NBA Finals

[bwgood77]

Warriors/Cavs again. Nothing to see here until then.

They are way better than the rest of the league. Only a big injury can stop them from the Finals.

Scary thing is the Warriors could be this good for 5-7 years without significant injury or people leaving in FA (and can't see why they would do the latter).

[MrMiyagi]

Warriors/Cavs again. Nothing to see here until then.

They are way better than the rest of the league. Only a big injury can stop them from the Finals.

I'm not entirely sold on the Cavs. Sure they swept the Pacers, but those were too close for me to say confidently that they'll make the Finals. Book the Warriors, though.

[Saberestar]

Warriors/Cavs again. Nothing to see here until then.

They are way better than the rest of the league. Only a big injury can stop them from the Finals.

Scary thing is the Warriors could be this good for 5-7 years without significant injury or people leaving in FA (and can't see why they would do the latter).

Yeah, I agree. IMO they have the better future in the league by far.

[RaisingArizona]

Roberson really sucks. Houston can challenge GSW.

[MrMiyagi]

Roberson really sucks. Houston can challenge GSW.

You really think so? I think they can score with them, but I think Golden State is much, much, MUCH better defensively.

[Big NBA Fan]

Another Pop vs MDA series starts on Monday and I am going with Houston to win in 6 games and for MDA to finally get the title he deserves this year.

While it's true that MDA got very unlucky in 2007 (Suspensions) and 2013 (Kobe/Nash injuries), his teams in 2005 and 2008 should have won more than just 1 game against them those years.

Heck, the 2005 Suns were an incredible defensive play by Amare away from getting swept that year even with home-court advantage and he was horribly out-coached by Pop in 2008.

It's still hard for me to forgive him over that 2008 series because I think anybody could see that he checked out after that brutal Game 1 double-OT loss.

He didn't foul on the possession that led to Duncan's 3 pointer which ultimately cost the Suns the game and HCA and it was stupid of Mike D to take the risk of playing another overtime without STAT, who was brilliant that day and had just fouled out of the game.

Then, the team was totally unprepared in Game 3 and he cost the Suns Game 5 when he put Shaq back in the game in the 4th quarter and changed the line-up that had gone on a huge second-half run to take the lead and almost force a Game 6 when Shaquille was having an awful game.

Of-course Mike D can't be completely blamed for Matrix's no-show in 2005, but he definitely cost the Suns Games 1 and 5 in 2008 and overworked Marion in 2007 Game 5 and didn't use Kurt Thomas enough.

That being said, from all accounts, he's a good person who has earned the COTY Award this year and has rebuilt his reputation after his unsuccessful stints in New York and Los Angeles.

He never should have left the Suns, though, and it led to the Terry Porter fiasco which wasted the first half of the 2009 season.

I think Houston will win the whole thing this year and Mike D has a good defensive coordinator in Jeff Bzdelik on his staff who is very well respected.

[bwgood77]

I'm excited to see D'Antoni with another shot at the Spurs. Kawhi has been playing out of his mind and Memphis gave them a tough test though. Houston is going to have to really bring it every game. I don't think they stand a chance against a healthy GS team, though I will pull for them. GS is too efficient and not only much better defensively, but Harden turns it over too much. It would be a pretty exciting series though.

I'm still pulling for a Wizards/Jazz finals, but I always pull for the long shots who haven't been to the finals in years.

[LukasBMW]

The Clippers almost threw away a 14 point lead in the last 3 minutes.

Now they get to lose in front of their own fans in game 7.

I don't like Chris Paul at all. He is just as arrogant as Lebron.

[DirtyDez]

Heck, the 2005 Suns were an incredible defensive play by Amare away from getting swept that year even with home-court advantage and he was horribly out-coached by Pop in 2008.

I don't remember enough from the 05' Conference Finals other than nearly being swept but some interesting tidbits from the boxscore...

Despite not having JJ for the first two games @ home the Suns were leading after 3 qtrs in both games despite playing 6 guys. They probably ran out of gas given the minutes the starters played. Both semifinals series went 6 games but the Spurs had an extra day of rest before the WCF's.

Losing heartbreaker in game 2 probably broke their will even though JJ was back for game 3. That was probably the greatest defensive team in Spurs history and Nash/Amare were still unstoppable. When Marion sh*ts the bed and Jim Jackson outplays Q-Rich you aren't going to win a series vs a great team.

Would've been an interesting Finals vs the Pistons.

[Big NBA Fan]

The Pistons were an amazing defensive team during the Billups/Sheed/Rip/Ben/Prince era, but they were lucky they even made the Finals in 2005.

Miami was leading that series 3-2 before Wade - who was averaging 30 PPG against them that series- got severely injured, missed Game 6 and could hardly move in Game 7. Despite that, they had the lead with 2 minutes left on their home-court before they lost.

Next season, Wade was 100% healthy and Miami beat them fairly easily in the Conference Finals.

Should have been Heat vs Spurs in 2005, but I still think San Antonio would have won.

[Bogyo]

Clippers played soul-less. Well deserved loss (even though there is still 1:30 to go)

[darealjuice]

It's time to let this Clippers team break up. It's going to be too much money locked up for too long to keep this core together, and they've passed their peak without a championship. Sign CP3, Blake, and JJ to huge contracts and you won't have money to put talent around them, and they've shown that they can't get it done with the talent put around them thus far.

Obviously they try bringing everyone back, but in the end they know where this team is going and should capitalize on the value they have while they can or they're going to be stuck in no asset, old talent land in a few years.

[LukasBMW]

If I'm the Clippers, I sign everyone and make a play for Melo (without giving up anything major or even picks).

If by midseason (melo or not) they are in the middle of the pack, I sell everyone for the best young players and/or highest draft picks I can negotiate.

Jordan is one dimensional. He's a solid center but he does not dominate.
Blake is past his prime and injury prone. He's a great 3rd option but a terrible 1st or second option
CP3 only has a few good years left AND no one seems to like him. He's the quarterback but his team doesn't play hard for him.

[Qwigglez]

JJ should receive a huge contract from the Nets. CP3 should go to the Spurs. Griffin should go to the Thunder?

[wheezy]

Griffin should go to the Thunder Timberwolves?

This wouldn't help their defensive issues, but that'd be a fun team if they get a pg and Wiggins stops iso'ing so much. And I realllllly don't want CP3 to go to the Spurs.... Call me bitter but I'd rather see them be the new 90's Clippers than reload (ish) on the fly.

[LukasBMW]

Spurs gonna cheat. Lucky Harden didn't take the bait on that headbutt cheapshot.

[bwgood77]

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[Sunsss]

I'm not sure if the NBA is ready for the fight(s) that will break out in this Celtics-Wizards series.

[bigfoot]

So we sent Isiah Thomas to the Celtics and got 1/3 of Chriss in return. Looking pretty lopsided until we see how Chriss pans out.

[bwgood77]

So we sent Isiah Thomas to the Celtics and got 1/3 of Chriss in return. Looking pretty lopsided until we see how Chriss pans out.

The two most clutch guys in the game down the stretch were Morris and Thomas. That really sucks Wall and Beal both missed those last shots in regulation.

Celtics just get lucky...the luck of the Irish I guess.