[NBA Playoffs] First round games open thread

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If Wolvereke could start doing something and not just stand around acting indecisive and lost it would be nice.
YMM - and obviously does - V, but I feel like he has. He's not scoring, but he's doing other things to help his team, and they seem to play better when he's out there.
 
YMM - and obviously does - V, but I feel like he has. He's not scoring, but he's doing other things to help his team, and they seem to play better when he's out there.

I'm not so sure they are playing better because of him though. That whole period when he was in with Cole it was Cole carrying the team. If Evans isn't going to exert pressure on the Warriors defense the Pelicans don't stand a chance at all. In other games Evans may not be scoring but he does get his team mates wide open shots. I've only counted two of his passes leading to such shots thus far - one of which was Gordon coming off screens (so Evans simply passed the ball, didn't have to do anything else), and the other was a quick pass out to Gordon at the 3 point line after AD gave him the ball off a double team. Again, right play, but not something that he created. His FTs continue to be horrendously short and he's just not doing enough as the second best player on the team. Same applies to Anderson who has just sucked completely since coming back.

Evans "leads" the team with -12... Cole +5 and AD +4. Seems about right to me.
 
I'm not so sure they are playing better because of him though. That whole period when he was in with Cole it was Cole carrying the team. If Evans isn't going to exert pressure on the Warriors defense the Pelicans don't stand a chance at all. In other games Evans may not be scoring but he does get his team mates wide open shots. I've only counted two of his passes leading to such shots thus far - one of which was Gordon coming off screens (so Evans simply passed the ball, didn't have to do anything else), and the other was a quick pass out to Gordon at the 3 point line after AD gave him the ball off a double team. Again, right play, but not something that he created. His FTs continue to be horrendously short and he's just not doing enough as the second best player on the team. Same applies to Anderson who has just sucked completely since coming back.

Evans "leads" the team with -12... Cole +5 and AD +4. Seems about right to me.
You're evaluating things according to the wrong criteria, though. His presence out there makes his teammates better. I mean, he's not scoring, and playing on one leg, and he's still being guarded by their best perimeter defender. Think about how many good looks Eric Gordon and Norris Cole have gotten, simply because they're not being guarded by Klay Thompson?
 
You're evaluating things according to the wrong criteria, though. His presence out there makes his teammates better. I mean, he's not scoring, and playing on one leg, and he's still being guarded by their best perimeter defender. Think about how many good looks Eric Gordon and Norris Cole have gotten, simply because they're not being guarded by Klay Thompson?

That has nothing to do with how he's playing this game here and now. By that logic Rudy Gay will never have a bad game - all he has to do is show up and stand in a corner and as long as the other team sticks their best defender on him it's all good because that frees up other guys for good looks. Ryan Anderson is still going to space the floor regardless if he shoots 1-10. Does that mean he's done his job and he's played well?
 
The other team doesn't always stick their best defender on Rudy Gay. And I don't know if you've noticed, but Draymond Green isn't guarding Ryan Anderson.
 
fun game to watch through out so far in this dubs pels game...ought to make for an interesting fourth quarter. Reke's offense just has not been there in this one but he's had numerous assists and doing other things
 
New Orleans has done a good job, for the most part, of containing Golden State's three-point barrage, so it'd be a damn shame for them to let that change now.
 
Jesus, that was a horrible defensive possession by New Orleans: committed two personal fouls, and gave up the three?!
 
Pelicans/Warriors looks like it's going to be more competitive than people thought. If they can get anything out of Holiday and Anderson, they should take Game 3.
 
I see that Wizards/Raptors is getting the NBA TV treatment: I wonder how many more ways Masai Ujiri can make an ass of himself?
 
Yeah, I'm sure that gets said about All-NBA level talents all the time.

It doesn't, which is why I don't quite love his game as an all nba player. It's impossible to argue with the numbers and he clearly impacts the game in a lot of positive ways. It just feels like I can watch a pelicans game and he never feels like a superstar to me. Maybe defensively but on offense, he isn't a guy you can count on to dump the ball into for a basket. He's also very young so maybe he develops those skills.

Again, not meant as a criticism. I just can't think of many HOF talents whose game felt like his.
 
I'm pretty sure that Davis either led the league or was Top 3 in clutch play, during the regular season, and Game 1 indicated to me that it was hardly a fluke. His numbers aren't just "impressive," they're all-time numbers. Not "all-time" in the same way that Cousins' numbers have been this season, but all-time nonetheless. The reason why you can't think of (m)any HOF talents whose game felt like his is because there's never been a guy who played like him.

Just like, much as it offends me, personally, the Warriors may be forcing old-school "power" guys like me to recalibrate their opinion of what a championship team is "supposed" to look like, Anthony Davis is going to force people to recalibrate their opinion of what a superstar is "supposed" to look like. You watch what I tell you.
 
I'm pretty sure that Davis either led the league or was Top 3 in clutch play, during the regular season, and Game 1 indicated to me that it was hardly a fluke. His numbers aren't just "impressive," they're all-time numbers. Not "all-time" in the same way that Cousins' numbers have been this season, but all-time nonetheless. The reason why you can't think of (m)any HOF talents whose game felt like his is because there's never been a guy who played like him.

Just like, much as it offends me, personally, the Warriors may be forcing old-school "power" guys like me to recalibrate their opinion of what a championship team is "supposed" to look like, Anthony Davis is going to force people to recalibrate their opinion of what a superstar is "supposed" to look like. You watch what I tell you.

They set damn good screens and their guys know how to use those screens. Something I've been waiting to see our Kings do for close to a decade.
 
just something about playing on the road in the playoffs that does it for Washington....7-1 road record in the last two playoff appearances...at home on the other hand is where the trouble may lie
 
just something about playing on the road in the playoffs that does it for Washington....7-1 road record in the last two playoff appearances...at home on the other hand is where the trouble may lie
I'm glad they are beating the Raps so far the problem with the Raptors is the only player that somewhat scares you is Lou Williams and he's not a guy thats hard to stop. I think the Raptors badly overrated how good JV and Ross could/would be and James Johnson like his entire career goes through stretches where he just sucks/doesn't play after being terrific at the start of the year.Raptors should go HARD after Paul Milsap this coming up year.

Also Josh Smith channeled his inner Andre Miller with like 5-6 lobs passes for dunks and Dwight showed up with a huge game.
 
I'm glad they are beating the Raps so far the problem with the Raptors is the only player that somewhat scares you is Lou Williams and he's not a guy thats hard to stop. I think the Raptors badly overrated how good JV and Ross could/would be and James Johnson like his entire career goes through stretches where he just sucks/doesn't play after being terrific at the start of the year.Raptors should go HARD after Paul Milsap this coming up year.

Also Josh Smith channeled his inner Andre Miller with like 5-6 lobs passes for dunks and Dwight showed up with a huge game.

the problem with Toronto is they have too many chuckers....Lowry, DeRozan, Williams and Ross all fit the bill of chucking. Even Vasquez has been shot jacking happy since he arrived up north. They have some nice pieces no doubt...but it goes to show you this is a superstar driven league and you can only get so far. Maybe the Hawks will prove us all wrong and show us that they can make a title run with no franchise player, but it doesn't happen too often. Toronto needs a few pieces traded.
 
So, it turns out that the answer to the question, "Who are the Hawks going to go to in the closing seconds of a close playoff game?" is "Whoever the hell is open."
 
this Blazers Grizzlies series is boring first two games in...let's see if Portland can make it interesting at home
 
Amazing how Deron Williams has gone from one of top 2-3 PGs in NBA not long ago to more like 15-20 if that. I recall when it was huge draft day debate ten years ago if Utah was going to take him or Chris Paul and we know what happened with Jazz taking Williams, very next pick New Orleans taking Paul. Deron Williams was MIA tonight costing Brooklyn game they could have stole if he would have played even half decent instead of 2 pts total on 1-7 and his last wide open 12 foot miss sealing defeat to Atlanta.
 
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Duncan's post play is still one of the best, if not the best in the NBA. Griffin has been very impressive as well.
 
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