NBA next- The Lebron-less playoffs?

[DanteGabriel]

I knew the Celtics were going to bounce back, especially with Smart and Horford coming back, but I didn't expect that.

[Proudfeet]

19 hours ago, Maithanet said:

Sure, but how much of the Mavs win was Dallas playing well and how much was the Suns underachieving?  Because that is what it looked like to me.  The Suns were shooting ice cold, turning the ball over and playing much worse D than they did all season. Ayton got benched in game 7 because he was jogging on a closeout.  How often do you see a team with genuinely poor effort in a game 7?  It's basically unheard of. 

I'm not saying that the Mavs will win, just that it won't be particularly surprising if they do and it might actually be close.

The Suns were the model of consistency in the regular season after a slow start, while the Warriors haven't looked particularly hot after the All-Star break. Curry's form has dropped since he was trying for the record, Klay's been out for two years, Poole has been more subdued since being a sub and their nice passing occasionally goes out of sync and turn into turnovers. They only pulled out that last game against Memphis because of their defense and an absurd amount of offensive rebounds.

Dallas might not have that same ceiling as the other teams do, but they have been trending upwards and just finding some consistency might be enough to get them by the Warriors. 

That game 7 was perplexing. It definitely was the Suns underachieving, but it shouldn't have gone to a game 7 in the first place. I managed to catch it from the end of the second quarter onwards to try and see what they were doing to Chris Paul that kept him contained after game 2, but it wasn't like the Mavs were doing anything special on defense from what I can tell.

[Maithanet]

1 hour ago, Proudfeet said:

The Suns were the model of consistency in the regular season after a slow start, while the Warriors haven't looked particularly hot after the All-Star break. Curry's form has dropped since he was trying for the record, Klay's been out for two years, Poole has been more subdued since being a sub and their nice passing occasionally goes out of sync and turn into turnovers. They only pulled out that last game against Memphis because of their defense and an absurd amount of offensive rebounds.

Those offensive rebounds weren't just given away, GSW took them, from a strong rebounding team in Memphis.  And that's part of why this GSW team is so dangerous, is they can win with beautiful passing or with stunning shooting or with ugly grinding defense and rebounding. 

Quote

That game 7 was perplexing. It definitely was the Suns underachieving, but it shouldn't have gone to a game 7 in the first place. I managed to catch it from the end of the second quarter onwards to try and see what they were doing to Chris Paul that kept him contained after game 2, but it wasn't like the Mavs were doing anything special on defense from what I can tell.

Thinking Basketball did a clip on what the Mavericks did to turn around the series.  What they highlighted was they stopped allowing Booker/Paul to get ISOed vs Doncic, because he isn't quick enough for those guys.  Instead Doncic would flash and then recover way over to his man, and Phoenix couldn't punish this (GSW definitely can and did in game 1).  On the other end, they weren't able to take away Doncic's drives or passes, and thus were getting the worst of both worlds.  GSW in game 1 was much smarter in providing help on Doncic's drives to prevent open 3s.  Wiggins did a better job of staying in front of Doncic than anyone on Phoenix was doing, and Green playing free safety and fixing mistakes added up to a very frustrating game for the German superstar. 

Of course some games the shots will fall for Dallas - they take so many 3s they are extremely high variance.  I wouldn't be particularly surprised if they won game 2 tonight or really any individual game.  But that is what Dallas is relying on, and I don't think hot shooting will give them more than a game or two. 

[Wilbur]

3 hours ago, Proudfeet said:

...That game 7 was perplexing. It definitely was the Suns underachieving, but it shouldn't have gone to a game 7 in the first place. I managed to catch it from the end of the second quarter onwards to try and see what they were doing to Chris Paul that kept him contained after game 2, but it wasn't like the Mavs were doing anything special on defense from what I can tell.

Here is the excellent analysis Maithanet mentions of how the Mavs changed their defense to defeat the Suns by focusing the Suns into performing things they couldn't execute.

 

[Calibandar]

On 5/18/2022 at 2:49 AM, DMC said:

Probably yeah.  Totally fine with him or Smith though.

I'm very pleased the Thunder got that no.2 pick. Its going to mean either Chet or Smith falls into their hands and both seem excellent players who are a potentially great fit for this team. Banchero seems projected to go to Houston which will also be a great boost for them.

Will also be interesting to see where the second tier of guys like Sharpe, Ivey, Murray, Jovic, Davis goes. I hope one of these guys falls to 12 where OKC has their second pick.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Warriors showing they still have that death switch. But their lack of size will be even more problematic than Miami's if they face Boston in the Finals.

[DireWolfSpirit]

Games 3,4, and Six in Boston.

Miami is tasked with needing to win one of those road games to get the series to a 7th game. Winning at home for the 5th game alone won't salvage this for them, game 3 is almost a must win for these Heat.

[DireWolfSpirit]

"Will also be interesting to see where the second tier of guys like Sharpe, Ivey, Murray, Jovic, Davis goes. I hope one of these guys falls to 12 where OKC has their second pick."

^^^^^This is our position. The Pistons need a running mate for Cade, possibly Sharpe or Ivey, although Mathurin and Murray have been bandied about as possibilities.

A lot of fans want to ship Grant for Portland's 7th and then draft the best big available in that slot.

Shipping Grant would also create a very healthy cap space for us to use over either this ,or more likely, the next off-season when it's even clearer where we need the most help. 

[WarGalley]

Boston can’t make a shot for the life of them and are getting killed in the paint. It’s amazing how inconsistent and unpredictable they can be. One minute they look like they’re playing great basketball and the next, absolute trash. 
 

They have to be an absolute frustration of a team for the fanbase.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Who knew things could go differently if your 3 point % drops from 50% to <20%...

ETA: Smart is a zombie...

[DireWolfSpirit]

What was that steals discrepancy something like 19 to 2?

Miami had like 22 extra field goal attempts because Boston was unable to take care of the rock.

[Proudfeet]

On 5/21/2022 at 12:02 AM, Wilbur said:

Here is the excellent analysis Maithanet mentions of how the Mavs changed their defense to defeat the Suns by focusing the Suns into performing things they couldn't execute.

 

On 5/20/2022 at 10:37 PM, Maithanet said:

Instead Doncic would flash and then recover way over to his man, and Phoenix couldn't punish this

While this was true, and very apparent from the video and corroborates with the results, it's still quite a headscratcher how this was not only effective for five games, but also increasingly effective which resulted in that final game. A lot of the video was focused on Booker's playmaking but Paul was glossed over with maybe he's tired or injured and can't deal with a full court press in addition to being targeted on defense and is kind of a non-factor off the ball.

I feel like even if they don't target Doncic, they can find other ways of freeing Paul and Booker especially since both of them are comfortable in the mid range and don't have to take it all the way to the rim. 

__

Is it possible that Miami wins four games while also winning just four quarters? They're managed two games from two quarters already.

 

[Spockydog]

wrong thread

[Calibandar]

On 5/21/2022 at 9:08 PM, DireWolfSpirit said:

"Will also be interesting to see where the second tier of guys like Sharpe, Ivey, Murray, Jovic, Davis goes. I hope one of these guys falls to 12 where OKC has their second pick."

^^^^^This is our position. The Pistons need a running mate for Cade, possibly Sharpe or Ivey, although Mathurin and Murray have been bandied about as possibilities.

A lot of fans want to ship Grant for Portland's 7th and then draft the best big available in that slot.

Shipping Grant would also create a very healthy cap space for us to use over either this ,or more likely, the next off-season when it's even clearer where we need the most help. 

Based on position I would say Keegan Murray would be a nice fit given the pick position Detroit has available.

Ivey...that would be a great backcourt but is that not really introducing 2 real captains on one ship who want to direct the play? That seems not so likely to me. Sharpe makes a lot more sense.

Getting that 7 pick ( and then probably picking Duren looking at the mock drafts ) seems like a interesting idea. But it raises the question if Portland wants Grant when they too are rebuilding and may need a big to replace Nurkic.

[Calibandar]

Looks like Dallas is outgunned here. Another big game from Doncic but it just not enough.

[Maithanet]

3 hours ago, Calibandar said:

Looks like Dallas is outgunned here. Another big game from Doncic but it just not enough.

Yes.  Dallas just has too many holes to keep up with GSW. 

One funny thing is that following Washington sports, I heard a lot about the big trade of Porzingus for Dinwiddie and Bertans.  Dinwiddie has been great for Dallas, and good for him, he never really fit in Washington.  But the fact that Bertans is getting 12-15 minutes a night in the conference finals is a joke.  Bertans is not an NBA level player at any basketball skills except shooting.  He is a bad defender, terrible quickness, no handle, he's just not capable of keeping up with anybody.  All he can do is shoot.  And even that, it's not like he's a great shooter.  Some games he goes 5-7 in just 15 minutes like a perfect bench scorer, and sometimes he's 1 for 7 and a complete joke. 

Basically if a guy like Bertans is getting minutes, it says to me that Dallas is not a good enough team to win a championship (or a conference title).  As a halfhearted Wizards fan, I can tell you everybody was really happy to get him traded. 

[Proudfeet]

Hey, the Bucks won with Bryn Forbes. 

I think that besides the three point lottery, the Mavs are just unable to rebound. I guess its a trade off by design, but when you give your opponent that many shots, you really can't afford to have your own offense stall out.

I thought that the Warriors might give a couple of games away with their turnovers, but the Mavs missed their opportunity in game two and with today's results, don't seem to be getting many more chances.

[KingintheNorth4]

Every game in the East Finals has had a crazy dominant run so far. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Boston's size advantage is really starting to wear on the Heat.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Just 18 points for the Heats' starting lineup. The worse mark in over 50 years for a playoff game. Woof.