Amazing playoffs so far, been fun to watch.

My predictions..

Nuggets over Suns in 6
Warriors over Lakers in 7
Celtics over Sixers in 6
Knicks over Heat in 7

Thinking its gonna be a Celtics vs Warriors final

Yes it's been great so far, I’ve only watched full games of the lakers, plus highlights of others, it’s nice to see a bit defending taking place.

Lakers v Memphis, probably the only time I want to see Lakers win...

Lakers Vs Warriors is probably the one I watch most. And I am a Celtics man.

Yeah I think Lakers vs Warriors is the one most will be watching. Heat-Knicks should be a great series though, especially for those who like a bit of D.

I reckon Celtics v Sixers will be the most annoying one to be honest.

Lakers v Warriors will be superb entertainment.

I think Celtics get the Sixers in 5. Gentleman's sweep

Watching playoffs compared to regular season games is like watching 2 different comps.
Games so far have been great viewing, Kings Warriors had some cracking games.

Embiid likely out of game 1 and maybe even 2

*looks at latest result*

Really?

It's never easy.

Yeah that shocked me too. Harden is an MVP and I guess he can still do it every now and then.

Harden has taken the facilitator role with Embiid. Make him the main man again and he is still a 30 plus a night scorer

Celtics shot almost 59% and lost at home. It wasn't one of those 7/25 FG Tatum games either (14/25). They were 17/18 FT. Just turnovers?

Classic PJ Tucker: 37 minutes, 0 field goal attempts.

Tucker shut brown down big time after halftime.

"Harden has taken the facilitator role with Embiid. Make him the main man again and he is still a 30 plus a night scorer"

See I don't think he can do that anymore. I mean clearly he can on any given night, but he could just as easily go 3-18 in a couple of days. He's not at good at finishing at the rim through contact anymore which makes everything a lot harder. You can overplay his three and force him to try to take it inside more than in the past.

And the NBA has changed some rules which he relied on, and the refs aren't getting sucked into rewarding his sh*t any more either, Cram. (Thankfully.)

To me he’ll always be a pretty good player who knew how to milk the refs and the system to have a long and lucrative career, but he does NOT deserve to be in discussions about great players. Based on just looking at his stats, he looks like God’s gift; watching him play, no effing way!!!

Yep agreed Hoopie.

I agree he's not an all time great or anything, but I actually really like him. I think its because he's basically the best possible version of a rec league hack like me. Just wants the ball in his hands to shoot or make a cool pass off the dribble and jack threes and dont do much at the other end. And also is a little tubby.

You have to be a genuine numbskull to think harden is not a top 30 player and an all time great.

Top 30 all time

yeah i think top 30 is fair. He's probably got more red flags than others in that category though.

Hopefully this playoff run can turn that around.

Top 30 of all time? Yeah, nah. You're saying he deserves to be in the top 15-20 all-time guards? Based on what outstanding ability, or an all-round set of abilities?

Maybe cos I’ve been around a lot longer than you have.

Not top 30. Amazing scorer in his era though, sure.

Top 30 if you look at numbers perhaps, but there is definitely 30 guys im taking before Harden. Great individual talent none the less.

The Athletic had Harden at #33, FWIW.

He's 25th on the scoring list and likely to overtake a few before he's done. Dominique is 51st on their list. 26.6k points, good for 15th all-time. The Athletic have Barkley at #22. 23,000 points or so.

Gets especially subjective from about 25-30 onwards.

Maybe the argument against him is that if he's all about scoring, he needs to be higher up the scoring list. Karl is at #16 but with three Finals appearances and obviously well up the scoring list. Harden has one Finals appearance as a sixth man.

West is really interesting. It feels like anything could happen.

In the East, you should never count out "playoff Jimmy" but you'd think whoever wins Philly vs Boston ultimately plays the Finals

So many of the legends of the past decade still going. In their twilights, so enjoy- Lebron, Curry and Thompson, Harden, Durant, Paul (lets hope he gets back on court)

CP3 they have said will miss the next 2-3 games if I remember correctly? to be honest they wont last more than that anyway, Denver are too good!

Warriors V Lakers game one has lived up to the hype. Wild game with all the stars doing their things at various times but doing a lot of the negative things they tend to do too. I think the exception was AD who was just a monster at both ends and helped get the job done. This series is going to go the distance i think . I hope.

Looney with four 20 rebound games in the last six. And doing it today against AD as well. His athleticism reminds me a bit of Matt Knight.

Harden is not all about scoring. The e guy is also an all time great passer and playmaker.

Playoffs so much better than normal rounds, sides playing D.

It's like the playoffs is mainly about basketball, whereas everything before that is mainly about entertainment

My view for many years has been...

NBA regular season < NBL regular season

NBA playoffs > Pretty much any sport, any time of year

Yeah nah the NBA is the best league of any sport to watch at every stage in my opinion.

The Harden rollercoaster continued this morning. Another massive game after two duds.

Agreed LV, probably from the conference semis for me. Some of those early round matchups are sometimes too lopsided.

Agreed Hoopie, it's rare seeing an amazing 1st round series and when it happens, usually one of the teams isn't a real contender

Occasionally there's an exception (eg 2015 Clippers d Spurs). But yeah 2nd round onwards is awesome

This year's playoffs are fast becoming the best in years. Boston favourites for mine but has a wide open feel. Some of the greats hunting their 1st title (Paul, Harden) and some of the greats in their mid-late 30's and playing major roles (Curry, Paul, Lebron, Durant) and some genuine MVP level studs aiming for their first title (Jokic, Embiid) and of course, playoff Jimmy in full stride.

Watching an entire 48 minutes of a regular season NBA game in real time on TV is torturous.

The Sixers on the verge of a big upset thanks to hardens resurgence and Embiid being dominant

Good results today to keep their respective series alive.

Lakers might need to close it out next game.

Davis got concussion so if that is what happened that's a 7 day sideline mandatory thing. That pretty much guarantees a warriors to get it back to San Francisco and a win.

Lakers and Miami through, both play in teams.

Has any player won championship rings with 3 different clubs, which is still a possibility for LBJ? (Ignoring any who just went with a relocating team.)

4 have done it.
Robert Horry (7, first 2 with Rockets, then 3 with Lakers and finished with 2 with Spurs).
John Salley (4, first 2 with Pistons, then Bulls and Lakers).
LBJ himeslf (4, 2 with Heat, then Cavs and Lakers.
Danny Green (3, Spurs, Raptors and Lakers).

James just makes teams better, just a superb player in all fascists.

Fascists lol nice

My bad - I forgot he did it with Lakers already

Spelling never my strong point. Facet would have been better. ::)))))

Warriors have been fluffing around all year, so not sorry to see them put out of their misery for these playoffs. Not sure they can carry Poole and Klay at the same time. He might take it badly, but move Klay to the bench and blood someone else in his spot.

Agree, Isaac. I think we're seeing superteams take the early demise of higher seeds in the playoffs as evidence that they can lark through the regular season and then turn it on and still win championships. I don't know that last year's Warriors are evidence of that, they just weren't really healthy until the playoffs. The same if the Lakers happen to get it done this year. But I hope and expect that Denver will take down the Lakers, Boston or Philly will handle Miami, and we'll end up with teams that have spent all year looking like contenders in the finals.

Philly gone and with the trend on coaches, Doc might be expecting the boot. Unlikely, but it'd be great to see Butler dismantle Boston...

Agree, I'd love to see this Miami team make it - I don't see it happening, but Nuggets-Miami would be a fun series.

Celtics are now at just over even money to win it all and I'm holding a bet with promo odds of 100-1! Sexy.

Doc continues his extraordinary record in losing winning series positions, although to be fair Celtics are the better team.

Yeah the Sixers had to close that out in 6 when they had the chance. Doc has gotta be gone yeah?

I think Nuggets Vs Celtics is the most likely matchup by far. Would love to see Miami get over the Celtics but just can't see it happening.

Harden was pretty much as expected, a couple of match winning games surrounded by awful ones.

Doc Rivers has always been overrated

Even with that epic Boston team he had in 2008, they took 7 games to close out the 1st and 2nd rounds

In the 2nd round they played a Cavs team featuring Lebron and nobody, and it went down to the final minute of game 7.

He was unlucky with injuries in LA often derailing the Clippers post seasons, but overall his record isn't great considering the talent he's coached.

Embiid: "Me and James, we can't win alone. That's why basketball is played five-on-five. We need everybody to find ways to be better."

Even slightly out of context, was this seriously after a deciding game where "Me and James" combined for 8/29 FG, 9 turnovers and all of 24 points. Poor PJ Tucker had to take a few shots to cover for you, MVPiid!

Maxey and Harris weren't too horrible in the post-season as 3rd and 4th options. And it's not like Tucker is known for stats.

Harden and Embiid totally choked in that 3rd

There was a play where Embiid took one bounce over halfway, and passed backwards to Harden who was still in the backcourt. Turnover.

There was another play Harden drove into the middle of the key and passed to his left. Straight out of bounds. Didnt go within a metre of the closest 76ers teammate.

But, it's the job of the coach to have his players motivated and create structures that facilitate success. 3 years with Rivers and they havent got past the 2nd round. Despite having Embiid. And from memory, I don't think injuries have been a huge factor? I'd be finding a new coach.

Also it's concerning hearing those comments from Embiid.

He threw Simmons under the bus too (probably deservingly, but still).

Are we seeing a pattern of publicly blaming teammates? Not a good look.

Embiid: "Me and James, we can't win alone. That's why basketball is played five-on-five. We need everybody to find ways to be better."

Even slightly out of context, was this seriously after a deciding game where "Me and James" combined for 8/29 FG, 9 turnovers and all of 24 points. Poor PJ Tucker had to take a few shots to cover for you, MVPiid!

Embiid has been an underwhelming playoff performer across his entire career, especially compared to some of his contemporaries like Jokic and Tatum

He'll need to reverse that if he wants to be known as one of the all-time greats

Plus Doncic has put in some massive playoff performances too

I'm another who felt for years that Doc Rivers was overrated. Philly is a tough city to satisfy!

That Celtics bet now is a little less confident!

Lol, re your bet.

Miami coach doesn't get enough credit, been very good for a long time.

I don't think anyone saw Boston in a 3-0 hole v Miami before the series started! I'm gobsmacked.

Spoelstra amazing. Miami doing it without Herro, too. Adebayo as much chance as anyone of limiting Jokic, but that's not saying alot.

That Celtics bet now is a little less confident!

Lol, re your bet.

I don't think anyone saw Boston in a 3-0 hole v Miami before the series started! I'm gobsmacked.

Spoelstra amazing. Miami doing it without Herro, too. Adebayo as much chance as anyone of limiting Jokic, but that's not saying alot.

Could it be one-and-done for Mazzulla?

Making the conference finals is a good achievement but It feels like a failed season. Especially if they get swept. And after losing so many close games in these playoffs and getting pushed to 6 and 7 over first two rounds.

Oops, Giannis wouldn't like that language. "Failed season"!

Could it be one-and-done for Mazzulla?

The beauty about sport is the best team is the one the wins.

"We had a good team on paper. Unfortunately, the game was played on hardwood."

It has gotten really quite around here since 0-3 became 3-3 in the ECF. What an epic series.

quiet*

If Boston can in fact be the first of 150 teams to rally from 0-3 down, and then win the title, it'll continue the tradition of recent champions in odd years getting through by the skin of their teeth- 2019 Raptors after Kawhi's game 7 game winner vs Philly in the conference semis, and Milwaukee after the Overtime game 7 conference semi vs Brooklyn where Durant's toe was famously on the line, denying him the game winner and instead sending it to OT

If Boston can in fact be the first of 150 teams to rally from 0-3 down, and then win the title, it'll continue the tradition of recent champions in odd years getting through by the skin of their teeth- 2019 Raptors after Kawhi's game 7 game winner vs Philly in the conference semis, and Milwaukee after the Overtime game 7 conference semi vs Brooklyn where Durant's toe was famously on the line, denying him the game winner and instead sending it to OT

This is how rare it is:

Series record when trailing 3-0 in NBA/MLB/NHL history

NBA 0-150
MLB 1-39
NHL 4-201

The vast majority of those, though, are lopsided sweeps where one team never had any sort of a chance.

Narrowing it down to series that started 3-0 and then went to 3-1, you're going to get much, much smaller numbers.

No doubt.q

From here I think Boston is gonna roll the Heat. I just can't see the Heat coming back after basically being in the finals. Jimmy seems to have lost all of his mojo and his legs. Bam has had nothing going on. They've relied on bit parts like Martin playing out of his skin to even be in this.

Having said that, I think even if/when Celtics make the finals, the Nuggets are the clear favourites. Nuggets are just more consistent, have better top end talent and don't have nearly as many lapses. Celtics would definitely give them a fight though.

It's an interesting matchup if it happens.

Nuggets have been stellar throughout these playoffs and importantly, have been better closing tight games than Celtics.

Just have a feeling this might be the Celtics year though.

Don't really agree on the top-end talent comment. Murray was huge against the Lakers but won't be as effective against Derrick White, Marcus Smart etc. Jokic is the best player in the NBA but Tatum and Brown are pretty clearly #2 and #3 in this matchup in my view.

In a playoff game I want Murray over Brown and its not even close.

Nobody bothered about how buggered and beaten up Celtics will be, compared to the rested Nuggets?

If Celtics have to come from behind again and win the whole thing, it would have to be made into a movie.

Yep. The narrative regardless of who wins game 7 will be Rest Vs Rust. Whoever wins the east will be banged up but in a good rhythm. Might take the Nuggets a half or a game to get back into after over a week off.

Yeah, I think this could be an all-time run if Boston won it. 4-2 over the Hawks, came back from 2-3 to get the 76ers and now potentially an unprecedented recovery.

Even if they swept the Nuggets, it'd be up there as one of the top five longest playoff runs by games played under the modern format (going back to the 80s). That'd be 24 games; the record is the 2007/08 Celtics with 26 games.

Bit odd as they looked like favourites for most of the season.

Not even close? Big call Cram, especially when Brown's played more than twice the number of playoff games as Murray (104 vs 48) and was the Celtics best player in last year's Finals

Murray's had some big playoff games but let's see if he can do it in the Finals against elite defensive guards

Bit odd as they looked like favourites for most of the season.

scenario = environment

Yeah, whereas Nuggets have the stability of having Malone at the helm for many years

I like both teams- both have been built through drafting and then adding complimentary role players, and both teams should be contending for the next few years with the main pieces locked in.

Much preferable to the super teams.

Much preferable to the super teams.

Go the Heat

Spoelstra is a coaching king

Tough position for Boston, having to choose between grinding Tatum's ankle up and deferring to other options who might've been able to play with more intensity. Coach probably cops criticism either way. Brown wilted a bit, finishing with 8 turnovers including 3 in the fourth.

19 PPG ECF for Martin.

Finals thread here

Ok I was wrong - I really didn't thinkt he Heat had that in them. Caleb Martin making some money after these playoffs.

Also, Jaylen Brown 8-23 and 8 turnovers.