ATL - PLAYOFFS

[greekbuck34]

A lot of apologies are owed to LeBron James.

Why??

Because he didn't force a scoring title in the end. He needed to play two more games I think.

[tydett]

LaVert was definitely the wrong guy for Cleveland to go in on. Hope for their sake that it doesn't come back to bite them too much.

[GoldenAntlers]

Holy ****. NBA tv just switched to the hornets bulls game. 93-58 with 6:42 left in the 3rd lmao

I really wanna see the Hornets bounce the Nets in a single elimination game.

[MickeyDavis]

Nets take the lead

[MickeyDavis]

Miami has clinched 1 but playing everyone. They want to beat the Hawks and make sure Nets aren't 8

[greekbuck34]

Durant is so careless with the ball when he is trying to playmake. He is truly a taller Khris Middleton.

[FlagsFlyForever]

A lot of apologies are owed to LeBron James.

Why??

Because he didn't force a scoring title in the end. He needed to play two more games I think.

Yep. And there were a lot of people who were certain LeBron only cared about the scoring title.

[greekbuck34]

So we will rest all our players against the Cavs who need the win and Boston also needs to win @ Memphis in order to avoid losing the 3rd seed from the Sixers and face the Raptors right?

[MickeyDavis]

If Cavs, Nets and Hawks end up in 3 way tie for 7,8,9 how do the tiebreakers shake out ? I get a headache from this stuff.

[VooDoo7]

Why??

Because he didn't force a scoring title in the end. He needed to play two more games I think.

Yep. And there were a lot of people who were certain LeBron only cared about the scoring title.

Ah, gotcha. But the scoring title still may have meant everything to him, but physically he just couldn't go.

[greekbuck34]

The Hawks and the Hornets have good enough offense to give Miami a lot of trouble if Butler is struggling and/or their shooting is below great.

[MickeyDavis]

If Cavs, Nets and Hawks end up in 3 way tie for 7,8,9 how do the tiebreakers shake out ? I get a headache from this stuff.

Hawks blew the lead and lost. So we have Nets/Cavs tied for 7/8, Nets have tiebreaker . Hawks/Hornets are tied for 9/10. Season series 2-2, not sure who has that tiebreaker

[RESPERT]

Not sure if its been mentioned yet but after tonight I think we now have a much clearer picture of the two "sides" of the east bracket:

our side:
one of BOS/PHI
70% chance of BKN

Not our side:
MIA
one of BOS/PHI
TOR
20% chance of BKN

of course, we only have to play 1 max out of the bottom set. With so much focus on the first round and finding a way to the bulls, its easy to miss how well the rest worked out.

[rilamann]

Not sure if its been mentioned yet but after tonight I think we now have a much clearer picture of the two "sides" of the east bracket:

our side:
one of BOS/PHI
70% chance of BKN

Not our side:
MIA
one of BOS/PHI
TOR
20% chance of BKN

of course, we only have to play 1 max out of the bottom set. With so much focus on the first round and finding a way to the bulls, its easy to miss how well the rest worked out.

Playing the Nets isn't great, but you're right. Only having to play 1 of Miami/Philly/Toronto is a win for us. Assuming Philly does indeed finish #4.

[rilamann]

If Cavs, Nets and Hawks end up in 3 way tie for 7,8,9 how do the tiebreakers shake out ? I get a headache from this stuff.

Hawks blew the lead and lost. So we have Nets/Cavs tied for 7/8, Nets have tiebreaker . Hawks/Hornets are tied for 9/10. Season series 2-2, not sure who has that tiebreaker

I highly doubt the Nets would tank a play-in game, but if they finish #7 they will host the 7 vs 8 game and if they lose that they will host the winner of the 9 vs 10 game. So they'll have 2 chances at home to get in.

If I am Brooklyn I would much rather face Miami than Milwaukee. I think tanking a play-n game would be too risky but you never know if they want to to avoid us. Imagine Adam Silver if a team tanked a play-in game.....lmao.

[blazza18]

The Suns, man. The Jazz, man.

[RiotPunch]

Having two rounds of guaranteed HCA is massive. This is good.

Durant is the most potent scorer in the world, Kyrie can get hot and be a killer as well. This is bad.

We have the best player on our side. This is good.

They have the next two best players on their side. This is bad.

We have a much stronger rotation, top-to-bottom. This is good.

The Nets "bad" defense showed they can elevate on that end in the Playoffs. This is bad.

Nash is a far worse coach than Bud-- he hurts his team more than he helps them. This is good.

Getting the #2 seed feels important for our team. We play well at home. The Nets are not an ideal draw-- two huge things need to happen if we're going to beat them:

-Giannis must overpower and demoralize Claxton/Griffin.
-Bud MUST scheme to allow fewer threes. This is not a team that punishes inside, save for Drummond. Don't let Seth Curry get hot in addition to KD/Kyrie. You can allow KD/Kyrie to get their 70, but Curry can be your death knell in that scenario if you don't lock him up.

[Pachinko_]

So you need 82 games to decide which 5 teams from each conference to cut from the playoffs. I mean we could probably answer that pretty fairly after 20 games.
And then only a couple of games to cut another 2.
It's nonsensical.

[Prez]

Utah Jazz meltdowns are like crack to me now. God I can’t wait for their playoffs lol.

[RiotPunch]

So you need 82 games to decide which 5 teams from each conference to cut from the playoffs. I mean we could probably answer that pretty fairly after 20 games.
And then only a couple of games to cut another 2.
It's nonsensical.