Topic: NBA Discussion

[Kopenhagen]

How bad was the Kawhi injury?

[elsewhere]

A very ugly and lucky win for us in the end but nevertheless a much needed win. Curry and Durant came alive in the 2h. This wouldn't be close if Kawhi was still on the floor. There is just way too much talent gap between 2 teams even with Kawhi being healthy so him leaving hurt them a lot.

Congrats fellow Warriors fans!

[b_joseph]

Long lay off for GSW looked to be an issue...expect them to be much cleaner in game 2 and beyond.

[Gerry Attrick]

Those two offensive rebounds before the Curry 3 were a backbreaker. It was long rebounds, so the size advantage didn't matter as much, but the Spurs had to take care of that.

Yep, GS had 10 offensive rebounds in the second half. You can't give them that many extra opportunities.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Well, the series is over now. If you can't convert a 20 odd point lead you're never going to beat them. I don't really care who wins the finals but I was hoping SA could win this game just to have a somewhat competitive series. Disappointing.

Yes but come one, we lose our best player who had 26 points at that point in the game, against a team with 4 elite players. Any injury like that is a huge disadvantage.

We could have still won, so I am still fucking gutted.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

How bad was the Kawhi injury?

Bad enough not to come back since the 3rd quarter. He landed on his ankle twice in that quarter, the 2nd time was the worse of the two.

[elsewhere]

How bad was the Kawhi injury?

The thing is he hurt it vs the Rockets and injured twice again tonight. I will be quite surprised if he is back for game 2.

[Gerry Attrick]

Yes but come one, we lose our best player who had 26 points at that point in the game, against a team with 4 elite players. Any injury like that is a huge disadvantage.

We could have still won, so I am still fucking gutted.

I'm not really criticising SA, I think Popovich could've halted the Warriors' momentum earlier than he did and they allowed too many second chance opportunities in the second half but I appreciate the talent gap can't be easily bridged. I just wanted a competitive series. Feels like this was the Spurs' chance to land a blow and even if Leonard does return it's tough to forget a defeat like this.

[Gods_Left_Boot]

How bad was the Kawhi injury?

A rolled ankle, the same one that he injured against Houston. There's really no way of knowing how bad, but reaggravating an injury that caused him to miss game 6 of the previous series can't be good news for him for game 2.

[Kopenhagen]

The thing is he hurt it vs the Rockets and injured twice again tonight. I will be quite surprised if he is back for game 2.

Bad enough not to come back since the 3rd quarter. He landed on his ankle twice in that quarter, the 2nd time was the worse of the two.

Cheers. If he's out they're well & truly fucked.

[The North Bank]

Spurs would have won easily had kawhi not got injured. If hes out for the series, this could be another 4-0

[deFacto please, you bastards]

I'm not really criticising SA, I think Popovich could've halted the Warriors' momentum earlier than he did and they allowed too many second chance opportunities in the second half but I appreciate the talent gap can't be easily bridged. I just wanted a competitive series. Feels like this was the Spurs' chance to land a blow and even if Leonard does return it's tough to forget a defeat like this.

Those two rebounds the Warriors got before Steph made the 3 was the dagger. Get the rebound and you end up more than likely winning the game.

Fine margins and all.

[Greatness]

Yes but come one, we lose our best player who had 26 points at that point in the game, against a team with 4 elite players. Any injury like that is a huge disadvantage.

We could have still won, so I am still fucking gutted.

Agreed, your best player getting injured while you in control of the game for that would effect any team in Basketball and I can't pin down any blame on the Spurs losing this game

A healthy Spurs team would of take this series to the distance, without Parker and now Kawhi it's an unfair fight which is a shame really as this Series had the potential to be an all time classic

[elsewhere]

I'm not really criticising SA, I think Popovich could've halted the Warriors' momentum earlier than he did and they allowed too many second chance opportunities in the second half but I appreciate the talent gap can't be easily bridged. I just wanted a competitive series. Feels like this was the Spurs' chance to land a blow and even if Leonard does return it's tough to forget a defeat like this.

I agree with you, this was tough to swallow for the Spurs. When Kawhi left though, it was always coming, just a natter of when. Uncharacteristic turnovers became an issue for them in the 2h.

[elsewhere]

Those two rebounds the Warriors got before Steph made the 3 was the dagger. Get the rebound and you end up more than likely winning the game.

Fine margins and all.

Totally, that was the game right there. Although we somehow tried to screw it up by Klay turning it over to Mills. Was Pop out of time outs in the end? LMA had no business taking that three.

[Gerry Attrick]

Those two rebounds the Warriors got before Steph made the 3 was the dagger. Get the rebound and you end up more than likely winning the game.

Fine margins and all.

It's certainly the play that will remain in the memory.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Dubs upped their intensity on defense which caused the turnovers. Paddy couldn't really get into any rhythm at all, he only had a couple of points, LA and Ginobili were really the only ones scoring after Kawhi got injured.  If you had said before the game that we would lose by 2, I would been ok, but having such an advantage and then slipping up is a tough pill to swallow.

Having said that, this team does have the mental fortitude to keep going and fighting. Hopefully Kawhi comes back for game 2, we must the next game to keep this interesting.

[Gerry Attrick]

Gasol was crap.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Totally, that was the game right there. Although we somehow tried to screw it up by Klay turning it over to Mills. Was Pop out of time outs in the end? LMA had no business taking that three.

Yes they had taken all of their timeouts earlier. He made that one 3 earlier but you are right, anyone else I'm ok with taking that shot.

Btw, Gasol has been massively massively disappointing.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Gasol was crap.

He couldn't finish his dinner let alone a layup. He's been god awful the entire playoffs. Good guy but really not giving us anything.

[elsewhere]

Yes they had taken all of their timeouts earlier. He made that one 3 earlier but you are right, anyone else I'm ok with taking that shot.

Btw, Gasol has been massively massively disappointing.

Mills was disappointing for you guys i suppose. Missed some open shots, scared to penetrate when he had to and tried layup's when he is surrounded by Green, Durant and Zaza. Just some bad decisions.
Also Danny Green had to step up and take some shots in 2h. Whole team was just feeding LMA and looking at him whole time when they had to share a more balanced shot taking.

[Gods_Left_Boot]

Crazy stat: this is the first time that a Pop coached team has blown a 25+ points lead. He was 316-0 before tonight. Obviously it took an inury to his best player for it to happen, so even this one should come with an asterisk.

[elsewhere]

I jist watched Pop's interviews and his rant about Zaza being dirty and having a history of flagrant fouls, that he doesn't care about intentions etc. i understand where he is coming from and i feel for him and his team but that doesn't change the fact that i think he doesn't shy away from hypocrisy when it suits him.

If it was really that important to have full team, you should've said a word or two when league suspended Diaw and Stoudamire at the time for moving a few steps from the bench when your player Horry made a bitch move and elbowed Steve Nash. You coached Bowen for years and he mastered this "undercut" fouls, why didn't you take a step and talk to him for once when he was mastering that move? Last series Pop complained about flopping when Ginobili made a living from it during his career, now undercutting shooters which is what his player Bowen invented. What's next, complain about hack-a-shaq?

[Gods_Left_Boot]

Kawhi will "obviously" sit out game 2, according to Popovich.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

I jist watched Pop's interviews and his rant about Zaza being dirty and having a history of flagrant fouls, that he doesn't care about intentions etc. i understand where he is coming from and i feel for him and his team but that doesn't change the fact that i think he doesn't shy away from hypocrisy when it suits him.

If it was really that important to have full team, you should've said a word or two when league suspended Diaw and Stoudamire at the time for moving a few steps from the bench when your player Horry made a bitch move and elbowed Steve Nash. You coached Bowen for years and he mastered this "undercut" fouls, why didn't you take a step and talk to him for once when he was mastering that move? Last series Pop complained about flopping when Ginobili made a living from it during his career, now undercutting shooters which is what his player Bowen invented. What's next, complain about hack-a-shaq?

Zaza is a dirty player, he's got the history for it. having said that, Pop should have said nothing as it makes him a hypocrite, we had Bowen for years who did the very same thing.

He's pissed massively so I somewhat understand. Shit luck losing both Parker and Kawhi in the playoffs and we are up against the best side in the sport who have 4 magnificent players.

[Gods_Left_Boot]

Brooks still giving consistent minutes to Jennings, just a catastrophic misjudgement and mismanagement of his rotation. This is a man who couldn't manage to find a pattern to stagger Westbrook and Durant minutes for 5 solid years when in OKC and is still trusted to coach at this level.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Brooks still giving consistent minutes to Jennings, just a catastrophic misjudgement and mismanagement of his rotation. This is a man who couldn't manage to find a pattern to stagger Westbrook and Durant minutes for 5 solid years when in OKC and is still trusted to coach at this level.

He really is an average coach, that OKC team should have done more than they did.

[The North Bank]

If it wasnt for Bradley Beal this would be over by now, brilliant shooting.

[y2w902]

Wall has been anonymous. Brooks with his late as fuck timeouts.

[Gods_Left_Boot]

Absymal defending by Washington, especially Gortat and Morris. If you allow a talentless, dirty hack like Olynyk to score 25 on you in a game 7 you deserve to go home. Unexplicable how Brooks has all but cut out Smith from his rotation after the was decent in this playoff run, despite Gortat being very poor. Also never tried to go smaller, with Oubre having a DNP.

[elsewhere]

It's been good series and home court advantage paid off for Celtics in the series. Wizards did well considering this is furthest they have been since 79.

I agree with God Left Boot, clearly Celtics bigs were capable of shooting the 3, Horford averaged 50% and Olynyk was wide open all the time. They had 6 games to learn your lesson and improve, they haven't. Wizards GM and Brooks should get some heat. Brooks just don't trust the bench, i know Oubre was out but Brooks should have made plays and give open looks to Bogdanovic, he is their best 3 point shooter. What was their GM thinking handing Mahinmi 4 year 64million? Injury prone, low basketball iq, brings absolutely nothing on offensive end. I really wonder why they didn't try to trade for Cousins. That could have been a game changer. Burke, Jennings, Mahinmi, Nicholson and Smith. Damn, their bench had 5 pts on 1-5 shooting. Wall is a beast, he was clearly gassed. If they got a bench PG that could give solid minutes, Wall would have been well rested.

[elsewhere]

Celtics-Cavs with Celtics having home court should be fun. It will be interesting if Celtics take the 1st game, i think that gme is key for them to start well and motivated. Celtics have a good team spirit, shouldn't be underestimated. Talent gap is big though, so I say 4-2 Cavs and if Olynyk takes one of big 3 down, it goes to 7.

[Romeo Sensini]

The real championship is tonight...Draft Lottery. 

Fully expecting the Lakers to end up with the top spot and the subsequent rigged comments from fans.

[Gods_Left_Boot]

The real championship is tonight...Draft Lottery. 

Fully expecting the Lakers to end up with the top spot and the subsequent rigged comments from fans.

To the surprise of exactly 0 people the Lakers keep their pick, as it falls in the top 3. The Suns drop to 4 and the Sixers (thanks to the pick swap they have with Sacramento) are also in the top 3, along with Boston.

1- Celtics
2- Lakers
3- Sixers

[Romeo Sensini]

Sam Hinkie is a genius. Billy King will go down as the biggest moron in NBA history. Also, I feel for the Suns.

I would imagine the programming executives at ESPN are furiously pleasuring themselves over the possibility of Ball going to the Lakers.

[elsewhere]

So the question is what will the Celtics do with Isaiah Thomas? Clearly Fultz will start if not this year, for sure next year. He is a superstar in making. I can see them trading him for a wing or big.

Also lol at Billy King and Brooklyn. Lavar Ball drama in city of angels should be fun too. Kings getting 5th and 10th picks is valuable as well to build something. Feel sorry for the Knicks and Suns.

[Gods_Left_Boot]

The C's should probably trade Isiah before renewing him while his value is at the highest possible point, or they'll be forced to give him the new 6 years-200M extension, and if you're Boston you don't want to be stuck paying 35M a year to a 5'8" guy in his thirties. If (like a think will happen) they get swept by the Cavs, Ainge might be tempted to do that, if it somehow resembles a competitive series it'll be difficult for them to justify dealing their best and most popular player, rather than running it again with the same nucleus + the first overall pick.

[elsewhere]

The C's should probably trade Isiah before renewing him while his value is at the highest possible point, or they'll be forced to give him the new 6 years-200M extension, and if you're Boston you don't want to be stuck paying 35M a year to a 5'8" guy in his thirties. If (like a think will happen) they get swept by the Cavs, Ainge might be tempted to do that, if it somehow resembles a competitive series it'll be difficult for them to justify dealing their best and most popular player, rather than running it again with the same nucleus + the first overall pick.

Totally with you. They can play them together but Fultz needs the ball in his hand and with IT signed to a long contract, it will hurt his improvement and as you said it will be pointless having IT signed for a lot of room. I already think Horford contract will hurt them in a year or so. But if they trade IT and then fail reeatedly in the play off's, they be mocked immediately. I think Ainge is a ruthless type and he will try to trade Isaiah.

[elsewhere]

Curry on fire, already 15 pts in 1q. This is bloodbath already, 33-16 for my Warriors after 1q but not enjoying this blow out win without Kawhi. Switched to nhl play off's.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Depressing to watch. Terrible on both ends, but hardly suprising, just hope we get Kawhi back by Saturday