NZB2323 wrote:One_and_Done wrote:NZB2323 wrote:
Murray is injured and has a TS% of 36.5% in the series.
Murray looked fine last round. Yeh, he's not 100%, buy Gobert missed the whole of game 2 and the Nuggets were blown out. What's happening here is impossible to chalk up to injuries.
What was the excuse for the Golden State Warriors? Chris Paul was also injured against the Lakers, and the only playoff series the Bucks have won since their title was against the Bulls.
Also, if go back 25 years the 2007 Heat got swept in the first round by the Bulls and had a point differential of -44. The Bulls 3 leading scorers were Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, and Kirk Hinrich. That’s the worst title defense of the past 25 years. They had a negative net Rtg during the regular season of -1.
I also don’t know how harshly you can criticize a champion based on the prior year. The 1980 Lakers and 1983 76ers lost in the first round the next year. Does that mean they were weak champions? The 2010 Lakers got swept and blown out by the 2011 Mavs. Were the 2010 Lakers a weak champion?
Warriors got old, and Wiggins never reclaimed his 2022 form. Hard to see how it's Curry's fault.
Bucks have never lost a series while healthy since their title run. Giannis was hurt this postseason and the last, and they lost a 7 game thriller in 22 against a comparably talented team who people thought they were toast in without Middleton. It was seen as impressive they got it to 7.
Lakers were clearly too hurt to beat the Suns in 21, they were 'more hurt' if you will. After that the team got destroyed by terrible personnel moves, and Lebron got older. He's still a borderline top 10 played, especially in the playoffs, but he can't carry a team like he used to.
Jokic is just flat out losing right now, to a team he was supposed to beat, and a major reason is PnR... you know, the exact thing I called Jokic out for in like 20 threads.
The Heat are regarded as a weak champion, and them getting swept in 07 definitely counted against them (though I'd blame Shaq, not Wade, Shaq got out of shape after the 06 title and frankly was already one foot out of his prime in 06). The 07 team WAS worse. Again, none of this seems to apply to Denver. Yeh, they've got a few injuries, but it's not enough to explain what is happening, plus every team gets minor injuries.
The 80s teams I can go into too, but usually there are reasons. A big one is who they're losing too. Jokic isn't facing the 2018 Warriors here.
