@stephen:  "bummed for Rob to see GSW dethroned"

Thank You, Sir.  Yeah it's painful but as the saying goes "Live by the three, die by the three".  Curry, Thompson and Poole all got cold from distance and if that happens the Warriors cannot do much of ANYTHING.  Probably more reliant on hitting the three than any team in history.  Really makes you wonder what is going to happen personnel-wise from here.  Kevon Looney is an outstanding big man but he's a power forward, not a true center IMO.  I think the Warriors need an inside presence, someone to clog up the lane on defense and offset their over-reliance on the three-point shot.  Andrew Bogut is mostly forgotten but he was a huge presence on two of their championship teams.  All that being said, my hat is off to the Lakers and I grew up in L.A. rooting for them so now that the Warriors are out I will jump on their bandwagon.  And hats off to Darvin Ham who really got them playing like they hadn't in a long time, especially on the defensive end.

Wishing you best of luck today stephen, Sixers @ Celtics.  I wouldn't miss this one for the world.  And to think that we could possibly see another classic Lakers - Celtics matchup.  I think the Celtics will hold up their end of the deal.  I don't think the Lakers can take Denver out but as they say, "that's why they play the game."  That one will be a GREAT series!

Here's proof of what a CLASS act Steph Curry is:

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/steph-curry-gifts-lonnie-walker-014933017.html

Kind of nuts that the Lakers and Heat both get to the Conference Finals after clawing past the play-in. It's all about when you peak.

Celtics stomped Philly pretty thoroughly in the 3rd qtr yesterday. Taytum v Jimmy Buckets should be a good series, consolation for my Bucks bowing out early. I'm actually really curious to watch the Nuggets, I haven't watched them much. That series could really go either way.

Remember when KD, Kyrie, and Harden were considered a "Super Team"? KD barely made it onto the court with Phoenix, and Kyrie and Harden are both albatrosses. Harden is just such a hard player to watch for me. He's a great scorer when he's on but when he's not, he's like the old guy at the YMCA jacking up bricks and flopping for fouls.

@porkchopbob:  "Harden is just such a hard player to watch for me. He's a great scorer when he's on but when he's not, he's like the old guy at the YMCA jacking up bricks and flopping for fouls."

Stephen A. Smith this morning on ESPN:  "James Harden has the lowest 3 point percentage, 22%, in game 7 playoff games in NBA history (minimum 25 attempts)."

🤙all ups - disagree w/the Harden comments, he’s averaged a double double over the past few seasons & again this season w/21 ppg & 10.7 assists along w/5 triple doubles -

🏀he does a lot more than shoot threes - imho he’s a top guard in the league - the 10.7 assists were tops in the league this year

@stephen

Not saying he isn't a great scorer and player, but when he's bad he's useless. Lots of players have averaged double-doubles. Great stats but never won a big game.

@porkchopbob:  Good points.  Always great stats, MVP one year.  But no championships.  If fact to my knowledge James Harden has never played in a Conference Championship series.

Denver 132 L.A. Lakers 126.  Nikola Jokic:  34 points, 21 boards, 14 assists.  There have only been FOUR 30-20-10 playoff games in NBA history.  Jokic now has two of them.  The others?  Wilt Chamberlain did it once and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once.  I'm glad Joel Embiid got MVP, he was very deserving.  That being said, I used to say about Lebron that he deserved to be MVP every year, the only reason he isn't is that they can't give it to the same guy every year.  I'm starting to feel the same way about Jokic.  Honestly, we've never seen a center quite like this before.  And a lot of former NBA greats are saying it.  Kendrick Perkins on ESPN the other day:  "Some of the things he's doing are unprecedented, like a center acting as a point guard in the pick and roll.  He's the best player in the league.  Don't argue with me.  It's not even close."

🤙it’s different criteria - # of championships & player stats don’t correlate, they’re separate categories - Very few win championships or make conference finals -

xmpl, Jays/Jayl, Joel Embiid & Nikola, Luka, Harden, Booker, Kyrie, Trae Young….….

…..LeBron, Wilt, Oscar, Jerry West, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing…..

……would take any of em over Klay or Dray, Pippen or Rodman, James Worthy or Michael Cooper for my team, despite the lack of championships🏀🤙 

Posted by: @robslob

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@porkchopbob:  Good points.  Always great stats, MVP one year.  But no championships.  If fact to my knowledge James Harden has never played in a Conference Championship series.

Not since OKC went to the Finals when he was a baby on that KD/Westbrook squad. I don't hold no championships against Harden, but he can sink a team as well as he sinks buckets. Reportedly he didn't like Doc, maybe he threw the game. Rockets and Nets both couldn't wait to dump him.

I agree, Jokic probably should have gotten the MVP again. It's kind of like in the 90s when they couldn't give it to Jordan every year. Or those years when Steve Nash somehow won 2 MVPs just because everyone hated Kobe at the time (Kobe only has one MVP which is kind of nuts). Seemed like they were trying to figure who else they could pass it on to other than Joker.

@stephen I have a hard time reading you shorthand, but are you saying you would take Trae Young over Dennis Rodman or Klay Thompson? Scoring during the regular season when 50% of the teams you play suck doesn't impress me. Good defenders like Pippen and Rodman don't show up in the box score, but they win games.

Also, LeBron has 4 championships, Wilt has 2, West has 1 (maybe you meant Elgin Baylor?). They don't "lack" championships (and all of them made it to the finals multiple times), why are you lumping them in with Reggie and Ewing? Makes no sense.

Posted by: @stephen

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Posted by: @stephen

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in the blowout 5th game, WILT - 29 points 36 reb, 13 assists - that on top of an unofficial quadruple double in the first game - 24/32/13, and 12 blocks

just awesome to see these #s actually be approached -

a player like Nikola Jokic comes along Very Rarely - as has been mentioned, one special special player, whether Den wins title or not -

yep he was unstoppable last nite - it looks like he could beat teams singlehanded 

Awesome that fans of today can see in Jokic, a glimpse of what older fans saw in Wilt

-

Mayb BambaBam will hap-pan

dont get your hopes up tho😮

we got this boys, ya their 6 is squat compared to ours🏀

Same likewise PCBob - it’s a different kettle of fish - don’t quite read-well your take of the topic either

….imho

if Nuggets don’t win

the inevitable comments that would follow from many quarters

”….he’s not a championship player
”….stats are great but what did they do for the team

”…now we see why Nikola has never won a championship, he vanished when it counted…”

….etc

these comments would be one thing only, complete BS

Dont know if that has anything to do w/the topic or not 

wonder if Bucks will hire Doc Rivers

Posted by: @stephen

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if Nuggets don’t win

the inevitable comments that would follow from many quarters

”….he’s not a championship player
”….stats are great but what did they do for the team

”…now we see why Nikola has never won a championship, he vanished when it counted…”

….etc

these comments would be one thing only, complete BS

I disagree, Jokic is given a little more grace since this is his 2nd conference finals appearance in 3 years and having done it with less talent in a smaller market. He's also only 28 years old. I've heard nothing but praise for what he's done, if anything that he's underrated.

Harden has been disappearing from big games for years and been chased out of Houston and Brooklyn (and probably Philly soon too). He scored 9 and 13 points in 2 close out games Philly lost. He's good until he isn't.

You’re all over the map today bro🤙 - mentioned Reggie, Ewing those others thinking at the time the subject was great players who’d never won titles & should they be judged primarily on that instead of what they did

Stockton/Malone an xmpl of my view of the topic - yes they never won a title - &, like Miller, Patrick E & a good many others, they were both (imo) championship-level players 1st & 4most

Blaming Harden for his team not winning titles & a nobody if he isn’t on

….this I disagree with - he has 78 career triple doubles for pete’s sake - he passes off if he’s not going good 

…..all I know is let’s go Celts - 

“we’ll win our 1st title in 15 years in an epic Celtics-Lakers final”🏀

JayTa, Jayson Tatum, this year became the 1st Celtic ever to have a 30 ppg average

Posted by: @stephen

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You’re all over the map today bro🤙 - mentioned Reggie, Ewing those others thinking at the time the subject was great players who’d never won titles & should they be judged primarily on that instead of what they did

Ha, nope, I think you're confused. You referenced (and I quote) "…..LeBron, Wilt, Oscar, Jerry West, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing…." as guys "lacking" titles. I asked what you were smoking, because 4 of those players won titles. Maybe re-read what you write.

Reggie and Ewing made it to the Finals. Stockton and Malone made it to the finals twice, they were all top tier Dream Teamers. I specifically wrote "I don't hold no championships against Harden". But Harden can't even win a playoff series, he disappears. It's about at least trying to win and he brings down every team he's been on. If Harden was on the Celtics they wouldn't be playing right now.

Their postseason records they would cringe at - but yes, Oscar & Jerry each won one title, & Wilt 2 -

many fans may recall this, their lack of titles in citing why Harden, Kyrie, Luka etc etc are, also why Oscar, Bob Pettit, Wilt etc were good players, sure, but on mediocre teams - “Wilt only won two titles, what’s so great about that” blah blah

not me - 

(2022) -

we simply can’t blow leads like we did on Sunday - 98-85 w/about 3:30 left

if Jimmy’s 3 had hit, well….

we were awesome otherwise - same Jimmy Butler, tremendous series for him

(2023) - it was 7 tough games w/them last year, no reason any different now - yep if that 3 had hit they might well have advanced

Pat Riley is still there, amazing - they’re just great - but they gottabe ready for us, not vice versa - give em the green, Celts

This post was modified 2 years ago 6 times by Stephen

 

We’re not pissing & moaning, they beat us fair & square in Boston, twice

Miami has been clutch in crunch time but I still think we can beat them - the visiting team won 5 of the 7 games last year

lets go Celts

@stephen:  Wishing you the very best tonight Stephen.  I suspect Celts will savage one win out of this..........hopefully they have THAT much pride.  But winning the series down 0-3........nearly impossible.  Teams down 0-3 in the playoffs are 0-149.

I have to think that the Celtics are going to look back and really regret firing Ime Udoka over "an inappropriate relationship with a female employee".  It was a consensual relationship.........is consensual sex something to get all up in arms about??  People have done MUCH worse, haven't they?  The Houston Rockets at least think so.  Udoka seemed like a bulldog of a Coach, always had his team ready, and under him they were one game away from winning it all.  I do NOT see that from Joe Mazzoula, and he's admitted that himself.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-wont-start-winning-until-163500482.html

Fully agreed on coach U Rob - was just plain wrong to fire him b/c he went out/consummated with a fellow Celtic employee - 

do think tho that coach M beat up on himself too much after Sundays game

our 2nd half Sunday was the pits - our guys know what it takes to win key games & we didn’t play w/the effort or intensity to do that Sunday - THEY have to bring that, not the coach

Miami has been far the better team - they’re a darn good, hard nosed, hi-IQ ballclub w/ a good collective sense of things - mayb we can grab one down there tonite

Celts have been awesome this year, now it’s chinks-in-our-mor time - said armor, Green in color

am sure you’d like to see the Warriors stay intact, age & all - Bruins fans feel the same way about our guys

One More Year Please

lets go Celts

Just an outrageous play by Derrick White - that quick heads-up first step on his beeline to the hoop bought him just the fraction of a second he needed for his putback-for-the-ages -

it was a real thing of athletic beauty to top off a game we deserved to win

Malcolm is ‘questionable’ for tmrw - likely a GTD (game time decision)

someone once said, “everything’s green”

that must apply tmrw 

Posted by: @stephen

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Miami has been clutch in crunch time but I still think we can beat them - the visiting team won 5 of the 7 games last year

lets go Celts

same thing this year, the visiting team has won 4 of the 6 games

it could repeat itself - Heat Have been clutch - they’re good enough to make it 5 of 7 again 

it’s going 4 of 7 once again this year in the series - that aspect of it is indeed repeating itself

but # of wins for visitors? - that imo changes to reflect series score, from 5 of 7 last year, to 4 outta 7 this year -

if the crowd is at its loudest we’ll be at our best 

but thought that in the 1982 game 7 div finals w/Phila too

took days to clean off the parquet after we **** the bed that day (the halfhearted “beat LA” chant at the end)

….so we’re humble - Miami won the 1st 3, we won the next 3, it’s no big - 6 of 1, half-doz of the other -

All 6/All Green/All The Time, let’s go boys

@stephen:  I would think you would have erected an altar in your bedroom to Derrick White right about now

The play of the year, & along the way it extended our season - right there in Malcolm Brown/Havlicek Stole The Ball/Bobby’s goal in 1970/Fisk waving the ball fair in 1975 lore…..

there’s precedence for 0-3 - good & bad, across sports lines so to speak

there’s 2004 on the diamond of course

& 2010 on the sheet - the worst moment in TD Gahdn history - had hated Flyiz 3-0, Didn’t Get Complacent 

….but they still tied it 3-3 w/3 in a row of their own > we led 3-0 in the 7th game - & they got 4 unansid…..

so we’ve been there, both sides of it -

obviously they’ll want the ball in Jimmy’s hands tonight

…we’ll be looking for Jays, if he heats up I like our chances, especially w/Brogdon due back

but sliced any which-way - we got two first-year coach M’s here in Boston, & they’re coach-of-the-year candidates for a reason - both squads were on top of it almost wire to wire - both coaches came in in less-than ideal circumstances & did fantastic - a record-smashing 135-point campaign for Broonz🏒

there’s quite a bit of tension right now - 7th game, what can be better🏀 - no point ‘prognosticating’/handicapping etc, these teams are too evenly-matched  

@stephen:  My condolences.  My hat is off to the Heat because they took 3 out of 4 in Boston which is QUITE impressive.  Yeah, Tatum hurt his ankle early in the game.  Brogdon was out too.  But the Heat were missing Tyler Herro, a 20 point/game guy, for the entire series and also Victor Oladipo.  Miami's undrafted players, especially Caleb Martin, came up HUGE.  Don't think they can handle Denver though.  Nuggets in six.

@robslob Pretty amazing run the Heat are on. I always say, it's all about when you peak, and the Heat are flaming hot cheetos right now.

Pretty amazing near come-back by the Celtics, until it wasn't. At some point you got to drive to the hoop if jacking up bricks from downtown isn't working.

I always kind of enjoy watching the home crowd get deflated in games I have no horse in. Heat not only destroyed the C's in game 7 at home, they got the Bob Cousy and the Larry Bird trophy. Ouch.

I'm kind of pulling for the Nuggets to win their first title (they are the last ABA team to make it to an NBA Finals), but I wouldn't count out Jimmy Butler in any series.

Per ESPN yesterday morning, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is finished reviewing the latest Ja Morant incident and decided on a punishment.  But it won't be announced until after the Finals.  Since Silver has decided to wait, I suspect this is going to be REALLY big.  As in possibly a suspension for the entire 2023-24 season.  And IMO it SHOULD be severe.  Apparently Morant didn't grasp the seriousness of this the first time.

🤙🏀Hey Rob, yeah we looked so bland/ordinary in the 7th game - the visiting team ruled last year’s series too - we’ve had a good # of game 7 losses in Boston in recent years -

we were great this year (57-25), & despite the predictability & lack of offensive diversity, this is a great team & should be kept intact

yeah Heat hit their 3s last nite - that’s the only way they can win the series - they’re very good 

🏀🎵

……other teams got tandems/1-2 punches/‘big 3s’ etc

🎶🏀

Celts Got Jays/Jayl -

Green Glory, 7th-Game Stinkout & All

Denver’s 3-1 lead looks safer than Bruins was, even w/our record 135 points 

Nuggets look unstoppable - Aaron Gordon, his best game of season - Nikola J, Jamal Murray, efficient double doubles - K. Caldwell Pope, the clutch 3 that sealed it -

just a good thing Heat didn’t play their own 7-0 C named Nikola Jokic (Jovic)

Yurtseven?

totally can’t see this going back to Miami - mile-high ups to Nugs

& yep - Panthiz still in it - did Lord Stanley ever smile on Sunrise Fla Or What - LVGK lead 2-1

I wonder what the ratings/views have been like for this Final and the NBA in general as a whole.

Yeah it’ll be hard to say - but Denver is a deserving winner - Mr. Jokic is the best there’s been in decades & his teammates knew what to do 

is Nikola among the best big men ever? he had 6 on his jersey, Russ almost certainly would’ve replied yes, just as Kareem has

recall being on the Nuggets bandwagon here on the boards - when they had Melo AI & KMart I thought, now that is a NUcleus - they made out awesome in the AI & Melo trades & were really good & fun to root for - then the same ol in sports - Nugs & George Karl parted ways after their best season ever, 57 wins

Yeah somewhere Doug Moe & David Thompson are smiling - last of the original 4 ABA teams to win a title

hockey team last year, now hoop team this year - their bball team beat Sox last night😠🤙

Really glad that Nikola Jokic got his title.  The best player in the NBA and an awesome human being as well.  He will always shift the conversation away from himself.  And that call on Aaron Gordon late in the game last night for a "foul" on Jimmy Butler had to be just about the worst call I can ever remember seeing.  It would have been one thing if they missed it in real time.  But they reviewed in on the monitor and STILL missed it!  How does a defender stand straight up in front of the shooter, never touch him, get kicked in the groin by the shooter, and then get called for a foul???  And it was a huge momentum shifter, it took Denver's four point lead down to one because Butler made all three free throws.  But Denver overcame it.  Caldwell-Pope and Brown sinking two free throws each with the game on the line was HUGE.