Playoffs discussion

[Coolbreeze44]

Tomorrow's game is absolutely crucial for the Wolves. They need to not only win but win convincingly. A loss would be demoralizing with all the advantages we have.

As for tonight's results, you have to be encouraged by Denver's win. To me it shows that OKC has its hands full. The conference is up for grabs and we can beat all these teams. We need to play like we are the team to beat starting tomorrow night. No letdowns, be ready to go every game. Why not us this year?

[Lipoli390]

Two great Monday night games.

The Knicks came back from 20 points down in the 3rd quarter. The Knicks were tremendous defensively in the second half. There’s a reason the Celtics missed so many threes. Yes, they missed some good looks but they weren’t getting many good looks. Towns was largely invisible offensively during the comeback. He was on the bench with 4 fouls for the first leg of the comeback. He wasn’t much of a factor offensively when he came back, but he defended well. He eventually had a huge tip-in bucket in overtime that was crucial to the win. Good to see KAT’s team do well and happy he was able to contribute. But Julius Randle asserts himself in a way KAT doesn’t and has more of a presence on the court.

OKC is fun to watch but the Nuggets are really good and playing much better now that they’re out from under their oppressive head coach.

[Q-is-here]

Man, the NBA playoffs are pretty awesome. Hell, us beating the Lakers in 5 was by itself a momentous event that sent a lot of shockwaves through the NBA ecosystem. And then there were some pretty epic 7-game battles where it was a coinflip. And that was just the first round!

But last night....whoa! Just two crazy games. So far the team that's been rested is the one not as sharp. Does the fatigue factor show up later in these series for the team that had to go 7-games in the first round? Whatever the case, we can't assume Golden State won't be at their best tonight.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I very rarely watch "most" of two NBA games that don't include the Wolves. But those were very entertaining games. I never felt like Denver had a chance... but I kept watching ONLY because they have Jokic and he's THAT good. I feel asleep when it was 113-104 only to wake up a few moments later in a 115-114 game.

The Celtics just couldn't shoot and settled for threes. Dumb. But it's their identity. I think both favorites will win the series.

Towns was embarrassingly bad at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Started 0 - 4 from the field... including a couple of drives where he looked like he was fouled, but on second viewing looked like he was out of control. That was followed by a KAT classic elbow/shoulder to the head of a guy 8" inches shorter than him guarding him in the post.

The Knicks were down 20 with Towns. And started the comeback with him on the bench for the rest of the quarter.

He was quiet (not necessarily a bad thing) when he returned in the 4th.


[Note: Towns and Westbrook are two polarizing guys... who won't be able to shake the labels because it's just who they are. I'm pretty sure every Nuggets fan was screaming "NO!" as Westbrook had the ball with 5 seconds left yesterday. I feel bad in a way for both of them because you can feel when things go south... and then further south into the depths of basketball hell.]

[Q-is-here]

I very rarely watch "most" of two NBA games that don't include the Wolves. But those were very entertaining games. I never felt like Denver had a chance... but I kept watching ONLY because they have Jokic and he's THAT good. I feel asleep when it was 113-104 only to wake up five minutes later in a 1-point game.

The Celtics just couldn't shoot and settled for threes. Dumb. But it's their identity. Both favorites will win the series.

Towns was embarrassingly bad at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Started 0 - 4 from the field... including a couple of drives where he looked like he was fouled, but on second viewing looked like he was out of control. That was followed by a KAT classic elbow/shoulder to the head of a guy 8" inches shorter than him guarding him in the post.

The Knicks were down 20 with Towns. And started the comeback with him on the bench for the rest of the quarter.

He was quiet (not necessarily a bad thing) when he returned in the 4th.


[Note: Towns and Westbrook are two polarizing guys... who won't be able to shake the labels because it's just who they are. I'm pretty sure every Nuggets fan was screaming "NO!" as Westbrook had the ball with 5 seconds left yesterday. I feel bad in a way for both of them because you can feel when things go south... and then further south into the depths of basketball hell.]

Of course the difference is that Westbrook is paid a lot less and less is required/expected of him. He's now a $3M per year role player/X-factor. And he has done more good than harm of late. He makes so many enormous hustle plays. The contrast between him and MPJ is stark in terms of motor and the "do shit" factor, which is why the latter is ending most games on the bench these days.

As for KAT, part of his quietness in the 4th was by design, as it looks like Thibs is just clearing everything out and isolating Brunson time after time. I think at some point Brunson's legs will give out (in fact he started going wobbly late in that game last night) and that strategy will no longer work.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I very rarely watch "most" of two NBA games that don't include the Wolves. But those were very entertaining games. I never felt like Denver had a chance... but I kept watching ONLY because they have Jokic and he's THAT good. I feel asleep when it was 113-104 only to wake up five minutes later in a 1-point game.

The Celtics just couldn't shoot and settled for threes. Dumb. But it's their identity. Both favorites will win the series.

Towns was embarrassingly bad at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Started 0 - 4 from the field... including a couple of drives where he looked like he was fouled, but on second viewing looked like he was out of control. That was followed by a KAT classic elbow/shoulder to the head of a guy 8" inches shorter than him guarding him in the post.

The Knicks were down 20 with Towns. And started the comeback with him on the bench for the rest of the quarter.

He was quiet (not necessarily a bad thing) when he returned in the 4th.


[Note: Towns and Westbrook are two polarizing guys... who won't be able to shake the labels because it's just who they are. I'm pretty sure every Nuggets fan was screaming "NO!" as Westbrook had the ball with 5 seconds left yesterday. I feel bad in a way for both of them because you can feel when things go south... and then further south into the depths of basketball hell.]

Of course the difference is that Westbrook is paid a lot less and less is required/expected of him. He's now a $3M per year role player/X-factor. And he has done more good than harm of late. He makes so many enormous hustle plays. The contrast between him and MPJ is stark in terms of motor and the "do shit" factor, which is why the latter is ending most games on the bench these days.

As for KAT, part of his quietness in the 4th was by design, as it looks like Thibs is just clearing everything out and isolating Brunson time after time. I think at some point Brunson's legs will give out (in fact he started going wobbly late in that game last night) and that strategy will no longer work.

Porter Jr. is injured. Shoulder. But I'm not a huge fan of his when he's healthy.
I root for Westbrook sometimes... not because I like him or his style... but because I think he's been maligned more than he deserves.

As for Brunson... it's been their strategy most of the year. Just let Brunson cook. And the guy keeps doing his thing. Pretty amazing even if I hate watching him hunt for fouls so often.

[TAFKASP]

We can add yet another item to the We Can't Have Nice Things list. Five days after setting an NBA record for most missed 3 points shots in a playoff game at 40, the Celtics take the record away with 45.



I know, it wasn't really a nice thing, but be honest, at least the Wolves had a record for a few says, that's some rare air for this team!

[Monster]

I very rarely watch "most" of two NBA games that don't include the Wolves. But those were very entertaining games. I never felt like Denver had a chance... but I kept watching ONLY because they have Jokic and he's THAT good. I feel asleep when it was 113-104 only to wake up five minutes later in a 1-point game.

The Celtics just couldn't shoot and settled for threes. Dumb. But it's their identity. Both favorites will win the series.

Towns was embarrassingly bad at the beginning of the 3rd quarter. Started 0 - 4 from the field... including a couple of drives where he looked like he was fouled, but on second viewing looked like he was out of control. That was followed by a KAT classic elbow/shoulder to the head of a guy 8" inches shorter than him guarding him in the post.

The Knicks were down 20 with Towns. And started the comeback with him on the bench for the rest of the quarter.

He was quiet (not necessarily a bad thing) when he returned in the 4th.


[Note: Towns and Westbrook are two polarizing guys... who won't be able to shake the labels because it's just who they are. I'm pretty sure every Nuggets fan was screaming "NO!" as Westbrook had the ball with 5 seconds left yesterday. I feel bad in a way for both of them because you can feel when things go south... and then further south into the depths of basketball hell.]

Of course the difference is that Westbrook is paid a lot less and less is required/expected of him. He's now a $3M per year role player/X-factor. And he has done more good than harm of late. He makes so many enormous hustle plays. The contrast between him and MPJ is stark in terms of motor and the "do shit" factor, which is why the latter is ending most games on the bench these days.

As for KAT, part of his quietness in the 4th was by design, as it looks like Thibs is just clearing everything out and isolating Brunson time after time. I think at some point Brunson's legs will give out (in fact he started going wobbly late in that game last night) and that strategy will no longer work.

Porter Jr. is injured. Shoulder. But I'm not a huge fan of his when he's healthy.
I root for Westbrook sometimes... not because I like him or his style... but because I think he's been maligned more than he deserves.

As for Brunson... it's been their strategy most of the year. Just let Brunson cook. And the guy keeps doing his thing. Pretty amazing even if I hate watching him hunt for fouls so often.

I didn't know Porter was working through an injury.

Abe I'm with you on Westbrook

Letting a guard cook is kinda sorta what Thibs has done for so many years right?

[Phenom]

Wow, Indy Wow

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Wow, the Pacers just pulled off the comeback. Tyrese missed the second FT, down 2 with just a few seconds to go then hit the three to win. Wow.