nba playoffs aka the 'offs (which includes the 'ins) 2021

Waiting for ciderpress to weigh in

do i even have to say it

Isn’t 20 teams most of the teams

Lebron tweaked his ankle again…

uhh lol

LeBron James just compared his career to The Godfather trilogy.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) May 17, 2021

am i enough of a sucker to bet on the bucks +900 to win the title?

i sure might be

50/50 chance LeBron has never seen The Godfather.

lebron who is 3rd alltime in scoring thinks hes never mentioned with the greats of scoring

Since I was 19 years old! And I’m a pass first guy. Always been. That’s why I’m never mentioned with the greats of scoring huh?? That’s perfect cause I’d rather keep it that way! 😁. #ThekidfromAKRON🤴🏾 #SFG🚀 #JamesGang👑 #Blessed🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/QGqFFHu3jj

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 17, 2021

lol bron is feeling ornery

the beauty of Twitter is that you can have a thought, then share it with the entire world before considering whether it makes any sense.

i mean, he is right. but it also doesn’t matter

love salty lebron

my predix for the Hawks:

hawks beat the knicks 4-2. knicks second unit won't be able to hang with the hawks depth, esp with hunter back and healthy

hawks lose to philly 2-4. philly's defense will be too much for the young dudes

I voted Jazz, but I honestly have no idea, because of the curse on this season.

i voted bucks because thats what i want to happen and it doesnt seem less likely than anything else

Bucks-Nets in second round is going to be so saucy.

knicks second unit won't be able to hang with the hawks depth

how dare you doubt the might of elfrid payton and obi toppin

i guess elfrid payton technically is a starter

it's funny to talk about the knicks second unit when their first unit is julius randle, reggie bullock, nerlens noel, and elfrid payton. i feel like they have the worst roster of any playoff team potentially including the play ins, but they drew the best possible first round match up

yeah tough to win with 4 guys

this is why thibs isn't gonna win coach of the year

if you want to get your mediocre team to the first round of the playoffs, nobody does it better

i bit on the sixers to win it all because I am concussed

Noooooooo! The only way to win is not to believe.

lol

embiids gonna have to go wild which is possible, its always the question of whether he can manage playing physically for a whole game, cause where he really kills you is when hes fouling your whole team out, hes got to not turn the ball over when double teamed and not settle for too many threes, in short hes gotta be better than he has been in past playoffs, but if he is then we can tip our caps and call him mr champion, one thing he has going for him is al horford is not in the playoffs this year

i put them on my list of three teams i think can actually win it but i would be concerned w/ how the heat guarded them the other night, squeezing down hard on embiid and daring anyone else on the sixers to score a bunch of points. i think at home there will be games where seth curry hits threes, and tobias had a pretty good night vs the heat, and the sixers packed it in after the first quarter so whatever. but still if you can make embiid pass and seth curry isn't hurting you, it might start to get pretty tight against good teams. i wouldn't trust danny green after last playoffs

the great news for the sixers is that they'll only need to try in two series to win the title

yeah philly has to be creative with how they get him the ball not just dump it in the post which is easy to double and also exhausting

teams that wouldn't surprise me: suns, sixers

teams that might surprise me a little but i would get it: jazz, nets, bucks

teams that would fill me with glee: blazers, nuggets, heat

teams that would fill me with glee, but not happening: knicks

teams that i can't see doing it but i haven't really watched them that closely this season: mavs, clippers

no fuckin' way: dubs, grizz, spurs, hawks, celtics, bullets, pacers, hornets

mr silver i am writing you today to discuss the terms of our divorce: lakers

but still if you can make embiid pass and seth curry isn't hurting you, it might start to get pretty tight against good teams. i wouldn't trust danny green after last playoffs

They're not a terrible 3pt shooting team (37.4%, 10th). The problem is they are 26th in 3pt attempts/game. Probably a function of having Embiid and Simmons on the floor at the same time.

there are definite limitations to playing any two non-shooters in the playoffs, but particularly if they are your ball handler and your screen setter. this goes for the heat as well as the sixers.

yeah and the heat got around it by going small and putting great to elite shooters around those two at basically every other position. when they were getting nothing from dragic and herro this season their offense was like bottom 5 in the league. obv darryl understands this

the other issue w/ simmons compared to butler as an example is that jimmy gets to the line at an elite rate and is very good when he gets there. simmons has always been efficient bcuz he's so selective but he's not going to push the envelope and get to the line at the ends of games which jimmy did routinely in the bubble last year. embiid obv can get to the line and is great for a big guy when he's there, but i think it's easier in the playoffs to be doing that off the dribble than as a post player

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

can't wait to find out who will win the nba playoffs

this

thats what its all about baby

we love the game for one reason

to find out who wins the nba playoffs

Can't wait for the next episode of the reality show, "The 2021 NBA Playoffs".

bcz we are all messy b*tches who love drama

that’s right

voted nets btw

i can't figure out who to vote for. what a tough year to figure out the champ.

i can't decide between the bucks and sixers, i'm very concerned about anthony davis making it through 4 playoff rounds healthy, and i think the top 3 teams in the east would be beat any remaining team in the west. i might lean the sixers bcuz they have the easiest path to the finals of any team in either conference... think the bucks might be the better team tho

can we all agree that it would be "fun" to see portland, denver or miami win?

jordan that's very much where i'm at. i don't think this is the lakers year and with that in mind the east seems stronger. i would love to pick the bucks but i was just looking at their top 8 guys and man you have to hope jrue holiday has the playoffs of his life if you want to make that pick.

they've also given themselves such a bad path compared to philly.

I also voted nets but this whole post season screams chaos to me

i would love to pick the bucks but i was just looking at their top 8 guys and man you have to hope jrue holiday has the playoffs of his life if you want to make that pick.

― call all destroyer, Monday, May 17, 2021 11:30 PM (yesterday)

i think there's a two fold issue w/ the bucks. one is giannis and middleton related, having those guys not freeze up and take a bunch of jumpers in crunch time after the offense does nothing for 21 seconds. the second is that they were a pretty deadly shooting team, but you kinda need to believe that guys like bryn forbes, dante d, connaughton, even jrue are going to be 40% three point shooters in the playoffs and weren't just shooting the lights out in the most shooting friendly season in NBA history. if the bucks can figure out how to run an offense at the end of games and have role players who make threes they might be the best team in the league and will prob come out of the east. if neither of those two things get solved they could potentially lose to the heat again

Lakers/Nets

Simmons has been very bad down the stretch. Not healthy and/or distracted by family drama. I think the Sixers could beat the Nets because the Nets are thin and don't play defense, but I think they would lose to the Bucks.

i like how everyone’s just ignoring polyphonic’s nightmare scenario, or haven’t even read it properly because it just cancels out somehow, like staring at the sun

Not healthy and/or distracted by family drama.

hmmmm?

nets officially cursed

THIS JUST IN: guess who’s joining us to set up a #COVID vaccine site outside @barclayscenter?

Thank you to the @BrooklynNets for getting in the game to get New Yorkers vaccinated. Tune in for more. https://t.co/vL7jQKHX9N pic.twitter.com/7vC29uu8bs

— City of New York (@nycgov) May 18, 2021

this would be an amazing time for kyrie to come out with a weird anti-vax statement

Is simmons still dating a Jenner

can only assume someone mustve warned him off of it in advance xp

Is simmons still dating a Jenner

― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, May 18, 2021 8:11 AM (twenty-five minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

no, d booker took over that one for now.

haven't watched a game in a few weeks but i'm excited for some 'ins

off to a good start

Just in: Indiana Pacers guard Caris LeVert is expected to miss tonight’s Play-In Tournament game vs. the Charlotte Hornets due to health and safety protocols, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 18, 2021

ah well

ffs!

Would be pretty wild if some star who didn’t get vaccinated manages to get COVID and swings the whole offs (not caris levert, obviously)

re: Simmons (feel bad even posting it, shits fucked up regardless), this came out in March?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9457973/Basketballer-Ben-Simmons-sister-Olivia-claims-half-brother-molested-years-age-three.html

...lebron xp

xp ugh, did not hear about that

ugh is right.

He missed 4 games in a row due to an unknown, non-covid illness right around the same time and hasn't seemed himself since.

i had no idea he posted career lows in points rebounds and assists. what an odd player.

Ny vs atl is a coin flip. exact same record and point differential. both are healthy, right? i guess besides hunter but he hasnt been there all year basically.

gritty defense vs razzle dazzle offense its the nba playoffs baby

interesting prove it series for both teams

randle gonna be played 44 mpg

might rest for zero second half minutes the whole series

"you can rest when you're dead at halftime"

The @spurs Playing Too @espn SMH!!!🤦🏽‍♂️ https://t.co/hW8vbBP0Wa

— Dejounte Murray (@DejounteMurray) May 18, 2021

I am extremely confident the hawks will win. what's the line? i might have to make some money off this

hawks are favored by a little bit

usually i think its most important to analyze the matchups in a playoff series but since i dont know who plays for the knicks im not sure

pretty sure the hawks have a better player at every position

4 out of 5 maybe

knicks had really good health this year right, and the hawks missed a bunch of games, and they ended up in exactly the same place, so if the hawks are healthy now theyre probably the better team, by a small to medium amount

knicks/hawks is interesting in being a rare series between two teams who have very little playoff experience between them. i can think of three guys who will get important minutes in this series who have played more than a dozen playoff games.

what if the refs let the knicks play gritty physical defense, could throw the hawks off, especially trae young, very small guys tend not to do good in the offs

yeah it's a big moment for the trae might not be good in the playoffs crew

Injury Report:

Brogdon - Questionable (right hamstring)
A. Holiday - Questionable (right toe)
Lamb - Out (left knee)
LeVert - Out (health & safety protocols)
Sabonis - Questionable (left quad)
Sumner - Questionable (left knee)
Turner - Out (right toe)
Warren - Out (left foot)

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) May 18, 2021

not great

taj gibson probably has played more playoff games than everybody else combined on both the knicks and hawks.

if you leave out d. rose

hmm never mind, there are a surprising number of veterans on the hawks (surprising to me who has not seen much of them)

Honestly the biggest thing that worries me about trae in the playoffs is how much the reffing changes. If they do the usual let em play thing he may not get his free throws

it's an issue when bullshit foul drawing is a big part of your game!

it’s 100% gonna happen. i feel like the trae young playoff narrative is going to be a long and twisted odyssey that we’re only just embarking on

yeah, i mean we'll see how he adjust. if he starts cranking out a bunch of threes then we're in trouble

since nate came along trae has adjusted his game to facilitating first and looking to score second. its really opened up things for him

assuming the hawks win at least 2 games in this series this is the fun playoffs for trae before ppl really start picking him apart. i’m sure the knicks will try and be “physical” with him but ppl have been trying to be “physical” with trae his whole life so i think that’s overrated. but to your point he needs to get into the defense and kick out if he isn’t getting calls and not shoot a bunch of 30 footers

sounds like you want to bet something

i very bullish on the hawks, i know surprise, but they've been smoking since the coaching change

i'm glad for you as a hawks fan and that you have something to look forward to. it's been a while!

idk playing physical vs small guys has a pretty good track record, if the refs will let you

i don’t have much of an opinion on hawks-knicks. i think the knicks will have the worst roster of any of the 16 playoff teams, i could also see them winning the series. power forward feels like the hawks’ weak spot on D so randle could win the series... i think he’s prob more likely to shoot the knicks out of it but i assume it will be a competitive series. i’d prob lean hawks in 6 or 7.

heez have you heard about macmillans playoff coaching record

lol we need an ilh portland indy atlanta macmillan summit

*rip seattle super sonics

On paper the Hawks seem like a no brainer, but the Knicks are 3-0 against them this year.

no one has believed in the knicks all year, and i for one am not going to start now, why mess with a good thing

knicks are going to win the series imo.

sincerely,

hoops expert jim

tbf macmillan’s portland teams were always beat up to hell with injuries by the time spring rolled around but he was a pretty shit coach at the time, he’s better now

i will be happy for knicks fans if they win tho, they deserve a lil win

too bad the celtics imploded and got injured celtics knicks in the 4-5 matchup wouldve been a low stakes classic

the last game the hawks and knicks played the hawks were up by double digits and then trae got hurt and the knicks won in OT.

i don't think regular season match ups have much predictive value for the playoffs in series where the two teams can reasonably considered competitive, prob has even less value this year

yeah article along those lines trying to sus out how good the teams playoff rosters will be https://nba.nbcsports.com/2021/05/18/adjusting-for-postseason-rotations-should-clippers-be-title-favorite-are-trail-blazers-sleeping-giant

too bad the celtics imploded and got injured celtics knicks in the 4-5 matchup wouldve been a low stakes classic

― lag∞n, Tuesday, May 18, 2021 5:24 PM (four minutes ago)

3 of the 4 teams in the bubble conference finals had deeply disappointing, injury riddled, listless seasons. the one exception was the team w/ the MVP and even then one of their best players blew his knee out

yeah the fatigue has been clear

celtics too lost the most games to covid and their best player says hes still affected by it, not great!

are the hawks gonna win any games in a post-covid madison square garden tho?

err, post-covid-capacity-restrictions

anyway im taking the knicks in this series because in the playoffs grit, resilience determination etc matter. this is this something thibs teams have in spades but ive seen trae chuck many a tanty when things dont go his way

too bad the celtics imploded and got injured celtics knicks in the 4-5 matchup wouldve been a low stakes classic

― lag∞n, Tuesday, May 18, 2021 5:24 PM (four minutes ago)

3 of the 4 teams in the bubble conference finals had deeply disappointing, injury riddled, listless seasons. the one exception was the team w/ the MVP and even then one of their best players blew his knee out

class contract push from mcdermott this season.

mcdermott has made himself into a guy, i tip my cap

ugly shooting from ye ol hornets here yikes

ya i just turned it on looked at the score and turned it off lol

There was a moment in one of the last couple lakers games, which were essentially must win, where there was a loose ball that went to the back court and an opposing player hustled back and got it, and lebron just calmly walked to the other end of the court and let the lakers play 4 on 5 defense. Honestly think he should have just taken the season off.
― Matt Armstrong, Tuesday, May 18, 2021 6:38 PM (fifty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

yeah feel like thats been his mode everytime ive watched them this year

but can he turn it on like he always does? will the ankle let him. big questions for the ins and offs.

def some bron ???s this year that were not used to asking

he hasn’t lost an in-conference playoff series in 10 years i feel like his confidence is well founded. their biggest variable (brow’s health) is out of his hands anyway

id say his health is a bigger variable.

yeah davis hasnt show any signs of being still injured where bron has, but on the other hand bron is obvs insanely more robust generally

wasn't lebron like top 3 in mvp talk before he got hurt?

also they havent played with drummond really at all. i wonder if he'll be out of the rotation as early as tomorrow vs the small ball warriors.

yah lebron was pretty locked in pre injury imo. they were pretty easily the best defense in the league.

obv also just weird that bron had a big long injury, sometimes it's that one flash of mortality and it's like welp he's done now

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E1tTLRzVgAEacGN?format=jpg&name=medium

he even said so basically said "now im cooked because of the ankle rip me, lebron" xp

they don't make magazine covers like that anymore

yeah davis hasnt show any signs of being still injured where bron has, but on the other hand bron is obvs insanely more robust generally

if so i support it

i watched brow pretty closely ~2 weeks ago vs portland (w/o lebron) and he had a monster game but just... something seemed off, like he was mentally stopping himself from going as hard as he naturally wants to go

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

welp congrats to the nets, thats a wrap

no clips votes ay

the mercenary superteam votes went to the nets and lakers

clips cld do it tho

Pacers just had so much energy tonight

rip lamelo we barely knew ye

pacers have so much playoff experience. even their dickhead coach has a championship

its too bad they arent healthy they coulda been at least a tough out in the east

im scared now

Uh oh... pic.twitter.com/guz2uG1ulL

— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) May 18, 2021

Marv looks really thin I hope that’s not related to the retirement

noticed his voice has sounded weak recently too

I haven't heard him in a while (rarely listen with sound), and immediately thought he sounded like he might not make it the half.

yeah he was struggling the other day. super raspy.

Over on ILM one of the thread titles is Past Critics' Darlings Re-evaluated as Duds? and I keep thinking they are disrespecting the mighty 2021 Dubs.

is there a reason semi is playing in this game?

cant really say

bad stevens

tristan thompson regularly has trouble executing a simple dribble handoff

maybe not a good fit for the celtics who only do those ever

and marcus has now injured himself moving from left to right so game is really going to form

and now rob williams is down. fuuuuuuck this

think the celtics should just call it a year

wiz are the only playoff team out of the 4 playins tbh

the marv-c webb remote broadcasts were some of the roughest TV experiences in recent memory, RIP to them both

the only reason i want the celtics to win this game is to end the russell westbrook discourse for a few months

yes

It's now a 17-2 Tatum/Kemba vs Wizards run.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) May 19, 2021

the 'ins' don't quite feel like the 'offs', yet, but they have their own peculiar energy

the JV ‘ins tonight tbh

marv has been calling nesmith smart all night even when smarts out there too

tatum is going nuts over here

feel like the celtics are permanently putting tatum in a weird version of who he play for where everyone plays for his own team. making him go out there with kornet, nesmith, and langford and being like ok buddy it's all you.

its good practice lol

it's never going to happen but i would love for boston media/fan idiots to lay off tatum for a minute after this game

they shd be kissing his ass every day

it's insane that they do not realize what they have

it's funny, tatum has become basically the 99th% outcome of his duke scouting report. he's not the best athlete. he is definitely a slow-paced iso scorer. he's never going to run an offense. but he's amazing at what he does well.

3 50 point games this year now

he was put on this earth to score baskets

unvaxed lebron partying with drake the night before the play in game lol

https://www.instagram.com/p/CPClJefFYcn/?utm_medium=copy_link

actually have to assume lebron is vaxxed at this point if drake is publicly posting photos of him maskless with a bunch of ppl, feels like a blatant breaking of the protocols otherwise i would imagine

would be the funniest thing ever if he were ruled ineligible

no one will ever convince me that drake has been good for the nba
or music

Skip Bayless set this up somehow

wild

This is kind of amazing. 3PT%, 2019-20 & 2020-21....

Randle: 27.7% -> 41.1%
Barrett: 32.0% -> 40.1%
Rose: 30.6% -> 38.8%
Bullock: 33.3% -> 41.0%

Those are the 2nd, 10th, 11th & 13th biggest jumps among 202 players w/ 100+ 3PA in each of the last 2 seasons.

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) May 19, 2021

man the knicks are gonna suck next year

chet holmgren babyyy

lol

Have other teams been shooting better against the Knicks? Maybe we've got a deflategate situation on our hands

Everyone else is gonna shoot worse too

matt if I gave you even odds of the knicks being a top-4 seed next year do you take it?

everyones shooting is going to go down but the knicks went up more

they also had opponents shooting worse than expected against them for a portion of the year.

My concern with the Knicks is that Thibs is diminishing returns

Randle and Barrett both played about 5 mpg more under Thibs, naturally.

On the other hand, Thibs played DRose 4 mpg less (than he did in 2014).

thibs runs teams ragged, it's always been a thing with him

he is basketball jim harbaugh

not a great start for thee spurs here

I guess I hadn't seen Pop in a while, but holy shit at his hair.

this is about right for the spurs this year

are you rooting for tanking or sacrificial lamb?

away teams not enjoying the ins thus far.

It's a little like working hard at your job and your reward is another week of unpaid work.

put it this way, i think the spurs have no shot at winning against either lakers of warriors, so winning this game wouldve been a nice glimmer of hope for the future. but they kinda need to help their draft position, and losing means they'll get 11 or 12 (coin toss vs. CHA) and MAYBE just maybe some lottery luck.

xxxp

not a great start for thee spurs here

― lag∞n, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 7:59 PM (thirty-one minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

better now

intersting

no reason at all for me posting this, just keeping up on the discourse...

Grayson Allen had one of the worst stretches I've seen during the Spurs run. Basically everything that went wrong for the Grizz seemed to involve him on both ends.

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) May 20, 2021

lmao

did notice he looked lost out there

-17 in 5 minutes

ha he was in for exactly the spurs run

man -17 in 5 is hard to do

guess this proves he'll never be a valuable NBA contributor

that's right

too gray

valanciunas is playing about as hard as you can possibly play as a big man these days. it's been awesome to watch.

too gray

too rock solid

jonas could barely breath coming out of the game.

Christian Laetner without the talent or likability.

re: Allen.

too kind

dillon brooks is just a fascinating player. i can't imagine having to root for him but it is never boring.

i just looked up his contract cuz i was thinking like "damn i would not want to pay him a lot of money" but it's actually pretty reasonable what they have him on

wonder if theyll pick up the winslow team option. hes played like what 5 games total since the trade?

xp again he would be maddening but he's an absolute steal at 11 million bucks for everything he does for them on both ends

given what they invested to get winslow i assume they will just say let's try a fresh start next year and hope it goes well.

brooks strikes me as someone whose moves were mostly modeled on 2k animations

man its honestly kinda sad how bad derozan is in big games. seems like a good dude and who just suffers from the playoff yips.

How is Rudy Gay only 34?

that was a fun game

sad for the spurs, also congrats to the spurs

gain he would be maddening but he's an absolute steal at 11 million bucks for everything he does for them on both ends

― call all destroyer, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 10:03 PM (twenty-six seconds ago)

i'm not sure i would say he's a steal... he reminds me a lot of marcus smart... he feels accurately paid to me

How is Rudy Gay only 34?

― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 7:10 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

that achilles injury zapped him right in his prime. been a steady role player since really.

He's still really solid. I just thought he was closer to 40 because it feels like he was in the league two eras ago.

xp i would much rather entrust my offense to brooks but i get it

rudy's been toiling away in obscurity since he joined the spurs, but he's good. he absolutely needs to go to a contender next year bc his limited skills are wasted in SA.

i would also like to propose a rule that once we enter the postseason we standardize on normal home/road uniforms as i watch golden state wear these atrocious throwbacks and no one is wearing white

yah playoff matchups just need to be the classics. we'll always have the memory of the 2016 cavs winning the title in black sleeved unis with a massive C across the chest.

i would allow for alternates in games 3-5

but home white & road dark needs to be de rigueur for the playoffs

yah playoff matchups just need to be the classics. we'll always have the memory of the 2016 cavs winning the title in black sleeved unis with a massive C across the chest.

― i was too much listening to your accent (Spottie), Wednesday, May 19, 2021 10:19 PM (two minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

hahahah yes

AD and lebron... umm....

lebron still looking for the rim after 5 minutes

lebrons got no lift tonight (so far)

yeah

AD hasn’t been able to finish at the rim either

“I give Steve Kerr credit. He’s narrowed his rotation.”

lol they literally have had 8 players for like month

8 seems generous

it is

draymond loves guarding brow

why are they trying to post him do a play or something

refs letting a lot go here wow

and of course dray gets the tech

the lakers look awful but it isn't going to matter if curry doesn't get going

yeah

lol theres a line to complain to the refs as soon as the quarter ends

dying at all this moaning to the refs and draymond got the tech

lebron complaining about six weeks of rehab makes me viscerally mad but idk i guess it probably does suck if you've basically never been hurt before and have a perfect athlete body

he should maybe just save that venting for his agent or his family or whoever

if the warriors can survive these bench minutes.

yeah what a baby xp

like we all have problems buddy

lebron does not looo particularly spry out there

nope

he doesn’t look particularly.... engaged

nooooo he does not

he had some tiny guy on him in the post a few plays ago and just passed it

it's established that i'm not a gambling man but if the lakers lose this i'm going to be so tempted to put a nominal amount of cash on the grizzles

bron protesting the play in game?

you know its bad when wiggins is more engaged than bron

i wonder if anyone explained the play-in to the lakers. they seem to think this is the 73rd regular season game.

wiggins has been the best player on the floor by like a mile

leading the game with.....(triple checks notes).....9 points!

lebron is trying to score but it’s not working

he looks awful out there

right now he looks like his first few months in cleveland when he couldn’t make a lay up and then took his mysterious vacation to miami

meanwhile anthony davis is playing like he’s mike muscala

this is fun to watch but GSW only being down 5 right now is a miracle

does dray know he already has a tech

really dumb double technical

this is starting to be funny

jesus someone call a TO

ad looks like hes moving around out there at about 70% effort level

dray is owning him so hard

on the one hand if wiggins, bazemore, jordan poole are gonna shoot the lights out i’m not quite sure what the lakers are supposed to do. on the other hand the lakers look like total shit haha

he had a couple of good games toward the end of the season too! i get why lebron looks like a statue but less sure of AD's excuse

rip lebron he had a good career

both teams are getting so many deflections and blocks

my god steph is insane

OMG

took on three players godaaammmm

ridiculous

Steph is the best player on the floor right now and its not even close

i like this steph curry guy

the lakers missed the playoffs completely two seasons ago

(remembers, smiles)

steph moved like a UFO on that play

schroeder just asked if that could be a shooting foul and the refs were like sure

why are they playing at this insane pace

these play in games, unsurprisingly, have not been of the highest quality

its intense tho. feels like a game 7 in a way.

draymond has AD in a straitjacket tonight

bazemore, poole, wiggins, juan toscano picked a great night to make every shot

the west games have been way better than the east games. everyone should remember that for all the 1 game excitement there's only so much a game between the 9 and 10 can do to be aesthetically pleasing

i always say just make every shot why not

funny that the nba's brilliant scheme is to introduce america to barely above average basketball on tuesday and wednesday night

i thought up a better idea today, first round round robin tourney

that is definitely a better idea

lag∞n at 10:47 19 May 21

i always say just make every shot why not


the analytics definitely favor this strategy

one good idea for both teams is to stop whipping the ball around at 150 MPH

the warriors could have handled the 3rd quarter better

JVG pointing out that the lakers offense has woken up since drummond got hurt... rough night for matt armstrong

lol

i dont get why ad has played the 4 his whole career when hes the perfect modern nba center

i love bontemps, he just tells it like it is

Predictably, the Lakers look much better without Andre Drummond on the court — and with Anthony Davis at center.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) May 20, 2021

xp AD's penchant for tiny nagging injuries probably makes him nervous about playing center, his natural position

lebron finally finishing over toscano anderson.... he’s back

the game is just so not physical anymore i dont think it really matters xp

so many turnovers

dubs forgot they needed to play perfect to win this game and started fouling and TOing

love the super slo-mo outro of lebron definitely busting toscono in the ribs wtih an elbow xp

lebron is apparently easing into this game like me on the pathetic first mile of my run, when i go up the slight incline on the other side of the neighborhood and want to die. i feel much better after that.

the jazz still have to be shitting bricks here

killer deadpan from JVG on “he’s hit his minutes limit i wonder if we’ll see him again” after breen notes that lebron is on the bench

Lakers seem to be getting away with some shit

kuzma has been a complete non factor in this game

i’ve audibly said “oh my god” aloud in my empty living room tonight on at least three occasions after steph shots

yup. and he has to take this home if the warriors are going to win

draymond has been amazing tonight. ppl who don’t like him are aliens to me

i don't really like him but he has been awesome in this game

pretty cool game

Well he kinda gave up that 13 point lead going into the half all on his own with errant passes. His defense on AD is always amazing tho.

kuzma has been a complete non factor in this game

― J0rdan S., Thursday, May 20, 2021 12:20 AM (six minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

no one would know kuzmas name if he were on any other team

ive never denied that drays an amazing player hes just a clown

yeah but when kerr rolls out those draymond with no steph line ups he has to force things xp

thoughts and prayers to lebron, hope he makes it through this

yeah so that's the thing with Dray right there

that is not a flagrant

yessss! common foul!

getting eyedrops on the sideline come the fuck on

pretty strong hit tho, all nose

i think the patient will survive

bron still out there hamming it up after the review lol

that should try playing NBA games without refs

and the foul on the rebound lol

i wouldn't put this game in the ref highlight reel

If I had Dray on me I would just flop every time

pretty sure there has been a whistle on every possession since 3 min to go

okay wow

the game changed when they benched schroeder for caruso

i feel like lebron has made that exact kinda three pointer in like 15 diff playoff games in his career

Yeah that’s an amazing shot by Lebron

Also fuck you Drake

Drake immediately abandoning the Raptors bandwagon the second they missed the playoffs for the first time in like a decade lmao

steve kerr’s in game coaching........ yikes

it's not amazing

ridic shot by bron, good game tho

it felt like the warriors had the three best players on the floor in that game and still lost, the rest of their roster is so bad

congrats to lebron james and anthony davis for clinching the seventh seed

why did kerr take so long to call that last to

the warriors just dicked around so much in the 3rd quarter and it allowed lebron and ad to ramp up

Yea there's not much you can do about the Curry doubled >> makes right pass to wide open Poole/Oubre/Bazemore/etc. >>> brick sequence that's played out basically all season long for them. Roster is just barren if Curry isn't working his miracles and sometimes that isn't even enough as seen tonight.

why did kerr take so long to call that last to

Any team that has to play Mychal Mulder for 22 minutes is gonna struggle in the post season

announcers said he was raging and screaming for a TO but the refs didn’t see him xp

the game changed when they benched schroeder for caruso

caruso is a "gamer"

What a game wow

_the game changed when they benched schroeder for caruso_


Noticed this

CJ McCollum flaming lebron for acting lollll

pic.twitter.com/IRbdmQyUAf

— CJ Fogler #BlackLivesMatter (@cjzero) May 20, 2021

Goat

utah-lakers, suns-warriors would’ve been more interesting series than what we’re gonna end up getting

why nobody wants to pay andre drummond $20m per year exhibit a

Anthony Davis shot 9-13 from the field when at center tonight and went 1-11 when either Andre Drummond or Montrezl Harrell was on the floor with him. https://t.co/NXd76UQ0Pq

— Matt Williams (@StatsWilliams) May 20, 2021

Not sure how a coach as good as Vogel supposedly is didn’t know that going jnto the game

That line up worked better with JaVale last year in spurts so I feel like they are trying to force it still

in fairness to vogel brow just looked bad for most of the game and some of that shooting after they went small was prob just regression to the mean. but he did have a number of uncontested shots in the second half that came bcuz draymond wasn’t able to be near the basket. also in fairness to vogel some
of those were breaks off turnovers

CJ McCollum flaming lebron for acting lollll

Space Jam gave him the bug

space james

my son called him James Josh the other day which was hilarious

my 9-y-o’s analysis of golden state

- they need klay back because he’s the only one who can do fast breaks

- when steph gets double-teamed he should kick it to oubre. oubre should NOT shoot but instead get it back to steph who should then “do his magic”

- they need another good “pure shooter”

Tracer's kids otm as usual. They were not fooled by Kent Bazemore and Jordan Poole's attempts to pass as pure shooters

dubs def couldve used klay but the rest of the team is still pretty rough, good defense tho, if bron and ad stay hobbled the suns can take em

Yeah, I think given how the lakers looked the suns have a decent chance. Got ourselves a banana boat playoff showdown

if youre having trouble moving around a bouncy team like the suns isnt really who you want to see

also chris paul will repeatedly punch or kick your injury

why do i feel like lebron is going to look about 5 years younger by the time the second round starts

thats why he must be removed in the first lol

lebron james losing to the phoenix suns in the first round of the playoffs..... it’s not gonna happen

ill have to check the records but im pretty sure lebron has lost before

he's never lost in the first round though he has missed the offs entirely so that puts it in his range imo

hes never lost in the first round but hes had high seeds and now he has a low seed so hes playing a team that he would have faced in the later rounds if he had a high seed

also he seems pretty injured, just barely beat the warriors, who are not good

lakers defense is so good. theyll be in every game just cos of that alone. keeping curry to less than 10 3pa is a massive feet in and of itself. they stifled the curry dray pnr as well as anyone ive seen.

i mostly feel bad for cp3, the worst possible outcome for his personal legacy

lakers defense is def very good but some of the guys they want to play drummond schroder are not that good, wonder what their lineups will end up looking like, wes mathews has ridiculous on off numbers since the all star break fwiw, lotta dicey guys in there tho, just feel like if bron and ad arent near 100% then the whole concept of that team kinda crumbles, that seems obvious i mean

part of the reason the lakers looked bad yesterday is bcuz draymond was putting on a show on defense. the suns have no one on their frontline who is even half the defender dray is

dray was great but bron and ad obviously werent moving well out there

bron will def do some gutty stuff ad is always at risk of disappearing in the best of times

also it must be asked "what is the lakers offense" theres basically zero playmaking outside bron

dray was great

― lag∞n, Thursday, May 20, 2021 12:30 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

on defense

also it must be asked "what is the lakers offense" theres basically zero playmaking outside bron

warriors wouldve won that game if they hadnt turned the ball over every possession of the second half, not only prevented them from scoring it really gave the lakers offense life

notable yet not surprising that the lakers acquired 3 centers and a pricey guard since the end of last season, none of whom played when it mattered last night.

dray 2pts 6tos

Drummond was hilariously bad. They really can't play Gasol at all? Why do they hate him so much.

yeah cld see playing ad at center and then drummond as his back up cause he can put the ball in the ring and they need that but the ad-drummond front court just doesnt make any sense

if they make a deep run i bet gasol will be getting more burn than drummond by that point

yeah you gotta think theyll at least give him a shot at some point

schroeder was bad but thats like his 2nd game back from a couple of weeks off and snitching on bron being antivax

plus good timing on these reports:
https://heavy.com/sports/los-angeles-lakers/rumors-dennis-schroder-knicks-unhappy-in-la/

lol if he extorts the lakers via the knicks all you can do it tip your cap

gotta love the confidence

the knicks are gonna do something really idiotic this summer

otm, we need to get back to living

absolutely they are haha. pretty much like 70% of their roster are free agents. but theyll have to pay randle next year

who are the biggest free agents this year they can ruin their team with

lowery and schroder seem like good candidates

lonzo

oh yeah lonzos perfect, wld feel bad for him tho

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/
dont think that shows all the RFA though.

kawhi could opt out and bounce if they get smoked again.
could see the knicks going for derozan

warriors wouldve won that game if they hadnt turned the ball over every possession of the second half, not only prevented them from scoring it really gave the lakers offense life

yeah definitely felt like at a certain point they stopped running plays and started just whipping the ball around, looking for an open lane. it was really ugly.

Seems like the Suns have the guys to make life difficult for Lebron. If AD continues to look stiff I think they can take it, but if he rounds into form Lakers probably bounce em.

imagine being dennis f'n schroeder and playing with lebron and davis and saying to yourself yeah i think i need my own team. what a maniac.

dude thinks he's kyrie

when you think you're kyrie you have no choice but to act like a maniac

Ayton has been banged up lately. I think he needs to play well for the Suns to win.

imagine being dennis f'n schroeder and playing with lebron and davis and saying to yourself yeah i think i need my own team. what a maniac.

― call all destroyer, Thursday, May 20, 2021 1:48 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

hes been a borderline starter on multiple teams! does he think all of them just dont understand basketball

his current contract is fair. 4/75 would b good but the knicks will go 4/100 for sure

paying even 4/75 for a point guard who never has been nor ever will be an all star... i dunno. i know it's "market rate" but what's dennis schroeder really doing for you

the funny thing is hes a perfect sixth man just bring him in let him shoot a bunch whatever

if i were employing a non allstar starting point guard id rather have an all around solid guy who can run an offense a fred van vleet or what have you than someone like schroder who is a talented scorer but also kind of a fuck up

jeremy clarkson recognized his calling in life. hard thing for those borderline starters/chuckers/change of pace dudes

yeah was thinking same re clarkson

FVV is in the same boat imo. signed a 4/85 deal and shot 39%fg this season. but hes not a knucklehead and won a title so its looked over.

yeah.. that contract...

fred can make plays for other guys is what makes him better imo, and as you said not a knucklehead, also was prob asked to do too much this year raptors dont have a lot of firepower, him and schroder prob wouldve done better switching teams

mario chalmers never made more than $4 million in a year which feels low and is not really possible in the current environment but there's some midpoint between that and schroeder, FVV making $20m per year. (for the teams, anyway. good for those guys)

fvv also plays this thing known as defense

always best to not over pay for middling guys, unless maybe theyre the final piece

we were talking about dillon brooks at $12m per year last night... that feels like the sweet spot for this kind of player. but when you get to free agency the market can bend in your favor

fvv also plays this thing known as defense

― call all destroyer, Thursday, May 20, 2021 11:30 AM (three minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

havent seen a ton of schroeder this year but he's looked good in spots on defense (not last night)

schroder just does not have the high basketball iq, if he did and could shoot a little better hed prob be an allstar

lotta hubris in that dude. him driving to the hole at the very beginning of a important possession with Bron sitting there right next him, just bc he was successful doing it the play before, was so unsurprsing. as was the result

Derrick Rose straight up outplayed Dennis this year imo

my main takeaway watching schroder last night was that he probably should've taken that deal

schroder just does not have the high basketball iq, if he did and could shoot a little better hed prob be an allstar

mario chalmers never made more than $4 million in a year which feels low and is not really possible in the current environment but there's some midpoint between that and schroeder, FVV making $20m per year. (for the teams, anyway. good for those guys)

problem with guys who are worth 20m a year is you have to pay 20m a year for them, unlike guys who are worth 60m a year

true

Schroder is downgrade from Rondo believe it or not

his numbers took a dive this year for sure.

or last year was an outlier (more likely)

so if the play-ins provide exactly the same seeding as we would've had without them, will people use that as an argument for or against them in future years?

if that happens they should remove it and pretend it never happened

they did it to keep more teams in the playoff mix, the particular outcomes dont really matter

they should remove it and pretend it never happened tho

and adopt a round robin 1st round

4 groups of five, play each team in the group twice, best two teams from each group advance to the second round, tie breaker is regular season record

a “group stage” if you will

thats the stuff mate

hmm idk sounds too intellectual and aloof for me, an average american

gotta say, i dngaf about tonight's game

I will be annoyed if this is a blowout

brad beal feel like earlier in his career was a kind of robotic offensive player but now hes just a total natural

yeah he blew past a lot of what was expected of him. i remember him being scouted mostly as a 3-point shooter and off-ball guy but now he just does everything.

i am ok with this being a blowout

just an observation over the past couple nights, rui hachimura has absolutely no idea how to play basketball

looks like an aaron gordon type. will always have a fat contract bc he can defend big wings and kind of shoot but never actually learn to Play

That Dr J layup was sick tho

lol, no one really had anything to say about this playoff/in game
it's FANtastic

i don't know who won still

the wizards

that makes sense

its pretty cool how they pulled their season together and snuck into the offs imho

it is, and against my better judgment i'm excited to see russ go bananas trying to hang with the sixers. it is sad how the pacers fell apart though, at full strength they coulda been a fun team. brogdon/warren/levert/sabonis/turner has some 60-win Hawks energy

russ vs a good playoff D will prob just be as bad as usual under those circumstances sadly

Russ and Embiid have history so it should be fun.

yah thats the only thing that im excited about in this matchup

brooklyn-washington would have been better

yeah wouldve give russ and brad an opportunity to cook

if i were a coach i'd just tell everyone to cook

so crazy it just might work

it's like the old saying "you can never have too many cooks in the kitchen"

some teams having fans others not interesting dynamic

Mavericks announce that attendance for playoffs will be increased to “near American Airlines Center’s full capacity.”

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) May 21, 2021

15k fans at the garden, gonna be a madhouse

the warriors should stop passing to the other team imho

jjj has one of the weirdest forms for a good 3pt shooter

Dubs still act like they have a great roster and can trick away possessions with dumb passes.

ohh stephs doin it

He’s good

jordan poole seems pretty legit

Such a massive leap from last year and even since his g league stint

Wtf are they doing

its not good

my analysis of that half one team shot 52% from three the other team didn’t

grayson allen heard the slander on ilh and decided to knock down threes

Dray his worst half in a while too. Grizz only hit like 5 threes the last time they played I think they doubled that so far

seemed like jarren was causing dray and steph some problems with his length at the top of the key

cant believe nike is running these it doesnt matter if youre bad at sports commercials what a total betrayal of the brand

this was a cool play

You get a fake and you get a fake 😳pic.twitter.com/khoCpevbRe

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 22, 2021

steph’s english on lay ups is almost as insane as his 3 pt shooting

one of my takeaways from these last two warriors games is that the wiggins trade was kind of a home run for them

totally. he's a decent player and they're probably gonna get minny's pick this year.

It’s one of the best trades the warriors have ever done

And right on cue he has a few bad offensive plays in a row

warriors turn to play 8 on 5

morant is probably somehow underrated

idk how you dont double him on that last posession

mjax shitting on the b.a.b rn

Nice overtime for Grayson Allen, whom I’ve been told is not playable in the playoffs

we will see when we get to the playoffs

My understanding is they can’t play him now

hmmmm. where were you when he put up a -17 48 hours ago?

Idk man probably doing something else

I think that was his first game back from an injury? Glad he’s hit his stride and is back to being a solid backup, the obvious thing he is that you cannot admit for whatever reason

if you can't beat those dudes without jonas you don't deserve to be there. the right teams advanced

pix

sixers vs wizards — sixers in 4
nets vs celtics — nets in 5
bucks vs heat — heat in 7
knicks vs hawks — knicks in 7

jazz vs grizzlies — jazz in 5
suns vs lakers — lakers in 7
nuggets vs blazers — blazers in 7
clippers vs mavs — clippers in 5

matt acting like he has better things to do than post about grayson allen..... i’m not buying it

When he hit that second three pointer I was definitely thinking “they need to get him out of there, he committed flagrant fouls at Duke”

Perhaps we can all agree that Grayson Allen, aka 'Mr. Rock Solid', is now a proven asset during OT in play-in games against teams that finished in 8th place in their conference for the regular season. His delivering a -17 in five minutes duing the previous game should not prejudice us against him or blind us to his rock solid reliability.

Blah blah blah

congrats to the grizz. condolences to the dubs. let's all meet here tomorrow and do it again. the 'offs have begin. we are living off the fat of the land.

matt suspiciously absent after andre drummond nearly put the lakers one game away from elimination... i’m sensing a pattern here

sixers in 5
nets in 5
bucks in 5
knicks in 6

jazz in 5
lakers in 6
nuggets in 6
clippers in 6

that was such a fun overtime

morant is probably somehow underrated

― Clay, Friday, May 21, 2021 11:52 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

he needs to learn to shoot and isnt close yet, this worries me, hes such a cool player

to be an elite perimeter player these days you have to not just be able to shoot but to do the fancy stuff hit a crossover stepback 3 and forth

non shooting bigtime guys is like westbrook and butler, and both of them would be a lot better off if they could

sixers in 4
hawks in 7
bucks in 6
brooklyn in 5

jazz in 5
clippers in 5
nuggets in 6
suns in 7 d8-]

sixers in 5
knicks in 7
bucks in 5
nets in 4

jazz in 4
clippers in 6
nuggs in 6
suns in 7

sixers in 6
nets in 5
bucks in 6
knicks in 6

jazz in 5
lakers in 7
nuggets in 7
clippers in 6

nuggets will win the nba playoffs

thank you

16 teams, 1 🏆

WHO WILL WIN? #NBAPlayoffs begin today on ABC & ESPN. pic.twitter.com/bPbZVfinri

— NBA (@NBA) May 22, 2021

actually find most of these matchups interesting which is not the first round norm

it will be very interesting to find out https://t.co/IWcTvDthmV

— Jon Bois (@jon_bois) May 22, 2021

there you have it

ok

LeBron James won't be suspended for protocols violation, sources tell ESPN. Nature of event didn't rise to a threat level of virus spread, as described in @McTen's story below. Suns-Lakers Game 1 on Sunday. https://t.co/nEAcnBsbvv

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 22, 2021

definitely sounds like they did a thorough investigation

hahahahahahahaa

sixers 4
hawks 6
bucks 6
nets 5

jazz 4
lakers 6
clippers 5
blazers 7

Lol that’s such bs re bron

rebron

deleted tweet

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2AL8R0XoAIsUYo?format=jpg&name=900x900

i like

sixers 4
hawks 7
bucks 6
nets 5

jazz 5
lakers 7
clippers 6
blazers 7

Nature of event didn't rise to a threat level of virus spread

Things of what nature? Things of that nature.

morant is probably somehow underrated

― Clay, Friday, May 21, 2021 11:52 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

he needs to learn to shoot and isnt close yet, this worries me, hes such a cool player

steph wouldve shot 100% on the looks the dubs gave him tho, i dont really like just not guarding guys at the 3pt line, like play a step off sure, but just letting them shoot and getting no ball pressure is bad imo

ja shot 30% on 3s for the year but i bet he shot better when teams just didnt guard him

Worked the last time they played but maybe they shoulda pivoted after he hit his first two

He’s got some really cool footwork and his floater seems money. Fun to watch

yeah mightve been better to save that trick for the second matchup idk just feel like its not sound xp

why are the heats uniforms yellow doesnt make any sense

miamis D looking good very swarming

ah yes it's the green team vs. the yellow team, an nba classic

lol

giannis should be fined every time he takes a 3

Disappointed in Chris Paul for not working the refs to his normal level re LeBron

lol true

Jrue Holiday lobs to Giannis and it goes in 😅

Bucks by three heading in to the half pic.twitter.com/pFfnQ6Rzry

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 22, 2021

how is it that i’ve been watching nba on espn for my whole life and there’s never been a halftime show that didn’t make me feel like my brain cells were actively being destroyed

thats how they get you

Nobody’s playing well except for Bam

Ok Giannis is coming alive

robinson is just crazy good at shooting

Kind of rough for Milwaukee to be tied despite a godawful shooting performance from Butler

bucks missing many shots too tho

Wow another godawful 4th quarter foul call against the Bucks in a tight game

In playoff history, teams to make at least 10 more 3s than their opponents are 59-6 (91% win rate) https://t.co/kjbipbd55v

— Zach Kram (@zachkram) May 22, 2021

giannis apparently has the third lowest playoff FT% in NBA history at 63%, that almost seems impossible to be right

TERRIBLE entry pass by ariza, wtf

lol middleton I mean

bucks need to not throw risky passes near bam

i have never seen that call they just made on giannis ever in my life watching basketball

wow me either

JFC ten second violation

are you serious

I have literally never seen that before

at the end of a one point playoff game outrageous

thats some bullshit

well the refs just let giannis take 9 steps in the paint so i guess it evened out

butler just has to take that 8 footer

reffing has been atrocious

weird strategy of not fouling and also not doubling giannis in the backcourt there...

awful reffing is the perennial playoff complaint

butler just has to take that 8 footer

The Bucks going 1 for 2 from the line over and over in a close 4th quarter game is giving me some serious flashbacks

sheesh

DAMN

playoff jimmy learned the lesson from that earlier possession

wow great play by jimmy looked like giannis thought he was gonna pull up

the bucks should still be able to pull this out tho, i think the heat scored 2 baskets in the last 5 mins

all else being equal I sort of feel like that was not the ideal last possession play, with butler's back to the basket with 6 seconds left followed by him running away from the baseket to the half court

Feel like the Bucks would be competing for their 3rd title rn if Giannis could make crunch time free throws

ridiculously tight game

https://i.imgur.com/H6KAFc2.png

Utter disaster of a sequence for Milwaukee there

neither of these teams are gonna have any gas in the tank for the second round

big play by jrue

Holy shit Middleton finally made one of those

great game

No team has ever won a playoff game making 14 fewer 3s than their opponent. The largest differential in a win was -12 by the 2015 Grizzlies over Portland and last year's Thunder over Houston, per @stathead: https://t.co/9qXFHUm6BL

— Kevin Pelton (@kpelton) May 22, 2021

playoff basketball baby

classic eastern conference basketball

nba is a lot like the tv network tnt, they know drama

update

https://i.imgur.com/faWXbwn.png

the sixers are so well set up this year with the bucks having to go thru the heat and then the nets and bucks having to go thru each other. they really need to make the finals this year

Yep. If it doesn't happen this year, it's not happening for this process (there will be others, I'm sure).

That was Miami's 7th game in franchise history with 20+ made threes. Three of those games have come against Milwaukee in the past calendar year.

— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) May 22, 2021

The Bucks shot 5/31 (16.1%) from 3, their worst mark in any game, regular season or Playoffs, since January 14 2018, when they shot 4/28 (14.3%) against the Miami Heat.

They still won the game.

— Dean Maniatt (@AllTheBucks) May 22, 2021

luka is absolutely shredding the clippers defense

expose the clippers

I understand NBA coaches don't want to believe or acknowledge it's a thing... but "Playoff Rondo" is real and he should start the rest of the playoffs if the Clippers don't want another early exit. One of Kawhi or PG13 needs to step up and take on the Luka assignment going forward too; can't be leaving little guards like Pat Bev on an island against him. That's barely defensible when it's like LeBron leaving JR Smith hanging against KD on the Warriors so he can drop 50; when you have the luxury of 2 of the supposed best wing defenders in the league one of them should be on Luka at all times.

i think kawhis lost lateral mobility is really hurting their help defense. he cant cover ground after doubles like he used to. the clips might yeah be better served putting pg on luka single coverage and trying to lock down on the mavs back cuts a bit more

Congrats to Khris Middleton on a truly legit playoff game winner

celtics deciding to play very fast... interesting

makes perfect sense if you're the weaker and younger team

yeah i like it i mean you gotta try something

one thing thats fun about the playoffs is how refs stop giving fouls where the guy just falls down after he shoots

signs are pointing toward luka being the best player in that series

certainly was today

we havent really seen a dominant kawhi since hes been on the clips, hes a bit of a cipher

kawhi and PG put up 26 and 23, no one else on the clippers scored more than 11. batum and rondo the second leading scorers, marcus morris 4 points, serge ibaka 8 points and luke kennard DNP-CD. lawrence frank is the reigning executive of the year

celtics hot start appears to be winding down

I mean the clippers roster >>> the mavs roster and the fact that luka has given them the business two years in a row just kind of speaks to the fact that he’s the best player on the floor in their games, no disrespect to kawhi

i like the clippers supporting cast, kennard aside who is one of the worst defenders in the league, but also they could totally shit the bed