2023 NBA Playoffs

As much as I have never cared for Lebron James, I have to give him some credit in that he is willing to let Reaves handle the ball and create his own offense. Still, I have to lean Nuggets here, but I don't think the Lakers winning is a huge loss for us if Reaves continues to get big minutes and plays well. In the east, I think the Heat have a pretty good chance to take down Boston, who inexplicably pulled Pritchard from the rotation. Any time that guy sees the floor lately he lights it up. Definitely needs to get a chance to start somewhere or at least become a 2nd rotation guy.
 
jimmyjerapolo said:
As much as I have never cared for Lebron James, I have to give him some credit in that he is willing to let Reaves handle the ball and create his own offense. Still, I have to lean Nuggets here, but I don't think the Lakers winning is a huge loss for us if Reaves continues to get big minutes and plays well. In the east, I think the Heat have a pretty good chance to take down Boston, who inexplicably pulled Pritchard from the rotation. Any time that guy sees the floor lately he lights it up. Definitely needs to get a chance to start somewhere or at least become a 2nd rotation guy.
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Pritchard publicly asked for more playing time at the end of last season going into the final year of his contract. The Celtics have a full rotation, so I can sort of understand why they'd relegate him out of playing time rather than keeping him as a 7th-8th man, where the only upshot is renewing his contract for more money. Unfortunately for Pritchard, this year on the bench is really going to damage his prospects going forward.

As for LeBron: two years ago, the Lakers were completely "maxed out" cap-wise and brought in like 8 undrafted free agent rookies to try out for their bench, with plenty of spots to be had. LeBron had vibed well with Alex Caruso, but he played his way into a competitive bidding war and was signed away by Chicago. I firmly believe that LeBron has "handlers" who do not want him to play without one token white teammate. The Lakers signed Austin Reaves and Mac McClung two years ago. Even though they play different positions, they were trying out for "one spot" on the team (the token white guy). In a fair world, both would have been kept and blossomed; however, Reaves got the nod for whatever reason, and in two years has ascended from the 8th man to the 2nd or 3rd man on the team. While the Lakers "need" to resign him, he's earned himself such a raise (like Caruso before him) that LA may be trying out a few more undrafted whities this summer to replace him.

** Yes, unlike Steph Curry, I believe LeBron's "handlers" do not want him on an all-black team for future political/marketing purposes.
 
The 76ers fired Doc Rivers today. Nobody deserved it more than Rivers.
 
The Nuggets are up by 18 at halftime. So Antohny Davis(Future Hall of Famer) guranteed that Jokic wouldn't put up big numbers
against him. So let's see how that has went so far in the first half of game one of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The REAL MVP Nikola Jokic had 19 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 blocks. Yes this is in the first half.

We all know no one in the NBA can touch Jokics Talent! He got robbed of the MVP. As long as he gets a championship I will
live with it. Any basketball fan on earth can see the truth. He is unstoppable.
 
Denver needs to hold onto their tenuous lead for the last few minutes. Lakers mounting a comeback, while Denver chucks up threes and missing.

Edit: 3 minutes and change and Denver saw their lead drop from around 15-13 down to a measly three. Jokic needs to turn on the offense down the stretch here.
 

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Nikola Jokic Makes History & Leads Nuggets Game 1 W! #PLAYOFFMODE



NBA
 
Jokic finishes with a monster line of 34-21-14, 3/3 from three, 7/8 free throws, 2 blocks.

For the Lakers, Austin Reaves led the team in minutes (42) and put up an impressive line of 23-2-8 while committing zero turnovers. He is far and away the third-best player on a team with two perennial all-stars. Reaves will get some very big offers in free agency: the Lakers are "allowed" to offer him 4 yrs/$50 million, but they can match other offers, which *should* tack another $20-30 million onto that. LA may have to let him walk at such a price, but luckily for them, there will always be a handful of overlooked white guys for them to pluck off the waiver wire for free.

Christian Braun didn't score tonight for Denver - he was the only other white guy to play tonight. I didn't watch the game, but he got killed in the +/- category during his shifts. He should bounce back, but isn't likely to expand on his thin role in these playoffs. I wish there were a few more white role players filling out these teams rather than the mediocre black no-names in both teams' rotations.
 
The Miami Heat take a 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conf. Finals on the road in Boston. Very impressive win where they will both up and down
by double digits in a back & forth game. Good to see them come out with a road win. If somehow they could win game 2 in Boston
I would say the series might be over with games 3 & 4 back at home in Miami. Probably won't happen but we will take the split at the
worst case scenario.

Max Strus has 15 points with aging veteran Kevin Love with 8 points.
 
Denver vs Miami final is within reach. Best outcome in years for NBA Finals!
 
The Denver Nuggets held up at home in another close game with the Lakers. They now lead the Western Conf. Finals 2 games to 0
with the series now headed back to LA for games 3 & 4. Win 1 of the next 2 on the road and I will really like their chances to make it
to the NBA Championship. The Nuggets have never won a championship so this would mean so much to the fans of Colorado.

Nikola Jokic was spectacular putting up his 5th triple double of the playoffs. He was very unselfish tonight and preferred to let his
teammates get more involved. Not many superstars let along MVP's will sacrifice their stats for the sake of the team. What a leader he is!

Nikola Jokic 23 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals. Yes he is alot more athletic than they give him credit for. Coach's, Scouts and
Players across the NBA rave about how he can lead a fast break coast to coast. It's rare to see a big tower of a man so fast and also with
a great sense of balance and coordination. Jokic is One of a Kind and he is the REAL MVP! :campeon:
 
white lightning said:
The Denver Nuggets held up at home in another close game with the Lakers. They now lead the Western Conf. Finals 2 games to 0
with the series now headed back to LA for games 3 & 4. Win 1 of the next 2 on the road and I will really like their chances to make it
to the NBA Championship. The Nuggets have never won a championship so this would mean so much to the fans of Colorado.

Nikola Jokic was spectacular putting up his 5th triple double of the playoffs. He was very unselfish tonight and preferred to let his
teammates get more involved. Not many superstars let along MVP's will sacrifice their stats for the sake of the team. What a leader he is!

Nikola Jokic 23 points, 17 rebounds, 12 assists and 3 steals. Yes he is alot more athletic than they give him credit for. Coach's, Scouts and
Players across the NBA rave about how he can lead a fast break coast to coast. It's rare to see a big tower of a man so fast and also with
a great sense of balance and coordination. Jokic is One of a Kind and he is the REAL MVP! :campeon:
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Best player in the league. Even better than Doncic as I feel he is a more complete overall player.
 
Two notes from last nights game. Christian Braun only played a few minutes and was quickly pulled. It’s clear that his coach doesn’t have much confidence to use him in this series.

LeBron really showed his age last night. He was 0-6 on 3 pointers. He front-rimmed a dunk. He had a clear breakaway dunk opportunity that he fumbled and lost the ball out of bounds. These teams play again on Saturday, and I expect more of the same.
 
Whiteathlete333 said:
Best player in the league. Even better than Doncic as I feel he is a more complete overall player.
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Agreed, the Joker is the best in the league… head and shoulders. Doncic is currently second or third best. He needs to provide better defensive support and improve his free throw shooting. Those are his two weaknesses, from my observation.

That being said, he has four straight All-NBA teams under his belt and he is only in his mid-twenties. He will go down as an all-time great, same as Jokic.
 
Warhawk_46 said:
Agreed, the Joker is the best in the league… head and shoulders. Doncic is currently second or third best. He needs to provide better defensive support and improve his free throw shooting. Those are his two weaknesses, from my observation.

That being said, he has four straight All-NBA teams under his belt and he is only in his mid-twenties. He will go down as an all-time great, same as Jokic.
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if the jazz could pull off a trade and get Luka they could have a run of 3 or 4 championships. Imagine how the rest of the league would be seething that’s a white lead team is tearing them to shreds year after year! and with Danny Ainge as president it is not a pipe dream.
 
jphoss said:
if the jazz could pull off a trade and get Luka they could have a run of 3 or 4 championships. Imagine how the rest of the league would be seething that’s a white lead team is tearing them to shreds year after year! and with Danny Ainge as president it is not a pipe dream.
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The Utah Jazz are seriously interested in a trade for Doncic. It would be costly if it were to happen. In addition to players the Mavs have
said that they would require 11 draft picks over the coming years. So very few teams could even try but the Jazz are one team that has
enough draft picks along with players to make it happen. I've also heard the Jazz are interested in Tyler Herro.
 
Awesome to see Jokic continue his dominance against The Lakers!
 
icsept said:
Two notes from last nights game. Christian Braun only played a few minutes and was quickly pulled. It’s clear that his coach doesn’t have much confidence to use him in this series.

LeBron really showed his age last night. He was 0-6 on 3 pointers. He front-rimmed a dunk. He had a clear breakaway dunk opportunity that he fumbled and lost the ball out of bounds. These teams play again on Saturday, and I expect more of the same.
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I saw some commentary that Braun passed up a couple of open shots that arose from Jokic's passing out of double-teams. It seems harsh that he wouldn't get even a second stint off the bench. Somewhat understandable "rookie jittiers," I suppose - hopeful that he'll get another run this series.

Austin Reaves has made a real case for himself as the third-best player on the Lakers. We could make cute arguments here that he's better than LeBron, but the bottom line is that it's an incredible trajectory for him. I think you could make the case that he'd be better than anyone ~else~ on the Nuggets right now. Would the Nuggets be an even more dominant #1 seed if they'd managed to get ahold of an undrafted second-year player? It makes the Jokic playoff run even more impressive when considering that the other team has the second, third, and fourth-best players in this series (also true for the Suns last round).
 
Phall said:
Duncan Robinson starting hot tonight off the bench:


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Yes it's great to see for a guy that used to be a starter for the Heat for a couple of years. He should be playing more than he is.

I will also add that Cody Zeller should be starting over Kevin Love. Love just can't do what he used to and Zeller would be far more
productive currently.

Also want to add that I agree with what you said about Austin Reaves. He would fit in great in Utah or Dallas among other teams. He
is so dangerous as he has an all around game. Even on defense the kid brings the heat.
 
Duncan Robinson now has 117 threes in 51 playoff games for Miami, tying him for second place in franchise history. LeBron made 123 in 87 games, Mario Chalmers 117 in 99 games.

On top of Robinson and Strus, the Heat also have black players Caleb Martin and Gabe Vincent getting playoff minutes after starting their careers undrafted. Head coach Erik Spoelstra started with the team in 1995 as a video coordinator and was eventually promoted all the way up from within. The Miami franchise does a tremendous job across the board in identifying talent compared to an average NBA team - no big surprise they are playing four whites in the conference finals, with two more (Herro and Jovic) on the extended roster (plus Yurtseven).
 
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