The Finals
- Thread starter Mr. S£im Citrus
- Start date
PurpleHaze
All-Star
Tweets are stubborn things - just ask Kawhi's sister. She made quite clear brother coming home to LA - and then just as quickly deleted. Agents always get the last word. The Inland Empire Emperor as sure as sun sets each day in the west returning to home turf. Only question what LA franchise the NBA mega-superstar selects.
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The shade... the SHADE of it all!
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
jeebus man, these Finals have been forgettable to say the least.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
Rooting for the Raptors, I thought Boogie was gonna get the rebound on the missed Steph 3 at the end. I honestly believe pre-injury Boogie would have with the hands that dude has. Hell, even just a relatively recovered Boogie probably would have. But he just has no lift right now. Feel bad for him.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
What a bummer. While I truly never wish these kinds of injuries on anyone (I tore the ACL and meniscus in my left knee playing b-ball back in 2007 so I know what it's like), the cynic in me always wonders why these types of injuries never happen to the players I really dislike (if they have to happen at all) .
However, they only seem to happen to key players on the teams I root for or what seems like really good people such as Klay. I'm actually not a Klay fan at all -- as something about him has always bothered me -- but I've never heard of him being a bad guy.
I hope he has a full and speedy recovery.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
How many other players have led 3 different teams to a title and won Finals MVP in the process? I think only Kareem, LeBron and now Kawhi have done it for two teams. I believe Kawhi could be the 1st to do it for three.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
I just want the Clips to do it fast so I can freely hate them as much as I hate the Lakers.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
VanVleet really stepped up. No doubt there. So did Lowry, especially early on when the Raptors really needed it to thwart all the energy and emotion from GSW in their home arena. And it helped that Drew Carey didn't sit Pascal Siakam for the last 9 minutes of the game again.
That said, I'll say this again -- it's not easy to step up under the bright lights, but it sure is a helluva whole lot easier when you've got Kawhi Leonard on your team.
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KingsFanSince85
All-Star
One last point on these Finals: I know it's inevitable that the focus will always be on the injuries to KD then Klay.
But fans/media need to remember and acknowledge that the Warriors have been the benefactor of key injuries more than a few times during their 'run'.
In 2015, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were both injured for the Finals, which the Warriors won in 6 games.
In 2017, Kawhi Leonard rolled his ankle in GM1 of the 2017 Conference Finals when they were leading by 23 then missed the rest of that series.
In 2018, Chris Paul missed GM's 6 and 7 of a series the Rockets led 3 games to 2 and had home court advantage.
Sometimes what goes around comes around. Things sometimes even out.
It could be argued that if not for those injuries, the Warriors might not have won the titles in each of those seasons. So if they truly got robbed of one this season due to the injuries (which I'm not convinced of) then Warriors homers should at least acknowledge that they've been on the plus side of it before and that this doesn't mean they should have 4 titles now.
Just saying.
But fans/media need to remember and acknowledge that the Warriors have been the benefactor of key injuries more than a few times during their 'run'.
In 2015, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were both injured for the Finals, which the Warriors won in 6 games.
In 2017, Kawhi Leonard rolled his ankle in GM1 of the 2017 Conference Finals when they were leading by 23 then missed the rest of that series.
In 2018, Chris Paul missed GM's 6 and 7 of a series the Rockets led 3 games to 2 and had home court advantage.
Sometimes what goes around comes around. Things sometimes even out.
It could be argued that if not for those injuries, the Warriors might not have won the titles in each of those seasons. So if they truly got robbed of one this season due to the injuries (which I'm not convinced of) then Warriors homers should at least acknowledge that they've been on the plus side of it before and that this doesn't mean they should have 4 titles now.
Just saying.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I wonder if it's a full tear because he certainly didn't seem that affected by it when it happened. Certainly had me fooled. With the Warriors it's strange because every year they seem to be the one team that makes it all the way fairly unharmed as you allude to in your other post, then all in one fell swoop they come crashing back down to earth. IMO if Paul doesn't go down last year they fall to the Rockets. The others I'm not sure it truly mattered.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
I think it was a combination of adrenaline and Klay being one tough SOB. I came away from this series with more respect for him than anything else.
PurpleHaze
All-Star
Kawhi Leonard is only player to ever lead NBA teams from both west and east conf's to NBA title plus take home both finals MVP.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
I didn't see the actual injury when it happened but someone told me he grabbed the front of his knee, but after watching it he went immediately to the back of it when it happened. I only saw him after it and he was being tough I guess although some people can go on about their day with an ACL. Heck, a lot of regular people get a knee brace and move on. DeJaun Blair had no ACL's and played. Every situation is different and if it's not a complete tear that would explain why his knee didn't look so unstable. Hopefully it's as positive a result with the tear as possible.
SLAB
Hall of Famer
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
I definitely believe the 2015 series was affected by the injuries to Love and Kyrie. That series went 6 games. The Cavs led 2 games to 1 and lost GM6 by 8 points. Without either of those guys playing in GM's 4, 5 or 6.
I'll grant you the San Antonio series since it ended up in a sweep. But I still believe a healthy Kawhi would have made a gigantic difference. I feel confident they hold on to win GM1 with that big lead and who knows where it goes after?
But leaving that one out, the Warriors won at least 2 titles under similar circumstances as what just happened to them.
So I'm not gonna listen to any Warriors fan cry for Argentina.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
I forgot that Milwaukee was in the West back then ....
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
In lieu of criminal punishment, Masai is gonna have to join the Wizards front office.
KingsFanSince85
All-Star
Can't really blame the officer for trying to do his job.
Good thing the Toronto Raptors won the NBA title because it's been a rough week otherwise for the city and now at least one of its employees.
kingsboi
Hall of Famer
Klay prior to this injury has been an Ironman, he is tough as nails and is very reliable and clutch. Max money player, easily.
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
I honestly didn’t realize it until that hamstring injury caused him to miss his first playoff injury ever. Then he came back the very next game and played like nothing happened.
The ability to grit out a torn ACL long enough to both nail free throws and get mad when the Warriors fouled to get him out of the game was just frosting on the cake.
Definitely a max player and wholly unique because years of playing with Steph has turned him into a billionaire’s Rip Hamilton
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
What else were they going to do? Send out a statement saying “haha eff those guys”?
SLAB
Hall of Famer
What role models they are.
Hoovtrain
All-Star
Is this because of the knee or because you don’t think he’s a true #1? Personally I’d max him out. Stud on both ends of the floor, but I get what you are saying.
