does it go wrong?

1) With Durant continuing to shoot poorly this series. This continues to stick out like a sore thumb every game. OKC are winning despite his poor shooting percentages.

2) It goes wrong because Thompson and Curry are suddenly making the incredible shots they could not make before.

3) It goes wrong because in that final quarter when the Thunder where up by 8 points, they reverted back to hero ball, iso plays for Durant, which pretty much consistently didn't go anywhere because Durant isn't at his best this series.

4) Between them, Russell, Durant and Ibaka were 1-19 from the 3 point line today. Yeah, that is awful guys.

Anyway, deeply disappointed. Let's all hope at least Jaime had a good night out because he missed an incredible game.

I am hoping against hope that the Thunder play a massive game in game 7. It can be done, the games are a close affair and it could still go either way.

However my instinct tells me that Golden State wins this, and then takes the Cavs in the finals, which means even more smugness on the shit faces of Draymond Green and Stephen Curry.

[Calibandar]

And on another note, someone from OKC should really explain why they play the iso ball.

It doesn't work. It's what got you killed so many times before, it's why Brooks was criticized so severely, because it makes it look as if OKC doesn't have an offensive plan at all. Watch Russ bring the ball up and drive to the basket or jumper; or, give the ball to Durant, who will hit it it 3 times out of 10 in that situation. There is no flow to it whatsoever.

Now I understand the series has been so close because likewise, Golden State has been having it's own huge problems.

3 point shot upon which they rely entirely not falling, yeah, that will cost even them a game.

Green being an idiot. None of the 3 centers they bring in really work well against Adams or Ibaka. They have their issues.

But surely OKC's issues is the constipated offense that they use at the end there. In addition to that there may be a mental issue as well with giving 4th quarter leads, as Rhom pointed out.

P.S. A special word of praise for Steven Adams posterizing Draymond Green in the most glorious fashion. Ouch!!

[Fez]

Fantastic game. Seattle's curse (which I prefer to that Lil'B stuff) lives on. I never believed the Warriors would win, not until that Curry layup at the end; even with Thompson playing great all game and Curry getting going in the 3rd. And now I'm pretty confident that they take Game 7; though I won't say 100%.

Really hoping for a Warriors win, that way I can relax during the finals, appreciate (hopefully) great basketball, and be fine with either team winning. Because if OKC wins, I'd have to actually get emotionally invested and be rooting for Cleveland hard.

[Maithanet]

It was a great game.  If the Thunder were hitting their 3s at anything like a normal rate, they have an insurmountable lead in the 4th.  But they weren't, and thus were never able to truly pull away from GSW.  And then in the final six minutes, Durant and Westbrook looked gassed, and they reverted back to the "clogged toilet offense", which works about as well as you'd expect. 

GSW took it up a notch when they needed it most.  If they had played as well as they did in any of games 1-5, they lose.  But they found the Game Genie at the final moment, and were able to steal it.  I was rooting for OKC because I like rooting against hubris, but I think they are out of magic.  In the unlikely event that they did beat GSW in 7, they are emotionally spent, and I think the Cavs would roll them. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 I wish I was as confident as you guys that this is going to be a foregone conclusion. This Thunder team is nasty as hell, and I expect them to play well with their backs against the wall. I think this is going to be a classic Game 7 that could go either way. 

[Relic]

1 hour ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 I wish I was as confident as you guys that this is going to be a foregone conclusion. This Thunder team is nasty as hell, and I expect them to play well with their backs against the wall. I think this is going to be a classic Game 7 that could go either way. 

Nah, this was OKC's series in 6, no way they win it in 7. It's probably going to result in a blowout which will have GS riding into the Finals with their mojo back. Sad. 

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

3 minutes ago, Relic said:

Nah, this was OKC's series in 6, no way they win it in 7. It's probably going to result in a blowout which will have GS riding into the Finals with their mojo back. Sad. 

I don't think it's so cut and dried. The Warriors certainly have the advantage and momentum here, but the Thunder have shown that they match up extremely well with Golden State. I don't see a blowout here on either side. Both teams have been exerting maximum effort  over these last two games. I don't see either of them going out like that.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 For @Red Tiger cause I know he loves this meme so much...

 

[briantw]

10 hours ago, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

Oh yeah, I'm not questioning the potency of the Cavs. I think they will likely give either of these two teams all they can handle in the Finals. I'm just tired of hearing that the Warriors haven't earned their ring. Yes, they had a desirable path to the Championship last season. Thing is, they came back and won more regular season games than any team in history the very next season. 

I don't think anyone is saying they didn't earn their ring.  A ring is a ring.  However, to deny that they got incredibly lucky with their match-ups last year and with convenient injuries to opponents would be naive. 

[Fez]

1 hour ago, Relic said:

Nah, this was OKC's series in 6, no way they win it in 7. It's probably going to result in a blowout which will have GS riding into the Finals with their mojo back. Sad. 

I'm pretty confident the Warriors will win, but the Thunder are too good to just write off and they've already won in GS this series. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

From reading the other posters and from listening to most of the NBA commenters on the TNT telecast, there seems to be a pretty good consensus over how poorly OKC shot selection was in the second half. The iso ball and poor 3pt shooting just did them in. Durant looked like a kid at the local Y who just never passes the ball cuz ya know hes such a stud an all.

Made me curious about the stats of the guys Durant and Westbrook are refusing to move the ball to?

Out of players who have averaged double figures or more minutes (10.00 mins) in the 2016 playoffs, I noticed this from REAL GM (http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/playoffs/team/NBA/0/stats/2016/Averages/All/fg_pct/All/desc/1/Playoffs)

Adams ranked 9th in FG% at .640 (Durant and Westbrook cant be bothered to pass him the ball)

Kanter ranked 18th in FG% at .550 (Durant and Westbrook cant be bothered to pass him the ball)

Ibaka ranked 23rd in FG% at .526 (Durant and Westbook cant be bothered to pass him the ball)

Robeson ranked 30th in FG% at .507 (You got it, Durant and Westbrook cant be bothered to pass him the ball either)

So who does Durant and Westbrook pass the ball to? They pass it to each other apparently.

Durant ranked 97th in FG% at .425

Westbrook ranked 101st in FG% at .409

Now a lot of excuses can be offered but my eyes ( nor the rest of the worlds) werent lying, that offense will have to make the extra pass (WERE TALKING TO YOU DURANT!!) and the role players will need to move without the ball and diversify the shot selection if OKC wants to have any shot at competing in this 7th game.

Obviously the " Hero Ball B.S." is getting called out and deservedely so imo.

Oh by the way, and speaking of facilitating-

Lebron ranked 19th in FG% at .546

So dont give me the excuse that its because Durant has to have so many touches or has difficult shots or tuff D, because Lebron has to face all those exact same situations

[Jaime L]

Holy fuck, Klay Thompson. Was able to turn it on right when he started his 4th quarter barrage. An easy dude to forget because he's like 90% of Curry most of the time. But he's been better than Curry in this series and singlehandedly saved their title chances with that 4th quarter. Curry made a couple daggers at the end but they never would have gotten to that point if it wasn't Klay making impossibly big 3 after impossibly big 3 whenever the game was drifting away from them. That is one dead-eyed assassin. Klay Thompson is the only player who looks exactly like the video game version of himself at all times. 

Also Igoudala again shows to be one of those guys every title team needs. Those two defensive plays down the stretch and that layup was unbelievably clutch. He's the ultimate bigger than the box score guy.

I would've given the Warriors a 30% chance of winning the series coming into game 6. Now I give the Thunder about the same chance which is crazy. Can't write off any team that has 2 of the 5 best players in the league but that was a stomach punch loss at home, a game it felt like they had in hand multiple times even in the 4th quarter. Tough to fight the sense of inevitability now but what helps is having a crazy person in Russell Westbrook who assuredly doesn't give a fuck and this guy who might actually be the goddamn joker. 

Predicted the series would go 7 but did not see it unfolding it this way. And as unpredictable as this series has been, I wouldn't rule out any possibility for game 7. 

[Calibandar]

1 hour ago, Jaime L said:

Tough to fight the sense of inevitability now but what helps is having a crazy person in Russell Westbrook who assuredly doesn't give a fuck and this guy who might actually be the goddamn joker. 

 

Hahaha, he looks awesome

[sperry]

That was brutal.  Thunder dominated that game all the way through, only to let some hot shooting massive choking give the game away.

 

I honestly believe that either Kevin Durant or Steph Curry is going to have a virtuoso performance, and that player's team is going to win going away. Both have had extremely weak offensive series, and both are way too good for that to continue.

[Manhole Eunuchsbane]

 The thing that sticks with me is that I honestly think the Thunder have been the better team for the majority of this series. Their problem seems to lie in the fact that for various stretches of the game, their two superstars decide that they are the team. It even extends to the postgame pressers when those two take the podium together. I have to imagine that dynamic gets pretty tired for their teammates. 

[Calibandar]

I think a small difference may also be that if Curry and Thompson are both on fire, they are unstoppable as a team simply due to the vast amount of 3 points shots and the way it demoralizes an opponent. If Westbrook and Durant are on fire, the team is nearly unstoppable. They can be awesome together and still lose the game. You don't really see GS lose any games when both of their stars are feeling it.

[sperry]

Disagree.  The only game that Westbrook and Durant both played good games for them was game 3, which was a the massacre game. Durant in particular has been a trainwreck.  When they both play well this team is better than any team in the league. Durant just hasn't been able to get it going all season, and don't let the inflated regular season numbers fool you. He hasn't been the player he's been in the past.

 

Game 6, for example, Durant was awful and Westbrook was mediocre.  And the Thunder still led the entire way and still could have pulled it out had they not melted down in the final 2 minutes.