NBA Playoffs Discussion

[pantherphan96]

3 hours ago, nctarheel0619 said:

Yeah, like he's bullying Biyambo.  I think they play Kanter and Adams.  To draw Thompson out on the wings, have Ibaka come off the bench.  

That lineup would get torched with Kanter having to cover the perimeter against Love and Frye.

[pantherphan96]

6 minutes ago, carolina-chuck2 said:

Where is Love?

Sat out the last two 4th quarters after tweaking his knee and ankle.

4 minutes ago, carolina-chuck2 said:

Adams can cover just about anyone. 

Whos saying Kanter is cover this or that guy. You don't know, I don't know. Billy Donovan does. He'll find a way. 

 

I trust him more than Lue.

I'll agree on that last point. What I'm saying is that the Warriors only have one big man shooting above 40% in Speights (41%) while Cleveland has Love (43%), Frye (58%!), and Jefferson (42%).

The Warriors biggest problem is the length of the Thunder contesting 3's from their guards and the fact that if they drive to the paint they have Adams/Kanter/Ibaka waiting at the rim. Cleveland can get 3's from guards like Kyrie and JR as well as from their bigs, and their guards can slash inside or get it to Lebron to bulldoze his way into the paint.

[HeatCheck]

I clearly think LBJ has to more aggressive tonight especial in situations where he has a mismatch in the post. But I will say that Cleveland had a lot of success two nights ago with LBJ being the facilitator of the high post. They scored on 4 straight plays, I believe, out of set where LBJ had the ball in the high post.

[HeatCheck]

There's Horns again with LBJ facilitating out of the high post. Hard to defend.

EDIT

That outlet pass by Love was perfect! He's shot is also falling tonight.

Looks like I'll be going to bed early tonight.

[pantherphan96]

Toronto's not winning in Cleveland. Doesn't matter what happens in game 6 really.

[Guest]

It is somewhat odd how bad the Raptors have been on the road against the Cavs. Granted the Cavs have been excellent at home, but I can't think of a so-called star duo having such struggles at crunch time away from home (?). It's "sad" to see the Raptors struggle like this because ideally I'd rather see them get to the finals than the Cavs... 

But if OKC get to the finals, I fancy them to beat the Cavs in five or six games. I don't see them being bullied or choking like the Raptors have. But ideally a seven game finals, nip and tuck, would be better from a neutral standpoint since it's a long off season. That said, hopefully OKC get the job done against the Warriors and hand LeBron another finals defeat.

[HeatCheck]

Thunder have been very sloppy but still somehow in it. I feel like they should be down more with the way they are playing.

[HeatCheck]

Green is so obnoxious. That's twice now he's stated down an opponent after making a play. 

[HeatCheck]

Not tonight. Very skilled player but he's not doing too much tonight besides staring down people.

[HeatCheck]

1 minute ago, carolina-chuck2 said:

You watching the same game im watching? He's the reason why GSW is in the game. 

Every minute. He's had nice run of play recently but he's not the reason. I'd point to Curry and Bogut personally.

[HeatCheck]

I think it's ironic you're complaining about Curry's sloppiness when that's what's been plaguing Green over the past couple of games, even tonight. I get what he brings to this team but he's not the first Warriors player I think of when it comes to their success tonight.

[pantherphan96]

If GS can win game 6 in OKC (a big IF considering how terribly they played in games 3 and 4) they will win the series. Simple as that. OKC needs to finish the job in game 6. If I had to bet on it, I would bet on OKC.

[nctarheel0619]

Dude, OKC shot like poo, didn't play well at all.  Their role players were almost nonexistent and they still only lost by 9.  

[HeatCheck]

I think OKC has a lot to be positive about last night. I'm not the biggest believer in "moral victories" but with how they played they have to be feeling confident heading home. I think if they had gotten blown out, the pressure on them coming back home would be heightened. Now I will say if they lose tomorrow, it'll be an interesting game 7. 

Personally, I think Thunder will feed off their crown and close it out Sunday. I think they've got to set the tone early, force turnovers, and run, run, run like they did in Game 4. Warriors didn't have their best game last night but you can't have them build momentum and force a close out game at The Oracle.