NBA Playoffs 2018

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

If Justise wasn't one of my all time favorite Dukies I'm sure he would be my least favorite guy in the NBA. We clearly have different opinions on what he did and had done. Yes he does play tough and physical but he also has played dirty, cheap and used malicious seeming behavior at times.

[citation needed]

[ipatent]

[citation needed]

Stepping on an injured player's mask really isn't defensible.

[Eternal Outlaw]

The Blazers were really good this year... won 49 games in the very competitive West... so how are the Pelicans handling them with such ease? It really feels like New Orleans is a whole different team with Davis at C, not PF.

-Jason "bye Boogie -- does that mean New Orleans will have some workable cap room?" Evans

Their 13 game win streak was aided by a lot of good fortune. Also once the gloves are off in the playoffs and things get physical, having two under sized guards that run the engine is not a good thing.

Besides the 13 game win streak, they were 36-33 so a pretty average team overall besides one hot stretch. That stretch probably got them in the playoffs rather than the Nuggets as the West was so tight 3-9.

[miramar]

Stepping on an injured player's mask really isn't defensible.

Justise also picked it up and broke it some more. Fortunately, Embiid seems to have a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing:

“Justise stepped on it and tried to break it with his hands,” Embiid said. “But little do they know is that I have about 50 of them. So it’s going to take much more than that to get me out of the series.”

[Bluedog]

At Duke, Justise also had a few incidents where he was on the ground and basically tried to tangle up other players with his feet. There's a YouTube video montage of the plays with "Kung Fu Fighting" playing. Having said that, love me some Justice. But love is certainly in the eye of the beholder -- one can view it as him being a bad a** and somebody else views it as dirty.

[richardjackson199]

At Duke, Justise also had a few incidents where he was on the ground and basically tried to tangle up other players with his feet. There's a YouTube video montage of the plays with "Kung Fu Fighting" playing. Having said that, love me some Justise. But love is certainly in the eye of the beholder -- one can view it as him being a bad a** and somebody else views it as dirty.

Me too! That's why I prefaced it with, I could not be more biased. The game today was extremely physical and chippy. But Justise was helping Embiid up off the ground and vice versa. I think it's understood back and forth just part of the game. I can't say he's never taken it too far and crossed the line before.

[subzero02]

Towns needs some time in the weight room... he's getting bullied physically and psychologically.

[Furniture]

[citation needed]

Agreed. Gosh. Lots of unacceptable Justice disparagement in his comment there.

[Kedsy]

Agreed. Gosh. Lots of unacceptable Justice disparagement in his comment there.

Depends upon what lens you're wearing when you watch. As a Sixers fan, I have to say that I think Justise has crossed the line several times in this series. Though I admit if Justise was still playing for Duke I might feel differently.

[darthur]

The OKC/Jazz game has been electric. I think this has been my favorite series to watch so far.

As with Indiana, it's fun to watch great basketball from teams with limited star power.

[Trey21]

Some people's opinion on the Justise / Embiid thing takes the whole situation, not too mention basketball in general, maybe a bit too seriously.

Look I get there's unwritten rules in at any level in any sport, but given the context I found the thing to be both hilarious and an all time classic showcase of Justise's cool "I don't give a (insert ford word here)" zero chill competitiveness.
Given the context:
A) being the playoffs B) Embiid who is basically a 2018 hakeem shaking and Shaq meme making entertainer C) NBA over the last decade has really bought into the WWE-ness of players buying into the persona's and other narratives

Justise did'nt cross a line for me. This sheet is for the fans - some will like it, some will hate it. Naturally I'm a Justise fan, and knowing Joel he's probably giggling about it taking it in stride as he uses it as fuel to dominate. I could see why it'd upset a lot of college basketball, or frankly older hoop heads, who probably also complain about who NBA players don't care, or lack the fury competitiveness of the 80-90's, but in the contemporary NBA this stuff is just adds more TNT "we know drama" to the series. Both of them are balling out.

[JNort]

Some people's opinion on the Justise / Embiid thing takes the whole situation, not too mention basketball in general, maybe a bit too seriously.

Look I get there's unwritten rules in at any level in any sport, but given the context I found the thing to be both hilarious and an all time classic showcase of Justise's cool "I don't give a (insert ford word here)" zero chill competitiveness.
Given the context:
A) being the playoffs B) Embiid who is basically a 2018 hakeem shaking and Shaq meme making entertainer C) NBA over the last decade has really bought into the WWE-ness of players buying into the persona's and other narratives

Justise did'nt cross a line for me. This sheet is for the fans - some will like it, some will hate it. Naturally I'm a Justise fan, and knowing Joel he's probably giggling about it taking it in stride as he uses it as fuel to dominate. I could see why it'd upset a lot of college basketball, or frankly older hoop heads, who probably also complain about who NBA players don't care, or lack the fury competitiveness of the 80-90's, but in the contemporary NBA this stuff is just adds more TNT "we know drama" to the series. Both of them are balling out.

For me as long as you don't cross the line of intentionally trying to mess with somebodys health in a negative way then it's ok. Love him but Justise has on a couple of occasions crossed that line.

[WillJ]

FWIW, there was a trip in one of the games last night (Utah/OKC, IIRC) and while the announcers clearly called it a trip there was absolutely no response from anybody - players, coaches, referees, announcers - that this was anything other than a normal foul. And appropriately so. The focus on Grayson's misdemeanors was soooooo over the top. Sigh.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

For me as long as you don't cross the line of intentionally trying to mess with somebodys health in a negative way then it's ok. Love him but Justise has on a couple of occasions crossed that line.

Again, I would ask you for examples. Not trying to be a jerk, just genuinely surprised by this line of thinking.

[Troublemaker]

But the Pelicans D certainly had something to do with that, and the Pelicans O looked terrific. A bit scary from a Warriors fan perspective.

Ever since you guys added Durant to a 73-win team, the right of GSW fans to be concerned about an opponent has been revoked :-)

Concern about Curry's health is cool, though.

[JasonEvans]

Stepping on an injured player's mask really isn't defensible.

Why? It isn't something that will hurt the player like an overly hard foul or a push or a trip. It merely takes a player out of the game -- if only for the short amount of time it takes for the player to gt a new mask. What is dirty or mean about that? Heck, I think it is kinda funny.

I recall a game once where a player lost a shoe and an opponent tossed it pretty far into the crowd. The player who lost the shoe had to come out of the game while his shoe was retrieved from the fans, who did not want to give it up. I think that is hysterical.

Justise plays hard and uses his physicality to get an advantage wherever he can. Does he cross the line from hard to dirty some of the time, yeah, he probably does. But that makes him no different from Draymond, Laimbeer, Rodman, and a heck of a lot of other really, really successful players. I would draw the line at intentionally trying to hurt opposing players, which is what Zaza sometimes does, IMO.

-Jason "I think a good team wants/needs a guy like Justise on the roster... he's gonna be in the league a loooong time as testament to that" Evans

[Troublemaker]

Vegas has Pacers -1.0. But I'll take the Cavs to win game 4. It's really must-win for them. I just have to bet on Lebron to rally his guys around a must-win game in a first round series against Bogdanovic and Oladipo.

Yeah, I just don't know if they'll be in the rallying mood again for a third straight game. After the Game 1 embarrassment, Cleveland pounced on Indiana early in Game 2, taking a 15-pt lead after 1Q. But then Indiana began outplaying them and slowly chipped away at the lead the rest of the game and almost tied it; Oladipo missed a wide-open three for the tie at the end. Then, in Game 3, the Cavs once again came out hot, ready to take control of the series, and took the 17-pt lead at halftime, which they then blew in the 2nd half for the loss, as you noted. I don't think Cleveland has the chemistry (or maybe talent) to muster up a big effort at the beginning of the game again. The Cavs can win Game 4 but it'll have to be by role-reversal. I think the Pacers will come out hot and kick their butts for awhile, and we'll see if Cleveland has the mettle to come back on Indiana.

[COYS]

Ever since you guys added Durant to a 73-win team, the right of GSW fans to be concerned about an opponent has been revoked :-)

Concern about Curry's health is cool, though.

That Portland team has been a bad defensive team for a while until the second half of this season when they changed their defensive scheme to have all of their big guys drop deep into the paint on screens and McCollum and Dame (two defensively suspect guards) play ultra conservatively to prevent drives. The switch in strategy gave up a lot of open threes and jumpers, but prevented opposing teams from killing them on drives to the hoop. However, that scheme has serious weaknesses, especially as the skill level of opposing big men and guards increases. It worked in the regular season to an extent, but now that the postseason is here, Holiday, Davis, and company have been happily using the extra space to attack and, when Portland has readjusted to a more traditional scheme, they’ve been easily burning Portland’s suspect defenders one on one.

Golden State’s defensive scheme is completely different. I doubt that the Pelicans will be able to attack the Warriors as easily. With Iggy, Thompson, and Draymond, the Warriors have THREE guys who are all better than Portland’s best defender. With Curry out, the match-up is much more even than it would be, otherwise. But if I were a Warriors fan, I wouldn’t worry so much about the Pelicans offense destroying the Golden State defense like it has the Portland defense. They’re two entirely different beasts.

[darthur]

Ever since you guys added Durant to a 73-win team, the right of GSW fans to be concerned about an opponent has been revoked :-)

Concern about Curry's health is cool, though.

Well these aren't totally exclusive!

It sounds like Curry will be returning midway through Round 2 and if 2016 is any indication, he may not be his old self right away. So I'm unsure how much he will help this series.
The Warriors without Curry are a very good team, but hardly invincible. Also... I don't how it's possible to be a fan of any team and not worry about what's coming up.

[richardjackson199]

That Portland team has been a bad defensive team for a while until the second half of this season when they changed their defensive scheme to have all of their big guys drop deep into the paint on screens and McCollum and Dame (two defensively suspect guards) play ultra conservatively to prevent drives. The switch in strategy gave up a lot of open threes and jumpers, but prevented opposing teams from killing them on drives to the hoop. However, that scheme has serious weaknesses, especially as the skill level of opposing big men and guards increases. It worked in the regular season to an extent, but now that the postseason is here, Holiday, Davis, and company have been happily using the extra space to attack and, when Portland has readjusted to a more traditional scheme, they’ve been easily burning Portland’s suspect defenders one on one.

Golden State’s defensive scheme is completely different. I doubt that the Pelicans will be able to attack the Warriors as easily. With Iggy, Thompson, and Draymond, the Warriors have THREE guys who are all better than Portland’s best defender. With Curry out, the match-up is much more even than it would be, otherwise. But if I were a Warriors fan, I wouldn’t worry so much about the Pelicans offense destroying the Golden State defense like it has the Portland defense. They’re two entirely different beasts.

Excellent analysis, and I could not agree more. Durant is also an excellent defender, an underrated part of his game, which tends to start breaks. GSW will be fine.