2019 NBA Playoffs thread

Kyle Lowry makes his first two FGAs for 5 early points. That's a good sign. He's been pretty awful on offense for the last two games, and they need him to function well if they want a good chance.

Embiid has been woeful so far tonight

Some of these calls are ridiculous.

Gasol got called for an illegal screen, when they hadn't called an illegal screen all game
Embiid got called for a travel when it was just his usual hesitation
Kawhi got called for a foul when he didn't even touch the guy

Jesus refs...

Holy Christ, Kawhi is too good

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Holy Christ, Kawhi is too good

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Kawhi with Davis and Jrue would be awesome. Hopefully Griffin can work some magic but not holding my breath it happens.

Curry dislocated I think his middle finger on his shooting hand. It could be affecting him some over the last 2 games.

Kawhi Leonard this playoffs so far:

1: 25/6/3 on 56% from the floor and 60% from 3
2: 37/4/4 on 68% from the floor and 50% from 3
3: 16/10/4 on 26.3% from the floor and 0% from 3 (worst game of the playoffs for him)
4: 34/6/2 on 60% from the floor and 40% from 3
5: 27/7/2 on 72.7% from the floor and 100% from 3
6: 45/11/2 on 69.6% from the floor and 43% from 3
7: 35/7/6 on 54.2% from the floor and 30% from 3
8: 33/4/3 on 59.1% from the floor and 50% from 3
9: 39/14/5 on 65% from the floor and 71% from 3

Elite defense the whole time. The man is legit.

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Originally Posted by tdcreator

Kawhi with Davis and Jrue would be awesome. Hopefully Griffin can work some magic but not holding my breath it happens.

Curry dislocated I think his middle finger on his shooting hand. It could be affecting him some over the last 2 games.

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Kawhi with Davis and Jrue, with all three firing on all cylinders, would be the best 3 man group in the league. Yes, I'm including KD/Curry/Klay in that.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Kawhi with Davis and Jrue, with all three firing on all cylinders, would be the best 3 man group in the league. Yes, I'm including KD/Curry/Klay in that.

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Offensively and defensively would be great. The prob I have with Toronto is they don’t seem to have any go to plays beside giving it to Kawhi and letting him make something happen. Don’t think that will keep working in crunch time.

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Originally Posted by tdcreator

Offensively and defensively would be great. The prob I have with Toronto is they don’t seem to have any go to plays beside giving it to Kawhi and letting him make something happen. Don’t think that will keep working in crunch time.

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It's a risky strategy. Sometimes it pays off, like tonight, but other times it's just not enough for playoff basketball, like game 3.

I get the feeling that Toronto have become a little complacent. Take the beginning of this game, for example. Lowry was attacking, Kawhi was playing a little off ball, and they looked really good. Got off to an 11 point lead. Once that lead set in, Lowry backed off a little, the plays stopped happening and Kawhi was given the ball and told to keep it up. Like you said, that doesn't work consistently. Kawhi is a fantastic player, unquestionably, but you are ASKING to lose when you pin everything on one guy and tell him to just go win you the series, especially on the road.

Seen a few people speculating that maybe Embiid wasn't well for game 4.

This is what I was saying the other night. He was sick in game 2, so that's why he sucked. Then, in game three he was playing alright and doing windmill dunks and stuff, so he was healthy. Then, in game 4, he sucked again, and now we're hearing he was sick again.

Why do we have to pretend like this? Why the fakery? People just have bad games, especially when they have bad knees like Embiid does. We don't need to constantly invent excuses for them. He's not sick, or if he was sick for game two, he then didn't magically recover and then fall sick again within 3 days for games 3 and 4. It just didn't happen.

Kawhi is averaging 38 PPG on 62% shooting so far this series.

Jordan averaged over 35 on 60% shooting in one playoff series.

LeBron has never done it.

Durant has never done it.

Kobe never did it.

We are witnessing truly one of the best series by a perimeter player.

Ever.

— Micah Adams (@MicahAdams13) May 5, 2019

I mean, it goes without saying that Kobe never did it. Efficiency was NEVER Kobe's strong suit.

That said, yeah, Kawhi has been legitimately phenomenal. Every play he's a threat.

Can't believe I'm agreeing with Marv Albert here.

But yeah, it's absurd that the Celtics fans are complaining about the refereeing here. I mean, they are bad, but the refs have been bad for BOTH teams. Yes, Giannis is getting a lot of calls, but he's getting triple teamed on every drive, and he just drives through it: he gets fouled a lot.

Kyrie just blew a wide open layup, which has about summed up his series so far.

Brad Stevens, defensive genius, top five coach in the world, absolute master-mind who controls every game:

''Oh hey lets put Kyrie defending Giannis again for game 4, look how well it worked in game 3.''

Kyrie with his best Steph Curry impression, making a three and then a stupid no look pass that throws it out of bounds.

He looks terrible right now. Obviously its still early.

This first quarter is perhaps the greatest demonstrations of ''don't trust the box score'' I've ever seen.

Check the box score? Kyrie has 7/4/3 in the first quarter. That's good!

He's looked awful. Every dribble has looked like he's out of control, his shots have been bailouts, his turnovers (2) have both been really stupid. And yeah, he's sucked on defense but you can't even blame him for that. He should not be defending Gianiis.

Morris has proved invaluable for the Celtics. I'm thinking we could make use of that utility if the Celtics are our trade partner.

Tatum on triple double watch. Having a good all around game but needs to be more aggressive offensively. Brown is having another great game for what he is asked to do. Would like to see them involve him more and get more touches.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Kawhi is averaging 38 PPG on 62% shooting so far this series.

Jordan averaged over 35 on 60% shooting in one playoff series.

LeBron has never done it.

Durant has never done it.

Kobe never did it.

We are witnessing truly one of the best series by a perimeter player.

Ever.

— Micah Adams (@MicahAdams13) May 5, 2019

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WoW! If he can keep this up to finish the series with then that is just incredible. Kawhi has been my favorite player for a long time and I’m so happy he has become this good. Kawhi and my other favorite player Giannis have rewarded me well for believing in them. The NBA has so many great players right now.. We are very lucky to be witnessing is many greats. Always annoys me when they discredit players like Kawhi by using Lebron as someone who is in a different stratosphere which just isn’t true. I haven’t seen Lebron guard a teams best wing in over 10 years exerting almost no energy on defense for years. Players needs to be ranked on both sides of the ball and maybe more young kids would start playing D early on.

Not liking how eager Giannis has been to shoot threes in this first half. One of them made sense, he was open and he's been shooting pretty well recently, but one of them was with 20 seconds still on the shotclock with no passing, and the other was highly contested. Not a fan of that from a less than stellar shooter.

Kyrie is 5 of 16, and he just got a wedged ball

do the celtics even run an offense?

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George Hill really showing up this series

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

do the celtics even run an offense?

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They run a Brad Stevens offense.

So no.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

They run a Brad Stevens offense.

So no.

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it's the weirdest thing to watch

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

it's the weirdest thing to watch

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Stevens is a legitimately high quality defensive coach 90% of the time, but his offensive scheme, whatever it is, is woeful. If his players are feeling great and hitting shots, it works, but if anyone is having a bad night he just has nothing in the tank for it. His bag of tricks on O is empty.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Stevens is a legitimately high quality defensive coach 90% of the time, but his offensive scheme, whatever it is, is woeful. If his players are feeling great and hitting shots, it works, but if anyone is having a bad night he just has nothing in the tank for it. His bag of tricks on O is empty.

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Yeah it's a little hard to watch and I mean they're jist keep shooting 3s when they could be going inside for 2s or fouls

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Originally Posted by bahmamamba

Yeah it's a little hard to watch and I mean they're jist keep shooting 3s when they could be going inside for 2s or fouls

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It keeps getting exposed in the playoffs when they run into teams who can actually game plan for them over a series. Happened last year too, and the year before.

Superstar matchups:

Giannis: 34/14/4 on 14 of 20 in 32 minutes.

Kyrie: 23/6/10 on 7 of 22 in 41 minutes.

Levels to it.

Good. Make Boston desperate so we can get Tatum and Brown.

A 1-3starting lineup of Jrue, Tatum, Brown is pretty darn good offensively and defensively.

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Originally Posted by Mythrol

Good. Make Boston desperate so we can get Tatum and Brown.

A 1-3starting lineup of Jrue, Tatum, Brown is pretty darn good offensively and defensively.

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Plus we will be all set after we also win the lottery!

Had Eric Gordon stayed healthy here he might have been an all star caliber player. Jrue and Gordon could have been a great backcourt that complimented each other very well. I think he could have been our CJ McColum. We were missing that legit wing and of course health which killed us. Had we stayed healthy no telling what Dell could have done with more trades and the chance to actually put together a team. I always believed instead of letting Gordon was walk for nothing he was signed to be traded for other pieces and that plan got derailed due to his injuries. Gordon has looked very good in his role with the Rockets and has been great in the playoffs.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Superstar matchups:

Giannis: 34/14/4 on 14 of 20 in 32 minutes.

Kyrie: 23/6/10 on 7 of 22 in 41 minutes.

Levels to it.

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These are 2 completely different players. There is simply no comparison at all here especially trying to use FG% along with rebounds and assists where Giannis should win all everytime. Most coaches don’t have very good offensive night when their players can’t hit shots. Coach Pop has raved about Stevens offensive coaching before. He is playing the best and most versatile defense in the NBA that’s wears you down on the other side of the ball. The Bucks are just that good.

Kevin Durant is just incredible!! The Warriors would be in some trouble without him having probably 1 less ring. If Durant would be willing to stay if it meant moving Green then I’m moving Green. I would call up the Kings who had mutual interest with Green before the Warriors resigned him. Draymon Green for Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic. The Warriors need a couple of young guys and some cap relief to create a deeper team which made them so great. IMO Green would be a great fit next to Cauley-Stein on a young Kings team that would compliment his skill set very well. The Warriors get a 20 year old versatile big in Bagley that would add something they don’t have while Bogdan gives them a legit 6th man wing.

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Originally Posted by GuardianAngel25

These are 2 completely different players. There is simply no comparison at all here especially trying to use FG% along with rebounds and assists where Giannis should win all everytime. Most coaches don’t have very good offensive night when their players can’t hit shots. Coach Pop has raved about Stevens offensive coaching before. He is playing the best and most versatile defense in the NBA that’s wears you down on the other side of the ball. The Bucks are just that good.

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This isn't a direct comparison of players. Everyone knows that guards and forwards have different expectations and responsibilities. The question is only who shows up on the night. Kyrie didn't show up. Giannis did. That's all.

Most coaches have systems they run that generate looks. If players don't make the shots, then there's nothing the coach can do, but their job is to set up the plays and sets that create the looks. Every team has a couple of plays every game where the offense breaks down and a tough shot gets forced. Sometimes it's because a player is out of position. Sometimes it's because the opposing defense was really good and forced things to get difficult.

However, no coach should run an offense that requires their players to be superhuman just to GET the looks in the first place. Look at the quality of the looks the Bucks get VS the quality of the looks the Celtics get. Not whether or not they make the shots: that's on the players. But just, how do their sets move? What kind of cutting action comes up, time and time again? What's the spacing like? Look at those things and it's clear that Budenholzer is coaching offensive RINGS around Stevens in this series, and it isn't close. One of them is putting their players in a position to win, and daring them to be great. The other is forcing their team to be great just to get a look in the first place.

Curry with a better game than his last few tonight, but still big concerns about his current play. 4 of 14 from three is just not good enough. That's 28%. If you're shooting 14 threes, you better be shooting more than 28%.

I really hope Houston win this series. And I hate Houston.

But if Houston win, then suddenly the playoffs are exciting again. If Golden State win against Houston, they'll almost certainly beat either Denver or Portland, make it to the finals, and will almost certainly beat the Celtics, Raptors, or Sixers. The only team that would put up a convincing fight against them would be Milwaukee, I believe.

But if Houston win, then I could easily see them losing to Denver or Portland in the WCF. Then, all of a sudden, we could have a Portland/Milwaukee final. Or a Denver/Raptors final. Which is actually INTERESTING!

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Curry with a better game than his last few tonight, but still big concerns about his current play. 4 of 14 from three is just not good enough. That's 28%. If you're shooting 14 threes, you better be shooting more than 28%.

I really hope Houston win this series. And I hate Houston.

But if Houston win, then suddenly the playoffs are exciting again. If Golden State win against Houston, they'll almost certainly beat either Denver or Portland, make it to the finals, and will almost certainly beat the Celtics, Raptors, or Sixers. The only team that would put up a convincing fight against them would be Milwaukee, I believe.

But if Houston win, then I could easily see them losing to Denver or Portland in the WCF. Then, all of a sudden, we could have a Portland/Milwaukee final. Or a Denver/Raptors final. Which is actually INTERESTING!

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Anyone but the Rockets or GSW for me.

Kawhi with the steal immediately to start the game.

Kawhi picks Embiid's pocket and then on the other end, Embiid doesn't even bother playing up on Gasol and gets a three dropped on his head as a reward.

also, 8k posts.

This is the difference between a superstar and a none superstar.

Kyrie's shot was off last game, so he was largely useless.

Kawhi's shot is off so far tonight, and he's still just a presence on the floor. His defense has been superb. His hustle plays have been on point (keeping that rebound alive vs Monroe? Big play), and he's rebounding at a high rate. Even though he's missing, nobody is giving him room on D because they know if they do, he'll light it up.

Embiid has 5 points and 4 rebounds on 2 of 6 shooting. He has 0 assists and 4 turnovers. His defense has been appallingly poor.

So I expect we'll be hearing about him having a virus or a stomach bug or a janky elbow any minute now.

Stick a fork in the Sixers

Gasol just stopped at the three point line, being guarded by Embiid. Looked Embiid dead in the face, and gestured at him to come out of the paint and guard him. Embiid didn't move. Gasol shrugged, shot the three, and sunk it, putting the Raptors up 31.

Cold. Blooded.

Kawhi's done for the night. Rough shooting night, he only shot 44% from the floor, but he finishes with 21/13/4 with 3 steals. Zero turnovers, only 1 foul.

Ben Simmons is regressing

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Ben Simmons is regressing

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Wasn't he terrible in the playoffs last year too?

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Wasn't he terrible in the playoffs last year too?

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Just checked on this: no, he was actually mostly alright last playoffs, at least statistically. 16.3/9.4/7.7 per game, on 49% from the floor. 4.4 TOs and 3.4 PFs per game isn't great but hey, it's not the end of the world.

He did have that 1 point game though. Yowch.

This year, Simmons has averaged 14.0/6.9/6.3 per game in the playoffs leading into tonight, where he had 7 points. He's shooting 60% from the floor overall, but that's largely because he's barely shooting at all. If you look at just his stats for the Toronto series, he's averaging 9.4 points per game. Just terrible.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Just checked on this: no, he was actually mostly alright last playoffs, at least statistically. 16.3/9.4/7.7 per game, on 49% from the floor. 4.4 TOs and 3.4 PFs per game isn't great but hey, it's not the end of the world.

He did have that 1 point game though. Yowch.

This year, Simmons has averaged 14.0/6.9/6.3 per game in the playoffs leading into tonight, where he had 7 points. He's shooting 60% from the floor overall, but that's largely because he's barely shooting at all. If you look at just his stats for the Toronto series, he's averaging 9.4 points per game. Just terrible.

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He is awful now like JaVale McGee

Brett Brown, explaining the Philadelphia 76ers pic.twitter.com/sIMcAhM4Yw

— NOTSportsCenter (@NOTSportsCenter) May 8, 2019