2014 NBA Playoffs Semi-Finals: MIA (2) vs BKN (6)

[NBAfan3024]

Another tortuously difficult game for the heat as they face their biggest challenge yet from the 45-win nets and barely escape with the victory. What an achievement, this heat team will surely go down in history.

Barely?

[JesusHCoxMd]

So, Nets in 5 then?

[ChampionRed]

It's only been one game, no need to draw any conclusions. Even if the Heat take game 2, that's to be expected. It's game 3 where the series will likely be decided. Nets have to protect home court.

While that's certainly true, a lot of what's going on here relates to the two vastly different viewpoints of this series heading into it.

View 1 said, essentially, "Miami had a better record than New Jersey on the season by a significant margin. Miami had a much better SRS (adjusted margin of victory) than NJ, too. The Heat swept the first round, looking great doing it, and teams historically benefit greatly from that. NJ looked mediocre going 7 with the Raptors. Logical conclusion: Miami is the heavy favorite, should be an easy series for them. Yeah, NJ beat them head-to-head this year, but the scores at the end of regulation in those games was +1, +1, tie, +1. And that was with the Heat in regular season coast mode; everyone knows they turn it up in the postseason."

View 2 said, essentially, "Look at the head-to-heads here. New Jersey was 4-0. 4-0! No team in NBA history has ever gone 0-4 against another team in the regular season and then turned around and beat that team in the postseason. None. Were they close? Sure. But NJ has been playing their best ball to close the season, so the team record is a bit deceiving, it doesn't reflect how well they've been playing. And that fact is, New Jersey gives Miami real matchup problems. They don't care if Miami goes small because they have Pierce at the 4. They have big guards that can exploit Chalmers/Cole/Allen in the post. Miami's biggest strength on D is that they destroy pick-n-rolls, but NJ is one of the teams least reliant on pick-n-roll for offense in the league. Miami likes to get out in transition and NJ prevents that. And while Miami got to coast in the first round against a 7 seed who's best player was playing injured, NJ had to go on the road and beat the young, athletic, balanced 3-seed. This is going to be a close series (Pierce & Kg vs the Heat practically guarantees it!), and NJ might even be able to take it."


There's actually not a ton of middle ground between these views, either. So a lot of people saw game as vindication for the first viewpoint. It might still end up that View 2 is closer to reality, hard to tell, but it's always nice to see a little confirmation for how you were arguing this series will go.

Good post but did you purposely refer to the Nets as "NJ" or....? I mean it's not like the word "Brooklyn" isn't on every piece of the Nets' merchandise.

[mopper8]

It's only been one game, no need to draw any conclusions. Even if the Heat take game 2, that's to be expected. It's game 3 where the series will likely be decided. Nets have to protect home court.

While that's certainly true, a lot of what's going on here relates to the two vastly different viewpoints of this series heading into it.

View 1 said, essentially, "Miami had a better record than New Jersey on the season by a significant margin. Miami had a much better SRS (adjusted margin of victory) than NJ, too. The Heat swept the first round, looking great doing it, and teams historically benefit greatly from that. NJ looked mediocre going 7 with the Raptors. Logical conclusion: Miami is the heavy favorite, should be an easy series for them. Yeah, NJ beat them head-to-head this year, but the scores at the end of regulation in those games was +1, +1, tie, +1. And that was with the Heat in regular season coast mode; everyone knows they turn it up in the postseason."

View 2 said, essentially, "Look at the head-to-heads here. New Jersey was 4-0. 4-0! No team in NBA history has ever gone 0-4 against another team in the regular season and then turned around and beat that team in the postseason. None. Were they close? Sure. But NJ has been playing their best ball to close the season, so the team record is a bit deceiving, it doesn't reflect how well they've been playing. And that fact is, New Jersey gives Miami real matchup problems. They don't care if Miami goes small because they have Pierce at the 4. They have big guards that can exploit Chalmers/Cole/Allen in the post. Miami's biggest strength on D is that they destroy pick-n-rolls, but NJ is one of the teams least reliant on pick-n-roll for offense in the league. Miami likes to get out in transition and NJ prevents that. And while Miami got to coast in the first round against a 7 seed who's best player was playing injured, NJ had to go on the road and beat the young, athletic, balanced 3-seed. This is going to be a close series (Pierce & Kg vs the Heat practically guarantees it!), and NJ might even be able to take it."


There's actually not a ton of middle ground between these views, either. So a lot of people saw game as vindication for the first viewpoint. It might still end up that View 2 is closer to reality, hard to tell, but it's always nice to see a little confirmation for how you were arguing this series will go.

Good post but did you purposely refer to the Nets as "NJ" or....? I mean it's not like the word "Brooklyn" isn't on every piece of the Nets' merchandise.

lol no that's a "i haven't had any coffee yet this morning" oversight, my bad, will fix now

[ChampionRed]

While that's certainly true, a lot of what's going on here relates to the two vastly different viewpoints of this series heading into it.

View 1 said, essentially, "Miami had a better record than New Jersey on the season by a significant margin. Miami had a much better SRS (adjusted margin of victory) than NJ, too. The Heat swept the first round, looking great doing it, and teams historically benefit greatly from that. NJ looked mediocre going 7 with the Raptors. Logical conclusion: Miami is the heavy favorite, should be an easy series for them. Yeah, NJ beat them head-to-head this year, but the scores at the end of regulation in those games was +1, +1, tie, +1. And that was with the Heat in regular season coast mode; everyone knows they turn it up in the postseason."

View 2 said, essentially, "Look at the head-to-heads here. New Jersey was 4-0. 4-0! No team in NBA history has ever gone 0-4 against another team in the regular season and then turned around and beat that team in the postseason. None. Were they close? Sure. But NJ has been playing their best ball to close the season, so the team record is a bit deceiving, it doesn't reflect how well they've been playing. And that fact is, New Jersey gives Miami real matchup problems. They don't care if Miami goes small because they have Pierce at the 4. They have big guards that can exploit Chalmers/Cole/Allen in the post. Miami's biggest strength on D is that they destroy pick-n-rolls, but NJ is one of the teams least reliant on pick-n-roll for offense in the league. Miami likes to get out in transition and NJ prevents that. And while Miami got to coast in the first round against a 7 seed who's best player was playing injured, NJ had to go on the road and beat the young, athletic, balanced 3-seed. This is going to be a close series (Pierce & Kg vs the Heat practically guarantees it!), and NJ might even be able to take it."


There's actually not a ton of middle ground between these views, either. So a lot of people saw game as vindication for the first viewpoint. It might still end up that View 2 is closer to reality, hard to tell, but it's always nice to see a little confirmation for how you were arguing this series will go.

Good post but did you purposely refer to the Nets as "NJ" or....? I mean it's not like the word "Brooklyn" isn't on every piece of the Nets' merchandise.

lol no that's a "i haven't had any coffee yet this morning" oversight, my bad, will fix now

Haha not a big deal at all but I was curious!

[2thehoopand1]

Nets have a old core and some players that get injured a lot. After an intense 7 game series, Brooklyn did not show up. They were tired, that's normal.

I expect a much closer game in game 2.

D-Will has to show up with a good game and the Nets need to win the rebound battle. If these two things happen they have a chance of taking it 1-1 back to Brooklyn.

Still hoping LeBron and the Heat get the next game!

D-will show up ? I didn't know you can use those words in the same sentence. 4 games , 5 games at the end of the day nets aren't seeing the ECF.


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[GreenBloodedC]

It's only been one game, no need to draw any conclusions. Even if the Heat take game 2, that's to be expected. It's game 3 where the series will likely be decided. Nets have to protect home court.

I think the series would be decided in game 2. I have a hard time seeing the Heat lose both games 3 and 4. If the Heat protects their homecourt, they'll probably get back to Miami up 3 - 1 or they might finish this in 4.

[Altered_Beast]

Series is hardly over. If the heat win game 2 in the same fashion then I'd be worried as a nets fan but let the games play out

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[EscapoTHB]

That was almost...too easy. I could see the Heat trying to coast in one of these games soon, and the Nets jumping on them there.

Surprised this year to see Joe Johnson make a come back. I thought he was basically done. But he's the Net's best player by far.

Also if you had told me a few years ago that I would see a Mario Chalmers vs. Deron Williams matchup as basically a push--I'd have been shocked.

[2thehoopand1]

Those two end of the quarter 3's are confidence boosters for anyone but Williams. He's doubting his body they go to waste on him. If pierce had hit those shots its almost a guarantee he goes off with 20 points in game 2. His head would been swollen thinking he can be a benefit in this series.


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[dr3am]

Another tortuously difficult game for the heat as they face their biggest challenge yet from the 45-win nets and barely escape with the victory. What an achievement, this heat team will surely go down in history.

your'e the one harping on this win. Nobody said anything about this win being an "achievement". If anything, more people were bragging about the 45-win Nets team going 4-0 against the Heat in the regular season

But we will go down in history if we 3-PEAT

[WhatsMyName]

I just looked up the all-time leaders in points scored in playoffs and was surprised how high Wade already is. 5 players in the top 32 all time, not bad.

Rank Player PTS
8. LeBron James 4013
18. Dwyane Wade 3209
25. Paul Pierce 2945
31. Ray Allen 2596
32. Kevin Garnett 2577

[JAY DASH]

Heat really looked like they were going a little more than half speed last night and won comfortably. Their execution in the halfcourt was a thing of beauty. It's sad seeing KG and Pierce like this....gotta know when to hang up the laces man.

I do expect one throwback night from Paul before this series is over, but even in that game I'm not sure the Nets win. D-Will just doesn't seem to realize he can put up 40 on Chalmers and I don't understand why.

[JVL]

It's sad seeing KG and Pierce like this....gotta know when to hang up the laces man.

That's how I felt all year. I've never ever been a fan of the Celtics, but I have grudgingly come to respect Paul Pierce as an amazing competitor. Seeing him like this just rubs me the wrong way. He can still perform, but he's regressed so much compared to even last year.
Same for Garnett. I dislike him thoroughly, but I can't help respecting competitiveness in a player.

I was hoping they'd be more like Duncan when they get put on limited minutes, but it just feels like they regressed beyond repair since coming to Brooklyn.

[Shuttlesworth34]

Heat really looked like they were going a little more than half speed last night and won comfortably. Their execution in the halfcourt was a thing of beauty. It's sad seeing KG and Pierce like this....gotta know when to hang up the laces man.

I do expect one throwback night from Paul before this series is over, but even in that game I'm not sure the Nets win. D-Will just doesn't seem to realize he can put up 40 on Chalmers and I don't understand why.

D-Will put up 17 points with 6 of them coming from end of the quarter chucks. I don't understand how you can equate 17 points in 30 minutes to him being able to put up 40. Seems like some wishful thinking to me.

[JAY DASH]

Not wishful thinking, he just doesn't assert himself. Every time D-Will tried to be aggressive he had whoever was guarding him on skates. I'm not even a D-Will fan but there's no way in the world Chalmers can guard him if he stops being so passive. It's almost like he doesn't understand how talented he is.

[Shuttlesworth34]

Not wishful thinking, he just doesn't assert himself. Every time D-Will tried to be aggressive he had whoever was guarding him on skates. I'm not even a D-Will fan but there's no way in the world Chalmers can guard him if he stops being so passive. It's almost like he doesn't understand how talented he is.

he's been awful for awhile now. yesterday was the best he has played in a while. and yea, he put bosh on skates on some switches, but chalmers did a good job against him. again 17 points with 6 coming on luck shots at the end of the quarter does not equate to a guy being able to put up 40. it just doesn't

[2thehoopand1]

Not wishful thinking, he just doesn't assert himself. Every time D-Will tried to be aggressive he had whoever was guarding him on skates. I'm not even a D-Will fan but there's no way in the world Chalmers can guard him if he stops being so passive. It's almost like he doesn't understand how talented he is.

Still doubt it people poo-poo all over Mario and never mention him in list of top point guards. He takes that and takes that and plays top pg's or former top guards in this case plays them at his best . It's a pride thing with Mario I don't see Williams getting 30 in any of these games


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[KingDavid]

Not wishful thinking, he just doesn't assert himself. Every time D-Will tried to be aggressive he had whoever was guarding him on skates. I'm not even a D-Will fan but there's no way in the world Chalmers can guard him if he stops being so passive. It's almost like he doesn't understand how talented he is.

Slap Toney Douglas on him and we'll be fine. You don't want an aggressive D.Will because that equals P&R plays. That speeds up the game and picks up usage % for that player. That plays right into our defense. I have to admit, there's a hefty amount of trash talking for beating a team that's tired as hell. Game 3 decides the series for me.

[dr3am]

Deron Williams can't put up 40 against our PG's. Rio & Cole do a great job at staying in front of him. He got 2 lucky 3's off some lucky chucks at the buzzer. Deron Williams is not the same player that he was in Utah. Personally I never found him to be that great but he's definitely declined since going to the Nets. He can give you 30 on some nights but he can't do it consistently due to injuries & him declining