Western Conference Finals

[celticsclay]

Nuggets choke. The curse continues. Lakers got this unfortunately

Just got home from the game. They actually didn’t have it. If lakers don’t win next game series is over

[#1P4P]

I, originally, predicted the Nuggets to win in 7.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers close it out in 6.

Lebron hunting for Murray and Jokic in the fourth, Murray and KCP with 5 fouls, Jokic with 4, switching Hachimura on to Jokic to have AD patrol the paint, the Nuggets taking difficult shots while the Lakers were relatively easy, and the Lakers keeping up with the Nuggets in an uptempo game all indicate that the Lakers will win this series.

When the game, inevitably, turns into a half court game, the Lakers will impose their will on the Nuggets. Denver will have to depend on their pace wearing AD and Lebron down over the course of the series, but they are in a world of trouble.

[celticsclay]

Enjoying watching this one at ball arena here in Denver. I think the overhyping of the lakers role players looks pretty bad right now. At a minimum can people promise to stop the Vanderbilt nonsense? He is out of their rotation. He isn’t locking down curry or Murray or anyone else. Not even sure lakers bring him back at 5 million. Beasely is once again dnpcd Own it guys if you are gonna be ridiculous and hype the lakers

Just closing the gap cause if I have to read garbage nonsense about lakers role players I’m gonna point out the absurdity of it. Beasely had his third dnpcd of the playoffs. We had to read he was a capable 20 point scorer literally today on here. Vanderbilt followed up his 3 minute game with a ten minute zero point game. This isn’t new, this has been the case for 5 straight games. Let’s have realistic analysis moving forward without the absurd stuff. Davis is a beast. Reaves is very capable. Schroeder or russell could get hot but are maddeningly inconsistent. Lebron can be great in spurts but certainly shows his age on defense and at times on offense. Could still be a very tight series but it is about the stars not the bums the lakers got at the trade deadline.

[celticsclay]

I, originally, predicted the Nuggets to win in 7.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers close it out in 6.

Lebron hunting for Murray and Jokic in the fourth, Murray and KCP with 5 fouls, Jokic with 4, switching Hachimura on to Jokic to have AD patrol the paint, the Nuggets taking difficult shots while the Lakers were relatively easy, and the Lakers keeping up with the Nuggets in an uptempo game all indicate that the Lakers will win this series.

When the game, inevitably, turns into a half court game, the Lakers will impose their will on the Nuggets. Denver will have to depend on their pace wearing AD and Lebron down over the course of the series, but they are in a world of trouble.

Is this a serious post?

Edit wait you are the guy that was posting the vanderbilt YouTube clips. Do you still think he is a lock down star?

[Donoghus]

ESPN just flashed a ridiculous graphic.

30 pts, 20 rebs, 10 asts in a playoff game.

Jokic (2x)
Jabbar
Chamberlain

That’s it.  That’s the list.

[blink]

I am glad the Nuggets win, for all the reasons we all know.  But it was pretty iffy at the end of the game.  I have no great confidence that Denver will take the series when they tried to give this game away in the last 5 minutes.   

[gouki88]

ESPN just flashed a ridiculous graphic.

30 pts, 20 rebs, 10 asts in a playoff game.

Jokic (2x)
Jabbar
Chamberlain

That’s it.  That’s the list.

And Jokic was just 3 rebounds away from doing it another time against Phx (30-17-17, to be precise).

[celticsclay]

I am glad the Nuggets win, for all the reasons we all know.  But it was pretty iffy at the end of the game.  I have no great confidence that Denver will take the series when they tried to give this game away in the last 5 minutes.

Lot of weird takes for a game that the lakers never even tied and the nuggets led wire to wire. Would have been cool if they hit an extra Bucket in the 4th but this was a wire to wire win. Can’t worry about it too much.

[blink]

I am glad the Nuggets win, for all the reasons we all know.  But it was pretty iffy at the end of the game.  I have no great confidence that Denver will take the series when they tried to give this game away in the last 5 minutes.

Lot of weird takes for a game that the lakers never even tied and the nuggets led wire to wire. Would have been cool if they hit an extra Bucket in the 4th but this was a wire to wire win. Can’t worry about it too much.

Well how is it a weird take?  The Nuggets are up 20 with 3 min left in the 3rd and then by 2 min left in the 4th they are only up 3 and the Lakers have the ball trying to cut to 1 or tie.  If this happened to the C's we would all be complaining how we almost blew another huge lead.  It just felt like the Lakers figured some stuff out in the 2nd half, and the Nuggets were pretty fortunate to get that win. 

[#1P4P]

I, originally, predicted the Nuggets to win in 7.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers close it out in 6.

Lebron hunting for Murray and Jokic in the fourth, Murray and KCP with 5 fouls, Jokic with 4, switching Hachimura on to Jokic to have AD patrol the paint, the Nuggets taking difficult shots while the Lakers were relatively easy, and the Lakers keeping up with the Nuggets in an uptempo game all indicate that the Lakers will win this series.

When the game, inevitably, turns into a half court game, the Lakers will impose their will on the Nuggets. Denver will have to depend on their pace wearing AD and Lebron down over the course of the series, but they are in a world of trouble.

Is this a serious post?

Edit wait you are the guy that was posting the vanderbilt YouTube clips. Do you still think he is a lock down star?

Let me get this straight… my analysis and prediction was right on about the Lakers winning the Warriors series, while yours was wrong, yet you’re acting as if you were right and ridiculing my post?

It’s funny that you think that Vanderbilt’s minutes have been cut for any reason other than his offense. The Warriors had to devise a strategy, specifically, to get Vanderbilt off of Curry and off the floor after he suffocated him in game 1.

I’m Celtics through and through, but I won’t let Laker hate cloud my judgment like some hateful idiot. I saw what I saw, if you disagree, tough luck. I’ll let the series speak for itself.

[celticsclay]

I am glad the Nuggets win, for all the reasons we all know.  But it was pretty iffy at the end of the game.  I have no great confidence that Denver will take the series when they tried to give this game away in the last 5 minutes.

Lot of weird takes for a game that the lakers never even tied and the nuggets led wire to wire. Would have been cool if they hit an extra Bucket in the 4th but this was a wire to wire win. Can’t worry about it too much.

Well how is it a weird take?  The Nuggets are up 20 with 3 min left in the 3rd and then by 2 min left in the 4th they are only up 3 and the Lakers have the ball trying to cut to 1 or tie.  If this happened to the C's we would all be complaining how we almost blew another huge lead.  It just felt like the Lakers figured some stuff out in the 2nd half, and the Nuggets were pretty fortunate to get that win.

To be clear I wasn’t just referencing your post, although that was the one I responded to so I apologize if it came off like I was singling you out. It’s just the nuggets never even lost the lead. 85% of games in the playoff a team makes a run and gets within 3-5 points. That was true for every game we had against Philly except the final game I think. I believe it happened in all the suns nuggets games except the last one also. A wire to wire win in the playoffs is not very common and I think should be appreciated a bit more.

[celticsclay]

I, originally, predicted the Nuggets to win in 7.

Now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Lakers close it out in 6.

Lebron hunting for Murray and Jokic in the fourth, Murray and KCP with 5 fouls, Jokic with 4, switching Hachimura on to Jokic to have AD patrol the paint, the Nuggets taking difficult shots while the Lakers were relatively easy, and the Lakers keeping up with the Nuggets in an uptempo game all indicate that the Lakers will win this series.

When the game, inevitably, turns into a half court game, the Lakers will impose their will on the Nuggets. Denver will have to depend on their pace wearing AD and Lebron down over the course of the series, but they are in a world of trouble.

Is this a serious post?

Edit wait you are the guy that was posting the vanderbilt YouTube clips. Do you still think he is a lock down star?

Let me get this straight… my analysis and prediction was right on about the Lakers winning the Warriors series, while yours was wrong, yet you’re acting as if you were right and ridiculing my post?

It’s funny that you think that Vanderbilt’s minutes have been cut for any reason other than his offense. The Warriors had to devise a strategy, specifically, to get Vanderbilt off of Curry and off the floor after he suffocated him in game 1.

I’m Celtics through and through, but I won’t let Laker hate cloud my judgment like some hateful idiot. I saw what I saw, if you disagree, tough luck. I’ll let the series speak for itself.

We can both be right and wrong about things within a series. I was wrong about the warriors winning and I was specifically wrong about how much I thought klay and wiggins would contribute in the matchup. I have no shame in admitting that I was definitely wrong on those three things. You acted like vanderbilt was a difference maker and we’re sharing YouTube highlights of him. It was a bold move given his status as a fringe role player. Given he has fallen almost entirely out of the rotation (13 minutes combined last two games) you were clearly dead wrong about his level of impact. Not sure how that is debatable. Board is a better place when everyone can admit they had something wrong (and I clearly had wrong takes on warriors series)

[gouki88]

I am glad the Nuggets win, for all the reasons we all know.  But it was pretty iffy at the end of the game.  I have no great confidence that Denver will take the series when they tried to give this game away in the last 5 minutes.

Lot of weird takes for a game that the lakers never even tied and the nuggets led wire to wire. Would have been cool if they hit an extra Bucket in the 4th but this was a wire to wire win. Can’t worry about it too much.

Well how is it a weird take?  The Nuggets are up 20 with 3 min left in the 3rd and then by 2 min left in the 4th they are only up 3 and the Lakers have the ball trying to cut to 1 or tie.  If this happened to the C's we would all be complaining how we almost blew another huge lead.  It just felt like the Lakers figured some stuff out in the 2nd half, and the Nuggets were pretty fortunate to get that win.

I think the Lakers were the more fortunate side. That Denver didn’t adjust their perimeter defence to do more against their shooting was shocking. I doubt AD will score that much again, whereas I don’t see how LA slows down the Denver offence.

They closed it to a one possession game, but I think Denver figured out how to attack that at the end.

[Birdman]

Great first win for Denver…hopefully Joker don’t wear down going forward

[Who]

I mentioned it earlier in the playoffs that there are times when I am watching A Reaves and I find myself thinking of Jeff Hornacek. 

You would look at Hornacek and you would wonder how he could compete against these guys he was playing against. He was shorter, slower, physically weaker and overall just not as explosive physically or athletically. But Hornacek would find a way to get it done in large part due to being one of the most highly skilled SG in the league.

I'm not sold that A Reaves has that high of a skill level but he is also 6-5/6-6 instead of 6-3 which helps. And his skill level is pretty darn good. He has a handle, passing ability, shooting ability both spot up and off the dribble.

A Reaves reminds me of a young Jeff Hornacek before he became the star player he was in Phoenix when Jeff was more of a role player finding his way in the league. You weren't sure just how good he was going to be but he just kept finding a way to get it done and kept getting better year after year. First it was "he can't make the team". Then it was "he can't get minutes". Then "he can't start". Yeah, but "he can't be a star" and each time Hornacek would rise to the challenge and meet it.

I can't help but wonder if A Reaves is going to be able to do something similar. Can he keep building on this? He has gone from a borderline NBA player to a borderline rotation player to solid starter and now perhaps even a 3rd/4th option for LAL if Reaves can maintain this level of play.

It's been quite an ascension. Fun to watch. Especially if he leaves LAL in the summer for a bigger role and more money elsewhere.