NBA Playoffs

The east is so boring to watch, cave have no chemistry and I don't think they make the finals. Cave screwed up royally in not going after the one seed imo. The west will be shoot out city except for San Antonio. Boston is one player away from owning the east and may make the finals this year

My Magic need to fire everyone associated with the team including the concession workers and ticket takers

The Thomas story is heartbreaking. The 2 losses by the celts is bringing the haters out, and trying to afix blame on either Ainge or Stevens which is a joke imo. The Celts had cap room and Ainge did try to make a run at Durant, but resisted the likes of old guys that would of ate up cap space like Wade, or Carmello who could of possibly been brought to town. Ainge did try for both Jimmy Butler and Paul George before the trade deadline and either of those players would of made great additions to the Celts. Stevens does not have any big stars except for Thomas, and he may be big due to that lack of talent. Stevens over achieved big time with that roster, and to try to blame him is just redicules. Look out when Ainge brings some big time talent to join these guys this summer.

I just don't see any teams knocking out either GS or Cleveland but I am biased towards GS, plus I want to see a finals rematch where both teams healthy and GS crushes the Lebrons.

Hall, I would enjoy the rematch. 

I am a lifetime Cavs fan, so please don't fault me there.

Cavs have not played their best ball lately, but playoffs bring the play.

Last night's Cavs comeback makes the dream finals seem possible.

Zang and Fabes, thanks for making it all happen!

>>>both teams healthy

so much for that...

Deadly, I grew up in Canton and was a huge Cavs fan going back to the days of Walt Wesley and Bingo Bobby Smith, then the Footsey Walker and Nate Thurmond years followed up by North Canton's own Dick Snyder leading the Jim Chones Jim Brewer team and who could forget the team Jordan denied the title/titles with Brad Daughty, Hot Rod Williams, Larry Nance, Ehlo, and Mark Price. I moved to florida and wound up in Orlando when the Magic started and splitted season tickets the first couple of years with a few friends, that is when I cashed in my Cavs Card for my new home team.

I am such a fucked up fan that I couldnt really enjoy last years title because they did it before my browns and tribe. Hell I even like Lebron even though I still have scars from my HS team getting our asses kicked in that St Vincent St Mary's gym he played high school ball in.

tried to watch some non-warrior games, but was pretty bored by the lack of flow...  I've definitely become spoiled getting to watch this team for the last few seasons.

as for their next matchup, I don't see either the Clips or Jazz posing any threat.  Maybe the winner of the Spurs/Rockets series will push them, but other than a fully energized and healthy Cavs team, there isn't a team in the league that looks even close right now.

I think it's pretty clear right now that Kerr is almost certainly going to miss all of the playoffs. I don't see that being a huge deal at the moment, but I can see how it could become a bigger issue when the pressure begins to build against the tougher teams.

I thought it was telling early in Game 3 when Draymond Green refused to come out of the game after getting into early foul trouble, waving his replacement off the court. After the game he said allowing him to stay in the game was a sign of how much the coaches trust & respect the players, but I thought it was a pretty clear sign that Green was disrespecting his coach and coaching himself, which is never good.

Would he have done that with Kerr at the helm? I think not. Would Kerr have forced him to come out of the game if he tried? Absolutely. Kerr takes no shit from anyone and is in complete control of that team. Will Mike Brown have that type of control when the going gets tough and the adrenalin & tempers are raging?

Draymond is one of the best players in the league and he's not a selfish player, but he always plays right on (or just past) the edge of control. Of Kerr's many talents his best may be how he keeps Green in particular right at that edge, and that's been an ongoing and at times contentious duty; it will be interesting to see how all that goes with Brown if/when they lose a game or two.

Of course the best way to avoid that is to just win all the games.

GW!

I thought the same thing about that Green incident, Lance, and I also wondered if Kerr said anything to him about it afterward (he sure as shit should have).

Hopefully Kerr's continued involvement in film sessions, practices, and game planning will help keep things running as they have, but then again, even a healthy Kerr on the bench couldn't stop Green from losing them the Championship last year.

Is it round 2 yet??

Celtics Wizards is shapin up to be classic...these teams genuinely  do not like each other...

>>>>curious as to what their record is in close games

When Durant got hurt, they had some close losses, but that was a time where right as they were trying to re-establish their identity, both Curry and Thompson had their worst shooting slumps of the year.  But they figured it out and down the stretch had a brilliant come from behind (like 20 plus points down) win against the Spurs as well as two wins against Houston (all meaningful games when it came to seeding for all three teams). 

Last night, the Warriors actually got outscored over the last 3 quarters and had to keep their starters in 'til the end (Utah got within 7 with like 5 minutes to play).  And Utah was a top 5ish defensive team this year, so for the Warriors to continue to be able to score and get to the free throw line when Utah's backs were against the wall (and in what turned out to be a fairly close finish) was a good sign that the Warriors can mentally, at least, handle playoff crunch time (whether they can handle Lebron and Irving is another story)

Speaking of... it's not a done deal, and anything can happen, but barring a major injury, it doesn't seem conceivable that that any teams other than Golden State and Cleveland have any chance of making the Finals... they are both head and shoulders above the rest of the league, and from what I've seen so far from Cleveland in these playoffs, they haven't exactly been pushed or had to play any tight games either.

Fabes, I grew up in Mentor and always rooted for Cleveland. It was surreal when the Cavs prevailed last season.

Still hoping for the finals rematch and a Tribe series win. The Browns may do it in my lifetime.

Did you hear about the fan who wanted Browns players to be his pallbearers...so they could let him down one last time?

Hall, the Cavs finally had some competition tonight, but they crushed it in the second half.

I wouldn't say Curry is streaky. He misses shots and he does go cold at times like anyone, but really it's Klay Thompson who is the streaky shooter. That guy gets into places at times where he makes every single shot he takes, no matter from where, and there are other times when he's Klank and misses even layups. That's why they paid for Durant; he can score when the others are cold or shut down.

And I think Saturday's game showed the Warriors mettle in the crunch.

They were being beaten on the road, the crowd was going insane and sure enough, Draymond lost his cool and got a T, which gave the Jazz even more momentum.

But they didn't unravel, they continued to play stellar defense and for the first time they got what they paid for in Durant when they needed it.

They didn't need him for them to win regular season games, they need him for when everything is on the line and Steph & Klay aren't scoring. That was the case on Saturday and Durant rose to the challenge. He was great on both ends and they won a game that was looking like a deflating, worrisome defeat.

But is their bench strong enough to carry the day in the biggest moments? And can Durant be the hero with EVERYthing on the line, with the ball in his hands for a final shot to win it all? We will see.

Hopefully they finish off the Jazz tonight and again get to rest up while Houston & San Antonio wear each other down.

GW!!!

Eight for eight in the west, & the east.

The Jazz are a grinding, good defensive team and hung in well at times in all four games, but they couldn't come close to beating the Warriors in the 4th quarter.

It is still so odd to me that the Warriors are so damn good.

It's very cool.

And very deserved.

A great team, a great bunch of players & management who are so easy to root for.

On it goes.

Go Warriors!

Curry has looked good for most of the last two series (lead all in scoring last night)... I think the Durant injury actually helped him re-establish himself and at this point I don't think he's thinking of Durant any differently than he does any other player. 

And he really wasn't that effective in the playoffs last year... he and the team were somewhat spent by the time they reached the playoffs, then he got injured... both were big reasons why they ended up going 7 games in the Western Conf finals and not shooting consistently well at all in the Finals. 

I'm hoping this year GS continues to cruise (and stay healthy) and that that will leave Steph (and Klay) with the energy to consistently have average good nights scoring (in the 20s) and also continue to keep their defensive games cranked to eleven (something they don't get enough credit for, imo).  If they can do that, then I think Green and Durant will take care of the rest.

Is it the 3rd round yet??

This thread is parallel to the boring NBA 2016-2017 season....not one picture of a pretty girl 

hahaha

what up Rev

Wino is greatly missed.

i thought bruce bowen retired, looks like he reincarnated into Zaza. 

Warriors got lucky?

Sure.

But the Spurs got lucky that the Warriors were stiff and cold as ice in the first half.

And they got lucky that the very important Andre Iguodala was hurt and only played ten minutes.

Luck comes and goes, and every team that wins a championship in any sport gets "lucky" now and then, but both teams got "lucky" in the first game.

Second game?

The Warriors weren't stiff and cold as ice.

(Cry bitter tears Pop & Spurs)

Go Warriors!

Unlike the Warriors, the Cavs had no problems being sharp at the start of the game after the long layoff...

I regret that my contributions are not making a positive impression.

What is it exactly that's turning you?

Was it my remark about Popovich orchestrating faux outrage (crying) to the media in a desperate attempt to manipulate a lost cause?

That guy is brilliant, but that act was desperate and he looked like a fool on that one to me.

Is it that I have disagreed with you a few times? Or maybe it's just my tone.

At least I'm not one of those nit-wits who says "we" when referring to the team I root for.

That's always a head shaker with me.

Anyway, it looked to me that LeBron just checked out of last nights game and Boston played desperate in the 2nd half. I doubt LeBron will be so lackadaisical next game. Now the Cavs will have to go back to Boston and play another game, but it's hard to see them losing another to Boston.

If they win out they'll have a week to wait before beginning the finals, and if Warriors win tonight they'll have to sit and wait ten days before they play again. Television dollars rule all, but it seems wrong to hold off the games for so long if both teams are just waiting.

I guess it will give a larger arc to the series, with both teams likely playing rusty to start, but it won't stay that way. With the same two teams facing each other for the championship for the third straight year the finals should be pretty epic, and it will be fun to watch no matter how it goes down. 

Even if WE don't win!!!

GW!

Eh. I was in a bit of a smart-assy mood this morning. Not my best effort.

Suffice to say that I don't mean to come off as an arrogant or know-it-all fan, especially when it comes to basketball.

I'm just responding with what I think based on what I see, which is almost exclusively the Warriors when it comes to basketball, and really I'm trying to understand the game better.

Mike Brown

How great is it going to be for THAT GUY if the Warriors win this year? I'm rooting for GS just based on the way LeBron and Dan Gilbert treated him.

What a win for the Warriors.

Cleveland gave it everything they had.

It wasn't quite enough.

I love true greatness.

I've always loved the Warriors.

Finally, they're both.

This is pretty cool.

GW!

pertty much the worst nba playoffs in history.