I think the other thread got 86'd. Anyway - watched a little of Clippers-Mavs today - no KP again. Tim Hardaway Jr. went 2-11 from three-point range and was minus 31 in 33 minutes. Doncic is great but that's not much of a supporting cast he had today. Clippers move on and the Mavs are done.
Kyle Lowry is just incredible. Played 53 minutes in this game. Wow.
I think the Celtics have to be considered the slight favorite but it could truly go either way. Either team vs. Miami should make for a great series.
I think the Celtics have to be considered the slight favorite but it could truly go either way. Either team vs. Miami should make for a great series.
The Raps are not going to go down without a fight.
Walker/Brown/Tatum/Hayward/Theis + Smart is the most balanced 6 left in the tournament in my opinion.
I turned it off when Clips were up 17. Amazing. The Clips don't look to have that killer mentality thus far.
Couldn't happen to a worse human being. And really not a good player.
Can't believe people wanted the Knicks to be the team to pay this guy. Or Fizdale's calling him a leader.
Wow, down 16. what a comeback. The 2 man game with Jokic and Murray is impressive. I want the Clippers to win but Jokic vs Davis in the next round would be fun to watch.
Clippers bench is a big plus for them. I'm a Clippers fan. We need a strong showing with the 2nd unit.
Either way, LA or DEN, next round will be a good one.
1 7 Jamal Murray PG/SG Canada Denver Nuggets (from New York)
The last piece from the Carmelo trade.
Knicks have done it to themselves.
And, judging by recent news reports, will continue to do so.
just saw the replay - that block was something
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are about to stun the Clippers. Murray is unconscious.
1 7 Jamal Murray PG/SG Canada Denver Nuggets (from New York)
The last piece from the Carmelo trade.
Knicks have done it to themselves.
And, judging by recent news reports, will continue to do so.
basically, Tyson Chandler's broken leg in November of 2013 gave them Murray. In the NBA, seemingly more than any other league, random events from the past can have major implications on the future.
The Nuggets are for real. Jokic is a hands down Top 10 player in the game and arguably Top 5. LeBron is the only one that you can say for sure is better than him in 2020. Giannis was exposed in the playoffs and Jokic just thoroughly outplayed Kawhi in a playoff series. Harden's never had a playoff takeover series against a title contender like the one Jokic just had. And while the Luka hype is insane, he still has some warts and isn't clearly better than Jokic.
Nikola fucking Jokic, wow. And if he goes through LeBron and Anthony Davis and then wins a title, holy shit. I just might be ready to call him the best player in basketball.
Jamal Murray has been incredible to watch in these playoffs, where did he come from? So many big shots he's made these last couple of weeks. Porter Jr. looks like he's going to be a deadly scorer if he stays healthy. Gary Harris and Jerami Grant are players. Even Bol Bol looks exciting. Taking out the Kawhi/George Clippers this year puts them ahead of schedule, but they're gonna be threats for a while.
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In comment 14973950 santacruzom said:
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are about to stun the Clippers. Murray is unconscious.
1 7 Jamal Murray PG/SG Canada Denver Nuggets (from New York)
The last piece from the Carmelo trade.
Knicks have done it to themselves.
And, judging by recent news reports, will continue to do so.
basically, Tyson Chandler's broken leg in November of 2013 gave them Murray. In the NBA, seemingly more than any other league, random events from the past can have major implications on the future.
my bad - that was 2 years before Murray was drafted.
The Nuggets are for real. Jokic is a hands down Top 10 player in the game and arguably Top 5. LeBron is the only one that you can say for sure is better than him in 2020. Giannis was exposed in the playoffs and Jokic just thoroughly outplayed Kawhi in a playoff series. Harden's never had a playoff takeover series against a title contender like the one Jokic just had. And while the Luka hype is insane, he still has some warts and isn't clearly better than Jokic.
Nikola fucking Jokic, wow. And if he goes through LeBron and Anthony Davis and then wins a title, holy shit. I just might be ready to call him the best player in basketball.
Jamal Murray has been incredible to watch in these playoffs, where did he come from? So many big shots he's made these last couple of weeks. Porter Jr. looks like he's going to be a deadly scorer if he stays healthy. Gary Harris and Jerami Grant are players. Even Bol Bol looks exciting. Taking out the Kawhi/George Clippers this year puts them ahead of schedule, but they're gonna be threats for a while.
This is really bad for Kawhi, but he still has his 2 Finals MVPs. Paul George on the other hand...woof.
Denver is a fun team to watch. Next round will be a good one with Davis vs Jokic!
What a collapse for the Clips. But so fitting for that franchise's history.
Lakers in 6.
This officially puts the Clippers on the clock with Kawhi and George having opt outs in 2021. Will be interesting to see what moves they make.
Paul George was definitely one of the more vocal complainers about life inside the bubble, so that doesn't surprise me. Clips have the most pressure of any team next season - pretty much all or nothing for them, as they have no draft picks going forward.
Agreed but its not a good matchup for Denver. Lakers have a lot of bodies and Davis to throw at Jokic. Murray will be a problem but Denver is going to struggle to guard Lebron.
The crazy thing is that Denver was begging to get a meeting with Lebron when he was a free agent. Imagine him on this team? The passing would be a thing of beauty. But Denver is a fun team to root for and an upset like this would be great for the league.
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This officially puts the Clippers on the clock with Kawhi and George having opt outs in 2021. Will be interesting to see what moves they make.
Paul George was definitely one of the more vocal complainers about life inside the bubble, so that doesn't surprise me. Clips have the most pressure of any team next season - pretty much all or nothing for them, as they have no draft picks going forward.
without picks, what they can they do? I assume they're close to capped out?
There's different levels to it. Paul George is now officially considered a "loser", pretty harsh but after ditching a couple of franchises to get to LAC it is what it is. What's weird is that he was better in these moments as a younger player in Indy. His reputation can still recover, but he'll need to deliver some bigtime playoff moments in the future to do it.
Doc Rivers has a ring with the Celtics, so he's always going to be ok. But all these collapses happening under his watch are creating an impossible to ignore aspect of his coaching resume. 3 times blowing a 3-1 lead, 3 more times blowing a 3-2 lead. Everybody seemingly loves Doc and I don't think he'll be fired, but his inabilty to adjust to Montrezl Harrell getting destroyed by Jokic was a key reason they lost this series.
Kawhi has 2 rings and 2 Finals MVPs, 1 as "the guy" on his team last year. His performance in the playoffs last year was amazing, especially the Sixers series. When he's healthy, he's a special player. But this guy was being compared to MJ, LeBron, and Kobe on a pretty consistent basis over the last year by talking heads. A lot of people considered him the best player in the game over LeBron. But losing a 2nd round series as the title favorite after being up 3-1 is rough for a player in the mix for "best in the league". He played well games 1-6, but was outplayed by Jokic. In game 7 he threw up an absolute stinker. He's a proven winner so his rep won't take a huge hit, but it should and will take a small hit. Let's see how he bounces back from this.
my bad - that was 2 years before Murray was drafted.
I noticed that and thought you might be saying the Chandler injury led to the Bargnani trade, where the Knicks traded the 2016 pick to which they had previously given up swap rights to Denver.
But that was in July, before the '13-'14 season started.
To complete the picture, the Raptors ultimately flipped the pick they were left with, Jakob Poeltl, into the Kawhi Leonard deal.
So, if the Nuggets and Murray can keep their run going all the way to a title, two teams can trace their championships to the 2016 draft, their own patience and the Knicks' lack thereof.
Ujiri and the Bargnani tree - ( New Window )
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but man, if the Nuggets beat the Lakers. It would be one of the best things to happen in quite some time for the NBA, IMO.
Agreed but its not a good matchup for Denver. Lakers have a lot of bodies and Davis to throw at Jokic. Murray will be a problem but Denver is going to struggle to guard Lebron.
Yeah, but Jokic sure looks like a weapon in that scenario. Throw someone at him and he's just going to set someone up at just the right moment. All his teammate has to do is hit the open shot.
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This is really bad for Kawhi, but he still has his 2 Finals MVPs. Paul George on the other hand...woof.
There's different levels to it. Paul George is now officially considered a "loser", pretty harsh but after ditching a couple of franchises to get to LAC it is what it is. What's weird is that he was better in these moments as a younger player in Indy. His reputation can still recover, but he'll need to deliver some bigtime playoff moments in the future to do it.
Doc Rivers has a ring with the Celtics, so he's always going to be ok. But all these collapses happening under his watch are creating an impossible to ignore aspect of his coaching resume. 3 times blowing a 3-1 lead, 3 more times blowing a 3-2 lead. Everybody seemingly loves Doc and I don't think he'll be fired, but his inabilty to adjust to Montrezl Harrell getting destroyed by Jokic was a key reason they lost this series.
with every passing year, it makes you wonder if maybe Ainge/Thibs deserve just a little bit more credit for 2008 compared to Doc.