NBA Playoffs - Play In? PLAY-IN It Cool

[Proudfeet]

4 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Doncic and Mitchell are good, but they are also the only really dynamic offensive players on thier respective squads.  The jazz have a great defender in gobert, but his offense isn't special.  In the playoffs, good defensive teams like the clippers are supposed to be able to shut down or at least limit one dimensional teams. That is why the clippers are probably headed for another second round exit.

I don't think there's much you can do about people making improbable shots and those two players are going above and beyond. I agree that the Jazz aren't dynamic outside of Mitchell, with Clarkson being a streaky score first player, Bogdanovic trending passive and Conley if available, being old, but they have a good structure. They might rely on Mitchell to initiate and to bail them out, but otherwise, they rotate the ball well, force rotations and, well, are respectable enough. 

I don't know what you are expecting to be honest, holding the Jazz below a hundred? Give them some respect. The Jazz are an elite defensive team themselves, does that mean that everyone outside of Kawhi and George shouldn't score?

*Saying Gobert's offense isn't special is quite kind. He does his part and finishes well, but he depends heavily on Mitchell, Ingles and Conley to create for him. He has no post game, and there's a fifty percent chance of a turnover every time he puts the ball down.

[Maithanet]

54 minutes ago, Proudfeet said:

I don't know what you are expecting to be honest, holding the Jazz below a hundred? Give them some respect. The Jazz are an elite defensive team themselves, does that mean that everyone outside of Kawhi and George shouldn't score?

Well they're averaging 115 points a game, so I think expecting the Clippers D to do a bit better is pretty realistic.  If the Clippers were losing games 100-97, I wouldn't be emphasizing the defensive end.  The Jazz defense is too good to expect LAC to score 115+ against them four times.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Embiid keeps taking bad falls, and the one that just happened could have ended his season. Thankfully he got up pretty quick, but he can't sustain this.

ETA: Jesus, he fell awkwardly again. 

[Proudfeet]

7 hours ago, Maithanet said:

Well they're averaging 115 points a game, so I think expecting the Clippers D to do a bit better is pretty realistic.  If the Clippers were losing games 100-97, I wouldn't be emphasizing the defensive end.  The Jazz defense is too good to expect LAC to score 115+ against them four times.

These are two top three point shooting teams. The average is bound to edge higher barring a catastrophic drought for either team. 

Besides that, I meant to mention previously that Clarkson and Ingles finished top two for sixth man voting. I don't think they get close with their skillsets outside of the Jazz. They aren't just the one dimensional teams you were alluding to, even if they have only one standout player in Mitchell. The margin has been close enough both games that it could swing either way anyway. The Clippers have two stars, at some point you should expect them to just bulldoze the defense. Either that, or the Clippers are just outmatched/outcoached by the Jazz.

__

Seems like we're heading for the Green and Harris showdown in the East finals. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I feel bad for the Nuggets. This series would be so different if they had Murray.

[KingintheNorth4]

Paul George got tired of all the Pandemic P jokes.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Mitchell limping off the court. Without him Utah is toast.

ETA: Or welcome to the zombieverse, Donovan. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

The Nets could be in real trouble here if Kyrie is injured and Harden still can't go going forward.

[Maithanet]

Injuries constantly changing the complexion of this playoffs.  The nets have gone from world beaters to the injury ward. Im sure at least one of harden and Irving will come back, but will they be themselves?  That's the big question.

[DireWolfSpirit]

And all of a sudden it's anything but clear who is going to come out of the East. 

[Argonath Diver]

I very much dislike all three of the Nets stars, and would root against them whole heartedly. But I dislike injuries even worse. As per my earlier rant, this season is just as weird as the bubble season. Every conversation in the future regarding the 2021 season will be a bunch of "what if this guy wasn't hurt?". 

I'll keep watching  because the playoffs have always been a vastly better viewing experience than the regular season, worse than any other sport. But, man, I feel like every playoff narrative is the What If stuff, and it's absolutely accurate. 

[WarGalley]

Yeah the tables turned real quick in the Bucks and Nets series. I thought the Nets might still be able to pull it off today with Kyrie out but they just looked lackluster and I didn't see much inspiration from Durant despite his double double. He is just not a leader.

Chris Paul looking good in the first half. If they beat out the Nuggets, I may be rooting for the Suns all the way just so he gets a chip before retirement.

5 minutes ago, Argonath Diver said:

I'll keep watching  because the playoffs have always been a vastly better viewing experience than the regular season, worse than any other sport. 

Uhh what? Baseball has the widest differential in entertainment between the playoffs and the regular season imo. It's much slower, with more in-play stops and games than football, basketball and hockey. Unless you're going to the actual ballgame, it's hard to care about tomorrow's game from team X and especially so in the first 4 innings.

[Proudfeet]

Paul's just getting to the same spot and hitting the it over and over again. 

Jokic out now. Game over?

[DireWolfSpirit]

First of all im pulling for the Sun's in the series. But ejecting the MVP with a flagrant 2 on that play is utter bullshit. Flagrant 1 would be appropriate but the decision to upsell that call is deplorable. 

I wouldn't blame the team for walking off in solidarity over such out of control officiating. Imo it was a hard foul end of story.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Jokic getting ejected was such bullshit. Personally I'd suspend Payne for a game for that acting job.

[Wilbur]

The worst part about the Suns-Nuggets game was that we were subjected to Reggie Miller's color commentary.

RM - "Jokic got all ball."

RM two minutes later - "That is clearly a Flagrant Foul."

RM at all times - "I like to talk constantly to hear the sound of my own voice, even though I add nothing to the viewing experience, and viewers subjected to my voice over long periods of time suffer from reduced IQs."

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

11 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

The worst part about the Suns-Nuggets game was that we were subjected to Reggie Miller's color commentary.

RM - "Jokic got all ball."

RM two minutes later - "That is clearly a Flagrant Foul."

RM at all times - "I like to talk constantly to hear the sound of my own voice, even though I add nothing to the viewing experience."

Just goes to show about anyone can do the job. 

[Proudfeet]

11 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

The worst part about the Suns-Nuggets game was that we were subjected to Reggie Miller's color commentary.

RM - "Jokic got all ball."

RM two minutes later - "That is clearly a Flagrant Foul."

RM at all times - "I like to talk constantly to hear the sound of my own voice, even though I add nothing to the viewing experience, and viewers subjected to my voice over long periods of time suffer from reduced IQs."

It depends on the angle of camera though, doesn't it. His hands got the ball, his arm got the face. Its not immediately clear from the side, but you can see it from the front.

I think the point of contention is the difference between a flagrant one and two and whether a two was appropriate and not whether he was hit.

[DireWolfSpirit]

You have to consider both players are moving at NBA gamespeed, accidents happen. I mean it's not as if Joker was purposedely trying to hit the guy in the face, he was clearly going for the ball. 

Shitty call to eject the guy and make it a situation where the refs are deciding the game instead of the players in competition.

Anywho water over the bridge, the Sun's are going to the finals after playing brilliantly all series.

[Proudfeet]

I looked it up and remarkably, there isn't much to differentiate between the two. Copying from wikipedia, a Flagrant 1 is "unnecessary contact committed by a player against an opponent" and a Flagrant 2 is "unnecessary and excessive contact committed by a player against an opponent."

The only difference is the inclusion of the word excessive, which to be frank, could very well be a synonym for unnecessary. Going by that, I can see how this hit is a flagrant two, but most other hits previously ruled as flagrant ones would also qualify. 

Regardless, the vice president of replay or whatever his job title was completely worthless, repeating verbatim or almost verbatim what the referee announced instead of explaining the difference. We heard the referee the first time, we don't need a repeat.