Official NBA '17-18 Season Thread

[Coronis]

The Raptors are really annoying me. I couldn't care less about their little win streak, but the only two games I actually wanted them to win this season were vs OKC (because Paul George) and at Cleveland (because we have their first rounder). Guess what, they lost both, despite a huge lead at half vs the Cavs too. Bunch of frauds.

Its ok they'll beat the Cavs when it matters. If the Cavs even make it to them.

 

[EL Kross]

Its ok they'll beat the Cavs when it matters. If the Cavs even make it to them.

^ I'll remember this.

 

[EL Kross]

Also, RIP to my man Zeke Upshaw. The kid was only 26 years old. Hearts and prayers out to his family and friends!

 

[Kanburi]

Great win against the Spurs last night without our Big Baller and my son, Brandon Ingram. Most shocking of all is obviously Tyler Anus Ennis coming up huge late in the 4th with a corner 3 followed by a pull up jumper at the elbow. Beating the Spurs is always nice, but even sweeter when we sweep them in a season series (for the first time in 20 years).

With Kyle Kuzma carrying the offense and Josh Hart making huge defensive plays (e.g. drawing a Rudy Gay charge on a drive), the future is looking niiiiice. Credit to scouting and management for finding these two gems, as well as to the Brooklyn Nets for giving us the 27th pick.

Kuzma has the length and mobility to become an above-average defender who can cause matchup nightmares offensively. At the very least, even if his defense doesn't improve, he can be a great scorer off the bench like Lou Will and Jamal Crawford (but better). If we can re-sign Randle, we absolutely have the potential to cause huge problems with Ingram, Randle, Kuzma, Paul George all capable of playing multiple positions and Lonzo leading us at point.

Heads up my Lakers brothers and sisters: the future, with or without Paul George, is looking great.

 

[Randombobman]

Pick your rule 34 mvp

 

[Kanburi]

Guys, you have to look up this Tristan Thompson cheating on Khloe stuff, it's legendary. Also check out her Instagram before they're gone.

 

[Del Rio]

Russ with a big middle finger tonight to the folks who accuse him of stat-padding. But nevertheless congrats to Russ for averaging a TD for a second straight season

 

[Kanburi]

First round is set:

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz

 

[Randombobman]

So do we get a new thread to make picks or just do it here?
Trying to decide who my rooting interests are. Spurs, Blazers, Thunder and Jazz all on my hate list out west.
I like the Wolves narrative but dislike Thibs and Wiggins.
Rockets and Warriors feels too bandwagon-y.
Guess I'm rooting for Davis and the Pals out west (buttfuck you Rondo)

Don't really care about the east besides loathing the Celts and Cavs. Lez go bucks or pacers i suppose. Sixers should be fun to watch as well but philly having too much good fortune in with other sports teams for them to win at NBA this year

 

[Stallion]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz

 

[Bruxa Baratuxa]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards - Raptors in 6
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks - Celtics in 6 because D-Fense
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat - Sixers in 6
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers - LeBron James in 6

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves - Rockets in 5 because Wolves D are trash
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs - Warriors in 6 because Kevin Fucking Durant
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans - Rip Citay in 6
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz - I REALLY don't know who gonna win, but I have to choose my destiny *Shao Kahn laughs. Unless OKC IMPLODES and loses a home game, Thunder in 7 games.

 

[Coronis]

Raptors in 4, Celtics in 7, Sixers in 5, LeBron in 5, Rockets in 4, Warriors in 5, Portland in 6, OKC in 7.

 

[Kina]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards - Raptors in 5
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks - Celtics in 6
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat - Idk why, i'm just felling this in 7 games
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers - Cavs in 4

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves - Beard in 4
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs - Warriors in 6
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans - Blazers in 6
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz - OKC in 7

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

Waiting for the legendary Derrick rose analysis

 

[gsninja]

Idk about you guys, but I'm happy with how the season turned out for the Lakers. Lots of injuries to their top guys and losses in really close games, but they reached 35 wins and we got to see massive improvement from core players like Ingram and Ball. Young team, bright future, fuck yeah.

 

[DerrickRose]

Waiting for the legendary Derrick rose analysis

Legendary?!?!? o_o

 

[Randombobman]

Guess that answers my question...

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz

 

[The Quasar]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz

 

[Bull Of Heaven]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz

 

[Del Rio]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards (Raptors in 5)
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks (Celtics in 7)
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat (Sixers in 6)
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers (Pacers in 7)

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves (Rockets in 6)
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs (Warriors in 6)
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans (Pelicans in 7)
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz - (Thunder in 7)

 

[trikx_insane]

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards in 6
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks in 6
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat in 7
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers in 5/6

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves in 5
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs in 5
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans in 6
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz in 6

going wit the top 4 for both conference; there's potential 'upset' in a few of these series but I'm confident that the top 4 in each conf will come out

 

[Vore Gidal]

https://www.nbabracketology.com/group/view/12747 smogon group for nba playoffs brackets, let's see who's got the knowledge

Eastern Conference
(1) Toronto Raptors vs. (8) Washington Wizards
(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Milwaukee Bucks
(3) Philadelphia 76ers vs. (6) Miami Heat
(4) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Indiana Pacers

Western Conference
(1) Houston Rockets vs. (8) Minnesota Timberwolves
(2) Golden State Warriors vs. (7) San Antonio Spurs
(3) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (6) New Orleans Pelicans
(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Utah Jazz

 

[DerrickRose]

*Sits in a fast food line impatiently* Whaddya mean you stop serving breakfast at 10:30? Oh, right... the NBA Playoffs...

The 2018 NBA playoffs have finally arrived! 2018 has been a season full of drama and storylines. It's a bit much to try to summarize, but I'll highlight ones that are relevant to this year's playoffs:

- Predicting Cleveland is a crapshoot mostly because they've been injured much of the season with the new team, and that same new team has hardly played many relevant Eastern playoff teams.

- So many injuries this year. Who comes back? Who will be 100%? Who won't be 100%? So many what-ifs to consider.

- Toronto has largely succeeded due to their bench, but during the playoffs, bench units shrink and starter minutes increase. Will this negatively affect Toronto? Since their playoff history is sketch, pay special attention to their first-round series. High-seeded East teams that don't have LeBron James for whatever reason tend to be frauds.

- I'm high on Houston, and the stats bear it; it's just hard to trust the likes of D'Antoni and isolation madness. It's not that Morey ball doesn't work and is untrustworthy; it's just that D'Antoni hasn't been the type to adapt or adjust in the times where what's been working all
season actually fails (see San Antonio versus Houston last year). Chris Paul should fix their 15-18-feet scoring woes, but what if he's injured? I want Houston to succeed, but they need other ways to score when Harden or Paul don't have it going; of course, they can prove me wrong and win the same way they're winning the regular season now, but there's just something troubling about the over-reliance on such a simple formula.

- The pace of the league has increased so much. Modern NBA is so spaced-out and small; Utah and Portland are just about the only playoff teams that play with traditional-style defensive schemes. Outside of them, everything else is pretty much about switching and helter-skelter.

- We have quite the 2017 rookie class entering their first post-season. Chances are, they're going to somewhat impress (or somewhat bomb). Three team's chances of winning in the postseason depending on their rookie play.

Overall, there's a lot of new blood, untested elites, and injuries/lost hype to the defending champs. At the very least, this year's playoffs is likely to be more entertaining than last year's ho-hum fest of watching Cleveland and Golden State continuously sweep their way to the finals. I swear if that happens again, screw this league, yo.

Eastern Conference

Hide

(1) Toronto Raptors versus (8) Washington Wizards

"Come out wearing jerseys of any lottery team and you will easily
sweep us." -MagyarFoci29 on Washington.

"You're playing the 2018 Wizards and Paul Pierce is wasting at a far away distance at ESPN while he bashes LeBron. No reason to be scared of this team." - Josh-Norman

"Kyle Lowry is the kid at basketball camps that has all of the best gear but can't dribble." - ChairyCweed

What. No, really. What.

That was the first thing in my mind when I first learned this series. Imagine playing the best regular season in your franchise's history by revamping your offense from mid-range shots to three-point shots or points in the paint, getting the number one seed, and then being rewarded with.... the Washington Wizards. This series really feels more like a second-round match-up than a first-round match-up.

As bad as Washington has been all year long with its drama, clutch performances, and inconsistency, they have a tendency to just bring an extra intensity to the playoffs. Then disappear again. Toronto has a history of always losing game one and reverting to DeRozan hero ball. Essentially, if I'm taking Toronto to win this, I have to believe they've improved enough to beat a top-form Washington team.

This series will test just how much Toronto improved since the 2015 sweep. The war of the best East backcourt will be at stake, and both Lowry and DeRozan must play defense and still remain offensively productive. Understandably, they have a bench and many wing players to
lean on, but Washington has plenty of talented offensive and defensive wings. Lowry and DeRozan simply will not be able to hide.

To talk more about Toronto's backcourt, DeRozan's having a career year with the offensive changes while Lowry has taken a dip hitting some career lows in key categories like field goal attempts and percentage as well as free-throw attempts. It was chalked up to adjusting early on but a revitalized Lowry would be a huge help in not getting stagnant.

I think another important question is Toronto's bench, and the question asked all season has been if Casey will keep their minutes the same, or decrease them for the starter's to get more playing time.

Can Toronto's bench outplay, heck, keep up with Washington's starters? If not, that puts even more pressure on Toronto's starting backcourt. The good news for Toronto is that historically, Washington's bench depth has been trash and they could potentially take advantage of that. Also, many of their bench wing players have been fantastic perimeter defenders. It's hard to say how well they'll play in the playoffs against top-notch guys like Wall and Beal. If Toronto's bench defends Washington like they've done other teams, Toronto should be in good shape.

Washington's best line-up is when they go small with Gortat/Morris at center and Oubre Jr. at power forward. Oubre Jr., Porter, Wall, and Beal are all athletic, long, and can be a pest on defense. Something about this particular line-up just might give Toronto fits simply because they enjoy having a three-guard line-up to close many games out during the regular season with Vleet, Lowry, and DeRozan. I'm not sure if that line-up will exactly cut it, but I can envision any combination of Siakam/Wright/OG affecting Washington offensively. You just have to wonder about space in the half-court in these situations. If Toronto can manage to go small and still defend, or go long on the perimeter and still score, they will win this series.

Can Washington's wings disrupt Toronto's improved passing and revert them back to DeRozan heroball? I'll say this, Toronto has plenty of line-up variations to cycle through, and Casey isn't known for being the smartest guy with adjustments. The thing is, I'm not sure if he really will need to. Even when Toronto resorts to isolation offense with DeRozan, they're insanely good at it (tied for second at 1.0 point per possession), and Washington is bottom ten in defending isolation. Playoffs are different of course, but it's a good sign that Toronto is less likely having the need invent the wheel in figuring out how to progress here.

I know I'm lacking in talking about the frontcourt battle here, but Gortat has generally been trending down over the years, and Valancianus has been trending up. Valancianus has actually been shooting threes at a decent clip. That can help Toronto score, but other than that, the bigs of both teams are largely succeeding or failing based on what the guards are doing.

I lean Toronto, but it does not feel good whatsoever. There remains plenty of questions about Lowry's performance during the regular season, the bench minutes and effectiveness, and if DeRozan's career year will actually carry over to the postseason. Believe me when I say I take Toronto more so for Washington's failures than Toronto's success.

Toronto wins if:

DeRozan reaches a new level of individual skill and manages to either keep his passing game the same, or his hero game is to a level of efficiency where it doesn't matter what Washington's wings do defensively. The bench absolutely murders Washington's lack of depth behind their starters and may even play up against the starters.

Washington wins if:

Their small line-up is too long, too athletic, and too talented. The defense of their long wings forces Toronto back into their old offensive habits. Washington's backcourt is still too much three years later, and Lowry's decline is now imminent.

Toronto in seven

(4) Cleveland Cavaliers versus (5) Indiana Pacers

"I learned last night that only Genghis Khan has conquered more of the East than one LeBron James." - Shannon Sharpe

"I heard Ty Lue will be interim coach in LeBron's absence" - LaMarc_Gasoldridge_

"When I heard Quinn Buckner would be introducing the Mayor of Indianapolis and I thought I had the afternoon off because from what I've been hearing there's a new mayor in town and his name is Victor Oladipo." - Mayor of Indianapolis

Indiana beat Cleveland 3-1 this regular season, but it was with a team which no longer exists. The current Cleveland team has very little relevant stats to go off of, and most of the year they had an injury to a key player.

It makes more sense to err on the side of LeBron in a first-round Eastern Conference series. You have to be a pretty near-elite team to close-out a team which utilizes LeBron + four shooters in crunch time. Indiana simply does not have the type of personnel to contain that,
and that is where I feel they fall short. Especially considering Bogdanovich is in one of Indiana's top line-ups. Cleveland will attack him all day, and if Indiana can't find a defensive use for him or hide him in some way, they have no hopes of outpacing Cleveland's top-tier offense.

Don't get me wrong, Indiana is okay defensively; I just don't think they can keep up with Cleveland offensively regardless of how bad defensively Cleveland has been all year. These are going to be very high-scoring affairs, and Cleveland has managed to beat plenty of
elite teams running up the score with LeBron. Plus, graphs show Indiana is more reliant on midrange scoring than threes; that's not a good sign for high-scoring affairs or trying to take advantage of the worst defense in the playoffs. You let Cleveland off the hook when you don't try to attack the paint. McMillan could change this, but he probably won't.

There's a huge benefit to having LeBron next to a five who can shoot threes prolifically. I understand Turner can as well, but Love has him beat in spot-ups. Now, what Turner can do is use his ability to defend space to make-up for that difference, but I don't think Turner is at
that level of defense in his career. Love is terrible at defending, but Cleveland at least is now surrounding him with guys who can cover more ground and create more deflections. If Love can score from the perimeter and get help, Cleveland should be fine.

I think the only concern Cleveland really has is having sustainable guard play outside of LeBron. Irving's void will certainly be felt since this will be the first time LeBron doesn't play with a second true perimeter scoring threat; however, I don't think it will be bad
enough for Indiana to seriously challenge this team.

If we were still talking about Cleveland's pre-trade team, I'd be considering the upset, but they got younger, quicker, and more versatile on the perimeter. So, I don't see much happening this series and I vote that it's the least interesting of the East.

If Indiana has any hope of winning this, they have to stun them early and make Cleveland re-adjust in the most extreme ways possible. This Cleveland team has had little time to gel thanks to injuries and being completely foreign to each other; stun them in Game 1 and Lue will already be on the ropes on what to do.

Cleveland wins if:

Indiana can't keep up with Cleveland's offense, their new young pieces can contain and bother Indiana's guards and frontcourt. Indiana can't contain LeBron when they go small, Oladipo is bothered by moderate traps and nobody else can step up

Indiana wins if:

Indiana gets the step early on with Cleveland and takes advantage of their lack of cohesion and chemistry defensively. Oladipo returns back to early season form, Bogdanovic shoots lights out, and Turner consistently opens the floor for Oladipo and Collison to drive while also somehow making big defensive plays against even Cleveland's best offensive line-ups.

Cleveland in five.

(3) Philadelphia 76ers versus (6) Miami Heat

"She denied me back then -- so why go with her again? I'm going to have to pass that and move on to the next one. Trust the process." -Joel Embiid.

Sixers' Joel Embiid on his 46P/15R/7A/7B effort: "I wish I could have had the quadruple-double with blocks. Shout out Hassan Whiteside."

"31 games in 3 years hopefully I get to see you regular season." -Hassan Whiteside

"Keep caring about stats and not your team success.... your +/- was ass." - Joel Embiid

Whoo boy.

This one's a doozy, and it could go in all sorts of directions. These teams contrast so much in style. The team collectivism of Miami's culture versus Philadelphia's more top-down talent roster. Miami's slow, grind-it-out-style versus Philadelphia's up-tempo pace. Philadelphia's top players lack playoff experience while Miami has guys who've been there and done that.

So, the biggest question mark of the series is probably Embiid's availability which we know he won't play in Game 1; but even if he was available, would he be effective? Miami is one of the best post-up defensive teams, and Whiteside has had his way with him more often
than not.

Philadelphia has actually been playing fairly well without Embiid albeit they are against non-playoff teams. Most of the improvement for Philadelphia in the last half of the season has been in the offense, but their defense has been very consistent. Embiid is probably the best
switching center in the league, and Covington is making a name for himself as a wing defender, and Simmons coming into his own as well defending multiple forwards and guards. He certainly demonstrates the tools.

But don't forget that most of these guys haven't played in a playoff game before. How much does it matter? Depends. Simmons has yet to develop a reliable jump shot and you bet Miami has the perfect plan to stifle their offense. Outside of Embiid who will be missing and Simmons in transition, nobody else on there can really create their own shot. What will Philadelphia do when Miami switches everything and builds that wall in the half-court? Johnson is one of the most respected veterans and defensive-minded players in the league who can execute a plan like nothing, Winslow is long, Richardson is quick and athletic... they have a ton of depth and options to stifle Philadelphia's offense.

Philadelphia mostly has spot-up scorers like... Redick, Bellenili, Ilyasova, etc. They thrive in up-tempo pace but in half-court, what are they able to do against one of the top defensive teams in the league?

Also, we can't forget about Dwayne Wade. He's old, but he's big when it counts, and Philadelphia don't have good defensive point-guards (Wade has the handle and agility of a guard). Throughout the season, Philadelphia has had trouble with the likes of players like Kemba, Wade, and other guards who have speed and off-the-dribble skills. They
usually put Covington on point guards since Simmons may not necessarily have the agility to follow these guys, but the fact remains that they have no one who can guard quick scorers. Wade is likely to flourish here.

Taking Philadelphia has a sizable risk with all of these known factors, and while Miami is known for their inconsistency, they are the type of team built for playoff play. The only intangible they don't have is home court advantage and talent, but with what I just described above, half the talent is injured and well, are rookies.

I favor Miami simply because I believe they have the roster, coach, and experience to beat Philadelphia, and I'm not keen on Simmons in his first series. It is totally possible for Simmons to prove me wrong of course, because LeBron and Magic still had magical first playoff runs which is why I see this as an extended series, and the last team that had talented rookies or sophomores stacked together? Oklahoma City, and they took the championship Los Angeles team to the brink of defeat. I truly understand why Philadelphia is the favorite among most people and I agree that they certainly deserve to be; just don’t be so quick to trust rookies in the playoffs just yet. Don’t underestimate the importance of figuring out playoff defenses and even outside of that, Miami has lowkey one of the best defensive ratings in the league anyway.

Philadelphia wins if:

Simmons is further along in skill than we once thought and still finds ways to score through Miami's switchy defense, Redick, Belinelli, and other secondary scorers on Philadelphia consistently hit shots, and Embiid returns making a big impact. Playoff rookie shakiness is
overrated. The team overall keeps their up-tempo pace and runs up the possessions per game average.

Miami wins if:

They wall off Simmons, keep them in the half-court, and grind out their wins. Their post defense of Embiid is too much, Wade comes up big, the playoff rookies have a hard time adjusting

Miami in six.

(2) Boston Celtics versus (7) Milwaukee Bucks

"Al Horford has the most NBA TV appearances of all active players." - Anonymous

"I was like, 'Let's see what this guy did in his career, anyway,'" Antetokounmpo recounts, and called up Kidd's bio on his phone. "I saw Rookie of the Year, NBA Championship, USA Olympic gold medal, second in asissts, fifth in made threes, blah, blah, blah. I was like, 'Jesus freaking Christ, how can I compete with that? I better zip it."

"I don't wanna be here." - Eric Beldsoe

Boston is hobbled.

It may not exactly look it, but they are. Without Irving or Smart, they essentially have no experienced point-guard. Without Hayward, they have no experienced wing-scorer. All they have is Al Horford, a talented rookie during the regular season, and some other young guys.
This simply does not sound like a recipe for playoff success, so I'm low on Boston.

Milwaukee is underachieving as well but trust me, this is tailor-made for them. If they can't beat a team with no reliable experienced point or go-to scorer... just tear it all down.

Milwaukee is known for their quickness and length as evident last year with Toronto, and the way Toronto finally go through the defense by having a third play-maker and scorer outside of their backcourt. Norman Powell was that guy who stepped up for them. Boston is
definitely going to have to have their young guys adjust to this style of defense and quickness. Problem is, without Kyrie, Smart, or Hayward, all they really have is Horford as far as who I'd trust to run a playoff efficient offense.

Throughout their regular season meetings, Irving and Smart accounted for an average of 33.6 points. That's plenty of points to try and compensate for when you know playoff defenses hone in on your weaknesses.

Speaking of defense, Giannis ran through this team on the opening night if I recall, but Horford came up big defensively the next game. Is that a plan you can run with for a seven-game series? Only Horford has anywhere near the chops to affect Giannis, and now in comparison to last year's team, you also have Jabari to worry about too. It's just concerning going into a series of not only having mostly youngsters, but they don't even have the best two players in the series. Yikes.

Middleton and Bledsoe didn't do too bad of a job, but this is the Boston defense we're talking about. Problem is, what good is a top-tier defense if you can't score? Your defense can only be as good as your talent, and from the looks of it, Milwaukee being as healthy as they are coming in has the talent edge on almost every position outside of the center.

I respect Brad Steven's coaching ability and believe him to be one of the best coaches in the league, but there comes a time where talent rises over coaching. Stevens' early Boston teams still lost to more talented rosters, and the only way I see Boston winning this is if Stevens completely out coaches Milwaukee... which is definitely doable since they fired their head coach; but if this was more recent, I'd be more wary of this fact.

Boston wins if:

Stevens figures out enough tricks and sorcery to get his offensively challenged group to score enough points to beat Milwaukee. This Boston defense becomes so great, so versatile, that they still manage to come out in these extremely low-scoring affairs. Giannis is either
inefficient or Horford makes life tough.

Milwaukee wins if:

Giannis ran amuck, Milwaukee's lengthy defense proves too much for Boston's wings, and nobody on Boston can create much scoring help despite their good defensive numbers.

Milwaukee in six

Western Conference

Hide

(1) Houston Rockets versus (8) Minnesota Timberwolves

James Harden on being teammates with Chris Paul: "I don't mean to sound too mushy or whatnot, but it was like love at first sight."

Dennis Scott: "... When you see the big guys switch on you the way they do" -- James Harden replies with, "Barbeque chicken."

Taj Gibson, Tom Thibodeau, Bulls have a 30-point lead.
Thibodeau: Get back!
Taj: I'm right here!
Thibodeau: Alright good!

Most lop-sided series to be honest.

I've watched all of the four regular season match-ups, and you couldn't find a more contrasting style of teams. This series will be a referendum on Thibodeau and D'Antoni as far as their philosophies to basketball. D'Antonio represents Morey's paint scoring, threes, and
free-throw philosophy whereas Thibodeau is still abiding by old-school principles of two-point shots, ICE defense, and grind-it-out post play by always having two bigs on the floor.

Houston's average scoring output for this team during the regular season indicates that Minnesota doesn't stand a chance with the way they're currently constructed. 1.31 points per possession with an average margin of victory over 10 points is not a good sign especially considering Houston wasn't healthy in all of those match-ups. Even if Butler somehow manages to individually limit Harden, you still have Chris Paul to worry about, and you can't roam off of any of these guys once they space the floor. Even still, this is not the end of Minnesota's problems heading into this series. They lack depth behind their starters who have been playing the highest minutes per game all season. There's a sizeable gap between them and any other team. If Houston simply runs the score up, Minnesota simply won't be able to
keep up.

Houston's gameplan is simple: attack their weak links defensively (In this case, Towns and Teague together), run up and down the floor to tire them out while using their superior depth to your advantage, and I can't conceptualize Houston losing more than one game in this
series. Minnesota has below-average isolation team defense, and that's Houston's biggest strength.

Thibodeau used to be known as a defensive specialist some time ago, but now ICE defense has simply been countered with three-point shots and isolation. Thibodeau has failed to find any sort of major adjustment to even stay in these games beyond pounding these guys in
the paint, and the problem you run into with that is that three is always greater than two. If Houston simply wins the three-point scoring battle, they will always win the game because Minnesota doesn't score enough three-pointers to offset such a mathematical advantage.

Can you imagine Minnesota limiting Houston 48 minutes four out of seven times against what is considered one of the most prolific three-point offenses in history?

I sure can't.

Only way Minnesota even puts up a fight in this series is if Wiggins plays out of his mind and Towns goes from a bad defender in space to Kevin Garnett overnight.

Houston wins if:
Harden or Paul, doesn't matter who, but one of them still manages to dominate in isolation. Their fours beat the ICE defense, Minnesota players are too fatigued over the regular season

Minnesota wins if:

Wiggins plays to his contract value, Butler has the best performance of all-time and Towns displays a performance worthy of Shaq, Thibodeau actually makes a defensive adjustment no one saw coming.

Houston in four.

(4) Oklahoma City Thunder versus (5) Utah Jazz

"He told me to go home. I mean, this is my home, so I guess it's time for him to go home. They won the game, and I give them a lot of credit, he did a lot of things, but the dude shot like 10/33, I wish I would have shot 33 times, I guess we would have had a better chance of
actually winning the game. But, you know, he told me to go home, and this is my home and I ain't going nowhere." - Embiid on Westbrook postgame exchange

“An athlete, playing his or her first season, as a member of a professional sports team,” - Donovan's hoodie

Most statisticians are putting this series at a practical dead heat. Regular season match-ups aren't offering us much, and there's a rookie involved.

I'll start off by saying this: Oklahoma City has a pretty inconsistent offense. That comes with the Westbrook guy I suppose, but what's even more alarming is that Carmelo is having what is considered to be his worst season ever in efficiency. Even George has gone on some strange shooting nights. The only consistent offense I can at least see is the chemistry between Adams and Westbrook running pick and roll.

With Abrines out with a concussion, I have to ponder about their spacing. Equally, Utah may have an issue with spacing as well but Rubio has steadily improved as a jump-shooter and well, Utah at least has a proven system. Whether this system is worthy in the playoffs is
a question I'd pose to Utah.

Oklahoma City is top in deflections thanks to George and Westbrook, and Donovan may not have exactly played against the toughest perimeter defenders every night throughout that sick run. Oklahoma City is the best defense in pick and roll ball handler, and that's one of Utah's most frequent plays. This series will essentially come down to which perimeter defends and scores better.

I will give the edge to Utah, though if only because they at least reached a level statistically that Oklahoma City has not even come close to all year. When Utah has Gobert in the center and Crowder at the four, they have a scary defensive rating of 88.6. There are questions for both teams, but I'm prone to believe a scheme that creates this kind of defense is the worst thing an inconsistent offense can run into. Oklahoma City ranks second in isolation frequency but is among the worst in scoring in it. To make matters worse, Utah is one of the best isolation team defenses. In order for Oklahoma City to win, they must run more non-isolation plays. I don't think they can successfully get Gobert out of the paint, so it may just come down to how well Westbrook and George can score outside the paint and in transition.

Honestly, my only real reservations about Utah are the starting backcourt's lack of playoff games and the talent difference. So, I'm banking on the idea that Oklahoma City's talent has not only been misused but that there have been so many changing parts that they don't
have a backup plan in case their talent isn't enough. Both teams will have shit spacing, but a team with shit spacing and a system is still less of a risk in my eyes.

Oklahoma City wins if:

Westbrook and George defensively are too much for the playoff rookie backcourt of Mitchel and Rubio. Talent beats system once again, and experience beats youth. Basically, this team wins on pure individual talent and isolations or they actually run an offense.

Utah wins if:

Donovan and Rubio are way ahead of their years, Gobert dominates the paint defensively, Oklahoma City can't quite find the spacing to turn their offense into something meaningful.

Utah in seven.

(3) Portland Trailblazers versus (6) New Orleans Pelicans

[Lillard on being compared to Kyrie as #1 guy] Bro I'm really gettin tired of y'all throwing my name around. Maybe you should check my track record. Over 500 and in the playoffs every yr

"If Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, and Tyreke Evans are all in a car who is driving?
-The Paramedic"- Dannyd3

Yet another team which seems to greatly contrast one another.

Offensively, New Orleans likes to run the score up and dominate inside. They don't make many threes, but they convert pretty well and play up-tempo. Davis is likely a large part of their schemes and assists as well as Holiday and Rondo. Portland, on the other hand, are
more about Lillard and McCollum making their shots. While Portland is more of an outside team, they still rank pretty well alongside New Orleans offensively despite them relying more on the outside. The plan offensively for these teams is the play in their tempo. Portland wants to slow it down a tad and have free throws and three-pointers (New Orlean's less than stellar rankings) beat out their twos.

There's a lot of numbers out there that show New Orleans adjusted well after the Cousins injury. In fact, defensively, they've improved their numbers by covering more ground. They made up for his loss in scoring through putting up more possessions on the board.

Defensively, both are the type of teams to play percentages over-relying on deflections. Nurkic has been a great big guarding the paint, but he is the guy who makes Portland's defense go. Portland's ability to slow the tempo is going to depend greatly on Nurkic's
effectiveness. He not only has to limit Anthony's efficiency on some level, but he has to rebound the ball over him. Also, what if New Orleans plays an athletic four? Where would Nurkic fall when New Orleans really puts their foot on the pedal?

Both teams have the top-down sort of roster. New Orleans may want to think about who will be their third consistent contributing player after Davis and Holiday. Playoff Rondo is a legend indeed, and he's always perfect for a team that doesn't necessarily rely on threes
after Chicago made their surprise last year. I couldn't tell you how consistent anybody else is on this team as well as anybody on Portland outside of McCollum and Lillard. Anybody who makes shots, rebounds, or make key pace-changing plays are potential x-factors. I'm talking
about guys like Turner, Nurkic, Moore, Rondo.

Who to favor in this series? I feel like each outcome has an equal chance of occurring, but I guess I'll slightly favor New Orleans because Portland's streak always felt a bit shoddy to me personally. Portland still has questionable defensive statistics beyond Nurkic just being a great rim guy, and Davis feels like the type of player to make him less effective.

Portland wins if:

Nurkic is productive on both sides of the floor and can manage to stay on the floor. McCollum and Lillard are humming by shooting their shots and getting to the line. Defensively, everybody slows the game down closer to around 100 or below. Davis may or may not be killing them, but perhaps the rest of the New Orleans team is far too inconsistent for it to matter because the can’t find the third guy behind Holiday and Davis

New Orleans wins if:

Nurkic can't give you anything on the defensive end. New Orleans is constantly running up and down the court and playoff Rondo is wreaking havoc on Portland's backcourt. Defensively, New Orleans is being extremely mobile contesting many shots around the perimeter and do it without fouling.

New Orleans in six.

(2) Golden State Warriors versus (7) San Antonio Spurs

"tfw you tank for the 2nd seed and still get the weaker side of the bracket." - Anonymous

Draymond Green on when people say "stick to sports" and not speak about politics. Draymond: "That’s funny because I see everyone thinks they can speak basketball."

Gregg Popovich, joking, on Steve Kerr's son, who is an intern in San Antonio: "We pat him down every day after work"

My major assumption going into this is that Kawhi will not play. Therefore, San Antonio will still mostly have a miserable offense that leaves much to be desired. Golden State even without Curry still maintains a pretty great defense.

The problem for San Antonio is that while their defense is great when it comes to defending three-pointers and paint points without fouling (the same formula used to stifle Houston last year even without Kawhi Leonard), that still leaves mid-range and isolation defense vulnerable. San Antonio gives up a shooting percentage of shots between 13-16 feet of 43% which ranks them 19th, so the vulnerability is enough that Golden State will be just fine offensively.

Aldridge has had a great year but it's problematic to have him as your first option. He struggled against him last year when Kawhi went down, and Golden State is a still pretty quick, switchy defense when they want to be. Only way Golden State would have trouble defending Aldridge being this familiar with him is in foul trouble, but limiting his efficiency will be the key to Golden State's defense.

I want to try to say San Antonio has other potential impact players but Golden State with Durant and Green are too good defensively for them to ever be a problem in a seven-game series. Either Popovich figures out some way for Aldridge to succeed against this team as a
first-option, or Golden State cruises.

Golden State wins if:

They have successful midrange and lean on Durant to orchestrate a decent offense, still maintain a great defense without Curry using Durant and Green. Aldridge has no one else helping him on offense.

San Antonio wins if:

Rudy Gay becomes a serious x-factor somehow, Aldridge is too much of a problem, Golden State's frontcourt has finally turned to shit, Kevin Durant fucks the offense up so bad that it's somehow more inefficient than San Antonio's

Golden State in five.

 

[Kanburi]

 

[trikx_insane]

just some thoughts:
-looking like a 4-5 game series between gsw vs spurs, not enough O on the spurs end to match GSW's scoring and no one can guard KD
-Raptor's bench look so good tonight! DeMar played well. Kyle pestered Wall/Beal defensively, despite his offensive inconsistency at times, his defense and hustle has always been there.
-pelicans looked good. jrue especially! his defense - deflections, keeping still, that block at the end! his offensive game has been steady good too.