NBA Playoffs Thread

[muzikfrk75]

What the heck is going on with Ray Allen and his FT shooting?

[Native]

Shane with a double double tonight – 10 points and 10 rebounds.

[tommy]

This game was taken over by Miami's defense in the second half. Boston got almost nothing easy, nothing near the basket. Any time they even got the ball inside, which was rare, it was blocked or altered. And everyone was in on the act defensively for the heat: Shane, James, Wade, Anthony, Haslem. I'd love to see Boston's second half shot chart. Not much there at all.

If this was the Celtics with their Big 3 circa 2005, OK, we'd have a series here. The 2012 version in the something close to the twilights of their careers against James and Wade in their primes? I don't think so.

[CDu]

This game was taken over by Miami's defense in the second half. Boston got almost nothing easy, nothing near the basket. Any time they even got the ball inside, which was rare, it was blocked or altered. And everyone was in on the act defensively for the heat: Shane, James, Wade, Anthony, Haslem. I'd love to see Boston's second half shot chart. Not much there at all.

If this was the Celtics with their Big 3 circa 2005, OK, we'd have a series here. The 2012 version in the something close to the twilights of their careers against James and Wade in their primes? I don't think so.

Yeah, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were awful last night. The Celtics aren't going to win if Pierce shoots 5-18 and Allen shoots 1-7. When your second and third leading scorers shoot a combined 24%, that's bad. Rondo had a good-but-not-great night offensively as well (8-20, 7 assists, 4 turnovers). It's asking too much of Garnett (who was fantastic) to carry the team largely by himself.

Rondo and Garnett have to both be stars and Pierce and Allen need to be useful for the Celtics to have a chance to win this series. Garnett held up his end of the bargain, but the rest didn't.

Another monster game from James (32 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks).

[moonpie23]

3 SPIRIT-CRUSHING blocks....shane was a monster too...

[Jderf]

3 SPIRIT-CRUSHING blocks....

They really were spirit-crushing. Just vicious. I remember being surprised after the game upon finding out it was only three blocks. My memory magnified them to the point where I thought he must have had eight or something.

[miramar]

It was nice to see the announcers talking up Shane in the third quarter, and even better to hear one of the reporters ask Doc about Shane's play in the presser. Shane is clearly getting some well-deserved attention.

[hq2]

It was nice to see the announcers talking up Shane in the third quarter, and even better to hear one of the reporters ask Doc about Shane's play in the presser. Shane is clearly getting some well-deserved attention.

If the C's are going to lose (which they are), it's nice to see Shane step up and make a major
contribution. His body clock is about used up too, and he knows it; he'll be leaving it all out there
from here on in. Hope he gets a ring for his efforts.

[Jderf]

If the C's are going to lose (which they are), it's nice to see Shane step up and make a major
contribution. His body clock is about used up too, and he knows it; he'll be leaving it all out there
from here on in. Hope he gets a ring for his efforts.

Let's hope so, because if he doesn't, it is starting to look like that ring might go to Danny Green.

I like the Spurs, but... ugh.

[moonpie23]

i love the spurs, but i want to see the heat get the title this year...

[elvis14]

It was nice to see the announcers talking up Shane in the third quarter, and even better to hear one of the reporters ask Doc about Shane's play in the presser. Shane is clearly getting some well-deserved attention.

Shane is definitely the silver lining in the dark cloud that is the Heat.

I really enjoyed the Spurs-Thunder game the other night. It was just really well played with each team playing to their strengths. I really love the way the Spurs move the ball and use more team work than everyone else. I can ignore the Danny Green factor. He doesn't play much so I can just act like he doesn't exist. I like both teams but I found myself rooting for the Spurs (except when Green was shooting). It's a shame they couldn't have met in the finals!

[UrinalCake]

I've decided to root for the Heat. I've sort of gotten over the whole Decision thing. I mean we live in an age where athletes routinely break the law, abuse their spouses, take illegal substances, etc.; so in the grand scheme of things what LeBron did - making a spectacle of himself and embarrassing a city who should have pretty much figured out he wasn't staying anyways - doesn't seem like such a big deal. I'm still not crazy about how the big three colluded to get onto the same team, but what Boston did five years ago (stealing Garnett from Minnesota because Kevin McHale happened to be the GM there - wasn't really any better.

The Heat play great defense, which is very much overlooked, and having Shane providing the intangibles is icing on the cake. Would love to see him play a more active role on offense, but their role players really do know and accept their roles.

[Jderf]

I've decided to root for the Heat. I've sort of gotten over the whole Decision thing. I mean we live in an age where athletes routinely break the law, abuse their spouses, take illegal substances, etc.; so in the grand scheme of things what LeBron did - making a spectacle of himself and embarrassing a city who should have pretty much figured out he wasn't staying anyways - doesn't seem like such a big deal. I'm still not crazy about how the big three colluded to get onto the same team, but what Boston did five years ago (stealing Garnett from Minnesota because Kevin McHale happened to be the GM there - wasn't really any better.

The Heat play great defense, which is very much overlooked, and having Shane providing the intangibles is icing on the cake. Would love to see him play a more active role on offense, but their role players really do know and accept their roles.

Welcome to the club! It's not really that bad over here, although you might need to brush your teeth more often to get that strange taste out of your mouth.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

It was nice to see the announcers talking up Shane in the third quarter, and even better to hear one of the reporters ask Doc about Shane's play in the presser. Shane is clearly getting some well-deserved attention.

ESPN has a nice article on the lift Battier has given the Heat. Seeing him at the 4 just seems so right to me.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/mia...-in-game-1-win

[Starter]

This series against a Celtics team with its window rapidly closing tells us nothing about the Heat. With Rose injured, you see how weak the East was this year. I still feel like the Thunder and Heat are pretty evenly matched, and the Spurs are flat-out better.

[hq2]

This series against a Celtics team with its window rapidly closing tells us nothing about the Heat. With Rose injured, you see how weak the East was this year. I still feel like the Thunder and Heat are pretty evenly matched, and the Spurs are flat-out better.

Yeah, looking ahead (since I think we know how the East will likely turn out now) I don't see the Heat matching up with either team
unless Bosh comes back. If he does, it might be interesting. I'd say San Antonio's great ball movement (hats off to Popovich)
will give the Miami D more trouble than the OKC drive and shoot players. We'll see.

[DukieInBrasil]

Yeah, looking ahead (since I think we know how the East will likely turn out now) I don't see the Heat matching up with either team
unless Bosh comes back. If he does, it might be interesting. I'd say San Antonio's great ball movement (hats off to Popovich)
will give the Miami D more trouble than the OKC drive and shoot players. We'll see.

But is the Heat's D better with Shane on the court than with Bosh? I haven't watched the Heat much this year, but Bosh's absence doesn't seem to bother them at all since Shane is playing in his stead. It seems pretty apparent that the Heat are gonna make it to the Finals, and once there, they're gonna have to make their D take the air out of the Spurs/Thunder, cuz both those teams can really put up some points. If Lebron doesn't shy away from pressure situations this year, perhaps the Heat can really burn the Best of the West, but it might have to be the D that does it. In that vein, does Shane's presence vs. Bosh's absence increase their chances? Is this situation somewhat akin to what happened to Duke with Kyrie? Not that Bosh is as essential to the Heat as Kyrie was to Duke in 2011, but i think the analogy is good enough for comparison.

[luvdahops]

But is the Heat's D better with Shane on the court than with Bosh? I haven't watched the Heat much this year, but Bosh's absence doesn't seem to bother them at all since Shane is playing in his stead. It seems pretty apparent that the Heat are gonna make it to the Finals, and once there, they're gonna have to make their D take the air out of the Spurs/Thunder, cuz both those teams can really put up some points. If Lebron doesn't shy away from pressure situations this year, perhaps the Heat can really burn the Best of the West, but it might have to be the D that does it. In that vein, does Shane's presence vs. Bosh's absence increase their chances? Is this situation somewhat akin to what happened to Duke with Kyrie? Not that Bosh is as essential to the Heat as Kyrie was to Duke in 2011, but i think the analogy is good enough for comparison.

Shane is a better defender than Bosh, but Bosh is a much bigger offensive threat, so on balance, the Heat would be better off with Bosh. They would still be very good defensively, and much tougher to match up with offensively. I think Shane may still see a lot of court time even if Bosh does come back, and would expect a lineup of LeBron, Wade, Shane, Bosh and Anthony to be a prime option for Spoelstra at crunch time.

[Dukehky]

This OKC vs. SA series thus far is being officiated in a way that it looks like the league is desperate for the Spurs to get to the finals. OK can't get a call unless it is blatant. I just don't understand. Thunder/Heat is clearly the glamour series the league wants, make it happen Stern.

[moonpie23]

negative....the teacher is just schooling the student...