Official NBA General Discussion 2024-25 V2.0

[WaltFrazier]

As with last year, the Celtics are incredibly lucky that they play in the east. Their "woe is me, the threes are not falling!" Schtick has a much better chance of getting them drummed out of the playoffs if they were playing at least 3 competitive series like they would in the west. My bet is they don't have a chip without it.

Funny thing is they have two all star wings who are two way players and three level scorers. I read a piece during the first round how Brown would be the best player on a lot of teams. He and Tatum aren't playing well now so it doesn't look that way. But that team has the parts to play a different way and not be so reliant on the three. They won a chip last year playing this way but had a very easy path to the title.

As a Knick fan I'm excited but it could easily be 2-2 after two more games

[Clutch0z24]

Watch on YouTube

One of the better dunks that never counted...

[tecumseh18]

SGA with the casual +51 in 30 minutes.

Wait ... what!?!

So who's the real MVP?

[WuTang_CMB]

OKC should have won game 1. There was no way they were losing game 2. Absolute domination.

[Pointgod]

How did the Celtics lose that game? Was it simply their live by the 3 and die by the 3 game plan?

[KL78192020]

Masai gonna be like a proud dad if Siakam and OG meet in conference finals. We told the world our guys are legit good and can't be had that easily until we ** up a bit and didn't trade them early enough lol

All the raptors needed was a Halibruton or Brunson instead of FVV.

[CPT]

I’ve still gotta say, OKC is rightfully the favourite, but it wouldn’t be totally shocking if they didn’t win the championship this year.

It seems like everyone is not only taking them
vs the field, but awarding them multiple championships already. Has the last few years taught us nothing? Eventually a team will repeat again, but it’s very difficult in this era.

[MoneyBall]

I'd actually be surprised if OKC won it all. Typically you need to lose after a good playoff run before you win the whole thing. They still seem inexperienced imo.

[WaltFrazier]

Watch on YouTube

One of the better dunks that never counted...

They didn't used to call those as charges. But they gave Brunson credit for a similar charge later in the game so it was consistent anyway.

What a dunk though, reminded me of Dr J, Dominique.

[Bank Shot]

I'm getting DeMar flashbacks while watching these Tatum games.

[MainEvent]

OKC is the fav to win it all and then you look at all their future 1sts. sheesh.. then you factor in their rookies haven't even played much this year
Mitchell has looked good, Dillon Jones? and Topic

[MainEvent]

Watch on YouTube

One of the better dunks that never counted...

They didn't used to call those as charges. But they gave Brunson credit for a similar charge later in the game so it was consistent anyway.

What a dunk though, reminded me of Dr J, Dominique.

ya, they never called those if the guy made the dunk

[Scizzup]

I’ve still gotta say, OKC is rightfully the favourite, but it wouldn’t be totally shocking if they didn’t win the championship this year.

It seems like everyone is not only taking them
vs the field, but awarding them multiple championships already. Has the last few years taught us nothing? Eventually a team will repeat again, but it’s very difficult in this era.

OKC not winning a title this year would be very shocking (if healthy). It would be as close to 16 GSW losing to Cavs imo.

They just won 68 games 2nd best net rating EVER and best SRS EVER. Accounting for w/l and other analytic indicators, they are a top 5 RS ever and better than last year Celtics. If Shai was a Paul George level player then I could understand but he is playing as well as peak KD/Harden/Kobe etc have played with a top 10 defense ever behind him.

I am not saying be as dominant as 17 GSW or 00 Lakers but no team in the nba right now should beat them 4x in 7 games.

[HiJiNX]

I really hate this version of the Celtics (Tatum is the cringe GOAT) and have something of a soft spot for the Knicks (their '99 run captivated me as a youngin'), so this is fantastic.

Maybe things will settle down and it will just be OKC vs. Boston in the finals anyway, but these playoffs are softening me up to the idea that we should just get back "in the mix" and stop worrying about having a guy who could be the best player on a championship team.

Bingo! This era of the NBA is less dependent on that transcendent franchise player and more reliant on depth, chemistry, overall roster construction — real “teams”. If there’s one thing the new CBA improved it’s the competitiveness of the league. But also we’re in a gap between the LeBron/Curry/Durant era and whatever comes next (SGA/Wemby/??? era).

[HiJiNX]

As with last year, the Celtics are incredibly lucky that they play in the east. Their "woe is me, the threes are not falling!" Schtick has a much better chance of getting them drummed out of the playoffs if they were playing at least 3 competitive series like they would in the west. My bet is they don't have a chip without it.

People forget that though they got swept last year, Indiana had effectively won three of the four games in the ECF but choked down the stretch of each of them. And then Boston ran into Luka who was hurt and well they just attacked him relentlessly every possession, allowing them to do their three point attack.

The way to beat Boston has always been to have a very strong wing defender that Tatum can’t beat one on one. Their entire offence hinges on Tatum, and to a lesser extent Brown, collapsing opposing defences off the dribble.

[HiJiNX]

Wow, both home teams in the East down 0-2. That's something new.

I realized, I'm ok with NY going all the way. Better than other options in the East. Or West other than maybe OKC because of SGA.

However, I see similar scenario playing where NY will eventually break down in the playoffs and Indiana will be there to benefit even if they advance. And a West team will come out on top in that case.

Yeah....Barring injuries....Whichever team wins this OKC/Nuggets series are prolly the Champs this year....I don't see any east team beating them.

Everyone is totally glossing over the fact that Mitch Robinson is healthy and dominating defensively.

He's greater than +30 in his limited minutes this series. Boston has no answer for his size, strength, foot speed, and defensive instincts.

He's a game changer for the Knicks and might be the piece to get them over the hump.

Good observation. I always held that a healthy Knicks team beats the Celtics last year.

[Scizzup]

As with last year, the Celtics are incredibly lucky that they play in the east. Their "woe is me, the threes are not falling!" Schtick has a much better chance of getting them drummed out of the playoffs if they were playing at least 3 competitive series like they would in the west. My bet is they don't have a chip without it.

People forget that though they got swept last year, Indiana had effectively won three of the four games in the ECF but choked down the stretch of each of them. And then Boston ran into Luka who was hurt and well they just attacked him relentlessly every possession, allowing them to do their three point attack.

The way to beat Boston has always been to have a very strong wing defender that Tatum can’t beat one on one. Their entire offence hinges on Tatum, and to a lesser extent Brown, collapsing opposing defences off the dribble.

Last year Boston was comfortably better than this year team. Which should have been obvious from their regular season play. Some people assumed they could just turn it on" though. Also, that Pacers series wasn't as close as people made it out to be, it was a +7 MOV. Pacers defense never troubled either of the Jays. Last year Boston is up 2-0 on the Knicks right now.

With all that said Boston winning this series in 7 would not surprise me at all. They have been the better team this series with 2 bad stretches in the 4th Q. Tatum not being an elite and efficient scorer makes it tough for Boston bc the team shot profile has a lot of variance to it. But he also does so much for the team in terms of rebounding/playmaking and playing the PF that makes Boston work at optimal level.

Edit: PP is the only player that has been better than last year. The others have been worse especially shooting the 3.

[Raps in 4]

SGA with the casual +51 in 30 minutes.

Wait ... what!?!

So who's the real MVP?

Dude gets so criminally underrated because he's a Canadian playing a team most Americans don't even know exists.

[Raps in 4]

I’ve still gotta say, OKC is rightfully the favourite, but it wouldn’t be totally shocking if they didn’t win the championship this year.

It seems like everyone is not only taking them
vs the field, but awarding them multiple championships already. Has the last few years taught us nothing? Eventually a team will repeat again, but it’s very difficult in this era.

OKC not winning a title this year would be very shocking (if healthy). It would be as close to 16 GSW losing to Cavs imo.

They just won 68 games 2nd best net rating EVER and best SRS EVER. Accounting for w/l and other analytic indicators, they are a top 5 RS ever and better than last year Celtics. If Shai was a Paul George level player then I could understand but he is playing as well as peak KD/Harden/Kobe etc have played with a top 10 defense ever behind him.

I am not saying be as dominant as 17 GSW or 00 Lakers but no team in the nba right now should beat them 4x in 7 games.

They are extremely young and inexperienced though. JDub is 24 (in his third NBA season). Chet is 23 (in his second NBA season).

In 2016, Steph was in his seventh season, Klay in his fifth, and Draymond in his fourth. SGA is the only member of the OKC core with any real NBA experience.

[tecumseh18]

I always thought the X-factor with the Celtics was Al Horford. When he's on, they're unbeatable. But he's getting old, man.