Official NBA Playoffs Thread

[hands11]

Thunder v Heat hey........

is this the first time two 'singular' nicknamed teams have met in the finals?

i think OKC can do it. if they play like they did against the spurs the heat are toast.

Should be a great series.

Athletic team vs athletic team

Durrant vs LeBron

Reg season scoring champ against MVP/post season scoring leader.

Reg season match ups
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=320325025
http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=320404014

I was just looking over some other stats. LJ scoring number have been going up series by series.

Then I noticed something else. His FT % has been dropping series by series.
Could be a little LeChoke left inside of him that he needs to exercise.

[VictorPage44]

Boston forced a lot of plays to Ray Allen, who then took forced shots. I also didnt like how they kept letting Pierce initiate the offense when it was obvious he was a step too slow last night. They should have relied even more heavily on Rondo to create when Miami went on that late run.

[FAH1223]

BOS lost the game when Doc put Bass on LeBron in the 4th to preserve Pierce against fouls. That was a horrible move. Put Pierce or Pietrus on him and force him to shoot jumpers.

[Higga]

My preseason pick was Miami over OKC. Hope I'm wrong and it's the reverse of that....

[hands11]

My preseason pick was Miami over OKC. Hope I'm wrong and it's the reverse of that....

It seem to me that OKC is to deep for Miami to handle. They should be able to wear them down. Boston almost beat them and they didn't have much depth.

[FAH1223]

I'm good with either result. If MIA wins, it means Clay Bennet doesn't get a Larry O'Brien trophy of his own. If OKC wins, then I can take in LeBron still not having a ring

I just re-watched Sonicgate last night so thats where this is coming from.

[I_Like_Dirt]

It seem to me that OKC is to deep for Miami to handle. They should be able to wear them down. Boston almost beat them and they didn't have much depth.

Boston has a history of always playing series to 6 or 7 games regardless of the level of opposition. I think it has something to do with their "foul-4-or-5-times-on-every-play" strategy to grind the game to a halt that lends itself to that kind of result.

This is going to be an interesting series. I think Westbrook and Harden are going to struggle against Lebron and Wade's long arms and quickness to disrupt their passes and deny penetration. Durant is just the ultimate weapon in that he can make shots from everywhere - sort of like Dirk last year. I think it's going to be a close series. One development that would make the Heat unstoppable is if Bosh could hit 3s like he did in game 7 against the Celtics. He's always flirted with the 3-point shot and isn't horrible at it but he doesn't use it or work at it very much because he's better at other things. If he gets consistent with it, it will cause all sorts of problems for the Thunder because neither Perkins nor Ibaka can really leave the paint that far. They could put Durant on Bosh and it would work, but then who guards Lebron?

[GhostsOfGil]

OKC has HCA? 9pm start time... Looks like I'm going to be late for work a few times this week.

[dobrojim]

if Ibaka plays like he did in the conf finals, I don't know if MIA can win.

Of course someone can just as easily say if Bron plays like he did in the conf finals MIA will win.

I do like OKCs depth better(duh). But MIA is an outstanding defensive team with great
athletes so they could neutralize OKC. Maybe I should say I like OKC's balance better
since they actually have 2 very solid bench players in Harden and Collison and have a
good mix of bigs and wings.

I wonder if Ibaka can guard LaTrav or at least make him a jump shooter.

[Ruzious]

I have OKC in 6. Miam had to work harder to get to the finals. They lack the depth of talent that OKC has. And Miami has to go from playing a very slow-paced team to a team that's faster than they are.

I'd like to see OKC give Thabo a chance to defend Lebron for chunks of the game. The less Durant has to guard Lebron, the more energy he'll have to dominate - offensively and defensively - with he and Ibaka being free to give help defense.

If Lebron dominates and Miami wins, there can be no question that he is the best player in the world.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Just by virtue of the fact the Heat were in the Finals last season and OKC is young, I think the Heat will win the NBA championship. Teams that lose one year generally come back and win the next. Miami has that going for them.

On paper I would say OKC will beat them in 5 or 6, but the game isn't played on paper. The Thunder have a lot more depth. They have three great perimeter scorers and the league's best shot blocker. However, I still think they are a bit too young top to bottom to stay poised enough to win it all.

Even though Westbrook and Durant are way, way, way better players than Chalmers and Battier, I think Miami's defense will slow them some. A key to the series will be if the Heat get to the FT line as much as I think they will.

[nate33]

I wonder if Ibaka can guard LaTrav or at least make him a jump shooter.

It would be an interesting strategy for Miami to go small and play Lebron at PF again. It makes the defensive matchups so much harder for OKC. And Lebron shouldn't have too much trouble guarding Ibaka.

I've been saying that Lebron should have been playing PF for a few years now. It's damn near impossible to match up with them defensively when he does. You are forced to counter by going small yourself, which plays into Miami's hands because they don't have a center.

[Upper Decker]

I wonder if Ibaka can guard LaTrav or at least make him a jump shooter.

It would be an interesting strategy for Miami to go small and play Lebron at PF again. It makes the defensive matchups so much harder for OKC. And Lebron shouldn't have too much trouble guarding Ibaka.

I've been saying that Lebron should have been playing PF for a few years now. It's damn near impossible to match up with them defensively when he does. You are forced to counter by going small yourself, which plays into Miami's hands because they don't have a center.

It's pretty easy to counter, just put your PF on Battier defensively and keep your center on Bosh. In the ECF Boston SHOULD have countered by sticking Pierce on Lebron and having Bass play Battier. Instead Doc kept Bass on Lebron who drove the lane like a freight train the entire second half of game 7.

[nate33]

I wonder if Ibaka can guard LaTrav or at least make him a jump shooter.

It would be an interesting strategy for Miami to go small and play Lebron at PF again. It makes the defensive matchups so much harder for OKC. And Lebron shouldn't have too much trouble guarding Ibaka.

I've been saying that Lebron should have been playing PF for a few years now. It's damn near impossible to match up with them defensively when he does. You are forced to counter by going small yourself, which plays into Miami's hands because they don't have a center.

It's pretty easy to counter, just put your PF on Battier defensively and keep your center on Bosh. In the ECF Boston SHOULD have countered by sticking Pierce on Lebron and having Bass play Battier. Instead Doc kept Bass on Lebron who drove the lane like a freight train the entire second half of game 7.

But then Durant has to guard Lebron, which is going to wear him out. Either that, or Thabo has to guard Lebron and Durant guards Wade. Either way, Durant risks foul trouble and fatigue.

[Ruzious]

They could put Harden or Westbrook on Wade. Let Durant cover Chalmers. With Durant's long arms, he can afford to cheat in the passing lanes.

[nate33]

They could put Harden or Westbrook on Wade. Let Durant cover Chalmers. With Durant's long arms, he can afford to cheat in the passing lanes.

I just don't see any real advantage for OKC to remain in a big lineup. Fact is, Kendrick Perkins is a terrible offensive player and will probably just turn the ball over if he tries to force up shots against Bosh or Haslem.

Basically, if Miami goes small, OKC is going to have a hard time of capitalizing on their size advantage. Perkins can't post up Haslem/Bosh, and Ibaka can't post up Lebron.

OKC is better off just matching Miami with a small lineup. At least they'll be better offensively without Perkins on the floor.

[Ruzious]

OKC can - and probably should - change things up. They can play small sometimes and big sometimes - so they keep fresh and keep Miami off balance. And When Ibaka plays PF, they don't have to have Perkins in. They can have Collison at center.

[nate33]

OKC can - and probably should - change things up. They can play small sometimes and big sometimes - so they keep fresh and keep Miami off balance. And When Ibaka plays PF, they don't have to have Perkins in. They can have Collison at center.

True. In general, I think we'll see a lot more of Collison and a lot less of Perkins for this matchup. Perkins is really only useful as a guy who can defend a low post big. Against Miami, OKC is better off with Collison's pick-and-roll defense and midrange jumper.

[TGW]

OKC can - and probably should - change things up. They can play small sometimes and big sometimes - so they keep fresh and keep Miami off balance. And When Ibaka plays PF, they don't have to have Perkins in. They can have Collison at center.

Or play Ibaka at center, and move Durant to power forward. Perkins on Battier is a tough matchup for Perkins.

[Severn Hoos]

I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate the way the block/charge foul is called in the NBA. Incredibly subjective, totally biased toward star calls.