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NBA Playoffs 2023

ztejas

By ztejas
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Make em eat Taco Bell

Make em eat Taco Bell 1549

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Doc Rivers is so overrated. Got 08 with 3 HOFs, riding that coattail for 15 years. 

Harden is a *ussy. Someone is going to waste $100mil on him in a few months, hopefully not Houston. 

Celts easily beat the defender with the dribble for multiple uncontested 8 foot jumpers/floaters or several outright layups in Embiid's face.  Easy buckets for Boston all night while 76ers had to work really hard for theirs.   This really is on coaching and execution. Boston plays superb team ball which is only matched by the Warriors. A rematch of last year looks very possible.  

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ztejas

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20 minutes ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Phoenix looks decent without CP3 and with Jock Landale instead of Biyombo

58 points from 2 guys at halftime helps. 

They're finally starting to figure some stuff out. Unfortunately it may have taken Monty too long. 

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Chewbacca

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this might be one of those series where you fear that the winning team will be beat up and tired as all hell going into the next round. this has the makings of a 6-7 game classic.
Maybe. I don't see Booker and KD going for 80+ every game. They don't have anyone else. And Murray has to stop with the hero ball shit. He brings the Nuggets offense to a halt when he does that.
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HeHateMe

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Suns are better without Paul at this point.  He slows the game down too much and sometimes the horses gotta run.  Ayton should not start game 4 and if he doesn’t respond with more effort then glue his ass to the bench.  Shamet should not sniff another minute every in the nba…dude is a seriously liability.  I’ve been in Scottsdale for 20 years and have become a Suns fan over time, but there are no excuses for a lot of the in game decisions that Monty is making.  I like that he sat DA to end the game but wtf giving Shamet that many minutes.  KD scored 39 on a very off night, they are going to smother book in G4, KD might go for 50 if they do and he gets hot.  If Monty can get out of his own way I see this going back to Denver 2-2, with a chance to be an epic series.  Monty’s in game decisions will determine the outcome of this series.

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ztejas

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Jokic with a casual 30/17/17. My God.

Ayton has to be the worst player in the NBA making over $25M. Dude's getting outplayed by Jock Landale with the lights on. 

Booker and Durant were phenomenal. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that teammates have never both put up 39 points and 8 assists in an NBA playoff game - let alone on 3 combined turnovers. They're going to need to be almost as good 3 more times. I still like Denver in 6 but they better take this thing seriously - teams have blown worse series in the playoffs. 

24 minutes ago, HeHateMe said:

Suns are better without Paul at this point.  He slows the game down too much and sometimes the horses gotta run.

Probably true - but him going out likely cost them G2 or at the very least a shot at it. You're right that Durant and Booker running in transition is a nightmare to deal with. KD looked like prime LeBron tonight - he was relentlessly attacking and pushing after rebounds and orchestrating both ends of the floor. He still didn't shoot the ball well but you could tell he was thinking "fuck this shit we're finding a way to beat these guys tonight". Helps when your teammate picks you up for 47 on 20/25. 

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HeHateMe

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Jokic is a freak and will always have ridiculous numbers, he did have more turnovers than the entire starting 5 of PHX though.  The Suns have to get points in transition or it becomes too much of a grind.  Phoenix didn’t get to the line in game 2 and KD wasn’t going to let that happen again.  I doubt he does going forward.  D Book might not shoot 80% again in this series but KD probably won’t shoot 38% again either.  I bet it goes 7, unless Monty plays DA 35+ minutes in G4.  I’d rather see Ish Wainright fouling the fuck out of Jokic and take my chances with him at the line.  And I’d love to see if anyone has ever scored their first 45 points without shooting a free throw in the playoffs.

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Mitch Cumsteen

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Payne pushing pace really helped get the Suns easy buckets. Denver needs to play better transition defense. It's much easier to cheat off the Phoenix scrubs in the half court. 

I don't even know what to say about Ayton. Awful performance. Still can't believe he got drafted ahead on  Doncic and that Jock fucking Landale with little more than effort and hustle kept him glued to the bench.

That stretch to start the fourth while jokic sat was key. I still like Denver in game 4 and to finish it in 5 or 6. I don't think that effort from Booker and Durant is repeatable more than one more time this series. 

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ztejas

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1 hour ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

I don't think that effort from Booker and Durant is repeatable more than one more time this series. 

I mean from Book it absolutely is. He's done it all playoffs. 

I'm not sure Durant can keep playing like he's 24 - but I also didn't think he could turn the clock back like that for even one game. He's more calculated than people realize - there were definitely times in that Clippers series where he was limiting his exertion. He knew they needed one tonight and he delivered. But to your point - how much more of that does he have in the tank at 34?

Jokic and Murray played big minutes last night as well. Whoever wins this is going to have to grind for it. 

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Mitch Cumsteen

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25 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I mean from Book it absolutely is. He's done it all playoffs. 

He's for sure been amazing but 20-25 doesn't even seem like a real stat line, especially for a guy taking that many jumpers. It's not like he shooting layups. I can't imagine it happening again where he gets 45+ points shooting 80% from the field. It's insane the game he had. 

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ztejas

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9 minutes ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

He's for sure been amazing but 20-25 doesn't even seem like a real stat line, especially for a guy taking that many jumpers. It's not like he shooting layups. I can't imagine it happening again where he gets 45+ points shooting 80% from the field. It's insane the game he had. 

Maybe not literally 45+ on 80% shooting again - but he had 47 on 19/27 plus 10 dimes in the closeout against LAC. And Durant that game went for 31 on 19 FGA. Booker's averaging 37 ppg on 60/49/87 splits this playoffs. 

They probably need KD to find his jumper to hang 80 again between the two of them - but they get 60 in their sleep. 

The 22 from their bench tonight was huge. Whether Booker and KD are just great or transcendent on any given night Phoenix has to keep getting help from the others. They lose again tonight if that 22 is just 10 or 12.

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SilasCoade

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3 minutes ago, Mittens said:

image.png.bc7fa9f9a7af7674c467ffb96c96f4ae.png

I'm ashamed to admit that this picture made me literally laugh out loud a little bit. It's like a cartoon. Hope he's okay, though.

Does Ayton not realize he's 7' tall? Or does he lack the athleticism to authoritatively throw it down even at that size? The number of times he has blown wide open shots at the rim by leaving a finger roll short is just embarrassing. I've cleaned diapers that weren't as soft as that dude.

KD getting 39 on a what was for him a bizarrely off night is crazy. I really wish they would just abandon the iso with him outside the arc unless they can set up a clear mismatch. If they can get Jokic switched up on him out there, go for it. Otherwise put KD in the high post where he's most comfortable.

I don't know that they're better without CP, but he definitely changes the dynamics in a way that favors Denver's defense. 3 mid-range heavy guys on the court at once is too many. Especially when he doesn't bring anything on the defensive end besides surreptitious nut shots. If he comes back this series I'd hope to see him more with a second unit trying to exploit Denver's less effective second unit defenders.

Also, I said some bullshit about the Celtics-Sixers series being over after Boston got punked at home, but that was before I knew that Joel would play like shit when he came back and Philly'd get next to nothing from Harden and Harris for two games. Still expect the 6ers to pull it out but it's clearly tilting Boston's way right now.

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ztejas

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55 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

Otherwise put KD in the high post where he's most comfortable.

They can't really do that because he gets swarmed as soon as he touches the ball - and DEN's help defense has been extremely effective (especially coming from behind him back into the play) whether its stripping the ball from him or having him 2nd guess his shot and disrupt his timing (he admitted to as much in post game last night). I think their best bet is what he was doing last night which is attacking downhill from behind the arc - optimally off a screen or iso mismatch. Also - when they can outrun DEN in transition they don't have to worry about setting up anything correctly in the half court. They're more capable of that with Payne and Landale out there since CP is 47 years old and Ayton spends most of his time on the court chasing butterflies around 

In the Clippers series they hid Durant in the corner quite a bit and let CP and Book run stuff towards the top of the arc - but I actually think it works better having Durant act as a point forward and letting Booker flash from the corner or pull away the defense. Booker is better in tight space than Durant and he's faster to the ball and more difficult to jam at this point in their careers.

55 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

that was before I knew that Joel would play like shit when he came back and Philly'd get next to nothing from Harden

Yeah - who could have seen that coming?

(Just fucking with you - I thought Harden would be a bit better in G2 and 3 than he has been)

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gofuckyourself

gofuckyourself 8115

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10 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I can't imagine being a Knicks fan. What a depressing franchise. Butler might beat these losers in 5 games.

They perpetually suck but their media and celeb suckoff is 1000% out of proportion to their deserved attention.

Spurs winning their first title over the Knicks was fantastic, shortened season be damned.

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SilasCoade

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6 minutes ago, ztejas said:

6'9" Bam is killing them on the offensive glass. 

Very disappointed that Bam's development just stalled out. He's a good 2-way player, but he's just not developed into a best-player-on-contender type guy. Seems to be stuck in fringe-all-star status.

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ztejas

ztejas 43244

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27 minutes ago, SilasCoade said:

he's just not developed into a best-player-on-contender type guy.

I never thought he'd wind up being that good but you're right in that he's been at this same level for 3 or 4 years now. I guess he was really good in that Finals run when he was 22 and he's basically been the same player since. 

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