2021 NBA PLAYOFFS MEGA THREAD

[ChicagoCavFan]

Not sure if I was watching soccer or nba yesterday....

 

[PIP]

 

[Los216]

@Los216 answer for your boi

Wants NOTHING to do with the ball rn

KD can win a game in this series without Harden and Kyrie. He's that good.

Also I wouldn't say that he was running from the ball yesterday. He knows that the others have to get going and get some momentum for these next two games.

 

[chrisrich91]

KD can win a game in this series without Harden and Kyrie. He's that good.

Also I wouldn't say that he was running from the ball yesterday. He knows that the others have to get going and get some momentum for these next two games.

Oh boy, that's a take

He very well should be able to win a game without Kyrie or Harden. But not with an effort like yesterday's abortion of a performance.

The Nets have a solid enough team that a healthy LeBron could definitely throw on his back. Without Kyrie or Harden this roster is still arguably just as good as the 2018 Cavs and definitely better than the 2015 Finals team sans Kyrie/Love that LeBron carried admirably. And based on how Durant defenders talk about him, that's the threshold he should be measured against.

But nah, I watched that man shrink like a sack in a cold pool yesterday. That wasn't about getting others going, he was just getting punked and checked out.

 

[Rich]

They lost a game. THey haven't lost the series.

Let's see what Durant does the next few games.

LeBron wasn't out here sweeping every team he came up against with the 2018 Cavs.

 

[chrisrich91]

They lost a game. THey haven't lost the series.

Let's see what Durant does the next few games.

LeBron wasn't out here sweeping every team he came up against with the 2018 Cavs.

Nope but he did get reamed for any bad game, so Durant can face the same level of criticism.

I can't speak on the remainder of the series yet, but I can speak to yesterday's poor performance.

 

[Lee]

btw, height of the suns starting 5 - paul: 6'0, booker: 6'4, crowder: 6'5, bridges: 6'6, ayton: 7'0. that is not a tall line up at all.

Book is closer to 6'5 than 6'4. The rest I agree, but CP is an all time great defender at PG whether he is 6'0 or 6'6. Height is about defense, Ayton is very under rated defensively, CP3's height doesnt matter because he is a ++ defender, book has length for SG, the only under sized position is PF and Ayton's under rated defense makes up for it.

Neither Sexton nor Garland have shown anywhere near CP3's defensive ability. CP3 is criminally under rated, he is a top 5 all time PG if he retires now.

I get your point, and if your point is you can construct an effective defensive roster even with 2 shorter guards its true, but it leaves very little room for error on that roster construct.

Also, only one guard is short, he is all defense. Its the fact they basically play 2 bigger sf's where the Suns starting lineup is short.

 

[Lee]

To be fair, Lebron was more competitive against a better team, but when he lost his 2nd and 3rd best players he did lose the series.

So Lebron really didnt do it.

 

[I'mWithDan]

Kind of surprised by the Jokic reaction......by the rule, it is most definitely a flagrant 2. A player cannot wind up and wood chop someone......honestly lucky Payne was drifting back slightly or it might have just knocked him out. I just don't think that type of play is a basketball play at all. The people saying "he's going for the ball" are not being genuine here.

He wound up to slap him as hard as he humanly could. He wasn't trying to run in to him and knock him down......or give him a firm shove to the ground. Quite literally cocks his arm back, two feet above his head and swings his arm as hard as he can in to someones face. He should have been tossed and that was honestly my immediate reaction when it happened.

Honestly think Jokic was expecting it to, relative to how calm he was. I think he realized his emotions just got the best of him and he made a mistake.....and was possibly somewhat relieved that he didn't just obliterate his head and alter the course of his career.

 

[I'mWithDan]

I know the fun thing to do is knock KD but as a basketball fan, I genuinely want to see his LeBron undertaker moment.

Just go scorched earth on Milwaukee.

I really don't love the Nets but I'll just be honest and say I can't stand the Bucks. They are just not likable. Giannis. Bud. Yuck.

Watching Giannis take 17 seconds to miss FT's is quite possibly the best hate watching I've had since the first year of the Heatles.

 

[Rich]

Kind of surprised by the Jokic reaction......by the rule, it is most definitely a flagrant 2. A player cannot wind up and wood chop someone......honestly lucky Payne was drifting back slightly or it might have just knocked him out. I just don't think that type of play is a basketball play at all. The people saying "he's going for the ball" are not being genuine here.

He wound up to slap him as hard as he humanly could. He wasn't trying to run in to him and knock him down......or give him a firm shove to the ground. Quite literally cocks his arm back, two feet above his head and swings his arm as hard as he can in to someones face. He should have been tossed and that was honestly my immediate reaction when it happened.

Honestly think Jokic was expecting it to, relative to how calm he was. I think he realized his emotions just got the best of him and he made a mistake.....and was possibly somewhat relieved that he didn't just obliterate his head and alter the course of his career.

"alter the course of his career."

Talk about not being genuine..

 

[I'mWithDan]

"alter the course of his career."

Talk about not being genuine..

I'm talking about Jokic.

Let's say he knocks Payne out. Is he looked at the same moving forward?

Genuinely a tough one to shake, given the history of incidents like that.

He honestly avoided placing himself in the pantheon of dirty plays with something like that.

I was honestly relieved he missed.......as the ugliness of that fallout would have probably been pretty bad.

 

[Nathan S]

If Jokic was aiming for his face then he really needs to work on his aim

 

[kriegs]

Kind of surprised by the Jokic reaction......by the rule, it is most definitely a flagrant 2. A player cannot wind up and wood chop someone......honestly lucky Payne was drifting back slightly or it might have just knocked him out. I just don't think that type of play is a basketball play at all. The people saying "he's going for the ball" are not being genuine here.

He wound up to slap him as hard as he humanly could. He wasn't trying to run in to him and knock him down......or give him a firm shove to the ground. Quite literally cocks his arm back, two feet above his head and swings his arm as hard as he can in to someones face. He should have been tossed and that was honestly my immediate reaction when it happened.

Honestly think Jokic was expecting it to, relative to how calm he was. I think he realized his emotions just got the best of him and he made a mistake.....and was possibly somewhat relieved that he didn't just obliterate his head and alter the course of his career.

This was my reaction as well. It was his Kevin Love moment, just that another player was on the recieving end. If you don't think Jokic simply lost his shit, take into account where they were on the court.

You're much more likely to convince me he just went hard for the ball if he was under the hoop trying to get a board...

 

[I'mWithDan]

If Jokic was aiming for his face then he really needs to work on his aim

He's just irresponsibly swinging, at a guy that isn't even looking.

I'm glad he missed or just barely glanced......because I do think that was a potentially ugly, ugly scene that would have unfolded.

He does that and knocks Payne out, there's probably an all out fist fight between the two teams.

Which genuinely would have been a very Suns moment being up 3-0 and on the verge of the WCF.