*** 2016 NBA Playoff thread ***

[lupi]

that ghostbuster ad....lololololololololololololol

 

[smackababy]

Shumpert trying to let GS back in this.

 

[Ns1]

GS coming back hard in 2nd!

 

[manly]

Too early to panic, but LeBron is still being tentative and throwing stupid passes away.

 

[smackababy]

MVP really showing why he won back to back awards.

 

[Dacalo]

That Adam Silver interview was just god awful.

 

[smackababy]

Tristan Thompson continues to impress me. Though, I don't watch much Cavs games. This guy gets his D improving and his hustle up, he is approaching Rodman level.

 

[SP33Demon]

Lebron finally did something. This is how we expect a ferocious animal to act when backed into a corner. Better late than never, Friday is still do or die for them.

 

[zerocool84]

Lebron finally did something. This is how we expect a ferocious animal to act when backed into a corner. Better late than never, Friday is still do or die for them.

No, more precisely, his TEAM did something. As we've seen in the first two games, the team that spreads the scoring around the most is the one that wins.

 

[smackababy]

Curry missed his flight? Has he even played? I certainly hope this series gets more competitive in terms of the actual games.

No, more precisely, his TEAM did something. As we've seen in the first two games, the team that spreads the scoring around the most is the one that wins.

Cleveland's bench didn't score until they had 87 points.

 

[Ns1]

Curry missed his flight? Has he even played? I certainly hope this series gets more competitive in terms of the actual games.

yeah man. this finals has been terribad - the conf. finals were way better.

 

[DesiPower]

It was a calculated move by GSW, they know Cavs will come back hard in game 3 so they let them win one game. They prefer to hold the ceremony at home, not on the road so that played perfectly in that plan, let game 3 go.

 

[smackababy]

It was a calculated move by GSW, they know Cavs will come back hard in game 3 so they let them win one game. They prefer to hold the ceremony at home, not on the road so that played perfectly in that plan, let game 3 go.

Yeah... And 9/11 was an inside job.

 

[zerocool84]

Listening to sports talk radio like I always do, someone mentioned that if we keep getting these HUGE blowouts on these games through next season, they are going to have to do something about that three point line which makes sense to me. We are already having all these huge blowouts and then next season people will change their offense for more 3's, something will have to be done to keep the games more competitive. Remember, blowouts are bad for ratings so it's definitely a financial incentive for them to have close games.

 

[DesiPower]

Yeah... And 9/11 was an inside job.

Dude... for the last fracking time, jet fuel don't melt no steel beams... aagghh...

 

[smackababy]

Listening to sports talk radio like I always do, someone mentioned that if we keep getting these HUGE blowouts on these games through next season, they are going to have to do something about that three point line which makes sense to me. We are already having all these huge blowouts and then next season people will change their offense for more 3's, something will have to be done to keep the games more competitive. Remember, blowouts are bad for ratings so it's definitely a financial incentive for them to have close games.

They can just get more lax on contact. Guys like Curry who can shoot quick and can't get touched won't be able to do much anymore. Though, if guys like Anthony Davis learn to shoot 3s like that, we're all doomed.

 

[lupi]

Given that curry has only had one decent game the entire finals, I'd say tonight was the biggest beat down so far this series and if the cavs can put out a similar effort next game I'd be worried for the warriors.

 

[manly]

Given that curry has only had one decent game the entire finals, I'd say tonight was the biggest beat down so far this series and if the cavs can put out a similar effort next game I'd be worried for the warriors.

Not really, there's a huge advantage for the team with home court once it goes up 2-0. Cavs not only must win game 4 just to stay alive, they almost need to run the table. Winning game 7 on the road is a rare feat.

Plus players as good as Curry can't be held down forever, he started finding his game in the 3rd quarter.

I'm not saying the series is over, but that based on league history, the Cavs probability of winning 4 games is still under 25% at best.

 

[Majes]

I think if Curry sits that whole game Golden State wins. That's how terrible he was.

 

[SP33Demon]

I think if Curry sits that whole game Golden State wins. That's how terrible he was.

Curry was fantastic in the 3rd. He turned 2 points into 19 and did his trademark time warp. That's still not enough when the other Splash Brother is scoring 9 and Draymond even less. They said it was the lowest output of the 3 combined all season so the end result wasn't that surprising.

It seems like the Warriors best missing player that can help them is... Kevin Love. :biggrin:

 

[digiram]

Curry was fantastic in the 3rd. He turned 2 points into 19 and did his trademark time warp. That's still not enough when the other Splash Brother is scoring 9 and Draymond even less. They said it was the lowest output of the 3 combined all season so the end result wasn't that surprising.

It seems like the Warriors best missing player that can help them is... Kevin Love. :biggrin:

Someone on the Cavs gonna have sneak an elbow on him durring practice....lol.

j/k of course.

 

[Majes]

Curry was fantastic in the 3rd. He turned 2 points into 19 and did his trademark time warp. That's still not enough when the other Splash Brother is scoring 9 and Draymond even less. They said it was the lowest output of the 3 combined all season so the end result wasn't that surprising.

It seems like the Warriors best missing player that can help them is... Kevin Love. :biggrin:

You must have stuck around longer than me...
I watched Curry help them get the lead back up to 20 and called it a night...

 

[Ban Bot]

The take away from these playoffs, regardless of the outcome, is Curry is the best player on a great team. He is a good player. But when it comes to playoff or NBA final performances Curry is in the Hall of Good, not Hall of Fame and certainly not the GOAT of NBA final appearances.

Even if (when) GSW wins this NBA finals this year the Curry comparisons to Jordan need to stop. I already posted some regular season reasons in the Curry thread, but the NBA playoff and Final numbers are worth taking a peak at.

The NBA Playoff records and bests have Jordan all over them. We all know Jordan was 6 of 6 in NBA Final appearances & Jordan was the MVP in each (caveat: if he was 6 of 9 while carrying 3 bad teams to the finals that would be more impressive IMO, but that is neither here or there).

But it isn't just that he was the MVP in each finals, but how he did it.

First, in his 179 playoff appearances Jordan averaged 33.5 pts per game. He holds the record for most points in a playoff game (63) and had 8 games with 50+, 38 with 40+, and 109 with 30+ (60% of his games), and 173 with 20+ (97%). He is the only player to record 15 pts in every playoff appearance (min. 25). To compare Tim Duncan, an all time great, had at least 10 pts in 237 games. Different players and roles but shows how even on bad nights (which Jordan had) he rarely disappeared.

Jordan's playoff per (player efficiency rating) is 28.6, that is his career average. Curry's best playoffs (2015) was a 24.5 last season. Jordan had 11 playoff appearances where he was above 24.5.

And what got me thinking about this entire Jordan vs. Curry debate that has brewed on ATOT is how *bad* the loss was last night. A Jordan finals team never lost by 30. And looking back at the OKC series I don't ever remember a series where a Jordan team got spanked so badly so many times in a single series.

In 35 NBA Final games, Jordan led teams lost by more than 10 points 4 times. The worst was when they were up 3-0 against a very good Sonic team that had lost a couple close games.

1991
11 pts, game 2 (OT), up 1-0 to Trail Blazers

1996
24 pts, game 4, up 3-0 to Sonics
11 pts, game 5, up 3-1 to Sonics

1997
11 pts, game 3, up 2-0 to Jazz

Yet Curry has not only disappeared frequently the last 2 playoffs but has been on the bad end of some really bad losses. Curry has not been the best player on his team the last 2 series. He wasn't the MVP of last year's finals--heck, LeBron was robbed last season. Jordan was never shown up in a finals series by another player.

It looks like the GSW *team* is going to win a 2nd NBA title in a row (sorry Cleveland fans--having all that money and player capitol into a player like Love who doesn't mesh with your team and they are better without him is an albatross that may prevent Cleveland from ever getting a title). But it isn't, "Curry and his GSW" winning the title like the, "Jordan and his Bulls." This is, "GSW, with the contribution of Curry, Thompson, Green, and their awesome bench" winning these games.

So can we stop with the Curry GOAT narrative already?

I would even argue LeBron James in his many playoff appearances, and 7 NBA Final appearances, has been better. In a mythical NBA playoff lottery of all time playoff performers I am picking James before Stephen every time. And I don't think it is even close.

 

[zerocool84]

Cavs need to bench Love, they play better with LeBron at the 4. They should say he still isn't healthy and make him sit the next two games.

 

[Ban Bot]

Cavs need to bench Love, they play better with LeBron at the 4. They should say he still isn't healthy and make him sit the next two games.

I had a similar thought--just bring him off the bench. It is all about match ups and the hot hand. GSW's small ball is less prone to Love playing the perimeter and his 3pt shooting plays into the GSW strength.

Cleveland needs to play traditional playoff/finals basketball and make GSW very uncomfortable. Go watch some old Piston footage and the Jordan rules. Teams try to beat the crap out of James night in and night out because they can due to his size and speed. It is obvious that Curry gets rattled when he is regularly put on the floor. Being physical on the defensive end opens up the offensive end. When teams let GSW fineness them and have them chasing them all over it is game over as you cannot keep up with that. But make GSW work on the defensive end by physically take it at them and then on defense set the tone that there will be no free lunch and the game changes dramatically.