2023 NBA Playoffs
- Thread starter BaseballJones
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They were looking at it as if it was a player that wasn't Beverly.. Beverly was going up to try and block the shot but then when he realized Bam wasn't going up he did nothing to raise his right knee from hitting Bam in the head. You can tell he did it on purpose as well because 1. It' Beverly and he's one of the dirtiest players in the league 2. After he did it he looked around like nothing happened.. no attempt to apologize or even act like it was an accident.. he just looked around and pretended like he didn't just knee someone in the head on purpose... like all dirty players do.
First to 90 wins in this dumpster fire. Heat don’t want it at all. Bulls not intelligent enough to pull away.
Van Gundy trying to sell this as a defensive battle rather than what it is which is two teams that can't shoot
edit: or at least he was trying to sell it that way earlier in the game
No question Spo has proven himself as a coach, and this roster is a dud. But it is not a great look to crater at the end like Heat have here...just goes to show no coach can control everything in the NBA.
If you saw what they were selling for your understand why. It’s the same thing the Yankees have been doing with dynamic pricing. Sell 10 for $4k each rather than sell 30 for $600 each.
What control does he have over roster construction?
edit: and has he really been that amazing without LeBron and Wade?
I'm with Chuck, these teams stink on ice, sorry. The Heat are going to get mollywhopped by the Bucks, but I'm so glad we don't have to play them. Can't stand their "craftiness" and the booty players that tend to make shots against us (Strus).
I think the Bucks will likely sweep Miami but watching Butler play down the stretch makes me happy the celts aren’t playing them. Just an annoying team.
I don't think he has much control at all over it -that's why it being a dud is not really on him
I'm sorry but its the playoffs and almost no teams should be dismissed, especially Miami (because they have the personnel and coaching to steal a series). That doesn't mean that they will win but some people are definitively telling us they have no shot.
Its not PTSD or mystique and aura either.
I don't expect them to beat Milwaukee but it won't be the most shocking outcome ever. This is matchup season and the Heat have the pieces even if they weren't all that great this year.
Its not PTSD or mystique and aura either.
I don't expect them to beat Milwaukee but it won't be the most shocking outcome ever. This is matchup season and the Heat have the pieces even if they weren't all that great this year.
If Lowry is hurt they're in even more trouble than they already are.. who is guarding Giannis and who is boxing out Lopez on this team?
LaVine didn’t make a shot outside the paint, 0-6 from three, and 0-6 on jumpers inside the arc, with five turnovers and only scored 15 points on 21 shots, none in the fourth quarter.
White and Caruso shot 8-12 from three, with the rest of the squad going 0-16 from deep.
While the Bulls were choking on offense in the fourth, they forgot how to defend, giving up 35 points, only three less than Miami managed to score in the second and third quarters combined.
The Bulls choked this game away.
White and Caruso shot 8-12 from three, with the rest of the squad going 0-16 from deep.
While the Bulls were choking on offense in the fourth, they forgot how to defend, giving up 35 points, only three less than Miami managed to score in the second and third quarters combined.
The Bulls choked this game away.
Miami is barely a .500 team. They had a minus point differential. If they win it will be the biggest upset in at least 15 years.
They are the title favorite, but by the numbers the Bucks have to be one of the weaker 1 seeds in recent history. 58 wins and a point differential of +3.6...they were 14 games and 3.9 points better than Miami in the regular season. I assume you're referencing the Warriors beating Dallas in 2007? During that regular season, Dallas was a whopping 25 games and 8.3 points better than GS in the regular season.
Hell, Miami beating Milwaukee in 2020 might have been a bigger upset than them winning this year (the Bucks were 12 games and 6.5 points better than Miami in 2020 before getting losing 4-1).
Not looking so hot for OKC. SGA and Giddey both seem to have hit the wall, no chance if they don't pick it up soon.
Again - a Heat victory is not my base case. My point is that they, and most other teams in the playoffs, are capable of stealing a series.
The Heat aren't some scrappy eight seed with some young stars surrounded by a few wily vets. They are essentially a team of wily vets and are good at making whatever adjustments need to be made to win games. To some this matters not but I think it gives them a puncher's chance.
That said I would expect something like Bucks in six.
The Heat aren't some scrappy eight seed with some young stars surrounded by a few wily vets. They are essentially a team of wily vets and are good at making whatever adjustments need to be made to win games. To some this matters not but I think it gives them a puncher's chance.
That said I would expect something like Bucks in six.
This is all fair, and the Bucks open as comfortable favorites (-340). Ironic that both Boston (-1000) and Philly (-800) look to have much easier opening series despite their lower seeds.
That was an ass way to end a quarter for OKC. I don’t see them coming back unless they get hot from 3 and maybe stop turning the ball over.
In addition, that was the bad side of the PatBev experience— playing out of control, missing everything, & generally glaring.
It’s funny how a year changes things— last year the Bulls were kinda in the Cavs zone (though somewhat older). A 4/5 seed team with some upside. Now Ball’s career seems in jeopardy and in a loaded East it’s hard to see their path forward beyond “team that perpetually competes with the Hawks for the 8th seed”.
Eh, they finished 6th and absolutely bombed after the all-star break (8-15). What happened to them this year was completely unsurprising.
Not that I think Minnesota will win vs the Nuggets, but unlike Miami that's a very good 8 seed. If they had Naz Reid and Jaden McD all the more so. They seem to have a problem closing out games, per the Lakers collapse, but the talent is very good and they play some good defense. Add in getting KAT back from his injury, which more than makes up for losing Naz/Jaden M.
And what an impressive game by Anthony Edwards. You'd expect after a bad game as a young player he would have been overhyped. But he was really in control from the start, making good passes to set up teammates rather forcing it, and also playing very good defense.
And what an impressive game by Anthony Edwards. You'd expect after a bad game as a young player he would have been overhyped. But he was really in control from the start, making good passes to set up teammates rather forcing it, and also playing very good defense.
True. Though Ball missed the second half of last year. They are different team without him— their ceiling is reduced. I’m not saying they are title contenders with him, but without him, they are in purgatory. At best.
God Spolestra is so insufferable— “we feel like we’re Navy SEALS. Just drop us off and we’ll go compete.” Yup, Kyle Lowry = Navy SEAL. Got it.
@Red Averages your analogy has been forcefully kicked out of my doghouse.
It’s always a little cringey when athletes use war jargon.
That team post-ASB was decimated by injuries. Ball and Caruso were the heart and soul of that team, they were both out, and LaVine missed time too. The game against us they started McKinney, Dosunmu and Coby White…..the latter two played 40 min.
They aren’t going to embarrass themselves. The issue as it has been all season is closing out games in the 4Q once the pace slows to a grind. It isn’t going to be a cakewalk for the Nuggets especially how they defend at times.
Ball being out definitely hurt them, but at this point if he can even come back as an NBA player that should be considered a win. Caruso missed a lot of time, but he was back for a big chunk of that post ASB tumble - including playoffs, they went 6-11 with him active and playing about 30 minutes per game after the break. They were hit hard by injuries, but it was also pretty clear early on that they were fools gold. Derozan had the best year of his career at age 32, including some incredibly clutch performances (I think he wins the clutch player of the year award last year, if it had existed).
Under no circumstances should they have been under any delusion that they were still a middle of the pack (4/5 seed) playoff team with upside, their over/under entering this year was 41.5 and their title odds were a meager +4000. Those odds were 9th and 7th (tied) in the East, respectively. They've got some nice looking offensive skill players, but they are deep in middle class purgatory at the moment and should have punted a year ago.
I like calling out the Bucks for being fraudulent as much as anyone, but a lot of that 3.6 differential was good players missing time: they got hit hard by injuries this year. Given those injuries and that point differential, they were extremely lucky to be the #1 seed, and not the #3 or #4, but the team they're rolling out in the playoffs is a lot better than that.
On the bolded, how healthy are they? Allen and Connaughton are still limited in practice with ankle injuries, and the million dollar question is whether or not Middleton will be available and productive. He's been hurt on and off all season, and last we saw he left with a knee injury that required an MRI (results were negative, and he just started participating in full practices again). The Bucks are fortunate that they won't play the Celtics or Sixers until the ECF, but Middleton hasn't looked like an all-star in a full year, not since he hurt his knee against Chicago last year. The smart money says he won't start looking like an all-star in the next 5-6 weeks, either.
If that's the case, +3.6 will *overstate* how good the Bucks are, and even getting past Cleveland won't be a given, although they'd pull it off.
Agree that Middleton really doesn't seem to be that guy anymore.