2025 NBA Post-Season thread!!!

[Nomad]

So a couple notes. Haven't watched anything, just listened to radio of the ESPNU Pacers-Bucks. It seemed like Nesmith was about to have a breakout game but then Mathurin played like a--. Myles stunk it up and apparently it was Shep's turn to make a statement (Major Walker, earth to mars?) Pascal despite it all carried the tent and earned player-of-game. I think this team's game just a way of showing no one rises if all don't shine.

I also think this is as close to Bucks sniffing victory as we'll see. But a great team and organization got their flowers. Dame and Gian and oh yeah Trent can be proud.

And yeah, Celtics dropped one to Magic, so I feel a little better about this. Maybe winner of Cavs - Pacers will go on to represent. Mobley with his all-defensive player hype.

Is Nesmith still guarding his 50/40/90 postseas quest? I know he doesn't personally care after such a dispiriting loss, but I have money invested [card money. Highly illiquid and illogically difficult to sell].

[blackvodka]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

What a random couple of names to lump in with Luka.



How quickly you forget the other big name that couldn't win until he stacked a squad. LeBron James.



Minny's effort in closing out the Lakers on the 3 point line in the 4th was the difference as well as a couple of other things that went their way. Not much in it between the 2 teams.

I thought about that myself. Problem is LeBron had no one in his first run with the Cavs. Maurice Williams? Delonte West? He had Carlos Boozer his rc year. He got a lot of flack too.

Personally I think LeBron only plays one more year in LA before the Lakers finally move on. They need more confidence in Luka though.

McDaniels played a major factor in Minny's win tonight.

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[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by blackvodka

I thought about that myself. Problem is LeBron had no one in his first run with the Cavs. Maurice Williams? Delonte West? He had Carlos Boozer his rc year. He got a lot of flack too.

Personally I think LeBron only plays one more year in LA before the Lakers finally move on. They need more confidence in Luka though.

McDaniels played a major factor in Minny's win tonight.

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He also had Shaq, Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes.

I just don't think you can judge a guy who got traded there 2 months ago and say "wow you can't win a title".

Win or lose this series, the Lakers will load up next season.

[TheVolta]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

He also had Shaq, Antawn Jamison, Larry Hughes.

I just don't think you can judge a guy who got traded there 2 months ago and say "wow you can't win a title".

Win or lose this series, the Lakers will load up next season.

Ummm…. So he had
Shaq at 37 and 350
Jamison at 34 and lame
And Hughes… well come on

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by TheVolta

Ummm…. So he had
Shaq at 37 and 350
Jamison at 34 and lame
And Hughes… well come on

Ba ha. Bron fanaticals unite!

And Luka has.....

Let's not get in to all the other players LeBron has had over the decades and fallen short with. The list is long.

I just disagreed with the "Luka can't win" and he's Iverson or Maravich.

Like, seriously???

[robert0629]

Originally Posted by blackvodka

I thought about that myself. Problem is LeBron had no one in his first run with the Cavs. Maurice Williams? Delonte West? He had Carlos Boozer his rc year. He got a lot of flack too.

Personally I think LeBron only plays one more year in LA before the Lakers finally move on. They need more confidence in Luka though.

McDaniels played a major factor in Minny's win tonight.

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A couple of those years, the Cavs were among the top rated defenses in the NBA. All he had to do was carry the offense while the Cavs defense shut down their opponents. I don't think you're giving his teammates enough credit.

In the 2007 NBA Finals, the Cavs held the Spurs to 12 points below their regular season average. But it didn't matter because the Cavs could do nothing offensively. For his part, LeBron only managed to average 22 ppg on 36% from the floor, and was MIA in the the fourth quarters. He didn't even manage to lead his team to a single victory in that series, despite losing by just three points in game 3 and one point in game 4.

In the 2009 ECF, LeBron's Cavs had the home court advantage and the best record in the NBA. In game 6, LeBron got 53 combined points on 55% shooting from West, Williams, and Varejao. He's the one who blew it in that game, scoring just 25 points on 40% from the floor, and being thoroughly outplayed by Dwight Howard. Despite playing well overall in the series, LeBron played poorly in the fourth quarters of most of those games, and cheated the fans out of the LeBron vs Kobe matchup we all wanted to see.

[robert0629]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Just curious but what evidence is there that the Lakers don't have a shot against OKC? They played eachother twice a couple weeks ago, both in OKC. LA blew them out in game one and would have won the 2nd if Luka wasn't ejected.

I do believe the Lakers have a shot against OKC, but I wouldn't put any stock in the last two games between the two teams. OKC had nothing to play for in those games. There's no way the Lakers got the best version of OKC in those games.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by blackvodka

I thought this was supposed to be Luka's team now. What happened?

He keeps putting himself in that narrative; a guy who can ball but not win. Just like Allen Iverson or Pete Maravich.

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What an overreaction...dude was sick with a stomach bug..made the Finals last year..is with the Lakers for about half a season with a team that has no legit big man and he "can't win"...gimme a break

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by drobfan8

Ba ha. Bron fanaticals unite!

And Luka has.....

Let's not get in to all the other players LeBron has had over the decades and fallen short with. The list is long.

I just disagreed with the "Luka can't win" and he's Iverson or Maravich.

Like, seriously???

It's such a typical stupid blowout take....not surprised at all.

[rhigh2390]

Originally Posted by Chris P

It's such a typical stupid blowout take....not surprised at all.

Not to mention that he averaged 34/10/5 in the first 2 games.

[yiguiri2002]

OKC up 3-0, with a +20 point differential: they look really vulnerable
Lakers down 2-1, getting outscored by more than 8 points per game: they are ready to beat the Thunder

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Not to mention that he averaged 34/10/5 in the first 2 games.

Yep exactly. I honestly hated the trade for Luka because it took Dallas years (and even then they made the Western Conference Finals ahead of schedule) to assemble a roster around Luka. There were plenty of misses (not resigning Brunson, the Porzingis trade which got them little in return, the Grant Williams signing etc) and hits (Kyrie, Lively, Gafford/PJ Trades) but it takes time and now Luka has to start over and once again this team has to build around him. I would've loved to see the Dallas thing play out (we'll never know if Kyrie gets hurt if Luka never gets traded) the next few years than him get shipped to a new team. But writing off a guy, who's 26, and has been to a Western Conference Championship, and an NBA Finals, and was the LEADER of those two teams (with different rosters nonetheless) is ridiculous hot take garbage that dominates today's sport talk.

[blackvodka]

Originally Posted by Chris P

What an overreaction...dude was sick with a stomach bug..made the Finals last year..is with the Lakers for about half a season with a team that has no legit big man and he "can't win"...gimme a break

If he was not feeling well it will be just a one run off. I'm hoping he plays better in game 4.

He stunk in the Finals last year though.

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[blackvodka]

I enjoy watching the Cavs play. No Garland and Mitchell only has 6 points at half, yet up 20 on the road. They're such a complete team. No super team bs. I'm so done with that.

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[oldgoldy97]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

OKC up 3-0, with a +20 point differential: they look really vulnerable
Lakers down 2-1, getting outscored by more than 8 points per game: they are ready to beat the Thunder

BO gonna BO.

Dray with hustler of the year award. Finals shoo in.

[Chris P]

Originally Posted by blackvodka

If he was not feeling well it will be just a one run off. I'm hoping he plays better in game 4.

He stunk in the Finals last year though.

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He was dealing with injuries during that run also. I get the defense was bad but the guy averaged 29,8 and 5 and nearly 3 steals a game in the Finals against a pretty damn good Celtics team...did anyone else show up for Dallas?

[drobfan8]

Originally Posted by Chris P

It's such a typical stupid blowout take....not surprised at all.

Originally Posted by Chris P

He was dealing with injuries during that run also. I get the defense was bad but the guy averaged 29,8 and 5 and nearly 3 steals a game in the Finals against a pretty damn good Celtics team...did anyone else show up for Dallas?

You can really tell who the casual fans are that just come in with terrible takes at Playoff time.

0 clue about the game of basketball.

They fell for the media takes that the Lakers are the team to beat out West. The sportsbooks would have loved the flood of money coming in for the Lakers.

Who knows, maybe they still go on a run from here, but it would take an all time top 5 run of all time from luka to get them there. I just don't think you can gel that quick with a squad.

I really like Minny's energy so far. They have better help than Luka has, even though the Lakers have the 2 best in the series. Minny might have the next 4 best currently. Maybe more.

[Cavs16]

Originally Posted by blackvodka

I enjoy watching the Cavs play. No Garland and Mitchell only has 6 points at half, yet up 20 on the road. They're such a complete team. No super team bs. I'm so done with that.

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And they have a really nice bench with wide range of depth. It's absolutely fun and exciting to watch!

[drobfan8]

Scottie Pippen's boy is having a nice run here.

Even with the turnover that will cost them.

Maybe Memphis move on from Ja and add a piece

[Scottish Punk]

Crazy ending in Denver. They almost choked away a 22 point lead only on make a game winning tip in with a tenth of a second left.

[blackvodka]

Originally Posted by Scottish Punk

Crazy ending in Denver. They almost choked away a 22 point lead only on make a game winning tip in with a tenth of a second left.

Yeah Denver dominated the 3rd quarter but then the Clippers came back with a strong 4th quarter. Wild ending though. Can't wait for game 5.

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[mfw13]

Originally Posted by Scottish Punk

Crazy ending in Denver. They almost choked away a 22 point lead only on make a game winning tip in with a tenth of a second left.

That's the nature of the game these days....no lead is safe.

It's a function of the over-emphasis on three-point shooting and a fast pace.

Nobody knows how to close out games by slowing the pace down and milking the shot clock anymore.

[tjforce]

Incredible finish my Aaron Gordon...

This series should be over already if not for incredibly clutch plays by Westbrook in Game 1 and Gordon in Game 4 (although 4 would have gone to OT, so maybe it goes to 5).

[tjforce]

Originally Posted by rhigh2390

Just curious but what evidence is there that the Lakers don't have a shot against OKC? They played eachother twice a couple weeks ago, both in OKC. LA blew them out in game one and would have won the 2nd if Luka wasn't ejected.

Originally Posted by drobfan8

OKC aren't some unbeatable monster.

Their game 3 win vs Memphis was pretty unimpressive. Memphis had nobody that could create their own shot once Ja went down.

They were sitting ducks.

The rest of the West aint Memphis. I won't be surprised if OKC doesn't get to the Finals.

Because the Lakers are just not good enough to be a championship team at this point.

-LeBron is 40
-Luka is a liability on defense, which would be okay if they had the right team around him, but
-They have no rim protection
-They just don't have the depth in general.

If I'm wrong and they just blow through the rest of the league, then I'll gladly come here and tell you all how surprised and wrong I was. But until then, I'd rather just spend my time and energy on teams I think actually have championship rosters.

Originally Posted by blackvodka

I enjoy watching the Cavs play. No Garland and Mitchell only has 6 points at half, yet up 20 on the road. They're such a complete team. No super team bs. I'm so done with that.

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The Cavs, Boston, and Thunder should be dominating the conversation right now. Of the 3, Boston looks to have the toughest road forward. Magic and Knicks are some physical teams. I doubt either of them last past 5 or 6 games, but playing the Magic might take a toll on them like it did for the Cavs last year.

OKC gets to rest for a week as Nuggs and Clippers battle it out.

Cavs are firing on too many cylinders right now to have anybody slow them down until the Conf Finals.

[blackvodka]

Curry is playing really well right now. Doing everything he can to keep them in the game.

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