NBA Playoffs 2021

[PhoSita]

Say Phoenix wins the Championship, they could end up with injury advantages of

(1) Loss of Anthony Davis to Lakers in the 1st round
(2) Loss of Jamal Murray to Nuggets in 2nd round
(3) Not sure of Conley situation for WCF
(4) Brooklyn, best of the East, possibly knocked out due to injuries to Harden and Kyrie.

Would that be the most injury-aided Championship run of All-Time?

Look I had to hear all last year how the Lakers title didn't have any asterisks because the bubble was this unprecedented grind.

This season was no cake walk.  COVID.  Condensed schedule.

CP3 is -- famously -- a guy who has had multiple chances at deep playoff runs derailed by injury.


And now we're already talking about a hypothetical Suns title being "aided by injuries"?


Get outta here with that.

You just don’t like facts, eh? A facts do not disappear because you don’t like them. The endurance and durability issue is why I believe the NBA should have two championships. The league championship for the regular season team with most wins, and the playoffs for the team that wins the playoffs. Injuries are part of the game. I am not lobbying for asterisks but I will not ignore the impact of injuries on competitive advantages.

This is satire, right? Right?

[PhoSita]

Injuries play a significant role in who has a chance to compete for the title almost every season.

That's a big part of why it's always a bad idea to put your team in a position where you have just one or two seasons to contend.

[ausbacker]

Injuries play a significant role in who has a chance to compete for the title almost every season.

That's a big part of why it's always a bad idea to put your team in a position where you have just one or two seasons to contend.

Injuries are why you need quality depth and in their zest for a third superstar, Brooklyn traded theirs away. Of course, if Dinwiddie were available, the dynamic changes somewhat but he isn't.

[PhoSita]

The Suns were the 4th ranked offense this season and the 9th ranked defense.

They're one of just three teams to make the playoffs with a top 10 offense and top 10 defense (others are Milwaukee and Utah).

In the post-season so far, Phoenix has the 2nd best defensive efficiency and are ranked 7th in offensive efficiency.


I think if you want to seriously look at the question of "Which title winner was most aided by an injury?" you have to look for a team that did not play at a contending level in the regular season, and that in the post-season did not seem to actually play especially well, but made it through thanks to some timely injuries.

The top choice would be a team that looked like it was actually going to lose the title series until the opponent's best player (or second best player, perhaps) suffered an injury.  You need a title matchup where it's very hard to argue that the team that won would have won even if not for injuries to the opponent. 


I'm not sure which team off the top of my head fits the above description, but so far the Suns don't fit the bill.  The Suns are playing well enough that it's entirely plausible that they could win it all even if some of the other contenders weren't dealing with so many key injuries.

[staticcc]

The Suns were the 4th ranked offense this season and the 9th ranked defense.

They're one of just three teams to make the playoffs with a top 10 offense and top 10 defense (others are Milwaukee and Utah).

In the post-season so far, Phoenix has the 2nd best defensive efficiency and are ranked 7th in offensive efficiency.


I think if you want to seriously look at the question of "Which title winner was most aided by an injury?" you have to look for a team that did not play at a contending level in the regular season, and that in the post-season did not seem to actually play especially well, but made it through thanks to some timely injuries.

The top choice would be a team that looked like it was actually going to lose the title series until the opponent's best player (or second best player, perhaps) suffered an injury.  You need a title matchup where it's very hard to argue that the team that won would have won even if not for injuries to the opponent. 


I'm not sure which team off the top of my head fits the above description, but so far the Suns don't fit the bill.  The Suns are playing well enough that it's entirely plausible that they could win it all even if some of the other contenders weren't dealing with so many key injuries.

Unfortunately, they’re playing hurt teams so we won’t know. Anyway, Jazz/Clips might beat them.

[PhoSita]

The Suns were the 4th ranked offense this season and the 9th ranked defense.

They're one of just three teams to make the playoffs with a top 10 offense and top 10 defense (others are Milwaukee and Utah).

In the post-season so far, Phoenix has the 2nd best defensive efficiency and are ranked 7th in offensive efficiency.


I think if you want to seriously look at the question of "Which title winner was most aided by an injury?" you have to look for a team that did not play at a contending level in the regular season, and that in the post-season did not seem to actually play especially well, but made it through thanks to some timely injuries.

The top choice would be a team that looked like it was actually going to lose the title series until the opponent's best player (or second best player, perhaps) suffered an injury.  You need a title matchup where it's very hard to argue that the team that won would have won even if not for injuries to the opponent. 


I'm not sure which team off the top of my head fits the above description, but so far the Suns don't fit the bill.  The Suns are playing well enough that it's entirely plausible that they could win it all even if some of the other contenders weren't dealing with so many key injuries.

Unfortunately, they’re playing hurt teams so we won’t know. Anyway, Jazz/Clips might beat them.

The point is that we have ample evidence that the Suns are a very good team.  It seems reasonable that even if they weren't facing "hurt teams," that they would be very competitive.

Hence I don't it's fair to suggest that they're being historically aided by injuries.  The Lakers were a worse team this year than the Suns.  Same with the Nuggets.

[Kiorrik]

The Suns were the 4th ranked offense this season and the 9th ranked defense.

They're one of just three teams to make the playoffs with a top 10 offense and top 10 defense (others are Milwaukee and Utah).

In the post-season so far, Phoenix has the 2nd best defensive efficiency and are ranked 7th in offensive efficiency.


I think if you want to seriously look at the question of "Which title winner was most aided by an injury?" you have to look for a team that did not play at a contending level in the regular season, and that in the post-season did not seem to actually play especially well, but made it through thanks to some timely injuries.

The top choice would be a team that looked like it was actually going to lose the title series until the opponent's best player (or second best player, perhaps) suffered an injury.  You need a title matchup where it's very hard to argue that the team that won would have won even if not for injuries to the opponent. 


I'm not sure which team off the top of my head fits the above description, but so far the Suns don't fit the bill.  The Suns are playing well enough that it's entirely plausible that they could win it all even if some of the other contenders weren't dealing with so many key injuries.

Unfortunately, they’re playing hurt teams so we won’t know. Anyway, Jazz/Clips might beat them.

The point is that we have ample evidence that the Suns are a very good team.  It seems reasonable that even if they weren't facing "hurt teams," that they would be very competitive.

Hence I don't it's fair to suggest that they're being historically aided by injuries.  The Lakers were a worse team this year than the Suns.  Same with the Nuggets.

I'm with ya Pho.

Regardless, feel free to call it "the most injury aided". Fact of the matter is, if the Suns win - the no.2 of the regular season won. So statistically it's really not that much of a stretch to argue they were the best this year. Best ability, availability. End.

[Ogaju]

Jae Crowder

[Phantom255x]

Suns are legit, no doubt.

But it feels like this Nuggets team always underachieves in the playoffs. Even if they have a spectacular regular season they just fold come postseason time

[staticcc]

Suns are legit, no doubt.

But it feels like this Nuggets team always underachieves in the playoffs. Even if they have a spectacular regular season they just fold come postseason time

They did make the WCF last year when Murray was healthy. Nuggets pick and roll game just isn't the same without him.

[Moranis]

The Suns like the Jazz strike me much more as regular season teams i.e. teams with a lot of depth and pretty good health, but that lack true top end talent.  Those teams of course can have very nice playoff runs, but almost never win the championship.  If they win, they win, and you can only play who is in front of you, but on some level, especially if it is the Suns, it feels like injuries to others allowed them to win.  They were down 2-1 to the Lakers, in a close game 4, when Davis got hurt.  The whole tenor of that game just felt like LA was going to win and go up 3-1.  Davis goes down and the Lakers just weren't even close to the same team.  Davis getting hurt was entirely predictable given his history, but the timing of it certainly favored the Suns.  I'm not sure the Nuggets beat the Suns with Murray, but without him they had no shot.  The Nuggets just aren't the same without that 2nd scorer.  He is super critical to what they want to do offensively and no one else on that team comes close to matching what he can do. 

All that said, I expect the Clippers to beat the Jazz and then the Suns and meet the Bucks in the Finals mooting all of those points.

[Walker Wiggle]

Injuries play a significant role in who has a chance to compete for the title almost every season.

That's a big part of why it's always a bad idea to put your team in a position where you have just one or two seasons to contend.

TPx1000 for this here ^

For those clamoring for the Celtics to abandon their long-term plan, imagine what we’d be saying right now if they’d traded Jaylen for Harden and this hamstring thing would have come up. You’d be exactly as you were — Tatum carrying the whole club — but you’d just have blown one of the precious years of a very tight window.

The Nets, Lakers, Bucks and Clippers have absolutely gutted their future draft capital and mortgaged their futures. At least one of these teams is going to come out empty handed and then face the abyss when the window is closed.

[gouki88]

Cam Payne going down as if Mike Tyson punched him

[jpotter33]

They're really going to eject the MVP for that in a closeout game AT HOME? Sure, flagrant 1 foul, but a FLAGRANT 2?! Good grief. Much of that was Payne embellishing the contact. Incompetent refs. GUARANTEED that wouldn't have happened to someone like Lebron.

[fmbl24]

Worst replay officiating call in NBA history.