Around the NBA: Playoff Edition #2

[bledredwine]

Every year, people make excuses for Chris Paul, but time and time again, I've seen him completely disappear in series-altering moments, and his team completely collapse. He's simply not a skilled enough scorer to be a 1 option. This is just truth. Hell even Stockton wasn't, so it's not that big of a knock. But both of those guys need a true batman to lead them in those moments. And Stockton less so, btw.

Are you aware of what Paul's numbers were in the postseason?

Oh yeah. They were almost as good as wall's, Kawhi', harden's, lebron's, etc. And he does something similar every postseason. But when it comes down to the important moments and most of the pivotal games? He can't get it done. I've seen it time and time again. Jimmy had a 33 (or was it more? Along w 9 assists) point game against Boston that I was severely disappointed with. It doesn't matter if they can't get buckets when the team needs it. This is the difference between one and two options. That's why one options must be phenomenal. Paul is awesome, not phenomenal. Phenomenal scorers are Dirk, Kobe, Lebron, Jordan, etc. Paul is not that. He's a 2 option. The last 1 option that was on paul's tier is either going to be a Spur or Piston because they were such loaded teams.

[johnnyvann840]

So remember last year when LeBron was totally snubbed in the MVP voting?

and he was like "I don't care" (he did) and went on to just torch Curry in the Finals and show the NBA who the real MVP was....

I feel like Harden is operating on that wave himself. He just took out the future MVP.

With no dog in the race anymore, I'm kinda starting to pull for the Rockets. I'm still salty about that lean on MCW that he used to steal that game a few months ago, but a call is a call.

Could those guys really take out SAS and GSW?

Beverly on Curry is a delicious matchup I'd like to see. Steph donesn;t like when guys play him physical and Bev will.
GSW took them out last year missing Curry most of that series - but HOU is rolling.

I feel the same about Houston. Harden is a flopper and can be irritating as hell to watch at times. People can bitch and moan about having to watch him shoot FT's, but when he is on, he is something to watch. He has a beautiful game when he's playmaking. Also, I always have had a soft spot for him since he's from ASU. One of the those guys you hate him when he's on the other team, but trust me, no matter what you think now, you would love him if he were on our team. I really like Beverly too. They have the vets that always seem to step up in the playoffs too. Ariza. Lou Williams. Nene. and E Gordon is a nice fit there. That is a dangerous team. Unstoppable when they are hot from deep. They have a punchers chance against anybody.

[Ice Man]

Wall is solidifying himself as a top 10 player. In my opinion, he's ahead of Jimmy. Dude is straight up beasting these playoffs.

Wall was as good as anybody in the NBA not named LeBron during the last two months of the season. He did have 8 turnovers in Game 1, though, which hurt Washington bigtime. Today, he's just flat-out winning the game for them.

[Mech Engineer]

So remember last year when LeBron was totally snubbed in the MVP voting?

and he was like "I don't care" (he did) and went on to just torch Curry in the Finals and show the NBA who the real MVP was....

I feel like Harden is operating on that wave himself. He just took out the future MVP.

With no dog in the race anymore, I'm kinda starting to pull for the Rockets. I'm still salty about that lean on MCW that he used to steal that game a few months ago, but a call is a call.

Could those guys really take out SAS and GSW?

Beverly on Curry is a delicious matchup I'd like to see. Steph donesn;t like when guys play him physical and Bev will.
GSW took them out last year missing Curry most of that series - but HOU is rolling.

I feel the same about Houston. Harden is a flopper and can be irritating as hell to watch at times. People can bitch and moan about having to watch him shoot FT's, but when he is on, he is something to watch. He has a beautiful game when he's playmaking. Also, I always have had a soft spot for him since he's from ASU. One of the those guys you hate him when he's on the other team, but trust me, no matter what you think now, you would love him if he were on our team. I really like Beverly too. They have the vets that always seem to step up in the playoffs too. Ariza. Lou Williams. Nene. and E Gordon is a nice fit there. That is a dangerous team. Unstoppable when they are hot from deep. They have a punchers chance against anybody.

Remember the finals with the Heat in 2012. Everyone thought Westbrook was the only guy who showed up for OKC. But, I was listening to an interview few years back from some OKC assistant coach. He was talking about how the Heat focused on taking out Harden as their 1st option on defense. They were scared of Harden more than Durant or Westbrook and he was the one who killed the Spurs in the previous round.

[Repeat 3-peat]

Wall=best PG in the East

[kingkirk]

Oh yeah. They were almost as good as wall's, Kawhi', harden's, lebron's, etc. And he does something similar every postseason. But when it comes down to the important moments and most of the pivotal games? He can't get it done. I've seen it time and time again. Jimmy had a 33 (or was it more? Along w 9 assists) point game against Boston that I was severely disappointed with. It doesn't matter if they can't get buckets when the team needs it. This is the difference between one and two options. That's why one options must be phenomenal. Paul is awesome, not phenomenal. Phenomenal scorers are Dirk, Kobe, Lebron, Jordan, etc. Paul is not that. He's a 2 option. The last 1 option that was on paul's tier is either going to be a Spur or Piston because they were such loaded teams.

The only players in the playoffs to have a have a higher usage and true-shooting percentage than Paul in the entire postseason are James Harden, LeBron James, John Wall and Stephen Curry. That's it. That's four guys in the entire playoffs who were finishing more possessions who were more efficient than Paul.

But, sure, it's his fault the Clippers lost, despite his team running Austin Rivers and Raymond Felton at SF. OK.

Paul averaged 30, 10 & 6 in 3 road games against Utah. He was 25, 10 & 5 on the series with insane efficiency. What more do you want?

You're making it out like he averaged 17 & 7 or something.

[othawhitemeat]

NBA does everything to help the Celts, plus they are a very sneaky, dirty team. Crowder, O'Lynk, Smart, Thomas, and Horford are all dirty.

[Ice Man]

In the 23 playoff games played by Boston, Cleveland, Houston, and Golden State, 19 of the times those teams have scored 105+. The only exceptions were the first four Boston games against us, where it went 104 twice, 102 once, and 98 once.

Better figure on scoring at least 110 if you want to beat those teams. Preferably, 120.

[Polynice4Pippen]

Boston plays so much harder than Washington it's not even funny.

[Ice Man]

The Clips are like OKC. People think of them as a good team + their star PG. But actually they are bad teams + their star PG. Well, mediocre in the case of LA, bad for OKC. The Clips bench was awful this year, that really hurt them.

[Polynice4Pippen]

Quality response by the Wiz in the 4th.

[Ice Man]

Quality response by the Wiz in the 4th.

They're having more trouble with IT than we did. Admittedly, we got him at a bad emotional time -- that might have hurt his game (or might now, who knows?). The Wiz can score, though.

[jc23]

Washington is a totally different team at home but I'm still surprised how close the game is. Makes me even more sad rondo went down.

[Ice Man]

Good game this.

[GetBuLLish]

What a friggin' game.

Ian Eagle is a great color commentator.

[ImSlower]

Yeah Eagle is terrific.

[Red8911]

Bet Fred is pissed watching Thomas keep discontinuing his dribble lol

[ImSlower]

I hope it goes to OT

[Polynice4Pippen]

Quality response by the Wiz in the 4th.

They're having more trouble with IT than we did. Admittedly, we got him at a bad emotional time -- that might have hurt his game (or might now, who knows?). The Wiz can score, though.

Wizards aren't disciplined defensively, too many lapses. Isaiah is having his way with them.

[BigUps]

I just don't get how NBA refs haven't been spoken to about how poorly they impact games down the stretch. Teams just can't play physically at all. Its awful.