NBA 2019 Playoffs Thread

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

So much for the ‘warriors should sweep toronto’ with or without Durant.  Yes Thompson was out, but either way, if the Raptors can eek out a win Friday they are looking at a 3-1 lead.

Remarkable for Curry to score 47 points while being double and triple teamed without another scoring threat.

Well he did take 31 shots and 14 3 point shots.  I don’t see any nba team completely shutting down Curry.

But show of hands, how many thought Toronto would be up 2-1?

They'd be up 3-0 if they'd had their act together in Game 2.

[SparzWizard]

Warriors need Kevin Durant to have a CHANCE in this series. He should be back as early as Game 4.

Or else, the Warriors will look like the 2012 Warriors where they got ousted by the Spurs.

[LilRip]

Curry tonight felt what it’s like for a lot of the stars every night. I mean, he still had Draymond Green. How different is that from an Al Horford?

[Somebody]

Ridiculous that people are comparing Curry tonight to what Irving did in the playoffs this season with us, Kyrie came nowhere close to putting up numbers in this year's run that could match what Curry did tonight.

[LilRip]

Ridiculous that people are comparing Curry tonight to what Irving did in the playoffs this season with us, Kyrie came nowhere close to putting up numbers in this year's run that could match what Curry did tonight.

I dunno, Irving’s game 2 against Indy was pretty dang good.

[Somebody]

Ridiculous that people are comparing Curry tonight to what Irving did in the playoffs this season with us, Kyrie came nowhere close to putting up numbers in this year's run that could match what Curry did tonight.

I dunno, Irving’s game 2 against Indy was pretty dang good.

Oh yeah that was pretty good, but it's still quite a way off from Curry's game tonight while playing against weaker competition with a less undermanned squad.

[Moranis]

So much for the ‘warriors should sweep toronto’ with or without Durant.  Yes Thompson was out, but either way, if the Raptors can eek out a win Friday they are looking at a 3-1 lead.

Losing Klay and Looney was huge and alters the series a great deal.  You have both of them last night, I believe the Warriors win and are up 2-1 with another game at home and the only loss being after the 9 day lay-off when they looked flat.  You take 2 starters and you main back-up off any team and they just aren't going to be the same. 

[jambr380]

So much for the ‘warriors should sweep toronto’ with or without Durant.  Yes Thompson was out, but either way, if the Raptors can eek out a win Friday they are looking at a 3-1 lead.

Losing Klay and Looney was huge and alters the series a great deal.  You have both of them last night, I believe the Warriors win and are up 2-1 with another game at home and the only loss being after the 9 day lay-off when they looked flat.  You take 2 starters and you main back-up off any team and they just aren't going to be the same.

I am hoping blink just worded his post wrong since he mentioned a sweep, and even with Klay that was not going to happen (game 1). But, anybody who thought GSW should have gone out and destroyed the Raptors last night just doesn't understand sports. You can't keep taking starters out of a line-up - including an All-Star - and expect to keep winning.

[KGs Knee]

Durant keeps being further validated with every Warriors loss. His critics really are looking more and more foolish by the day.

[RodyTur10]

Durant keeps being further validated with every Warriors loss. His critics really are looking more and more foolish by the day.

The problem isn't only that it is Durant, but that the Warriors don't have the depth to cope with loss of keyplayers.
Livingston, Iguodala, Bogut are all getting older and have problems with playing at the level of Raptors' counterparts.

[Spilling Green Dye]

Curry tonight felt what it’s like for a lot of the stars every night. I mean, he still had Draymond Green. How different is that from an Al Horford?

TP, couldn't agree more.  There's been talk recently how Draymond will probably eventually make the hall of fame if he stays healthy a few more years.  And Curry is also playing alongside a past-his-prime Finals MVP (Iguodala), who btw hit a game winning shot in game 2. 

I don't get how Curry is mostly immune from criticism.  He played great last night, but count me as someone who isn't a huge fan of his game.. it would be heavily mitigated if he played against hand checks, had to run through tough screens, and didn't get to go to the free throw line b/c he jumped into the defender while he shot. 

The Warriors don't have a ton of depth, but they still have plenty of talent.  (Bogut, Cousins, etc.)

[PhoSita]

Durant keeps being further validated with every Warriors loss. His critics really are looking more and more foolish by the day.

Did you watch Game 2? 

From what we've seen so far I think it's clear that the Steph-Klay-Dray-Iggy Warriors have a tough matchup against this Raptors team, but they absolutely have the capability to beat them.

It's also clear that Steph and Draymond plus a bunch of offensively limited role players is not going to cut it against this Raptors team.


If KD comes back and is anywhere near full strength and Klay is also able to be relatively effective, I kind of doubt the Raptors will win another game.  Having Steph and KD playing at the same time is just too much of an advantage.


Acknowledging the KD is good enough that he's basically a trump card in this series isn't the same thing as saying that the Warriors without KD aren't a legitimate contender.

It's also correct for people to point out that the supporting cast has really atrophied since 2015/2016.

[blink]

So much for the ‘warriors should sweep toronto’ with or without Durant.  Yes Thompson was out, but either way, if the Raptors can eek out a win Friday they are looking at a 3-1 lead.

Losing Klay and Looney was huge and alters the series a great deal.  You have both of them last night, I believe the Warriors win and are up 2-1 with another game at home and the only loss being after the 9 day lay-off when they looked flat.  You take 2 starters and you main back-up off any team and they just aren't going to be the same.

I am hoping blink just worded his post wrong since he mentioned a sweep, and even with Klay that was not going to happen (game 1). But, anybody who thought GSW should have gone out and destroyed the Raptors last night just doesn't understand sports. You can't keep taking starters out of a line-up - including an All-Star - and expect to keep winning.

My mentioning of the 'sweep' wasn't my take on it, it was LarBrd33's from page 166 of this thread.  My comment was just a little ribbing on him that the Warriors aren't sweeping the Raps.

On paper, the Warriors should sweep with or without Durant.

[Vox_Populi]

Dumb-dumb part-owner fan got banned for the rest of the Finals for pushing Lowry. Can't recall the last time I saw something like that. Wasn't that aggressive, but what a stupid thing to do.

[Moranis]

Durant keeps being further validated with every Warriors loss. His critics really are looking more and more foolish by the day.

Did you watch Game 2? 

From what we've seen so far I think it's clear that the Steph-Klay-Dray-Iggy Warriors have a tough matchup against this Raptors team, but they absolutely have the capability to beat them.

It's also clear that Steph and Draymond plus a bunch of offensively limited role players is not going to cut it against this Raptors team.


If KD comes back and is anywhere near full strength and Klay is also able to be relatively effective, I kind of doubt the Raptors will win another game.  Having Steph and KD playing at the same time is just too much of an advantage.


Acknowledging the KD is good enough that he's basically a trump card in this series isn't the same thing as saying that the Warriors without KD aren't a legitimate contender.

It's also correct for people to point out that the supporting cast has really atrophied since 2015/2016.

defensively is where they really felt the loss of both Klay and Looney.  I mean game 2 Curry and Klay scored 48 combined points and game 1 it was 55.  So Curry's 47 in game 3 was in that same general range.  The Warriors have also scored exactly 109 points in all 3 games.  Where they really felt the loss of Klay (and Looney) was defensively as the Raptors starters all had excellent games last night.  I mean every single Raptor starter scored at least 17 points and shot at least 50% from the field.  Heck VanVleet and Ibaka were the only bench players to even shoot and they both shot at least 50% as well.  The Warriors lost not because of a lack of offense but because of a lack of defense, which absolutely makes sense when you lose 2 of your better defenders (and were already without a great defender in Durant).