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NBA Finals 2019: Can the Raptors Claw Out a Win?


Maithanet

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24 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Clearly contenders if healthy - Warriors, Rockets, Bucks, Raptors

I know you qualified for health, but there’s a good chance the Warriors don’t even make the playoffs next year.

17 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Here comes Portland's championship window!

Speaking of the injured, in hindsight, that injury really was brutal for you guys.

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13 minutes ago, Triskele said:

Is there a best case scenario where Durant could play next season come playoff time?  

If you're asking about recovery time, yes, it's possible:

Quote

Durant's recovery clock started Wednesday. That average recovery period would have him returning to game action on March 19, 2020. For reference, the Warriors played the final 12 games of their 2018-19 regular-season schedule after March 19 this year.

So, yes, it's possible Durant could play in an NBA game next regular season. But, as we know, no two bodies are the same, and recovery times vary from individual to individual. Typically, the track record for players returning from Achilles injury has been better for smaller types, and less so for big men. 

 

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Strange and potentially scandalous (one way or the other) story coming out of the Bay Area in the aftermath of that game: Alameda County sheriff's deputy who was courtside accuses Masai Ujiri of hitting him when trying to get on the court for the celebration without his ID, and then an update with a fan saying the cop is lying.

There's footage of a definite confrontation between Ujiri and a cop, and Kyle Lowry of all people coming in to pull Ujiri away and into the celebration.

https://deadspin.com/alameda-county-sheriffs-office-wants-to-charge-raptors-1835519259

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19 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

Assuming KD signs a 4 year deal, there's next to no way any team is playing him next year.

If he thinks he's ready by the playoffs and the team thinks his return could give them a chance to win a title, I'd say there's next to no way the team doesn't play him next year.  There will be immense pressure from that team's fanbase to do so.

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1 hour ago, Triskele said:

Is there a best case scenario where Durant could play next season come playoff time?  

He's likely going to the Knicks, which means they'll probably tank out the year and red shirt him.

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1 hour ago, Jaime L said:

Yeah but it's so tough to say where we stand now. The Raptors probably fall out as a contender if they lose Kawhi. Celtics probably aren't one in my mind unless they make a big move with Kyrie likely to leave. But if the Lakers get AD, they become one. And depending where Kawhi goes, that could be another one.

There's a good chance KD, Kawhi, AD, Kyrie, Chris Paul all change teams. Perhaps Butler, Beal, Conley, Kemba, Harris too. 

 

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

I know you qualified for health, but there’s a good chance the Warriors don’t even make the playoffs next year.

 

I was referring to this year that just finished, on the assumption that we had a Durant-less Warriors.  Predicting next year is impossible at this point.  We could have one superteam or three almost-superteams, or a bunch of parity where nobody knows much of anything till midseason.  

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5 hours ago, Maithanet said:

I don't know about that.  The Warriors had Durant for three playoff years.  The first year they rolled everybody and only lost one game all playoffs.  Yes, they would have lost game 1 to the Spurs if not for injury, but I'm EXTREMELY skeptical that the Spurs would have actually been a true test over the whole series.  The second year they rolled everybody except the Rockets, who maybe (but by no means certainly) could have closed them out in game 7 if they'd had Paul.  But they didn't, and they lost.  This year the Rockets were not nearly as close, they didn't have home court advantage and got eliminated at home to a Durant-less Warriors squad.  I have no patience for the idea that the Warriors are worse with Durant than without, instead I think it's just that the Warriors figured the Rockets out and would have dispatched them even more easily if they'd had Durant.  The Raptors would have given the Warriors a good series, but it's hard to come away thinking that the Raptors emerge victories over 7 games.  The one quarter they had Durant they looked like the better team (really the only time I would say that in the whole series). 

So really, you have two series in three years that had a real possibility of defeating a healthy Warriors.  Of those, one got derailed by the Chris Paul injury so we'll never really know.  The other got derailed by the injury to Durant, so we'll never really know. 

The Rockets could have closed then out in 6 last year. Paul got hurt in game 6. Houston was up 3-2 at the time. And in a series which the official league recount sYs ref errors gave GSW 8 ppg, including one of the worst officiated games in history. If you’ll recall Durant out-of-bounds stroll in full view of at least 2 refs with Houston up and seconds on the clock left? That’s a pretty strong ‘could’. This determinism after the fact always annoys me...in sports and fiction.

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10 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Psh, stop. Last month you were excited by the idea of getting Kyrie, Durant and either Zion or AD. As was every Knicks fan alive.

We need to put this nonsense to bed. Literally every fan of a team would love what the Warriors did if it happened to your team. Quit being mad that another team was smarter and demand that your team catch up.

Seriously, go back and read the thread. 

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I feel like the NBA is in a much better place. The landscape looks very improved and from the ashes of a crushed dynasty real competitive races begin anew.

If fans want to see a 75-5 team they can go watch the Globetrotters vs the Patsies,  but for the NBA, competitive teams are what brings the most out of the game.

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4 hours ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

I feel like the NBA is in a much better place. The landscape looks very improved and from the ashes of a crushed dynasty real competitive races begin anew.

If fans want to see a 75-5 team they can go watch the Globetrotters vs the Patsies,  but for the NBA, competitive teams are what brings the most out of the game.

For regular fans. Casual fans are attracted to dynasties. Which one do you suppose the league worries about more?

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I t think the league cares most about its East/West Coast fanbase. Anything that upsets the league's neat little applecart I actually think strengthens the league so screw the league's wishes. Perfect finals for me will be two small market teams, TV money is not supposed to buy foregone conclusions, the games still need to get decided on the court or what's the point really.

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2 hours ago, James Arryn said:

For regular fans. Casual fans are attracted to dynasties. Which one do you suppose the league worries about more?

Given the slap on the wrist that the NBA hands out for collusion, seems obvious.  All they care about is making money.

That said, the ratings dropped quite a bit this year, especially in the East.  That might get their attention.

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You probably don’t see the video from Toronto, but the downtown area is wall to wall people. Crowd estimate is 2 million. Subway stops have been shut down because there is no where for people to go after they get off the train.

Sadly, I’m in Chicago, leaving later today, but we are watching the live feed on our cell phones. Mind you, I would not have gone downtown for the parade, better to watch from a distance!

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15 minutes ago, Fragile Bird said:

You probably don’t see the video from Toronto, but the downtown area is wall to wall people. Crowd estimate is 2 million. Subway stops have been shut down because there is no where for people to go after they get off the train.

Sadly, I’m in Chicago, leaving later today, but we are watching the live feed on our cell phones. Mind you, I would not have gone downtown for the parade, better to watch from a distance!

You’re fluttering in the wrong thread, BIRD!

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