Yep, obviously a big loss. Still need someone else to step up while he's out if you're to steal a game at Oracle. Although it'll be tough to take down the Warriors regardless since they have the better team.
NBA 2016-17
- Thread starter ArmchairCritic
- Start date
Brilliant game, that. Well done Portland, keep it up.
I thought we were out of it but we crawled our way back. Still way underdogs but proud of the team regardless of the outcome.
Why the feck did Stotts sit Lillard at the beginning of 4th and where is the limit of what Warriors are allowed to do on defense before being called a foul?
Game is over. Good effort though. Hope we get Nurk back for Game 2.
Game is over. Good effort though. Hope we get Nurk back for Game 2.
This is the game to steal for the Blazers. Warriors have been off, too many turnovers, and Portland has withstood their run.
Wow, Green making his case as to why he should be DPOY. Maybe the defining moment for this game, rejects Lilliard and KD scores in transition for the 4 point swing.
Wow, Green making his case as to why he should be DPOY. Maybe the defining moment for this game, rejects Lilliard and KD scores in transition for the 4 point swing.
We were never going to steal it without a center and with everyone bar Lillard and CJ playing poorly. Our second unit was dreadful all night long, it's nice that we still hang with them until the final quarter but we were not going to win this.
If Nurkic plays on Wednesday then there's maybe a chance. If not then I hope we take Game 3 like we did last year and build on that in Game 4. We are going to need a miracle to win the series but the first performance was promising.
Curry, Durant, Lillard and McCollum had all great games, but Draymond was the best player tonight. Deserved victory for Dubs in the end.
This game was tied going into the 4th with Lilliard and McCollum playing monster games (although it felt GS was always in control). You had as good a chance to take this game without Nurkic as you'll likely get at Oracle imo since GS weren't firing offensively until their defense fueled their run in the 4th. Even if Nurkic is back, I don't think Portland will come as close as they did today in game 2. You needed some of your role players to hit their open shots. But like you said, GS are clear favorites, and this was a performance Stotts can build on.
If Draymond wanted to put up amazing numbers every night he could do it. However, he always seems to do what the team needs. Today they needed everything and he obliged. I said before this series started that the Blazers were one of the best 5 teams in the NBA on current form. They did not disappoint.
Isaiah playing today after his little sister passed away yesterday. It takes phenomenal character to do what he's doing. My heart goes out to him. 
For some players, it can be therapeutic to be on the court after a personal tragedy/stressful situation. It helps take their mind off the distractions they might have.Isaiah playing today after his little sister passed away yesterday. It takes phenomenal character to do what he's doing. My heart goes out to him.
Bulls take game 1 after a valiant last minute comeback attempt from Boston.
Westbrook with 6-23 shooting and 9 turnovers with 3 minutes to go.
Forget Harden, Mr. Triple Double was outplayed by Beverley.
Really bad performance. Beverley and Harden were both great. No one on the Thunder (except Roberson, who was very good) was better than below average. Adams, Westbrook and Oladipo were terrible. Kanter just can't play against teams that go small.
MVB!!!
Beverley is prob my 2nd favorite player on Rockets roster, just work his ass off for the team.
CJ and Dame with monster games and still the blazers came up short. Sweep incoming, alas
Still think they can get a game (or two). The problem the Blazers have is that they can go toe-to-toe with the Dubs offensively but when Draymond and co. clamp down on the defensive end they just have no answer.
Monster first half. In the second half they were both rather average, and again, them having a 20% better game that average did not cancel out everyone else having very poor ones. We will lose Game 2 but I feel we will win one if not both of the following games at Moda.
Chicago quietly stole the home court advantage from the Celtics. Butler with a good performance but overall I am shocked that this team got that result. Rondo, Wade (at 34), Mirotic and Lopez are really not that great supporting cast but they have made it work for the last month or so.
Any place i could watch the full episodes of Inside the Nba? Was waiting for so long for the crew to come back, and now both the youtube channels uploading the episodes are removed. I know theres segments available but the full episodes are more fun.
Hopefully Rondo can maintain this form because he's brilliant to watch
A bulls fan here
I think I must have a moment of appreciation for both Fred and Rondo.
I criticized Fred a lot this season but he nearly solved most of our problems at the last period of regular season and still marching on in making a good shape and form for the team. He's playing on our biggest strength which is rebounding and playing under the rim that lead to both wins. His choices and rotations become awesome. We completely dominated this game even when the difference in points wasn't big you never feel that we are under threat or the Celtics will win , on the contrary we were never under pressure during the entire game! And the game ended by us dominating the 4th quarter and widening the gap. Fred is doing great recently and must get the credit. He changed my opinion of him.
I remember at some points of season I hated rondo so much and now I really love him!! He solved all our problems in the PG position that were present most season and become a very entertaining player to watch if you concentrate on his performance. Awesome and I hope he continues with such a performance.
Very good game for Wade , Jimmy and Lopez are beasts as usual and dominated the paint. Celtics are so shit in rebounding and to their bad luck we got players to benefit from this.
We passed the hardest part of the series so we mustn't waste the 2 games we have at home.
I think I must have a moment of appreciation for both Fred and Rondo.
I criticized Fred a lot this season but he nearly solved most of our problems at the last period of regular season and still marching on in making a good shape and form for the team. He's playing on our biggest strength which is rebounding and playing under the rim that lead to both wins. His choices and rotations become awesome. We completely dominated this game even when the difference in points wasn't big you never feel that we are under threat or the Celtics will win , on the contrary we were never under pressure during the entire game! And the game ended by us dominating the 4th quarter and widening the gap. Fred is doing great recently and must get the credit. He changed my opinion of him.
I remember at some points of season I hated rondo so much and now I really love him!! He solved all our problems in the PG position that were present most season and become a very entertaining player to watch if you concentrate on his performance. Awesome and I hope he continues with such a performance.
Very good game for Wade , Jimmy and Lopez are beasts as usual and dominated the paint. Celtics are so shit in rebounding and to their bad luck we got players to benefit from this.
We passed the hardest part of the series so we mustn't waste the 2 games we have at home.
Wow, the Celtics rebounding is sooo bad. And now, with the Flash, Buckets and Rondo hitting their strides, their D don't seem that good anymore either. Outplayed and outworked.
Are the Celtics the first 1st seed to lose the two first games against an 8th seed?
Are the Celtics the first 1st seed to lose the two first games against an 8th seed?
If the Jazz can get Gobert fit they should beat this Clippers team.
Doubt they'll bring him back for this series, last couple of games at best. Bad timing, really.
Wow, the Celtics rebounding is sooo bad. And now, with the Flash, Buckets and Rondo hitting their strides, their D don't seem that good anymore either. Outplayed and outworked.
Are the Celtics the first 1st seed to lose the two first games against an 8th seed?
I think they might be.
Definitely not easy for Celtics from here, I'd say their chances are now maybe 20%. Bulls have been in proper form, they are rebounding so much better than Celtics that it's probably worth 20 points, and are at home for the next two games. If they win the next one, it's game over for Boston.
Bucks played hard against Raptors again. We shall see how Toronto will cope with hostile atmosphere in Milwaukee, fans who are hungry for a playoffs series win, against a team that has been playing hot for the past 2 months. I am rooting for Bucks here, really started to love this team over the last couple of seasons and they are probably my second team currently, so fun to watch and players who are just so passionate about the game (and so young too).
Bucks are awesome to watch, and it can only get better for them. Well-run franchise.
If Maker is really 19 (I doubt it) then with his upside you have a potential star there too. Giannis is already a superstar and a top 10 (even top 5) player, Jabari made a huge step up earlier in the season before the injury, Middleton is one of the most underrated players in the league and they got themselves a steal in Brogdon. They might need a center better than Monroe (although he has been good lately) or Henson, which they could address through developing Maker, getting Ike or Patton in the draft or trading for someone like Dwight Howard.
They could probably use another point guard but you can't have it all. Maybe they will have opportunity to trade for Dragic or Bledsoe at some point.
Celtics are terribly built. Danny Ainge has been an horrible GM bar the fleecing of Billy King, the player he has drafted has been underwhelming and so much is said about their bench being productive, but it's only down to the fact that their starters aren't anything special apart from IT and that's why their bench could match their production.
Come playoffs time when rotations will be tightened and that's where all their flaws starts showing. IT will forever be horribly mismatched on defense and their secondary playmaker in Marcus Smart can easily be rendered useless if teams just let him shoot the ball. Rest of the team can't create their own shots. Brad Stevens can only do so much with that little talent they actually have in their roster relative to other playoffs teams.
Come playoffs time when rotations will be tightened and that's where all their flaws starts showing. IT will forever be horribly mismatched on defense and their secondary playmaker in Marcus Smart can easily be rendered useless if teams just let him shoot the ball. Rest of the team can't create their own shots. Brad Stevens can only do so much with that little talent they actually have in their roster relative to other playoffs teams.
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Woah.
Top 15 maybe, I don't think he's better than any of LeBron, Curry, KD, AD, Harden and Westbrook.
Yeah top 5 is a stretch but he's way more versatile than half the players you'd normally name above him. Like LeBron, he can do pretty much everything out there. His shot has been getting better lately, if he can fix that to a level where it's functional and can hit 35%+ from the 3-point range, he'll possibly be the best player in the league not named LeBron.
Harden, Curry, Westbrook or Durant may be better players but I'd not have any of them ahead of Giannis as a building block. The guy was top 20 in rebounds, steals, blocks, assists and points per game in the regular season. He was 5th in blocks, 9th in steals, 15th in rebounds, 18th in assists and 14th in points and it's not like any of these statistics is inflated by anything. He's basically elite at EVERYTHING. Is there another player not named LeBron who even comes close to this level of domination in all areas?
Top 5 is debatable even for this season but I don't think top 10 is much of a stretch - Curry, Westbrook, Davis, LeBron, Harden, Durant, Leonard, you could maybe make a case for all of them being better (LeBron is for sure) but aside from these 7 players who is better than Giannis?
And he's 22!
I'd definitely add CP3 to that list. Maybe Kyrie as well.
Paul maybe. I'd definitely not have him ahead of Giannis though but it's a matter of preference. You would not be able to build a successful team purel
No fecking way I'd ever have Kyrie ahead of Giannis. No question here. Kyrie for me belongs to the same tier as Lillard, Thomas and Kemba and it's not the level at which Giannis is currently operating. He's a great ball handler and a great shooter but not capable of leading a winning team, as evidenced by their performances without LeBron.
Jimmy Butler is actually not that far off that level when in top form. A top defender and a capable scorer. Paul George too. Both are better than Kyrie.
So is Green. He'd be banging triple doubles every other week if he needed to.
I think with IT, He has had a great patch of form but I cannot see him putting the same numbers up next season. Might be worth the Celtics looking at trading him in Summer while his stock is at an all time high. The Celtics getting Fultz will make them a much better team next season.
I'd have AD ahead of him though, precisely as a building block. Giannis is in that sphere as well though, elite combination of size, athleticism and skill. Being pretty much a Lebron-lite also helps.
Kyrie is the best pure scorer compared to those two but overall obviously they are both easily better.
Thing is though, Kyrie is absolutely perfect where he is, Cavs don't need another all round powerhouse with LeBron in there, what they need is someone to take the scoring burden off LeBron and allow him to basically play in the Magic Johnson mould with someone who can blitz the scoreboard when it's needed and that's what Kyrie is great at. He's a better fit with LeBron than Butler or PG in my opinion, while obviously either of those two would also be fantastic there.
Davis and Giannis is a toss for me. Davis IMO has more natural talent but he's so injury prone that I'd definitely not trade Giannis for him if I were Bucks (in a hypothetical scenario that will obviously never ever happen). LeBron is better than anyone but also 10 years older than the Greek Freak.