NBA 2018 Playoffs Thread

[johnnygreen]

I thought Houston completely ran out of fuel in the second half.  The Rockets played with a sustained adrenaline rush for the entire first half, while the Warriors exerted 75% effort.  I told my friend that they were in rough shape when the lead was only 11 at half.  The Warriors were going to win the 2nd half no matter what.  However, it would have been interesting to see how things played out if the ref's didn't botch 3 calls on Harden three pointers.  They missed out on 7 free throws that would have probably resulted in a game that came down to the final minutes.

The Rockets had no shot once Chris Paul went down in game 5. He was their guy that could play under pressure in the big moment. As good as Harden is, he forgets how to play in high pressure moments and last night was no exception.

[Phantom255x]

It would be one thing if there was intrigue to this series and either team could win.

But legit EVERYONE thinks Golden State is sweeping Cleveland or beating them soundly in 5 games. The only folks who think this series is going a 6th game are mostly Cleveland fans or some that just assume Golden State will suffer like two major injuries during the early part of the series.

Even the LBJ fanboys in the media (Windhorst, Nick Wright, Shannon Sharpe, Cowherd, etc.) are already coming up with excuses for Lebron who is likely about to carry a 3-6 Finals record. 

[CelticsElite]

Cavs have a chance. Warriors showed vulnerability in the rocket series without iguodala

[Monkhouse]

Cavs have a chance. Warriors showed vulnerability in the rocket series without iguodala

Rockets are definitely better than the Cavs..

[johnnygreen]

Going to be the worst finals since 2007.

the funny thing to me is that while everyone calls lebron the goat, not only does he lose a lot of finals, but gets spanked when he loses


he's already been CRUSHED in 3 or 4 finals

good lord

Cavs fans be like..

2015 = Kevin Love was injured. This final was invalid.
2016 = HAHA WE WON YOU BLEW A 3-1 SERIES LEAD. KYRIE'S YO DADDY CURRY
2017 = Anyone can win with 4 all-stars in their prime, stackers. This final was invalid.
2018 = No Love, Kyrie is gone, a bunch of castoffs from the grocery market, and Tyron Lue is pathetic. LeBron doesn't have the help necessary to face those 4 stacked stars. This final is invalid.

Pretty much spot on, except:

1. That is what NBA fans think of those finals, and not just Cleveland fans.
2. Kyrie got hurt in game 1 of the 2015 finals and didn’t play again. So the Cavs basically played without Love and Irving in the first finals matchup.
3. The Warriors were so humiliated in the 2016 finals, that the supposedly best team in the league signed the best free agent in the NBA because they knew they couldn’t beat a team lead by LeBron, Irving, and Love.

I hate the fact that Cleveland just beat our beloved Celtics, but I will be rooting for the Cavs in the Finals. I simply can’t get behind Golden State, as they’re just a bunch of sore losers in my eyes. I used to like watching them play, but the signing of Durant changed everything for me. To make matters worse, they even relegated themselves to hack-a-Capela in last night’s game 7 against Houston.

[PhoSita]

The Cavs will have a chance ... to win a game.  This Warriors team has shown they're not inclined to sweep anybody.

I expect this Finals to be similar to last year, only even less competitive.  I would be surprised if we get a game as good as Game 3 last year.


Re: the Bron talk ... part of the problem for Bron is he's so good that teams act desperate to keep him around and are generally in a position to engage in short term thinking, rather than making long-term decisions to put together the best possible core around him. 

He's so good that teams do really, really well even when there's nothing but garbage around him, so his teams never have to do the soul searching and complex planning that leads a team to put together a special and deep group.


Part of that is on him, though, because apart from being incredibly freaking good and insanely durable, he also demands that every team he's on go for broke to help him contend year in and year out, including paying huge sums to guys he enjoys having around.  That inevitably hamstrings his teams.

All of that tends to result in him getting steamrolled in the Finals by Western Conference teams that have to be EXCELLENT in terms of coaching and management as well as having elite talent at the top of the roster.  Western Conference teams that are dysfunctional and lack depth almost always get killed early in the playoffs.

[rondofan1255]

Worst finals ever

Draft will be more exciting

Same as last year, free agency and draft both were more entertaining. 

[SparzWizard]

Skip Bayless says Cavs will steal Game 1 tonight because Iggy is out.

Well, the other team has what the other team doesn't: 3 of the best shooters in the world today complemented by an all-star thug. And LeBron doesn't have Kyrie, who was responsible in winning 2016 shutting down Steph Curry. Also, Kevin Love is returning so their defense will take a huge dip again.

Predicting Warriors win Game 1 122-83.

[Fafnir]

Love was borderline unplayable in the prior two series versus the Warriors. I don't see that changing, tough series for him match up wise.

[SparzWizard]

Going to be the worst finals since 2007.

the funny thing to me is that while everyone calls lebron the goat, not only does he lose a lot of finals, but gets spanked when he loses


he's already been CRUSHED in 3 or 4 finals

good lord

Cavs fans be like..

2015 = Kevin Love was injured. This final was invalid.
2016 = HAHA WE WON YOU BLEW A 3-1 SERIES LEAD. KYRIE'S YO DADDY CURRY
2017 = Anyone can win with 4 all-stars in their prime, stackers. This final was invalid.
2018 = No Love, Kyrie is gone, a bunch of castoffs from the grocery market, and Tyron Lue is pathetic. LeBron doesn't have the help necessary to face those 4 stacked stars. This final is invalid.

Pretty much spot on, except:

1. That is what NBA fans think of those finals, and not just Cleveland fans.
2. Kyrie got hurt in game 1 of the 2015 finals and didn’t play again. So the Cavs basically played without Love and Irving in the first finals matchup.
3. The Warriors were so humiliated in the 2016 finals, that the supposedly best team in the league signed the best free agent in the NBA because they knew they couldn’t beat a team lead by LeBron, Irving, and Love.

I hate the fact that Cleveland just beat our beloved Celtics, but I will be rooting for the Cavs in the Finals. I simply can’t get behind Golden State, as they’re just a bunch of sore losers in my eyes. I used to like watching them play, but the signing of Durant changed everything for me. To make matters worse, they even relegated themselves to hack-a-Capela in last night’s game 7 against Houston.

I get ya. I hate both of these teams. I just hate the Cavs cuz I'm sick of losing to LeBron year after year and him going on his 8th straight Finals. But I'm disgusted that we lost to Jeff Green, too, and the Cavs don't deserve to make the finals let alone the Celtics for losing Game 7 like that.

I also hate the Warriors because of their stacked talent, what happened after 2016, and Draymond Green. Won't forget how he threw Amir Johnson down the floor and never got called for a foul. Or how he was playing like a linebacker and tackled two of our boys down in that 2016 game. Don't get me started with his disses of Paul Pierce. I wanna puke just looking at that face.

[SparzWizard]

I realize there is about a 0.01% chance of the Cavs actually winning the series, but if they do, does James move past Jordan on most people's all time list and into #1 all time.

Alabama won the championship this year, so there's still that crazy coincidence going on for LeBron to have his back lol.

But the Superbowl candidate this year who wore the white jerseys lost despite it being a winning culture in the past so ehhh. 

[Moranis]

I realize there is about a 0.01% chance of the Cavs actually winning the series, but if they do, does James move past Jordan on most people's all time list and into #1 all time.

Alabama won the championship this year, so there's still that crazy coincidence going on for LeBron to have his back lol.

Alabama wins all the time, but you know who also happened to win the title this year and did so the year the Cavs won, Villanova.  So Alabama and Villanova both won last time, so that is the charm.

In reality, the Cavs only real shot at winning is to slow the game way down and play James in the paint.  The Warriors can't guard James when he is in the paint (and they struggle mightly when Iggy isn't in the game anyway).  Lue needs to go small and surround James with shooters.  I'd start Love, James, Korver, Hill, and Hood (they need someone else on the floor that can create off the dribble).  Work the shot clock, and work through James in the paint.  If they win, they are going to have to win ugly, and that is how I would do it. 

[Phantom255x]

Game 1 will probably be the kind of game where it's actually fairly close in the first half and people are like, "whoa the Cavaliers and the role players all look great!", before Golden State pretty much pulls away late in the 2nd quarter and blows them out in the 2nd half.

Lebron will have a huge night, and I think the role players will actually do fairly well, but they'll just get overwhelmed by Golden State on the road (even w/o Iggy).

Prediction: Golden State wins tonight 111-92 to take a 1-0 lead 

[SCeltic34]

Golden State will win in 5.

Oracle Arena is a 25-30 minute drive from where I live, but I detest Durant's decision (completely within his right as a free agent sure, but it was probably the weakest move in the history of sports) and Golden State as a team.  Between Golden State and the Cavs, the playoffs have been too predictable and dull as a result, though the ECF and WCF this year were entertaining at least.

I shamefully admit that I will be rooting for the Cavs.  Now excuse my while I go jump into Kilauea volcano to cleanse myself of my sins.  I'm from the islands, I'll be fine.

[CelticsElite]

Draymond Green disrespectfully wearing hoodie over his head during national anthem

Pathetic