Rd II LA Clippers @ OKC Thunder

[Neddy]

Monday 6:30 PM PST

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS GAME #1

@


THE STARS OF THE GAME






good luck charm


THE PREVIEW

Why Los Angeles will win: The best offense in the NBA can get scary. Center DeAndre Jordan's pairing with Griffin should make it difficult for the Thunder to regularly use their smaller lineups, and neither Steven Adams nor Kendrick Perkins offers much on offense. Paul has a long history of stepping up his games against other elite point guards and would relish the opportunity to expose Westbrook's inconsistencies. Westbrook and Durant both have to carry huge loads, while the Clippers are more balanced. Finally, Doc Rivers is a proven championship-caliber coach, while Scott Brooks has drawn a lot of heat lately for misusing his stars.

Prediction: Clippers in 7.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nb ... e/8686715/

[mttwlsn16]

Never looked forward to a Monday so much, ha

[Neddy]

we have got to steal the game 1.

[Neddy]

BTW, Im glad the writers at USAtoday picked our clips, but wish it would be in 6 games instead of going the distance again. we need to have some rest before the conference finals and if we go further, the NBA finals. can't go up 7 full games every series.

[mttwlsn16]

I am pretty sure the start time is 630 west coast, bc it's 930 my time

[Ranma]

Time for Blake Griffin & the Clips to exact a measure of revenge against Kevin Durant for screwing the Western Conference out of an All-Star Game victory as well as BG of the game's MVP trophy. The Servant & Co. needs a helping of LA justice. Oh, and it would be good for the Clips to steal Game 1 towards winning this series.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/436217791931101184[/tweet]

[Neddy]

I am pretty sure the start time is 630 west coast, bc it's 930 my time

thanks, checked it out and got it fixed!

[Neddy]

Time for Blake Griffin & the Clips to exact a measure of revenge against Kevin Durant for screwing the Western Conference out of an All-Star Game victory as well as BG of the game's MVP trophy. The Servant & Co. needs a helping of LA justice. Oh, and it would be good for the Clips to steal Game 1 towards winning this series.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/436217791931101184[/tweet]

i wish we can take both in OKC, but Im sure Im being greedy.

BTW, what is this Servant thing? i am not aware of this.

[Ranma]

BTW, what is this Servant thing? i am not aware of this.

Durant made a comment saying he preferred the nickname, "The Servant", because he wanted to get teammates involved. He apparently has since backed away from that by saying it was all a joke. Here's an interview with Simmons discussing it towards the end at the 8:28 timestamp.

[Neddy]

thanks, and that was incredibly lame.

I first thought you meant to say Savant. for a guy leading the NBA in scoring to say he would like to serve his teammates, it's like as if Michael Jordan saying he is the least selfish player on his team.

[Ranma]

thanks, and that was incredibly lame.

I first thought you meant to say Savant. for a guy leading the NBA in scoring to say he would like to serve his teammates, it's like as if Michael Jordan saying he is the least selfish player on his team.

You're welcome. I tend to want true superstars to be unselfish in making everyone around them better, which is why I was very critical of MJ early on in his career. However, Durant is one of the few exceptions where I actually wish he would take more shots (if he were not playing the Clips, that is) because of how efficient he is and willing to pass to open teammates. His deference to Westbrook--while with good intentions--is actually counter-productive since Westbrook tends to be eager to chuck up shots at not nearly as efficient a rate.

[Neddy]

thanks, and that was incredibly lame.

I first thought you meant to say Savant. for a guy leading the NBA in scoring to say he would like to serve his teammates, it's like as if Michael Jordan saying he is the least selfish player on his team.

You're welcome. I tend to want true superstars to be unselfish in making everyone around them better, which is why I was very critical of MJ early on in his career. However, Durant is one of the few exceptions where I actually wish he would take more shots (if he were not playing the Clips, that is) because of how efficient he is and willing to pass to open teammates. His deference to Westbrook--while it has good intentions--is actually counter-productive since Westbrook tends to not be not as efficient and eager to chuck shots.

i can honestly say that i have no opinion on durant since i don't watch any other nba games other than my clips, but i did in my youth, and 100% agree about early Jordan. he was only able to win after learning how to pass, not too different from the fictional character stacey patton in whoopi's movie Eddie.

[RiversideClips]

I really think that the Clips can win this series, but they have to come out hard and concentrate on Perkins and Ibalka. Westbrook doesn't like to pass so I think we may be able to contain him.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I would like us to sweep the Thunder if we can, so we can get some rest for the next round. I wish we could play this game Tuesday instead so the guys could get more rest. This should be a good one tomorrow night. I hope our guys will be ready to go after an intense series with the Warriors.

[azncorruptedo17]

game plan... let westbrook shoot more than kd lol..

[Neddy]

I would like us to sweep the Thunder if we can, so we can get some rest for the next round. I wish we could play this game Tuesday instead so the guys could get more rest. This should be a good one tomorrow night. I hope our guys will be ready to go after an intense series with the Warriors.

man i would absolutely love to watch us demolish the Thunder in a sweep. although I think it is unlikely and it will take just as much effort if not more against the OKC than the GS team to beat them in a 7 game series, a sweep would be an oasis to our exhausting wandering of the desert that is NBA playoffs.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Sweeping the Thunder will be impossible.

But I can tell you this: Reggie Bullock will appear in this series.

Bullock is the only player on the Clipper roster who can actually defend Kevin Durant. He's a rookie, rookies are experienced, we get that. But for some reason, the combination of Matt Barnes, Danny Granger and Jared Dudley haven't panned out against the Thunder as we all hoped. Who knows if Hedo Turkoglu will play by Monday. This will be like Tyronne Lue being tasked to defend Allen Iverson. If Bullock can slow down Durant and prevent him from making shots, the Clippers can take them in six games.

[Neddy]

Sweeping the Thunder will be impossible.

But I can tell you this: Reggie Bullock will appear in this series.

Bullock is the only player on the Clipper roster who can actually defend Kevin Durant. He's a rookie, rookies are experienced, we get that. But for some reason, the combination of Matt Barnes, Danny Granger and Jared Dudley haven't panned out against the Thunder as we all hoped. Who knows if Hedo Turkoglu will play by Monday. This will be like Tyronne Lue being tasked to defend Allen Iverson. If Bullock can slow down Durant and prevent him from making shots, the Clippers can take them in six games.

we'll see if doc sees the same thing, but i do remember Bullock disrupting Durant big time. I would love to see this happen and also to have Reggie knock down some 3s to give this young man confidence for the next season. he is a much better shooter than he has shown so far.

[mttwlsn16]

viewtopic.php?t=1319932

[Dynamix]

http://forums.realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=1319932

That guy is hilarious. I have nothing against a harmless troll having some fun online.

He might also be our good luck charm during these playoffs. If we get past OKC, I'd surely ask him to open a similar thread on the Spurs/Blazers board.