2019 NBA Playoffs Thread

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Apr 22, 2019 9:39 pm

Phenomenal.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:02 am

His length is simply staggering. On Giannis's blocks last night, Ish Smith did what a smaller player is supposed to do - drive to be under the basket to use the rim to shield off the defender and looped his shooting arm to the outside for even more room to get his shot off - and it was all for naught. Still swatted away.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:32 am

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:02 am His length is simply staggering. On Giannis's blocks last night, Ish Smith did what a smaller player is supposed to do - drive to be under the basket to use the rim to shield off the defender and looped his shooting arm to the outside for even more room to get his shot off - and it was all for naught. Still swatted away.

It blows my mind that a guy can be 6’11” and still have such incredible explosiveness and body control.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:34 pm

Holy shit, check the score on the Brooklyn-Philly game.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:48 pm

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:34 pm Holy shit, check the score on the Brooklyn-Philly game.

The rest of the East playoffs should be fun, as all four teams seem to be currently playing some of their best ball. Toronto is a tough matchup for Philly. Marc Gasol defends Embiid well and the Raptors have multiple really good perimeter defenders (most notably Kawhi, obviously). If Lowry plays reasonably well on the offensive end, the Raptors will win the series.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:39 pm

Joe K wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:48 pm
Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:34 pm Holy shit, check the score on the Brooklyn-Philly game.
The rest of the East playoffs should be fun, as all four teams seem to be currently playing some of their best ball. Toronto is a tough matchup for Philly. Marc Gasol defends Embiid well and the Raptors have multiple really good perimeter defenders (most notably Kawhi, obviously). If Lowry plays reasonably well on the offensive end, the Raptors will win the series.

The rest of the East playoffs should be epic. Nice to see the Raptors come out ready to bury the Magic. When I put the game on it was 19-2!

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Apr 23, 2019 9:42 pm

At the time I posted earlier it was 73-36 in the 3rd.

Fuck Embiid though, still.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:05 am

Just caught the last 4 minutes of the Blazers-OKC game. Lillard with the HUGE 3 to win it.

Damn...I miss having an NBA team in town.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:11 am

not gonna be surprised in the slightest if Donovan gets canned by the end of the week

you just shrug your shoulders losing to a shot like that. but when the shot like that comes after you pissed away a 15-point lead in the second half of the fourth quarter...

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:33 am

Brontoburglar wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 12:11 am not gonna be surprised in the slightest if Donovan gets canned by the end of the week

you just shrug your shoulders losing to a shot like that. but when the shot like that comes after you pissed away a 15-point lead in the second half of the fourth quarter...

Lillard's sister rushing the court yelling 'That's my baby brother' was hilarious...

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:43 am

I'm not watching much NBA, but Dame Lillard is a bad, bad man.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:49 am

NBA beef is the best beef.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:50 am

If he had missed that shot, without making any attempt to get closer, the takes today would melt the sun.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:50 am

Yeah, it seems so much more fun than other sports. I'm excited to be a fan again.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:05 am

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:50 am If he had missed that shot, without making any attempt to get closer, the takes today would melt the sun.

It was definitely the cockiest game winning shot ever. Plenty of time to get any shot and he hits a 37-foot step back over perhaps the best perimeter defender in the league. His postgame comments about OKC (especially Westbrook) were also pretty epic.

Brontoburglar · Post by **Brontoburglar** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:16 am

Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Wed Apr 24, 2019 8:50 am If he had missed that shot, without making any attempt to get closer, the takes today would melt the sun.

not sure about this at all. it's not a good shot, but it's a less bad shot in the scenario the Blazers were in because the game was tied and they were at home

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:25 am

Lillard also takes a lot of very deep 3s and makes them at a decent clip:

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Apr 24, 2019 2:04 pm

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sat Apr 27, 2019 7:51 pm

Joe K wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:48 pm
Johnny Carwash wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2019 8:34 pm Holy shit, check the score on the Brooklyn-Philly game.
The rest of the East playoffs should be fun, as all four teams seem to be currently playing some of their best ball. Toronto is a tough matchup for Philly. Marc Gasol defends Embiid well and the Raptors have multiple really good perimeter defenders (most notably Kawhi, obviously). If Lowry plays reasonably well on the offensive end, the Raptors will win the series.

I think Kawhi really is an alien or a cyborg and he has now managed to clone himself in the form of Pascal Siakam. With both those guys playing at such a high level the Raptors look really good.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:16 am

The machine comparison for Leonard is apt because he moves just so smoothly out there. An incredible performance last night.

And is something wrong with Embiid? The local announcers were saying that he can't play more than 25 or so minutes a game.

tennbengal · Post by **tennbengal** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:42 am

Knee.

EdRomero · Post by **EdRomero** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:51 am

Brain

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 7:53 am

Yeah, Embiid has knee tendinitis. He managed to play less than 100 minutes versus the Nets because he sat out Game 3 and the fourth quarters of two blowout wins. But at least for Game 1, the bigger issue was the Raptors’ defense. Going back to his Grizzlies days, Marc Gasol has always done a great job defensively on Embiid. (He is a former DPOY, after all.) I suspect that Masai Ujiri made the trade for Gasol at the deadline specifically with a playoff series against the Sixers in mind.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 8:40 am

EdRomero · Post by **EdRomero** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:08 pm

After a bad 5th foul call on Curry, he committed about 16 uncalled 6th fouls.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:11 pm

So James Harden’s postseason shooting struggles are definitely a thing now. Today’s game was there for the taking if he could have even had an average performance.

EdRomero · Post by **EdRomero** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:15 pm

And apparently they changed the landing rule on 3 pointers today. I have no rooting interest in this series other than to watch a lot of great players, but it seems the officiating and these teams complaining about/working the refs ruins the viewing experience for me.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:19 pm

EdRomero wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2019 5:15 pm And apparently they changed the landing rule on 3 pointers today. I have no rooting interest in this series other than to watch a lot of great players, but it seems the officiating and these teams complaining about/working the refs ruins the viewing experience for me.

The refs really seem to like the Warriors.

TT2.0 · Post by **TT2.0** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:43 am

i consider myself somewhat of an expert when i say the fix is fucking in. depressing.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 7:04 am

Including the Utah series, Harden’s shooting splits are down to 36%/33% for this postseason. Even if he gets to the line a lot, which he did in Game 1, that level of bad shooting will not get it done against the Warriors or whoever comes out of the East. That’s the biggest issue for Houston, not the officiating. The dropoff is particularly noteworthy when other high scoring stars like Kawhi and Durant have been able to not only maintain their regular season form, but take their game to another level.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:41 am

👀

Rex · Post by **Rex** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:50 am

It is a problem--nobody likes a tattle.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 11:19 am

Rex wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:50 am It is a problem--nobody likes a tattle.

Snitches get T-ed up.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Mon Apr 29, 2019 12:03 pm

Playoff officiating benefits the Warriors in a sense in that refs tend to allow them to more aggressively close out on shooters. But at the same time, their opponents are permitted to be very physical with Curry and Thompson off the ball. Bottom line is that Harden needs to find a way to score efficiently regardless of how it’s officiated. Guys like LeBron, KD, Kawhi, Kyrie, etc. have shown the ability to do that and Harden needs to be able to for the Rockets to win a title this year or in the near future.

Post by **Sabo** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:01 am

TT2.0 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 29, 2019 1:43 am i consider myself somewhat of an expert when i say the fix is fucking in. depressing.

You won't like this news then.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:08 am

Its unfair sports teams don't get to pick which officials work their games.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:46 am

Have to admit, I would enjoy the NBA's big fuck you to any other team who is throwing this hissy fit now, so I laughed when I heard the news. Especially when you know they will also go out of their way not to give GSW the calls tonight to "prove" the Rockets are full of shit.

Ryan · Post by **Ryan** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 11:54 am

mister d wrote:No, we called him the Rocket Killer because he was once a quality control team leader at NASA

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:03 pm

The Raptors missed a ton of open shots last night but at the same time, that was the best defense I’ve seen the Sixers play all season. The Raptors defense was also ridiculously good in the second half but Jimmy Butler was fantastic down the stretch. I still think the Raptors are the clear favorites in the series but that was a great win for Philly.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Tue Apr 30, 2019 1:18 pm

Joe K wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2019 12:03 pm The Raptors missed a ton of open shots last night but at the same time, that was the best defense I’ve seen the Sixers play all season. The Raptors defense was also ridiculously good in the second half but Jimmy Butler was fantastic down the stretch. I still think the Raptors are the clear favorites in the series but that was a great win for Philly.

Butler and Leonard would have been a joy to watch for a neutral fan last night.

All season, the Raptors bench was so hyped, but it looks terrible right now. Nothing more frustrating than watching a team miss 3 after 3 after 3.