Finals: Game 1 - The Evil Empire @ Carnivores, 9PM

[Mattatron]

masai wanted to show him the love of the fans in that moment, bc he gone already. and he know that.

yea bro

they shook hands, and what ? only bc a player might gone doesn't mean he don't talk or having a relationship with the president.
but i really hope he stays, it's awkward but my confidence is falling from month to month rapidly.

[metafisical]

Is the game on Thursday at 9 pm? Damn, I have to miss it. I have to go food shopping for my family. The family needs white mushrooms and some oranges. I guess I will catch game 2.

Let the fam starve

I can't...we need two white mushrooms for our spaghetti sauce and two oranges for a late snack. It's all good. Missing the NBA finals isn't the end of the world.

[SFour]

Nurse says Kawhi is the best player in the league. Warriors use that as bulletin board material.
Kerr: "Hey Team, did you know Kawhi is better than all of you KD, Steph, and Klay? ... Prove them wrong."

Guys, stop over analyzing. There's nothing to see here. One of the best / the best -- its all the same.

it can change on a game to game basis...lets decide who the best player is between Kawhi/Curry/KD when the finals are over

[MavCarter]

Nurse says Kawhi is the best player in the league. Warriors use that as bulletin board material.
Kerr: "Hey Team, did you know Kawhi is better than all of you KD, Steph, and Klay? ... Prove them wrong."

Guys, stop over analyzing. There's nothing to see here. One of the best / the best -- its all the same.

Yeah im pretty sure nurse isnt trying to make headlines. Steve kerr is active on twitter too and is the type of guy to use that to his advantage lol

[tdotrep2]

Is the game on Thursday at 9 pm? Damn, I have to miss it. I have to go food shopping for my family. The family needs white mushrooms and some oranges. I guess I will catch game 2.

[TrustFundBaby]

masai wanted to show him the love of the fans in that moment, bc he gone already. and he know that.

yea bro

they shook hands, and what ? only bc a player might gone doesn't mean he don't talk or having a relationship with the president.
but i really hope he stays, it's awkward but my confidence is falling from month to month rapidly.

Walk me through how the Raptors making the Finals LOWERED your confidence please

[Madhouse]

masai wanted to show him the love of the fans in that moment, bc he gone already. and he know that.

yea bro

they shook hands, and what ? only bc a player might gone doesn't mean he don't talk or having a relationship with the president.
but i really hope he stays, it's awkward but my confidence is falling from month to month rapidly.

You seem like a beta.

[720]

masai wanted to show him the love of the fans in that moment, bc he gone already. and he know that.

yea bro

they shook hands, and what ? only bc a player might gone doesn't mean he don't talk or having a relationship with the president.
but i really hope he stays, it's awkward but my confidence is falling from month to month rapidly.

I hate fans like you. You were probably saying Philly was going to beat us after game 3. Probably said the series was over when the Bucks were up 2-0. It's one thing to be cautious, but to sound exactly like the haters out there is ridiculous.

[Stromile12]

HE STAY HE GO HE STAY HE GO HE STAY HE STAY HE GO

"enjoy the moment"

RAPS IN 4

[pingpongrac]

Gasol would get destroyed against the pace the warriors like to play

Bucks had the higher pace in regular season and playoffs than warriors..:....

exactly and that was the reason gasol was a no show in this series if u remember.

Gasol was not a complete no show against the Bucks.

Road:
4.0 PPG (15 FG% / 23 3FG%)
7.7 REB
2.0 AST
1.3 BLK

Home:
13.0 PPG (54 FG% / 56 3FG%)
6.7 REB
5.3 AST
2.7 BLK

He was awful on the road but incredible at home. Overall, he had a decent series.

[Scott Hall]

Read on Twitter

[720]

I used to always worry about if Demar was going to show up or not before every playoff game/series, the one thing about Kawhi is that's never an issue. He had one dud vs Orlando and even that is better than a typical Demar dud game. He's so reliable.

[BigShaq34]

Gasol would get destroyed against the pace the warriors like to play

Bucks had the higher pace in regular season and playoffs than warriors..:....

Warriors play with a much faster pace without Durant than with. It also threw Houston off after Durant went down in their payoff series.

Gasol will struggle mightily against the Warriors. He was horrible for 80% of the Bucks series outside of a game or two. Raptors are going to have to go with small ball or see if Ibaka can start and if they can get away with that. Bucks offense fell off a cliff (and yes Raps defense deserves credit) but Warriors are a completely different animal.

if you're talking scoring, yes Gasol is not consistent

but he has changed our offense immenley with his high IQ and passing

But his defense has been stellar all playoffs

[TrustFundBaby]

I used to always worry about if Demar was going to show up or not before every playoff game/series, the one thing about Kawhi is that's never an issue. He had one dud vs Orlando and even that is better than a typical Demar dud game. He's so reliable.

It's why I never understood the posts/threads asking if ppl feel bad for DD. He had the worst +/- of any player these last 5 years , and for a time, the worst TS% of any active players. He was a large part of why we couldn't get far ( not the only reason, but a large one)

Time has really been kind to DD

I still remember 2016 vividly, we had posters making threads calling for him to be benched lol, it got that bad

IMO this trade is actually good for DDs legacy, the backlash he would have got for being unable to get us past the 2nd round with LBJ gone would have been immense. Now he looks like a necessary sacrifice rather than deadweight

[niQ]

NOT EVEN OUR FINAL FORM!

STILL WAITING FOR GREEN TO CATCH FIRE AND THE RETURN OF THE OG.

[Rust_Cohle]

Bucks had the higher pace in regular season and playoffs than warriors..:....

Warriors play with a much faster pace without Durant than with. It also threw Houston off after Durant went down in their payoff series.

Gasol will struggle mightily against the Warriors. He was horrible for 80% of the Bucks series outside of a game or two. Raptors are going to have to go with small ball or see if Ibaka can start and if they can get away with that. Bucks offense fell off a cliff (and yes Raps defense deserves credit) but Warriors are a completely different animal.

if you're talking scoring, yes Gasol is not consistent

but he has changed our offense immenley with his high IQ and passing

But his defense has been stellar all playoffs

Let me clarify that I don't think Gasol is terrible by any means. His passing and defense is superb, I agree.

But against the Warriors I think he can get exploited. Maybe the Warriors play Cousins and that will help the Raptors, as the Warriors looked at their worst when Cousins got decent game time. But since Cousins is coming off an injury I doubt he'll see a lot of minutes.

I think Nurse is going to have to get creative with the lineups and try to match up appropriately.

[yogimvp]

3 days feels so far from now.

[Joker]

With all of the talk about Kawhi getting to experience Toronto's good weather late in the playoffs, of course it would be a high of 14 C for game 1 of the finals. Of course it would be. And of course it'd be 26+C in a place like Edmonton at the same time.

[BigShaq34]

Warriors play with a much faster pace without Durant than with. It also threw Houston off after Durant went down in their payoff series.

Gasol will struggle mightily against the Warriors. He was horrible for 80% of the Bucks series outside of a game or two. Raptors are going to have to go with small ball or see if Ibaka can start and if they can get away with that. Bucks offense fell off a cliff (and yes Raps defense deserves credit) but Warriors are a completely different animal.

if you're talking scoring, yes Gasol is not consistent

but he has changed our offense immenley with his high IQ and passing

But his defense has been stellar all playoffs

Let me clarify that I don't think Gasol is terrible by any means. His passing and defense is superb, I agree.

But against the Warriors I think he can get exploited. Maybe the Warriors play Cousins and that will help the Raptors, as the Warriors looked at their worst when Cousins got decent game time. But since Cousins is coming off an injury I doubt he'll see a lot of minutes.

I think Nurse is going to have to get creative with the lineups and try to match up appropriately.

maybe, but what gasol lacks in footspeed he makes up for it with his IQ

I recall gasol guarding the permiter well on switches against the likes of Middleton and even blocked his 3 point attempt. He has good hands to strip the ball and good instincts on help defense. I wouldn't bench him entirely but I would monitor his mins based on how its going

If cousins plays which is a possibility then Gasol has a role right there

[Inevitable]

With all of the talk about Kawhi getting to experience Toronto's good weather late in the playoffs, of course it would be a high of 14 C for game 1 of the finals. Of course it would be. And of course it'd be 26+C in a place like Edmonton at the same time.

Dont think Kawhi leaves his house anyways

He’s probably watching curb your enthusiasm re runs right now