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23/24 Playoffs - 1st Round (West)
23/24 Playoffs - 1st Round West

@BenitoSTARR @sebsheep @weetee @V.O. @Dr. Dwayne @Heine @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Solius @Dan

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The Jazz take game 1, but as the prohibitive favourite you would have expected them to do even better. The injury to Luka Doncic is a worrying sign, though they won without him. But maybe an opening for BenitwoSTARRLET's Pelicans? The other game went pretty much as expected, with Houston winning relatively comfortably.



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Easy win for the Spurs, and a great 27/8/17 game from Heine. The Thunder also take a solid win, Dr. Junior nearly dropping a 40-bomb.

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Bismack Biyombo is back for Utah, and it was sufficient to take a commanding 2-0 lead over New Orleans. SebJr's 35/15/3 performance managed to drag Sacramento right back into the series, on the other hand, despite good performances by both weeweetee and Lil' V.O..



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Heine has to go off with a minor injury, and the Mavericks capitalize immediately. Nobody on the Thunder has a good shooting game except for Dr. Junior, so the other series is also all evened up.

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Oh! This is not ideal for the Utah Jazz. That's their three best players all out injured - two of them in the same game, and both of them already playing with minor injuries (Nobbers can tell you how dangerous that is). BenitwoSTARRLET takes advantage and puts up a very efficient performance.



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Close, but the Rockets take the lead with a 43/10/10 triple double from weeweetee. SebJr is shooting well, but it's not quite enough.



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Crushing victory for the Thunder, with a super-efficient 24/6/8 (and no turnovers) from Dr. Junior.



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The Spurs strike back, with a great performance from Heine.

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This one is 2-2! The injuries might sink Utah, and the Pelicans won't have to be asked twice to take advantage.



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This is better from the Rockets. It's interesting that while we might literally be seeing the shallowest team vs the deepest team in the NBA, that seems to have equalized somewhat in the playoffs. You can have as many 55 rating players as you want, but if the other team has weeweetee and Lil' V.O., you need your own stars to compete. Mind you, the East should have taught us that 3-1 isn't a safe lead, so let's not conclude quite yet.



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Two 39-point performances from Oklahoma City, it's hard to compete with that. Though I'm not quite sure how the Lakers managed to lose with such an efficient performance.



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The Mavericks aren't done yet!

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The Pelicans have only gone and taken the lead. This is the 10-seed versus the 1-seed, don't forget.



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SebJr did his best, but the star power of the Rockets was just too damn high!



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Easy 4-1 series win by the Oklahoma City Thunder. It's a good sign that they can win so comfortably while Dr. Junior has an off night.



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The Spurs seem to win big and lose small, which I guess is ideal if you're going to both win and lose. This was truly a team effort from San Antonio.

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Incredible. Even with Biyombo and Doncic back, and with BenitwoSTARRLET having an extremely uncharacteristically bad shooting night, the Pelicans eliminate the Jazz. The offensive rebound difference is... mighty.



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The Champions are through! Heine wasn't exactly in the shadow of Nobbers and Sonius, but this is clearly his team. Of course, that means that if he has a bad game, all bets are off. This time he very much didn't.



The unfortunate injury to Skizzlet means we won't quite have a Cafite in every team, but we've got at least one in every series. I can't imagine Chicago going all the way, so we should have a Cafite champion this year as well. I think anyone here can win it. The biggest underdog is obviously BenitwoSTARRLET and her Pelicans, but nobody here is unbeatable. I thought Utah were favourites, but we saw what happened there. New York are the only remaining 60+ win team, so maybe this is their year?

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To see this thread bumped without a tag. Man. Does it hurt.
 
Some great individual playoff performances again, only to be hamstrung by this team.
 
Drafts from now on will solely be retired players, but I might take it one step further and manually move up some legends. Not all of the better players, but some.
Make it I play with MJ please. I don‘t care what the others say - he‘s the goat.
 
23/24 Playoffs - 2nd Round
23/24 Playoffs - 2nd Round

@Heine @weetee @V.O. @Dan @Solius @BenitoSTARR @Dr. Dwayne @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld

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17 points is low for Dan II, but it was plenty enough for the 76ers. Actually, one point would have been enough, given their 17 point winning margin. The other game wasn't any closer, though it's not hard to see why the Pacers eventually won. Gilgeous-Alexander took 25 shots and scored 15 points, fewer than both reelworld II and Two Nil, and far fewer than Sonius on the other team.



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Easy win for the Rockets. No notes. Slightly less easy, but still easy, win for the Spurs. Dr. Junior really should be taking more shots, if the Thunder want to have any chance here.

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Still not the best shooting performance from Dan II, but still easily enough to beat the Bulls. Zion going 3-19 may have something to do with it. The Pacers also take a 2-0 lead against the Knicks, though this one was much closer than game 1. It shows the strength of the Pacers that Sonius, the mastermind of the 1-0 win, only scored 11 - and they still won!



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A pretty good game by BenitwoSTARRLET, but you're not winning when weeweetee scores 53 points, and goes 14 out of 20 from three. Finally, we've got four 2-0 series in the 2nd Round, as the Spurs take a pretty easy victory over the Thunder. Are we just going to get four sweeps, then?

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Another easy win, and Dan II's shooting is just getting better for every game now.



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3-0 to Indiana! Is this really going to be that easy? I thought they had a chance to win, certainly, but a sweep? It's not like the New York stars are playing that poorly either.




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The Rockets are cruising here, with two more good performances by their stars. On the other hand, Dr. Junior's poor shooting couldn't stop the Thunder from getting one back against the Spurs. That's promising.

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A decent game by Dan II, but the Bulls get their game. I wouldn't be worried.



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The Knicks get one back too!



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As do the Pelicans! There won't be any sweeps this round. BenitwoSTARRLET gets her triple double, but with blocks instead of rebounds. Absurd.



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Despite having the more efficient game and the highest scoring teammate, Heine is soundly beaten by Dr. Junior, and the series is even!

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Well, it wasn't a sweep, but the 76ers will take a 4-1 win over the Bulls. Philadelphia are showing a lot of depth these playoffs. Possible championship contenders?



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The Knicks aren't done yet! Sonius has a gigantic 34/18/8 game, but almost everyone on the Knicks has a pretty good game - and that's just about enough for a 2 point winning margin.



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The Houston Rockets take the 4-1 series win! The Pelicans shouldn't be too disappointed, however, given they finished 10th in the regular season, fighting their way through the play-in, beating the 1-seed, and taking a game off the best duo in the league.



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The Spurs stop the rot. 17, 18, 19, 25 and 26 points from your starters is a very good sign.

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It's 3-3! The Knicks have certainly not given up, and it's surely squeeky bum time in Indiana. reelworld II and Two Nil both played very well, though the latter got ejected again. We go to game 7!



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Ah, well! The Thunder fought hard, but in the end the West still goes through San Antonio. Heine is finally let off the shooting leash, and it was just about good enough to secure the close-ish win. Dr. Junior played a good game, and a good series.

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The reverse sweep is averted, and the Pacers will move on to the Conference Finals! Heartbreak for the Knicks, who lose star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to a fractured tooth just 43 seconds into the game. They still get reasonably close, but you have to imagine it would even closer with Gilgeous-Alexander - as long as he didn't have one of his 5-25 shooting nights, at least. Still, injuries are a part of the game. Just ask odds favourites Utah Jazz, if you can find them way back in the 1st Round.



Well it's confirmed, a Cafite is definitely winning the league. Two of them have won before (Heine and Sonius), while weeweetee, Lil' V.O. and Dan II would be first-timers. It's impossible to predict what's going to happen here. Houston have the star power advantage, but they also have the least depth, so those might cancel each other out.

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20/20 FT quota is <3

Let‘s show Heine who‘s boss @V.O. !
 
How crazy do you want me to have the drafts in the next few years? If I put too many legends in, that could get in the way of some legacies. Some of them are bound to get really good. I guess @P-Nut has the youngest player. How many legends do you want to play with/against? :lol:
 
Leave it balanced until we all die out, then ramp up the craziness
 
Leave it balanced until we all die out, then ramp up the craziness

Probably too much effort for me to do that when there aren't any Caf players in anymore, since I have to manually move these players around the drafts. Though I can definitely see myself doing a quick "next 50/100 years" update thing.

I guess in a sense having some legends every draft class is the Caf Player Experience (TM). Sonius, weeweetee, Heine and Dr. Junior were all the same draft, along with Towns, Porzingis, Russell, Jokic. They also had loads of established Cafites to challenge. We really supercharged the average rating for top players with you lot. Poor normies didn't stand a chance (except Kevin Durant and some few others).
 
Probably too much effort for me to do that when there aren't any Caf players in anymore, since I have to manually move these players around the drafts. Though I can definitely see myself doing a quick "next 50/100 years" update thing.

I guess in a sense having some legends every draft class is the Caf Player Experience (TM). Sonius, weeweetee, Heine and Dr. Junior were all the same draft, along with Towns, Porzingis, Russell, Jokic. They also had loads of established Cafites to challenge. We really supercharged the average rating for top players with you lot. Poor normies didn't stand a chance (except Kevin Durant and some few others).
Fair enough. I'd also vote for making a player called methodevil who is 99 everything but only plays one season on the worst team.
 
How crazy do you want me to have the drafts in the next few years? If I put too many legends in, that could get in the way of some legacies. Some of them are bound to get really good. I guess @P-Nut has the youngest player. How many legends do you want to play with/against? :lol:
Feel free to go nuts. Put them all in 1 draft class for me, especially if you're not carrying on after I retire
 
Can we conclude nobbers was the weakest of us now?

Houston are favorites, but winning is a part of the spurs culture, and I am ready to fight!

Would be a dream to play Sonius in the final
 
23/24 Playoffs - Conference Finals
23/24 Playoffs - Conference Finals

@Heine @weetee @V.O. @Dan @Solius

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A very close game, but the Rockets manage to stave off a Spurs comeback attempt at the very end. Heine with a very good 21/8/12 (with 5 steals and 7 blocks), but the Spurs probably need him to score more if they want a chance of matching weeweetee and Lil' V.O., who provided 26/11/11 and a ridiculous 23/23/3 (with 7 blocks) themselves.



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Oof, that's not good for the 76ers! John Collins is by some measures the single best player on Philadelphia - and certainly he's the defensive linchpin. The fact that the game went to OT despite the 76ers missing him for half the match is at least promising. They might still have a chance, but it's going to be a challenge. Still, if they get within 4 points when Dan II shoots 2-11 from three...

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Another great game by Heine and Jamal Murray, but a monster game by weeweetee. 49/19/4 is silly. What's more silly is that he and Lil' V.O. combined for 39 rebounds, 5 fewer than the entire Spurs team (and 1 more offensive rebound).



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Sonius with a middling game, and I guess the 76ers really do still have a chance. Kevin Knox and Devin Booker were in a shot off, but the decisive factor might have been Dan II finding his shot. It's game on!

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The Rockets must be very pleased to see that they can win even when one of their two stars has a bit of an off night. As long as literally anyone else on the team manages to have an okay game, they can win. This one must hurt for the Spurs, though. Heine had a 21/19/9/6/8 game, and the rest of the starters played pretty well too, but still it wasn't enough. If the Spurs want to have a chance, they might need Heine to take twice as many shots. That might get in the way of his herculean defensive effort, though.



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Collins-less Philly are in the lead! I think I called the Sacramento Kings the deepest team in the league earlier, but it might actually be the Philadelphia 76ers. They've got fewer decent players, but their entire starting 5 is capable of having very good games. Dan II had the 4th best GameScore on the team, and it was plenty enough. Like Heine in the other series, the Pacers might need Sonius to shoot even more. He'd ideally hit more of the threes, though.

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It's a sweep! This one has to feel good for the Rockets. While this isn't the same Spurs as the one that terrorized weeweetee and Lil' V.O. for so many years, it's still a pretty damn solid team. And the Rockets themselves aren't the team they were during the height of that rivalry either, just take a look at their regular season record. Heine again had a very good game, but he just can't be expected to outscore both of the other team's superstars.



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This game came purely down to the 3rd quarter, with all other quarters ending tied. Sonius was certainly the difference this time, particularly defensively. Neither he nor Dan II shot particularly well, but there's a vast gulf in their defensive abilities. That's why John Colling is so important for the 76ers, and this is the exact sort of game they need him to win.

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Another close game, and this time Philadelphia come out on top! Most Indiana players had one to forget. The injury may have had an impact too, though they were actually ahead going into the 4th quarter.

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3-3! It was a very different game to the last, with the starting 5 of the Pacers all playing decently, and most playing much better than that. This time the 76ers were the ones having games way below their own standards. This has been a great series, and we're going to game 7. It really is anyone's series to win.

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It's the Pacers! They're off to their first Final appearance in the NBA era! What's more remarkable is that they weren't even in the playoffs last year, with a 27-58 record. And the last time they made it past the 1st Round was in 2009, fully 15 years ago. Sonius may not have made such a poor free agency decision after all, eh?

It's heartbreak for the Philadelphia 76ers, on the other, who did everything they could to overcome the loss of John Collins in the very first game of the series. Dan II played out of his mind in the last game, putting up 38 points. Still, they beat two good teams to even get there in the first place, and they're getting closer to the Final every year.

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Who are the favourites? The Rockets have the superstars, but the Pacers have the depth. The Pacers also have the better regular season record, but given we're about to witness an NBA Final of a 4 seed against a 5 seed, I'm not sure we should pay that too much mind this season.
 
I don't even care that it's a shell of the super team.

@halfthefeckingcaf Your boys took a hell of a beating! :cool:
 
wtf are you Norwegian or something?
Nah, Welsh. That bit of commentary is/was well known in Britain as well. :)

I feel like it was featured on every crap "funny football moments" type VHS that seemingly every 80s/90s kid got from well-meaning but clueless elderly relatives each Christmas.
 
I’d like to think having FT = very good (don‘t need 100 or nearly that to have good stats there I think) means opponents are simmed to let you rather shoot a lot to avoid gifting freethrows. Would have to check with weetee‘s stats but think that was his design fault.
 
I’d like to think having FT = very good (don‘t need 100 or nearly that to have good stats there I think) means opponents are simmed to let you rather shoot a lot to avoid gifting freethrows. Would have to check with weetee‘s stats but think that was his design fault.

Perhaps, but it's also possible you often don't take that many because you're shooting 3s. Sometimes you do get quite a few, though, and it's free points.
 
Perhaps, but it's also possible you often don't take that many because you're shooting 3s. Sometimes you do get quite a few, though, and it's free points.
Yea, don‘t think it made sense what I wrote - was still drunk from celebrating our victory over Spurs.

Still intrigued about weetee having such a good 3p% + offensive IQ yet never really taking a shot.
 
I have a feeling the midrange shot is important when thinking about "taking a shot" in general. Just a feeling based on who getting the highest amount of points. And also seems like the "V" tag is important
 
23/24 NBA Final
23/24 NBA Final

Playoff stats include the play-in, so you're all getting tagged too. Sorry for reminding you of that.

@BenitoSTARR @sebsheep @weetee @V.O. @Dr. Dwayne @Heine @oneniltothearsenal @reelworld @Solius @Skizzo @Dan @Salt Bailly @altodevil @P-Nut @hobbers

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I had to google what "PK spread" meant, and I guess it means that the bookies have no fecking idea who's going to win either!

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Indiana draw first blood! Sonius doesn't have the best offensive game, but his defensive contributions are vital for the Pacers. Has to watch those turnovers in future, though. For Houston, Lil' V.O. has the best game by far, with weeweetee scoring fewer than 20 points for only the second time in these entire playoffs - and that was in the first round. The Rockets definitely need his volume scoring to have a chance.

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That's more like it from weeweetee! Another good defensive showing from Sonius (9 blocks!), but it wasn't enough to stop weeweetee. When Lil' V.O. backs his teammate's scoring with 29 rebounds and 6 each blocks and steals... yeah the Pacers aren't beating that. Well I say that, but they very nearly did anyway.

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The Rockets take the series lead! We can clearly see the danger or relying on "depth" represented in this match. While most of the Pacers played better than most of the Rockets, that's not going to be enough when the other team can put up two or three superstar performances every game. Sonius isn't the scorer to carry the entire Indiana team like that, he needs some help. He's gotten it many times these playoffs, but if they are shut down... well, we get this.

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119-116 to the Rockets, so close! Sonius definitely did get the help he needed this time, with Kevin Knox dropping an absurd 52 points on 19 shots. Unfortunately for the Pacers, weeweetee in particular provided a monster performance on the other side, and Lil' V.O. and Tyus Jones both played their part as well. If this is going to be a 4-1 win, it would be deceptively close one. We've seen 3-1 leads turn into 3-4 defeats several times already these playoffs, though, so let's see if the Pacers are up to the challenge.

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They might be! A 20-point win from Indiana, again fuelled by Kevin Knox scoring. It's becoming increasingly clear that if Sonius provides the defensive (and something more) and Kevin Knox provides the scoring, the Pacers have the potential to be pretty damn solid. For the Rockets, it seems like they were plenty good enough offensively, but the steal, block and rebound numbers all seem below par.

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Houston wins! Lil' V.O. had to go off in the 3rd quarter with a sprained elbow, but by then the Rockets were already well ahead of the Pacers. weeweetee had little trouble chaperoning his teammates over the line to their first ring. And that was off the back of their worst regular season for many years! It's been a long time coming.

I'm sure the Indiana players will feel very disappointed, but considering they weren't even in the playoffs last year, they've got more reason to be proud than anything else. Sonius didn't get his 7th ring (yet, as I'm sure he would add), but he proved that he is (and was) more than the third wheel on the Spurs superteam.



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Playoff stats

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Playoff leaders

As I mentioned at the top, these stats include the play-in, and it seems like two games is enough to qualify for this list. So sontodevil and Lil-Nut won't be on it, but Nobbers is.

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Up next: season review
 
@weetee Fecking finally! Looked like we were in no position to capitalise on the collapse of the evil empire, but we've managed to carry those other three scrubs over the line somehow.

@nimic Have a 48 win team (or worse) won the whole thing before now in the experiment? We're looking like the Greece 2004 of the NBA. :lol: