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[Chewie]

Man, the LeBron hate is extremely strong currently. Especially on the GB, which generally is very hot-takey and childish, but here too. I've really disliked LeBron when he joined the Heat in 2010, but 10 years later (and older) I have nothing but respect for the guy. I'm never getting into the GOAT debate because I'm too young and haven't really experienced the MJ era, but I very much enjoy being able to see one of the best players of all time live.

get ready to lose some respect

Watch on YouTube

[Andi Obst]

Man, the LeBron hate is extremely strong currently. Especially on the GB, which generally is very hot-takey and childish, but here too. I've really disliked LeBron when he joined the Heat in 2010, but 10 years later (and older) I have nothing but respect for the guy. I'm never getting into the GOAT debate because I'm too young and haven't really experienced the MJ era, but I very much enjoy being able to see one of the best players of all time live.

get ready to lose some respect

Watch on YouTube

Yeah...no.

[troza]

For me, I would say that his fan base is the worst part of him... just like Kobe in his prime.

They just try to make him GOAT for everything he does, anytime we said something bad about him (and often true) we would be labeled as haters and there was no possible discussion on him... as if there was ever a perfect player (not even Jordan was perfect).

We can talk about who he is off court (for me a marketing company and I hate that) but that should never diminish his legacy on court.

[Ice Man]

If you want to feel better about the current series, the website 538 evaluates the Heat, even after injuries, as being the slightly better team than the Lakers. Its system has the top 5 teams, when at full strength, in the NBA being -

Celtics
Heat
Rockets
Clippers
Sixers

Now I don't feel so good after all.

[dougthonus]

I read this in an unconvincing tone and the general scepticism still reads through. I'd appreciate it if you take this more seriously and deliver a more optimistic message.

LeBron actually has a history of choking in big moments, and it would literally be the greatest thing since the 2011 finals if he were to lose. Anthony Davis could theoretically bail him out, but he's never done anything in the playoffs before, and it wouldn't be a surprise if the moment is too big for him either. One more win by Miami tonight, and the pressure on those guys will be overwhelming, and they could easily break.

[MrFortune3]

I woulda gotten away with it if it weren't for you dang kids!

You can't sneak nothing past us.

[MrFortune3]

Exactly. He's such a petty sore loser that it's even showing when his team is up in a series now.

If the Heat come back and win this series...IT moment.

If that happens, the Clippers' choke job may end up being forgettable and LeBron may become a wino due to everyone can't stop talking about it.

It couldn't be much worse than the Mavs coming back to win those Finals over the Heatles.

[Ice Man]

It couldn't be much worse than the Mavs coming back to win those Finals over the Heatles.

it would be worse. The 2011 Heat wasn't up 2-0, and the Mavs were healthy perennial Western contenders led by a former MVP. This year's Heat team was down 2-0, has a bunch of nobodies, and lost two of its three top players in Game 1. There's a thread on the Game Board asking how this year's Heat ranks among the worst modern-day Finalists. Nobody was doing that to Dallas.

Should the Heat take this series, it would be an all-time heist.

[ImSlower]

Definitely would be some upset! Imagine those guys who put 10 or 20 bucks on the Heat to win the championship at 100-1 or whatever I recall the odds were pre-season.

I know I'd go absolutely nuts if Jimmy's Junkyard Dogs overcome the LeBrons. Tonight will be a great evening of sports for me. I think the Dodgers/Padres series will be the most exciting series in the MLB playoffs, and this LA/MIA game is hopefully 48 minutes of absolute intensity. The logical side of me expects the Lakers to build a commanding lead in the first half, but damned if I won't be shouting for every Butler basket as loud as I would have if he were still a Bull.

[troza]

It couldn't be much worse than the Mavs coming back to win those Finals over the Heatles.

it would be worse. The 2011 Heat wasn't up 2-0, and the Mavs were healthy perennial Western contenders led by a former MVP. This year's Heat team was down 2-0, has a bunch of nobodies, and lost two of its three top players in Game 1. There's a thread on the Game Board asking how this year's Heat ranks among the worst modern-day Finalists. Nobody was doing that to Dallas.

Should the Heat take this series, it would be an all-time heist.

If we count the huge advantage they had some minutes before the ending of game 2, they were...

But... The Heat had home court when it counted and what is more impressive about those finals is the way the best player was obviously playing under his standard by a mile. And even with one Butler injured, Dallas was not a bad team.

So... if they don't win this year's finals (but they will), it would be much worse than that.

[Ice Man]

The logical side of me expects the Lakers to build a commanding lead in the first half, but damned if I won't be shouting for every Butler basket as loud as I would have if he were still a Bull.

I'm going into this one as I have gone into the previous two games. Expect nothing, savor any positives.

[MrFortune3]

It couldn't be much worse than the Mavs coming back to win those Finals over the Heatles.

it would be worse. The 2011 Heat wasn't up 2-0, and the Mavs were healthy perennial Western contenders led by a former MVP. This year's Heat team was down 2-0, has a bunch of nobodies, and lost two of its three top players in Game 1. There's a thread on the Game Board asking how this year's Heat ranks among the worst modern-day Finalists. Nobody was doing that to Dallas.

Should the Heat take this series, it would be an all-time heist.

Nah. That Heat team was loaded from the Heatles on down due to ring chasers. The Lakers are just LeBron and AD with shooters around them.

[Grodoboldo]

Look, this is it. I don't believe the Heat will take this. No one does.
But... If they win tonight, all bets are off. Who knows? We've seen weirder ****, right?

[TheStig]

It couldn't be much worse than the Mavs coming back to win those Finals over the Heatles.

it would be worse. The 2011 Heat wasn't up 2-0, and the Mavs were healthy perennial Western contenders led by a former MVP. This year's Heat team was down 2-0, has a bunch of nobodies, and lost two of its three top players in Game 1. There's a thread on the Game Board asking how this year's Heat ranks among the worst modern-day Finalists. Nobody was doing that to Dallas.

Should the Heat take this series, it would be an all-time heist.

Nah. That Heat team was loaded from the Heatles on down due to ring chasers. The Lakers are just LeBron and AD with shooters around them.

What are you talking about? These guys are more loaded with star ring chasers than any other team. They have Rondo, Howard, Morris, Bradley as ring chasers and had Cousins. That's 3 HOF players who are not ancient and 1 really good role player.

[MrFortune3]

it would be worse. The 2011 Heat wasn't up 2-0, and the Mavs were healthy perennial Western contenders led by a former MVP. This year's Heat team was down 2-0, has a bunch of nobodies, and lost two of its three top players in Game 1. There's a thread on the Game Board asking how this year's Heat ranks among the worst modern-day Finalists. Nobody was doing that to Dallas.

Should the Heat take this series, it would be an all-time heist.

Nah. That Heat team was loaded from the Heatles on down due to ring chasers. The Lakers are just LeBron and AD with shooters around them.

What are you talking about? These guys are more loaded with star ring chasers than any other team. They have Rondo, Howard, Morris, Bradley as ring chasers and had Cousins. That's 3 HOF players who are not ancient and 1 really good role player.

The had the Heat with 3 superstar players and an absolute warrior in Udonis Haslem, the Lakers only have 2.
I did forget that the 2011 team that lost to the Mavs was before Battier and others arrived to reinforce their bench. I also forgot about Mike Miller getting hurt and being a shell of his former self.

[kingkirk]

I read this in an unconvincing tone and the general scepticism still reads through. I'd appreciate it if you take this more seriously and deliver a more optimistic message.

LeBron actually has a history of choking in big moments, and it would literally be the greatest thing since the 2011 finals if he were to lose. Anthony Davis could theoretically bail him out, but he's never done anything in the playoffs before, and it wouldn't be a surprise if the moment is too big for him either. One more win by Miami tonight, and the pressure on those guys will be overwhelming, and they could easily break.

Better. Much better.

[TheStig]

Nah. That Heat team was loaded from the Heatles on down due to ring chasers. The Lakers are just LeBron and AD with shooters around them.

What are you talking about? These guys are more loaded with star ring chasers than any other team. They have Rondo, Howard, Morris, Bradley as ring chasers and had Cousins. That's 3 HOF players who are not ancient and 1 really good role player.

The had the Heat with 3 superstar players and an absolute warrior in Udonis Haslem, the Lakers only have 2.
I did forget that the 2011 team that lost to the Mavs was before Battier and others arrived to reinforce their bench. I also forgot about Mike Miller getting hurt and being a shell of his former self.

Yes, they had a big 3. But the rest of the roster outside of Miller was washed up or terrible young players. They didn't have HOF players coming off the bench who were still fairly good. They didn't have role players who were good. They had a broken down mike miller and a Hasleem who was never really good.

[dice]

What are you talking about? These guys are more loaded with star ring chasers than any other team. They have Rondo, Howard, Morris, Bradley as ring chasers and had Cousins. That's 3 HOF players who are not ancient and 1 really good role player.

The had the Heat with 3 superstar players and an absolute warrior in Udonis Haslem, the Lakers only have 2.
I did forget that the 2011 team that lost to the Mavs was before Battier and others arrived to reinforce their bench. I also forgot about Mike Miller getting hurt and being a shell of his former self.

Yes, they had a big 3. But the rest of the roster outside of Miller was washed up or terrible young players. They didn't have HOF players coming off the bench who were still fairly good. They didn't have role players who were good. They had a broken down mike miller and a Hasleem who was never really good.

for the record, the lakers were better than 3:1 favorites heading into series. the heatles were less than 2:1 favorites against the mavs. this year would be a significantly bigger upset. the reason that the loss to the mavs would probably still be a bigger stain on lebron's resume is that he played terribly in that series

[dumbell78]

So plan is for Miami to get into foul trouble by LAL flopping. Meanwhile James can bulldoze all he wants. Cool.

[DASMACKDOWN]

Tyler Herro has been terrible so far.