2021 NBA Playoffs

[HaulCitgo]

Yeah right everyone guaranteed championships. Wheres Detroit? Sucking ass is where.

[sancarlos]

[tennbengal]

Holy fuck Damien lillard

[mister d]

If every game were like this I’d probably watch a lot more NBA.

[tennbengal]

That game was beyond awesome

[GoodKarma]

At no time did I think the Nuggets actually had that game in hand

[tennbengal]

At no time did I think the Nuggets actually had that game in hand

I still feel that way. And it finished 10 hours ago.

Also, what the hell, Lebron...

[Giff]

Austin Rivers' reaction after the one miss was outstanding.

[A_B]

AINGE OUT.

[tennbengal]

AINGE OUT.

That's a big deal.

But I can't let the Lillard thing go just yet. Tom Ley wrote on it in Defector from perspective of being a Nuggets fan, and it captures it:

What is there even left to say about Damian Lillard’s shot-making abilities? After last night’s unwavering assault on the Denver Nuggets—during which Lillard scored 55 points, single-handedly erased several this-game-should-be-over leads, and twice sent to game to overtime in frankly disgusting fashion—it feels like everything is on the table. Has there ever been a greater clutch shooter than Damian Lillard? Is there any player in the world you’d trust more to drag his team out of a deficit? Is Damian Lillard in fact a demon sent from hell? If you are someone who just woke up this morning and read a few recaps of last night’s game, then maybe these questions seem silly to you. But if you saw it, if you sat on your couch in the dark and felt your face twist into a rictus of shock over the course of a few hours, then you are probably nodding along with my queries.

So, anyway, Lillard scored 55 points with 12 threes in a double-overtime Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He hit a 28-foot step-back jumper with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 121 and send it to its first overtime. During that overtime, the Nuggets managed to build a nine-point lead with 2:16 left to play. Lillard erased it by scoring the Blazers’ next 12 points, the last three of which came on yet another step-back beyond the arc. Surrounding all of that was another collection of big shots, each of which in any other context could have qualified as the biggest of the game. Such was Lillard’s mastery that the 31-foot three he banked in during the second overtime may not even make future highlight reels of this game.

There are certainly other players in the league with the skills and the fortitude necessary to do the things Lillard did last night. Steph Curry exists, Kyrie Irving exists, Kevin Durant exists. That Lillard is a contemporary of those and other great players is the reason why so many of his signature moments have been confined to ultimately fruitless playoff runs, and why you wouldn’t ever expect anyone to argue that Lillard is an objectively better basketball player than any of those other stars who have gone further and won more than he has. But Lillard does have something that none of those other guys do, and that is a grand capacity for cruelty. When Lillard fully enters Dame Time—which does not involve him cynically baiting defenders into fouls on the perimeter, or meticulously crafting open looks through the offense, or wildly attacking the rim and hoping for the best—there is no meaner sight in sports. There’s just a guy, pulling up from 25–35 feet over and over and over again, making shots that nobody can do a single thing to stop. Things got so bad last night that a rare Lillard miss had Austin Rivers literally thanking God while the game was going on around him.

I feel qualified to speak to the lasting torment that these moments can cause. The Nuggets are my favorite NBA team—my favorite team in all of sports!—and just hours ago I watched them win one of the greatest playoff games I’ve ever seen. I saw Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. and Monte Morris and even Austin damn Rivers play wonderful, thrilling basketball and deliver one of the greatest wins in the history of the franchise. And yet I did not really enjoy watching any of that in the moment, because Damian Lillard was also on the floor. After a while, every great play the Nuggets made, every point they added to their lead, just started to feel like set-ups for Lillard’s next brutal knockout punch.

Even now, several hours and a decent night’s sleep later, I still feel terrorized by Damian Lillard. The sun was shining through my window this morning and I could hear the birds chirping, but what was that flicker of movement I noticed at the edge of the yard? Was that Lillard, aiming a crossbow at me? Why did I feel a strange buzzing sensation in my head while making coffee? Was Lillard pointing a top-secret microwave gun at my head from across the street? Is he standing behind me right now? Lillard suffered a devastating double-overtime playoff loss to my favorite team, and somehow I’m the one who feels haunted. That’s a power of Lillard’s that I don’t think any other athlete in professional sports can claim.

[mister d]

They go about it differently, and it looks like it'll probably end sooner for Lillard, but there's a very 2001 Iverson feel to watching him play.

[DSafetyGuy]

AINGE OUT.

That's a big deal.

Good thing he stockpiled all those picks.

Also, Brad Stevens taking over basketball ops is an interesting choice. There will obviously be help around, but maybe the experience of negotiating his own contract (he doesn't have an agent) will really help him out.

[tennbengal]

[GoodKarma]

AINGE OUT.

That's a big deal.

But I can't let the Lillard thing go just yet. Tom Ley wrote on it in Defector from perspective of being a Nuggets fan, and it captures it:

What is there even left to say about Damian Lillard’s shot-making abilities? After last night’s unwavering assault on the Denver Nuggets—during which Lillard scored 55 points, single-handedly erased several this-game-should-be-over leads, and twice sent to game to overtime in frankly disgusting fashion—it feels like everything is on the table. Has there ever been a greater clutch shooter than Damian Lillard? Is there any player in the world you’d trust more to drag his team out of a deficit? Is Damian Lillard in fact a demon sent from hell? If you are someone who just woke up this morning and read a few recaps of last night’s game, then maybe these questions seem silly to you. But if you saw it, if you sat on your couch in the dark and felt your face twist into a rictus of shock over the course of a few hours, then you are probably nodding along with my queries.

So, anyway, Lillard scored 55 points with 12 threes in a double-overtime Game 5 loss to the Denver Nuggets. He hit a 28-foot step-back jumper with 3.7 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 121 and send it to its first overtime. During that overtime, the Nuggets managed to build a nine-point lead with 2:16 left to play. Lillard erased it by scoring the Blazers’ next 12 points, the last three of which came on yet another step-back beyond the arc. Surrounding all of that was another collection of big shots, each of which in any other context could have qualified as the biggest of the game. Such was Lillard’s mastery that the 31-foot three he banked in during the second overtime may not even make future highlight reels of this game.

There are certainly other players in the league with the skills and the fortitude necessary to do the things Lillard did last night. Steph Curry exists, Kyrie Irving exists, Kevin Durant exists. That Lillard is a contemporary of those and other great players is the reason why so many of his signature moments have been confined to ultimately fruitless playoff runs, and why you wouldn’t ever expect anyone to argue that Lillard is an objectively better basketball player than any of those other stars who have gone further and won more than he has. But Lillard does have something that none of those other guys do, and that is a grand capacity for cruelty. When Lillard fully enters Dame Time—which does not involve him cynically baiting defenders into fouls on the perimeter, or meticulously crafting open looks through the offense, or wildly attacking the rim and hoping for the best—there is no meaner sight in sports. There’s just a guy, pulling up from 25–35 feet over and over and over again, making shots that nobody can do a single thing to stop. Things got so bad last night that a rare Lillard miss had Austin Rivers literally thanking God while the game was going on around him.

I feel qualified to speak to the lasting torment that these moments can cause. The Nuggets are my favorite NBA team—my favorite team in all of sports!—and just hours ago I watched them win one of the greatest playoff games I’ve ever seen. I saw Nikola Jokic and Michael Porter Jr. and Monte Morris and even Austin damn Rivers play wonderful, thrilling basketball and deliver one of the greatest wins in the history of the franchise. And yet I did not really enjoy watching any of that in the moment, because Damian Lillard was also on the floor. After a while, every great play the Nuggets made, every point they added to their lead, just started to feel like set-ups for Lillard’s next brutal knockout punch.

Even now, several hours and a decent night’s sleep later, I still feel terrorized by Damian Lillard. The sun was shining through my window this morning and I could hear the birds chirping, but what was that flicker of movement I noticed at the edge of the yard? Was that Lillard, aiming a crossbow at me? Why did I feel a strange buzzing sensation in my head while making coffee? Was Lillard pointing a top-secret microwave gun at my head from across the street? Is he standing behind me right now? Lillard suffered a devastating double-overtime playoff loss to my favorite team, and somehow I’m the one who feels haunted. That’s a power of Lillard’s that I don’t think any other athlete in professional sports can claim.

"Terrorized" is 100% correct in terms of how I felt watching.

[tennbengal]

Holy crap have the Bucks been disappointing. Maybe if Durant and Kyrie also sat out they would have a chance.

[DSafetyGuy]

Holy crap have the Bucks been disappointing. Maybe if Durant and Kyrie also sat out they would have a chance.

Barring a stunning comeback, Budenholzer cannot survive this, right? The annual faceplant in the playoffs at this point is wasting Giannis' prime.

[tennbengal]

Holy crap have the Bucks been disappointing. Maybe if Durant and Kyrie also sat out they would have a chance.

Barring a stunning comeback, Budenholzer cannot survive this, right? The annual faceplant in the playoffs at this point is wasting Giannis' prime.

At the least, he's the obvious immediate fall guy.

[DSafetyGuy]

Holy crap have the Bucks been disappointing. Maybe if Durant and Kyrie also sat out they would have a chance.

Barring a stunning comeback, Budenholzer cannot survive this, right? The annual faceplant in the playoffs at this point is wasting Giannis' prime.

At the least, he's the obvious immediate fall guy.

They don't have Eric Bledsoe to kick around any more.

[Johnnie]

[tennbengal]

That was excellent.

"Why is Porzingis on the wing? He's 7 foot 19"

[A_B]

What sorcery is this?

[tennbengal]

The Kwahi dunk last night was brutal.

Embid was glancing at a TV as is happened while he was on his post-game zoom…

[tennbengal]

[Ryan]

Kawhi out. Chris Paul out. The guy who wrecked his achilles and weighs 80 pounds is going to be the only healthy star left standing.

[A_B]

Kawhi out. Chris Paul out. The guy who wrecked his achilles and weighs 80 pounds is going to be the only healthy star left standing.

Wait...what happened to Kawhi?

[Ryan]

[Ryan]

That would make 9 All-Stars who have already missed a playoff game

[DSafetyGuy]

Wondering if there is any discussion among the Nets' brain trust about sitting Harden and limiting Durant's minutes in Game 6, essentially conceding the game for the sake of rest, to save up for Game 7.

Also wondering if the Bucks are accepting head coaching resumes now, regardless of what happens the rest of the way. Even if the Bucks win their next ten games, you can make an extremely compelling case that they need to fire Budenholzer.

[Rex]

The NBA should shift to a regular season of 30-35 games followed by a single-game knockout tournament. I'm only joking a little here.

[tennbengal]

Yeesh. Just a full blown injury and firing apocalypse today…

[L-Jam3]

I sat through over 200 losses in three years for this shit?

[brian]

My first ever legal sports bet in the state of Michigan was ATL in-game - $10 to win $300 right after halftime.

[tennbengal]

I went to bed early(ish). Philly was up 24. In the third period. When I tell you the score this morning caught me way off guard, you can take that to the bank.

[rass]

I just watched the last couple of minutes and was surprised at how quiet the Philly crowd was. Maybe because the game was still close, or maybe just too shocked to be assholes.

[L-Jam3]

I just watched the last couple of minutes and was surprised at how quiet the Philly crowd was. Maybe because the game was still close, or maybe just too shocked to be assholes.

If it's possible to be both shocked and totally expecting of the worst possible outcome, last night was it.

[brian]

We need to have a talk on the way Giannis is officiated. It’s a joke.

[Giff]

Taking 3:30 to shoot 7 free throws is absurd.

[DaveInSeattle]

Terrance Mann is having an out-of-body experience.

[tennbengal]

I have had NO handle on this playoffs. Just weirdness everywhere due to injuries and random shit like Mann turning into a superstar out of nowhere.

[L-Jam3]

This is one hell of a game.